BC Bike Race Day 7

Somehow it was Day 7 of this event and in hindsight it had approached quickly, but trying to remember back to Day 1 or Day 2, it seemed like a lifetime ago!  The fact that we had ridden so much and moved to different areas each night made it seem like much had transpired since the beginning of the race.

I woke up with a sore throat and not being able to breath well at all - The Day 7 finale was not being made easy as I was trying to fight being sick and losing the battle.  It was time to suck it up and get through the day.  Top on the list was to make it through the day without any wrecks...we had made it 6 days through tough terrain so I was on full alert to keep that streak going without any significant face plants!

Day 7 was the shortest day but certainly not a 'gimme' in any sense of the word.  There were two steep climbs that really spread the field out.

The stage was around 28 km with anywhere between 800+ meters of climbing or 1400+ meters of climbing depending on what elevation profile you looked at....hmmmmm

There was some uncertainty for me as I now had a whole new drive train and was hoping that everything was tuned so that there was no gear skipping action going on - fortunately everything worked flawlessly.

The first climb was a very steep climb up a partially paved road - the downhill was a fast double track down which quickly deposited you into another punch climb which would lead to the crux and highlight of the day which was the Comfortably Numb trail.  The descent on the CN trail was the most technical of the whole trip with rock riding at its best.  You would grunt up short little ledges and then drop down rock faces and roots - this continued for miles as you zig zagged your way down the rock trail.  The trail really stayed on rock the whole time until it kicked you out onto the road and you picked up another little trail towards the finish line.

The next trail kept you honest too with some shortie tekkie climbs and some fun descents which would eventually put back onto a road that you followed until the final home stretch.

At the finish line, they were handing our 'finisher belt buckles' and 'finisher t-shirts'.  It was a long week of mental game playing, technical riding, and mechanical challenges but it all culminated in crossing under the finish line and feeling a sense of accomplishment.  Day 7 and the BC Bike Race was now 'in the books'!

What an awesome week!