Racing

Wowza, another day in the books for Team Diabetes / ActiveSteve. Today saw us travel up the coast on Vancouver Island to Cumberland by bus, where our next stage was set to both start and finish. Rather than bore us with a long point-to-point leg, the plan was to have the stage be entirely located in the Cumberland region on some awesome singletrack trails that they had in the area. And awesome they were! The day was slated to be a bit shorter than Day 2 and have less climbing overall. Also, the climbs and trails were supposed to be slightly less technical overall, so I hoped for some relief on my posterior. As per usual, I’ll have some photos posted, as well as put up my custom Google Map for the day. It was another awesome day for us, and we were pumped about ending a little earlier, so that we’d have some relaxing time. Read on for the rest of the story.

Well, day 2 is completed, and there’s not much more to do then to tell you fine folks all about it. In a word, epic. A very long day in the saddle for Carl and I, with our fair share of mechanical issues, and not the finish we were totally hoping for. Day 1 was the shortest day (distance-wise) of the entire race, and day 2 was the longest day (distance-wise). The race course took us from the ferry terminal in Nanaimo to Parksville, where we stayed basically right on the beach. So obviously, we started the day with a nice ferry ride from the mainland to Vancouver Island. The plus side? Well, there are no bears over here of course :-), so no worries, we didn’t run into any crazy nature encounters. Eventually I’ll get to posting pictures up of the day, and also pop up my snazzy custom Google Map of the day. Enjoy those (once I post them), then sneak on back over for a brief little story about the overall days’ adventures.

Wow! That’s all I can muster up to say at this moment. Day 1 of BC Bike Race did not disappoint. Although distance-wise it was a fairly short day, there was no shortage of challenges and obstacles to overcome. When you’re riding the North Shore, you quickly learn what mountain biking is all about. All I can say is that it’s a good thing that Carl and I put in some extra training at Camp Fortune on the downhill routes! Technical? You bet. Sure, the top teams were able to nail it at break-neck speeds, but us mere mortals in the middle of the pack had to eat a bit of humble pie and get off our bikes and do a little walking. I took pictures (obviously), but will likely be unable to post them till after the race, as connectivity will be spotty. The good news? The race organizers are letting me mooch some connectivity off them to get my maps and posts up, so you’ll at least have those. Final days’ results will have to follow after the fact as well, since they’ll probably have to be sorted through later. They may be posted on the BCBR site itself though, so you might as well check that out. Anyway, read on for the days’ tale, and check out the map as well.

Howdy all, welcome back to the latest news on ActiveSteve. As you can no doubt tell, I arrived safe and sound in Vancouver. My bags made it, my bike made it, and we were pretty much right on time. Good news all around. Temperatures were significantly lower than in Ottawa, but it was a beautiful evening, which bodes well for race conditions. Looks like temps will be mid twenties, but with very low humidity. Thank goodness. I was also met at the airport by Boris and Rachel, to whisk me off to their apartment. Thanks guys! We didn’t stay too long at the apartment before Boris and I decided to head out for a couple night caps at a local bar, the Three Lions Cafe. It was awesome that they were able to put me up, in spite of the fact that they are in the middle of actually moving into the apartment, making quarters a little tight. Read on for the rest of my short tale about the first night in Vancouver, as well as a wrap up of Day Zero, registration day! I’ve also managed to put up some pictures, so have a look at the pictures from my flight to Vancouver as well as shots from throughout Day Zero.

Hello dear followers of ActiveSteve! If you are reading this post the day it goes up, I must be in Vancouver, at Boris’ place with an Internet connection. At this exact moment for me, I’m at 39,000 feet over the skies of Canada, flying to Vancouver. As I sit here, I’m feeling quite a bit of nervous energy. Sitting in my cramped airline seat, I have the knowledge that in less than 40 hours from now, I’ll be at the start line of the longest, hardest, possibly most challenging race of my life! Yup, I’m on the road to the BC Bike Race, where Carl Buchmann and I are Team Diabetes / Activesteve.com, tackling 7 days of the greatest singletrack mountainbike trails in Canada. How awesome is that going to be? Well, I don’t quite know yet, which is why I have this energy. The plane seems to be shrinking around me, and I just can’t wait to get out there in the wide open spaces of our vast wilderness. Read on for a little more of my thoughts and hopes for this race.