BC Bike Race

As part of my preparation for Transrockies, I agreed to join a team of four for a seven day mountain bike race. I knew one of the girls, Alison, from a cycling trip in France last year. I met another, Alana, while racing (she beat my pants off) and then rode with her once a couple of weeks ago. I still have not met the other team member, Lisa.

The race goes from Victoria to Whistler via Comox. Only two people ride each stage of the race - so teams of four have some flexibility in terms of how the stages are divided among the team members. Due to time constraints related to my job, I elected to ride only the first three days.

Today was the first stage. I rode with Alison. We spun out 108 km of logging road, abandoned railway, and single track in about 7 and a quarter hours. It was a beautiful day, we had no (real) crashes and, while I finished with a smile, I don't feel like I could have gone much faster. As such, I was very impressed to see that the top teams finished in 4 hours and 22 minutes. Perhaps more impressive, a pair of singlespeeders (including deadgoat, Pat Doyle) finished in less than five hours. Wow.

Tomorrow, Stage 2 will take us through 118 km of logging roads and single track to Port Alberni. The forecast is calling for rain, which will make for a long day. I will be riding it with Alana. She earned a silver medal at mountain bike provincials on Saturday (expert category). Hopefully she's patient (or stiff)!