Day 7: Whistler

by Diana

Here we are, finally, at the cusp of finishing this 7-day race! Squamish was a ton of fun, but the 53 km., technical course left me tired and hurting somewhat from a fall on my right side. As the race started, I was excited to finish, but somehow knew the 26-kilometre course would feel long. Little did I know!

Joanna and I had both ridden the course before, so knew what to expect – a relatively mellow start up a logging road, then up one side and down the other of Cheakamus Creek. From there, an uphill traverse and short, but steep logging road to Tunnel Vision, a fun downhill back to Whistler Village. Some road, up a technical trail, then down through some roots and rolls to the finish line.

The congested start let up on the logging road, but soon reverted to log-jams as the tired riders balked at relatively easy up-hills or bridges. The steep logging road stymied everyone but my Joanna, who earned applause as she was the only rider to stay on her bike up the entire road. I was keen to get moving down Tunnel Vision, a ride I had loved on the training run. Unfortunately, my sore ribs had me riding very cautiously and what should have been a relatively easy roll down some rocks ended with me splayed across the trail, landing on my sore ribs, with my front brake lever snapped off.

I started my retreat back up to the logging road, where I thought help might be found. A bike patroller intercepted us, though, and gave me my options – go back to the logging road and get a ride to the bottom, forfeiting my chance at a finish of the BC Bike Race, or rely on my rear brakes to get me down the 2 kilometers to the Aid Station, where the Shimano techs could help me out. There was no way I was giving up now, with less than 10 kms. of this 300 km ride remaining!

Joanna led on, and I gingerly made my way down the course, cursing my brakes as I walked down stuff I knew full well I could easily ride. A little later, Joanna revealed that her rear brakes were not working, getting worse as the ride went on. We were both pretty keen to see that Aid Station!

The Shimano techs were clear – neither of these bikes would make it to the finish line. My brakes were irreparable and part of Joanna’s frame was cracked. They quickly whisked out a couple of loaner Rocky Mountain bikes, switched pedals and sent us on our way.  Not before I stopped at the Medic tent, though, and swallowed a hand full of pain killers.

Off we went, with just one uphill and a downhill run between us and the finish line. Joanna gave me regular updates: “Just 4 kilometers to go, Mom.” “Just one kilometre left of uphill and we’re home free.” I could practically taste the finish line! Unused to the loaner bike, Joanna slipped on a rock, badly twisting her ankle with just 3.5 kms. to go. True to her nature, she wiped away the tears, grit her teeth and told the medic, “Just give me some drugs and let me ride!”

At this point, we could hear the cheering at the finish line. We manoeuvered the rooty downhill, landing on the final, off-camber rocky section leading to the trail home. I could hardly believe we were done, but yes, there was the finish line! There were Don, Karen and Dave cheering us on! We raised our arms, crossing the line (about an hour later than expected) with hands locked, huge smiles on our faces. Volunteers placed the coveted BC Bike Race belt buckle over our necks, amid smiles, hugs, tears and hoots of excitement. Our dear friends Peter and Anne, Mickey and the unexpected appearance of Kia made for an amazing reception committee.

We did it! What a week, what an experience! Now for the celebrating!

Day 6: Squamish

by Joanna

Squamish is the last long day of the BC Bike Race, rated a favourite in past years. We were excited to get started! The 20 K to the first Aid Station were easy, breezy, flowy and fun. It was beautiful riding along and up perfectly crafted trails. It would have been even more fun without the log-jam of riders and slow train up Fifty Shades of Green, but on day 6, people were slowing down. Somewhere along the way I noticed some crazy Rastafarians on the side of the trail, urging me on. Hearing my name, I turned back to see Mom’s friends, Don, Karen and David, jamming out. (I knew they looked familiar!)

