Racing

Welcome to the second last day of race coverage for the 2009 BC Bike Race. This would be our second and final day on the Sunshine Coast in BC. Normally I would be waking up with a slight hangover, given that it was July 2nd. However, as a result of this race, my 1st of July traditions were put on hold. I had work to do, and celebrating would have to wait until the end of the week in Whistler. In all honesty, I think the decision not to have any beer the night before was the best decision, given that we’d had such a long day in Stage 4, and with all the travel, I was beat. A decent night’s rest was the best perscription for success on Stage 5. Of course, even a super rest probably wouldn’t elevate Carl and I to the podium or anything like that, but I just wanted to feel strong and ride hard all day. It’d been a great week of riding so far, with plenty of challenges, and I’d been growing as a rider with each day and each pedal stroke, so I was excited for another day of riding. It also helped that we could wake up and walk to the start line, rather than need to be bussed somewhere else. Before you read the rest of the story, check out the pictures from the stage that I took, as well as the custom map that I put together. Once you’ve had a look, click on through to read more.

Well folks, this race update is a bit late as you can tell, but I definitely have been thinking about it, and send my apologies for the delay (especially since I wrote up the latter stages already!). Day 4 was a bit of a ‘transition stage’ in terms of the BCBR. We had to get up super-early in Cumberland in order to make our way to the starting line back on the mainland. That’s one of the main reasons this post is so late. We ended up getting out of our tents before 4:30am in fact. As most of you know, I’m not that much of a morning person, so I wasn’t in any shape to write up a post at the end of the long day ahead of us. However, now that I’ve had time to soak it all in and recover a bit, I can tell you my tale. For starters, you may want to check out the pictures from the day, as well as the custom Google map that I put together. Once you’re done that, click on back here and read the rest of the story.

Holy Cow! I can’t believe that I’m writing this post. Day 7 means that the race is over, and that Carl and I have successfully completed every single stage, and become official finishers of the 2009 BC Bike Race! Woo hoo! Party time indeed, and time to finally vacation for a few hours. As I write this, I’m actually flying back from Vancouver, and am not even sure just where to start to try and summarize the totality of the event that culminated in the final day. So, to keep it simple, I’ll just do what I always do, I’ll kick things off by inviting you to peruse the pictures that I took from the final day, as well as the customary Google map that I threw together showing where we rode for the final day. After another tough day of climbing and fighting our way through the Squamish trails, our final days took us up to the sub-alpine regions of Whistler, on some of their sweet singletrack trails. Read on for the full story.

Hoowah! Welcome back race fans. Yes, I know that I’ve skipped days 4 and 5, but the fact is, Day 6 is done, and I’m only finding time to write now! It’s been a pretty long week over here on the West Coast, and it’s amazing to think that we’ve been riding all week on some of this country’s best mountain biking trails. We were blessed yet again with an amazing day weather-wise, and yet another great physical challenge was put before us. However, ActiveSteve and Carl overcame the challenges yet again, and were in fact in fine form yet again today. The course for today was set all around the stunning scenery of Squamish. I’ve never been up here, and boy was I impressed. This place is probably best known for its rock climbing, but the biking was also very impressive. Have a look at the Google Map that I put together to get a sense of where we were riding, and then come on back to read the rest of my tale of how Day 6 rolled out for us.