Day One

It was sunny and already warm when we arrived at base camp for our first day of racing. We collected our bikes and milled around doing last minute race rituals before rolling to the start on the Main Street of Cumberland, which is a cool stretch of retail shops, natural food stores and cafes. An incredible vibe filled the street. Dance music. 450 bikers lined up as far as the eye could see. When the collective emotion couldn't get any higher, the mayor wished us a great race and blew a whistle.

A great shifting of gears, whirring of wheels and the mass of lycra moved forward. We had a neutral start for a few km and then wound along a gravel road on the outskirts of town to try to spread everyone out before we entered the singletrack. My strategy was to push it these first fifteen minutes to get a good place in line, to avoid being behind too many people with lackluster technical skills. Seems like everyone else had the same idea, though, and the pace was fast. That's when I started committing myself to drafting trains, when I would work to hang on to a few riders, benefiting from draft and then hop when I could to a passing train. It made it interesting and all the while I was watching my heart rate to make sure I didn't bury myself into a hole I couldn't climb out of.

We entered some amazing singletrack and although bunched up (and sometimes waiting in line over an obstacle) we started to have a great time. Brushed with tall ferns, cooled by tall trees, banking on smooth dirt, with the occasional root, rock and bridge to navigate, we flowed along trails, like Bear's Bait along the Puntledge River. After an hour or so, we had to climb a long, at-times-steep, dirt road (at the same time watch for logging trucks hauling down) to an aid station at 630 meters. From there we experienced the most incredible 30 minute downhill that I'm glad I was not briefed on beforehand (I might have been intimidated). We had rock and root drops, ledge spines, and narrow dirt chutes (now I know why one of the trails was named Screamin' Demon). Commitment was the only option. It was intense in that it required total concentration and I could only think about how to take it, not whether I was going to take it. In the end, I felt a rewarding sense of accomplishment as well as had stiff fingers from clutching the brakes! Another dirt road climb and then undulating singletrack through clearcuts and new growth forests to a (milder) fantastic decent through forest to the finish line.

After crossing the finish line at 3:26, I was psyched to learn that I placed third in the women's epic solo 40 plus category (out of 13 women). Looking at the other women's solo epic category (under age 40) with 16 women in it, I was the sixth woman today. It was fun to get on the podium, and even better will be a good seeding at the start line tomorrow.

Phil had a good day, too. One of Phil's goals was to make the top ten in the 40 plus category and he nailed it today coming in tenth out of a hundred others at 2:58. It did not, however, come without a mishap. Phil had a strong start, but halfway through the race he felt some cramping coming on. Phil has figured out how to prevent cramping long ago, with the winning antidote being a vial of salts. So, with what looked like a stretch of doubletrack ahead, he pulled out his vial and popped the cap just as the road curved sharply into some singletrack. As you can imagine, Phil grabbed the brake and the salt went sprinkling onto the forest floor. Bummer. Although the next aid station had some electrolyte drink that helped, he had to dial his race back a bit.

Day Two's Race: We'll ride in Campbell River on a "true cross country course" of undulating technical singletrack with moderate climbing along the way. The course if 50 km (~32 miles) with 1005 meters (3300 feet) of elevation gain.

Come back for more!