After a pit stop at the Aid Station, we had a long climb on logging roads. I knew the best downhill of the week was coming – Half Nelson – so I was eager to push on. Mom didn’t quite have the energy I did, but was happily peddling along at talking pace with our new buddies, Shea and Dave. Half Nelson and Pseudo Tsuga were a blast (as expected)! In a flash, we were at the 2^nd Aid Station. Ahead of us, we had a few punchy climbs into some of the more technical trails of the week – Powerhouse Plunge and Hoods in the Woods.

Everything was rideable, but after nearly a week of hard riding, the powerful Plunge took Mom down. I heard a gasp from behind and slowed to confirm its’ source. I dropped my bike and ran back, holding Mom in my arms as she struggled to catch her breath, and assuring her it would be okay, in a bit of role reversal. With some water and a few Shot Blocks, she was back on her bike like a champ, despite sore ribs, for the final 10 K of the day.

I had ridden the route before, but had forgotten what was left, thinking we were home free. Although not difficult, the final 7 K of single-track seemed to take an eternity. I said, “Almost there!” so many times Mom stopped believing me. We made it to the finish line in just over 5 ½ hours. Despite the slow finish, I declared Squamish my favourite day of the week, and was pretty pumped on our ride. Mom was feeling pretty sore and drained. But we were both happy to take advantage of the higher-end Base Camp that we returned to in Squamish. We feasted on some wood-fired pizza and soaked in the hot tub and pools at the aquatic centre, preparing for our final day – Whistler. 

Day 5: Fun and Fast!

by Joanna

Day 5 brought us back onto my home trails in North Vancouver, and it felt awesome! I had ridden the course several times, and Mom also had the opportunity to ride it twice when she was in town for her training visit. The trickiness of day 5 was that, while it was short (15km), it was likely more technical than most racers are used to. We felt excited going into today knowing that we could handle the course, and knowing that it would be fast! (Training times were around the 2:20 mark.)

When we got to the park (after sleeping in beds last night!)  I realized I had forgotten my bike shoes at home. Nooo!! Thank goodness my boyfriend (hero) Kia came to the rescue and dropped them off about 15 minutes before race start. And while waiting, I was distracted with nearly the whole lululemon strategy team coming out to cheer us on. They even had signs that said, “Go Jo Mamma!”. It was so great to see them, and have them rooting for us at the start line.

We seeded ourselves at the front of our blue corral, knowing we would want to get ahead of some riders that wouldn’t have experience with the trails. We agreed we would get a quick start and peddle hard up the first 3.5km climb. And that’s exactly what we did. The race started us in waves today – 5 riders every 15 seconds. We teamed up with three other riders we had ridden with on other days. Mom was fast off the start line and led the pack! When we got to Old Buck, there was a steady stream of climbers. The pace was good, so we slipped in line and peddle, peddle, peddled. Then the fun started! Pingu was the first downhill. It’s a quick one, but a fun one. Then we rode up a double track (past some cheering penguins) and up a downtrail until we had to get off for a 10 minute hike-a-bike. More down for the next 30 minutes or so, and into the techy-part. Despite having ridden the route clean on my own, the adrenaline, other riders hopping off bikes, and wetness of the trail made this my toughest go at it. I came off the bike a couple of times, once landing thigh to rock (icing that as I type). I managed to break my shoe too, but rode down the rest of the way and sped along the road to the aid station where we would pull out our trusty duct tape. Our team work was strong today – we were communicating lots on the trail, and of course worked together to tape my shoe back together. After a reasonably quick pit stop at the aid station, we peeled off and came upon the lululemon cheer squad minutes later. They were cheering like mad and even gave us a bit of help getting up the hill. We declined the beer that was offered though!

The next section of the trail had us traversing to an awesome climb, Good Sir Martin. I felt super strong climbing the familiar trail, and mom wasn’t far behind. After a quick check-in at the top, we were off on the final decent, John Deer. My Opa (Mom’s Dad) had a John Deer tractor when I was a kid, and they always remind me of him, so we did this trail for Opa, which had me almost emotional as we took off. I think he would have been proud. This section of the trail was a timed downhill, and it was exhilarating! We came through the finish line at a time of 2:08, and when I told Mom the time, the smile on her face was as big as ever. It also put us on the podium in third place for the second time this week, which we must admit, is pretty fun.

