BC Stage Race Day 6

The smile from Day 5 was imprinted on my mug by the time Day 6 rolled around.

I picked up my bike in the morning and there was a note on it from the mechanics to come see them (I had dropped the bike off so they could swap out the chain after I broke it on Day 5 - I was hoping it would be just the chain and not the whole drive train).  When I got to their area, they proceeded to tell me that they had lost the order for the bike and therefore could not figure out what needed to be done and could not find anything that needed fixing so they did not do anything.  I quickly reminded them it was the chain and they did a quick check to see if everything was in working order.  They checked the bike out and said the chain was fine...bear in mind this was about an hour before the race so there was not much time to waste...I was skeptical because I had removed 3 links of chain the prior day when it broke and my history with chains is that once it goes the first time, it won't last much beyond the fix...not to mention I had removed a pin and had to re-insert it when putting my chain back together.  They sent me on my way telling me the bike was fine - nothing like going into a 50 km ride with a LOT of climbing (chain under heavy load) and a shaky chain.

Day 6 was bound to be another difficult day because we were now in Squamish and the profile looked like there was a lot of climbing (over 1,600 meters in 50 km of riding) - we would not be disappointed!

Our base camp was at the rec center just north of town and had killer views of the area.  We could see the Chief in the background and snow capped peaks all around us with some awesome waterfalls off in the distance.  It was going to be a good day...well sort of....

On the first climb I noticed that my chain was skipping while in my favorite climbing gear...so I just skipped the gear and pedaled with a little faster cadence - if I just had to skip the 1 gear all day, it would not be a big deal.

We eventually peaked and got spit out onto some super fun and bermy singletrack that just wound its way down for about 200 meters of descent:

Once we hit the bottom of the hypnotic singletrack, we had another short & punchy climb.  At this point I noticed that the skipping on my chain had now expanded to 3 problematic gears....no problem, I downshifted to my small ring up front and made sure to stay out of those problematic gears and pushed a high cadence in order not to put my chain under load.  We peaked and then started the legendary Half Nelson descent.  It is one of the funnest descents I have ever done on my bike - the euphoria was contagious as I heard the whoopin, hollerin', yeehaa'ing, woohoo'ing, etc as we all descended.  Imagine a nice long descent with berms about 5 ft tall, with tight switchbacks, ladders, table top jumps....it was a real piece of work and deservedly earns all the accolades it gets!!!  The trail builders must have take a small little CAT up there to move the dirt because it was buttery smooth!

Once we hit the descent, it was time to point the bike up-hill again.  Along the way, we had amazing views of the Squamish area.  Right before we hit Aid Station 2, there was this great little bridge where a really steep section of river cascaded into some rough water - I took a moment to take it all in and then kept the legs spinning.

All the buttery smoothness was in the past and it was time to buck up and ride some of the gnar gnar coming up.  The remaining trails to the finish were just downright MEAN - very tekkie with tons of rooty and slippery sections that were steep up and steep down.  There was a lot of dismounting for all.  I made it through and started to realize my chain skipping problem was quickly expanding to ALL combinations of gears - there was no way around it and I was holding out hope that the chain would just last the remaining 10 km without crapping out on me...the race within a race was on....

The only gear that did not skip incessantly was my granny gear because it kept me at a really high cadence and did not put the drive train under much load.  Unfortunately this meant that whoever was stuck behind me was stuck going the same speed for anything that resembled an up-hill.

Through some TLC, luck, and the fact that we were going mostly downhill at this point, I was magically able to finish the day without my chain busting again.  As soon as I crossed the finish line, I rode my bike over to the bike mechanics where they would ultimately end up having to replace my whole drive train...all 3 rings up front, the cassette, the chain, and even the derailleur (it had no spring left).  It would be a costly day - OUCH.

The Ouch would not really hurt until after I got back home and looked at the hit on the credit card...for the time being, it was time to bask in the afterglow of finishing another stage and getting closer to being able to complete the race with only 1 stage left to go.

Squamish topped Day 5 as my favorite day and it was setting up some BIG expectations for the last day of racing in Whistler.  Day 5 and Day 6 really provided ear to ear grinning FUN and it seemed like the in your face butt kicking we all got at the beginning of the event was starting to subside with the enjoyment factor of the last two days....ohh sweet mtb nectar.

Common phrases heard throughout today:
"This is as close to sex as you can get"
"I have found mountain biking in heaven"
"They can build smooth trails!"
"One day closer to feeding the box" - explanation forthcoming in upcoming posts....