The BC Bike Race has always been one of the highlights of the year. It has been a staple on the Canadian Calendar for 19 years, showcasing some of the best trail riding our country has to offer. This year was likely my 8th or 9th edition of racing BCBR, but I've lost count!
I’ll never forget winning it in 2016. I will always be grateful to the amazing organizers for giving us racers the ultimate training grounds to hone in our skills & helping us prepare to race around the globe. I can certainly credit local races such as BCBR and Trans Rockies for helping get my career to where it is.
I’ll never forget winning it in 2016. I will always be grateful to the amazing organizers for giving us racers the ultimate training grounds to hone in our skills & helping us prepare to race around the globe. I can certainly credit local races such as BCBR and Trans Rockies for helping get my career to where it is.
This year's Vancouver Island edition showcased some great riding in the Cowichan Valley, Nanaimo, Campbell River, and Cumberland. The approximately 30km stages were fast, providing great VO2 efforts before trying to hold on while enjoying some great, generally flowy descents. It makes for some awesome and very tight high-end racing, often battling for just seconds each stage as the overall GC after 7 days of riding is right around 10 hours. Some of the most intense 10 or 11 hours of racing we will have all year!
The engine was running hot coming straight in off 5 days at Oregon Trail Gravel Grinder, including a long solo breakaway leading into a top 5 on the last stage. After travelling 7 hours from Bend after the last stage, Usha and I camped near Port Angeles before catching the first ferry over to the Island in the morning. We'd stop in at home to switch out our Kona Libre gravel bikes for our full suspension Hei Hei's, do our laundry, then drive straight up to Duncan for the prologue. We both surprised ourselves with Usha riding into 4th in the Pro Womens field and me in 7th in the Men's race.
Stages 2 & 3 at Maple Mountain and Tzouhalem went well, riding a nice adrenaline surge from Oregon. The engine would sputter a bit in the middle stages in Nanaimo and Cumberland but would finish off strong in Campbell River and Cumberland to hold onto 8th in GC, 3 up from last year. It was a nice result against a very formidable top 12. Usha was flying on her Hei Hei, grabbing 3rd Overall in the Pro Women's field, certainly the first Nepalese racer to podium at BCBR!
With 12 days straight of racing in the bag, it was a nice relief to hit that final finish line on Stage 7. The engine should be primed for the 2nd half of the season now after some R&R!
Big shout out to all my sponsors for helping make this doubleheader possible, including Kona dealer, Straight Up Cycles in Victoria, for priming the bikes, and Dik and Corey in Cumberland for the great accommodation and fuelling for the 2nd half of BCBR.
Over and out from the Rockies.