Day 4: Sechelt to Langdale

by Joanna

Day 4 was another long one, thanks partially to a silly fall I had just 2k off the start line. It was a “rolling start”, since the first few km’s were down a hill with several turns on the paved road. With the strange start I wasn’t exactly sure when to start my Garmin to track the course, so when a patroller approached to my left, I turned to ask if the race had started. As I turned my head, I unknowingly drifted right and my wheel hit Mom’s back wheel…and I lost it. I completely slid out on the pavement. The road rash was the least of my concerns. I just wanted to get moving again. But the patrollers (rightly) bandaged me up. What was worse than hurting myself though, I hurt my bike. My derailleur was damaged, and I couldn’t shift properly. We tried to straighten it out, but couldn’t fix the issue, so I rode the first 20km to the aid station jumping gears. I managed, and sped ahead of Mom for the last 3km to get to the Shimano mechanic tent at aid station 1. For the second time on this race, they saved my butt. They managed to fix it up so that it was riding fairly well for the rest of the day. At the end of the day my Scott Genius will go to the guys at Obsession Bikes for a new derailleur casing and cable. These guys are working literally all night to undo all the damage we do during the day. We’re so grateful to have James and the team looking after us.

Aside from that little blunder, the trails were fun today! Lots of climbing but beautiful single track. After losing time, I was interested in pushing things a bit, hoping not to be on the bike for as long as yesterday. But after the chat with my teammate yesterday, I was conscious of sticking to “ride” pace versus “race” pace. We took our time at aid stations and ate and drank lots, finishing the 52km and 1500m of climbing in 5 hrs 48 minutes. Mom had a blast of a day, while it was a bit of a lower key one for me. I must admit though the final 12km of downhill coming into the ferry terminal at Langdale was pretty thrilling riding. Both Mom and I agree we would love to go back and ride the Sunshine Coast again!

Day 4 was the first day that I really felt drained. I came across the finish line feeling exhausted. Thankfully, it was just a short ferry ride back to Vancouver. Home!! We had planned to camp during the whole race, but with Mom not sleeping all that well in the tent, and less than ideal weather for much of the week, a real bed sounded like heaven. Kia picked us up at Base Camp in North Van, and seeing him definitely perked me up! It was so nice to be home and have both Don and Kia with us for support.

Day 4 means we’re over the hump - 3 more days to go!

Day 3: Gettin’ ‘er Done

by Diana

Joanna and I were lucky enough to score a sea-plane ride from Powell River to Earl’s Cove, the start of Day 3. The clouds cleared shortly before take-off, so we had gorgeous views of the Sunshine Coast and its many islands. By race-time, though, the rain had started again.

We met the other riders at the ferry terminal and rode the 58 kms over to Sechelt, our base camp that night. Day 3 felt like a mountain biking expedition, rather than a ride. Lots of logging roads and double-track, with a few, very short single track trails. There were some lovely moments – including my dear friend Deb Dovgala surprising us at the terminal. (Thanks, so much, Deb!!) Some of the views from high above the ocean were spectacular – one even stopping the racers to take pictures, which I had yet to see.

On the whole, though, it was a long slog. By the time we reached the long down-hill into Sechelt, we had ridden 5 hours, and I was bagged. Five hours of fun single-track is exciting, invigorating even. Five hours of dull climbing had drained me. Joanna embraced the downhill, calling out, “Let’s give ‘er, Mom!” I replied, “I’m not sure I have much more to give,” but Joanna was gone. Her North Shore experience set her up to shred the technical, muddy, rooty trail. I could find no flow, slipping in the large exposed roots, stepping off my bike frequently and sinking ankle-deep into the mud more than once.

