Day Three

We traveled this morning by bus and ferry to the lovely town of Powell River. Coastal lifestyle and landscapes are threads that connect these communities. The other similarity is how the locals are truly enriching our experience. They are proud and friendly to tourists. The ferry guard in water-locked Namaimo claimed it as a great place to live if jobs can be secured. The restaurant owner in Cumberland has watched his town stay true to its small, quaint nature while surrounding communities succumb to sprawl. He believes the trails for hiking and biking are largely key to local quality of life. Watching the scene in Campbell river on race morning was a professionally dressed man, who thought it was great for the town to host the race. The weathered owner of the natural foods market there described the smoked salmon in his freezer with great enthusiasm.

We've also had our meals in each town's community center,'which seems to be a hub of social connections- from senior activities to kid's recreation. I don't know if townspeople fund these facilities and centers but it seems to bring people together and create a close-knit social fabric.

Another day of amazing racing - almost all of the day was gorgeous, technical, rooty deep woods, singletrack. Phil and I felt like we were on Vermont's finest trails at times. At the end of the day, I again placed third in the women's solo epic masters category in 3:33. Phil also had a fantastic race, placing 8th in the men's solo epic masters category in 2:56 and now overall in 7th place. He moves up everyday! Phil thinks that "we've arrived" because we both have made the results posted on www.cyclingnews.org, the major media source for cycling events around the world.

The race leaders are pretty fast. Jason Sager from the US took the race yesterday in a one second photo finish against Canadian Chris Sheppard from Rocky Mountain. Trish from Canada (master's category) is the overall woman leader. But stage races are interesting in that a ten or twenty minute gap can be made up or lost any day by a mechanical, wrong turn or bonk. Therefore, I'm trying not to focus on where the women are on the course or in the rankings, rather I'm striving for a well-executed race, conserving energy and being smooth, enjoying the journey and I'll end up where I belong at the end of day 7.

Tomorrow we head to Earl's Cove for our longest day yet - 65 km (40 miles ) with a total elevation gain of 2110 m (almost 7000 feet). It will be hot and brutal, so I'd better get some sleep!

Come back for more!