Generally, Jo and I have been good at checking in with her other, waiting at intersections and riding as a team. I think Joanna had had enough of this long day, and wanted to get it over. Not seeing her along the way, I sunk deeper into a funk. (The fact that I had only gotten 3-4 hours sleep the previous two nights, amid my snoring camp-mates and the pounding rain, didn’t help.) By the time I saw her waiting, I was ready for a full-on melt-down. It wasn’t pretty.

Recovering somewhat, I finished the ride and we crossed the finish line a little over 6 hours in. We were greeted by lots of other long faces and comments of “Glad that’s over!”.  I think the organizers could easily lose this stage of the BCBR with no complaints!

I heard good things about Day 4 from Deb (who had supported her buddy Andrea Quinlan in the BCBR two years ago). “It’s just your kind of trail,” she said. “You’ll love it.” After a pretty demoralizing day, I headed to bed, looking forward to better rides ahead.

Day 2: Jo Mamma with a Podium Finish!

Powell River hosted day 2 of BCBR. The community really came out in full force. Despite our late ferry arrival last night (10:30pm) bell ringer and bag pipers were there to greet us. We walked to our ocean side camp ground felling like celebs.

The trail today was a walk in the park compared to yesterday, and what we're used to to riding in North Van and Rossland. We peddled through beautiful forest on loamy single track for most of the day. Residents again went all out. Riding past a beautiful waterfall on a fun uptrack, we were greeted by dozens of hula clad dancers hooting, hollering, and serving tropical punch. Later in the ride, a 1950s style diner sprang from the woods with costumed "staff". A fun new downhill, Death Rattle, livened up the second half of the ride.

Despite mom's insistance that she was "riding" not "racing", Jo managed to kick Mamma into competitive gear for the final stretch. With a good chunk of road to cover, Mom slipped into Joanna's draft and we gave 'er, coming into the final trails pedalling hard and fast. We were pleased with our time of 4hrs and 16 minutes to cover the 52km of this stage. We didn't know how pleased, however, until the stage awards kicked off. "And in the women's team category, 3rd place goes to Jo Mamma!" Diana discovered she kinda likes being in the podium. We may have ignited a competitor! As for how many teams are in the field, let's just say more than three ;).

We're eating like queens at the aid stations and in town. We feel very well taken care of by the BCBR team, and by the lululemon family. And our bikes are being well taken care of by Obsession Bikes each night.

Day 1: All the smiles and all mud

We're on our way! Day 1 in Cumberland brought 45km's and 1159m elevation in a finish time of 4hr 40mins.

We woke up to the rain so weren't surprised with all the mud and slippery roots en route. The excitement and laughs along the way more than made up for it. 

We seeded ourselves toward the back of the pack, estimating to finish in 5 hrs. The first 13k were climbing up a logging road, and then onto a quick single track climb and descent. To get past the pile-ups and slow moving crowd at the back of the pack, we barely stopped at the first aid station. A quick banana and PB&J and we peddled on. 

The following two thirds of the ride were much more free flowing, with some fun technical downhills, super fun pump flow, and more climbing, this time mostly on lovely switch back. We loved it all, except for a particularly muddy, rooty section that was chewed up beyond recognition of a trail. 600 riders can do that, I suppose. 

The final trail, crafty butcher, was mom's favourite, with the smooth rock bringing back memories of early day riding in the Gatineau Hills, near Ottawa. 

Mom had to mention pacing several times, as we discovered Joanna definitely has a "race face" (surprise, surprise). 

Both we and our bikes were coated in mud by the time we came across the finish line. The mud treatment is an added service to the BCBR this year! Our finish time today will seed us in the blue group for the rest of the race, just ahead of the last group. Were not last! 

We're now off to Powell River, home for the next two nights. The forecast is calling for more rain. Lots of it. Not ideal, but I'm sure we'll make the best of it, just like we did today.