BC Bike Race 2009

After the third attempt at summarizing my BC Bike Race experience into a readable, short and descriptive race report… I give up! I have too many great memories and can not decide which I should delete from the report. I have also tried to be more descriptive about the route – but I am battling to remember the details of the daily sections – it all blurs into one. Hmmm… maybe this is simply because I did not have much time between the finish of one day and the start of the next to reflect and internalize the details of each day?!
What do I remember? ... roots, rocks, drop off and bridges – narrow ones, low ones, wobbly ones and wider once …and some simply ended in a drop off, bruised legs, sore arms, … ah, and did I mention gnarly roots? Yes, we also did get to ride some awesome tracks (Knysna like – just add more roots and drop offs), and at times we even rode on fire roads and jeep track…but the sooner or later the route would always head back into the woods for more roots and rocks… and trees… lots of trees! British Columbia has a really beautiful countryside. From a distance you can see the mountains, lakes and beautiful views, but when you get closer, 90% of what you see is trees.
I also remember the beautiful cuddly(?) face of the black bear, the taste of Sharkies (yummy Canadian Jelly babies – shaped like sharkies) at the Aid (water) stations and Stinger energy gels - pure natural honey and wow, they work! (I always stocked up on these at the last Aid Station – for the next day for myself and for my mates, the racing snakes who did not want to carry the extra weight with them ;-)
I remember many great laughs, great moral support and a special hug when I needed it most, great friendships, bruised legs, tired muscles, mosquitoes and biting deer flies! And there is so much more....
On my long way back home from Vancouver I had a lot of time to reflect on the time and do a “what did I learn analysis” (By the way, we South Africans received a present for being the ones who have traveled the furthest to attend the BC BR. One of the Logger dudes from Canada did a carving demo. He was using a Husqavana saw (yes – the ones that they use for Sani to C!) to demo his wood carving skills and gave us the little chair he carved.)

…what did I learn – on and off the bike – here the top 16 – ehm…17 ;-)

1. that the BC Bike Race logo is a smiling bear which his claws on a bike handlebar – his name is Bob
2. that riding without bar ends is great – especially when negotiating through trees
3. to walk across a 10cm wide beam across a river while carrying my bike
4. that Canadian Mountain bikers are really friendly – nobody shouts at you when they want to pass you, they politely ask at a point when its easy for you to let them pass! Really great!
5. and that they (the Canadians) also have a warped sense of what is steep, flat, downhill or ridable
6. that Black Bears do listen – at least in Canada they do
7. that we South Africans are really spoilt when it comes to races and the race organization (Epic, Sani to Sea, Imana, to Hell and Back you name them …we are spoilt!!)
8. one finger on the breaks equals control, two fingers on the break equals fear
9. that there are awesome people out there
10. that new cut single track is no pleasure to ride – not even on a 29er!
11. that you can stretch a 26er tire to fit a 29er…
12. that bruises tend to be a result of being hit by or bumping into something
13. that when you are down, bruised and tired, there is nothing better that moral support from friends, a hug and a good laugh
14. that “free flowing” single track is a very loosely defined term in Canada
15. that when you can laugh about yourself, its all not that bad
16. that I will never let my bike fall on the derailleur again ;-) I promise!
17. aaaah… and very important: that the All Blacks only won around 56% of all the matches against the Springboks, and not 80% as Tony claimed

…. and I can probably list a lot more – but should probably get to the race “feedback” I have written a section on each day of the event… Please bear with me, it’s my perspective on the event and the focus might not always be on the route ;-) Some comments might seem a bit odd for you…. They are probably those where “You had to be there”
So, if you want to find out how a top mountain bike rider would describe his experience of the race rather than read my ramble, have a look at Brandon Stewart’s blog. He and Max Knox came 3rd overall in the team category. http://www.brandonstewart.co.za/ (Dates for BC BR are 28th June to 4th July.)

Pre-Race
“Hey I am so keen to do the BC Bike Race”….. I said these words one evening in March this year - over good food and a glass (or maybe two) of red wine… and before I realized what was happening, it was the 23rd of June and I was boarding a plane to Vancouver, Canada. How did this all happen!?

My university friend (I studied in Vancouver) Chris fetched me at the airport in Vancouver. I stayed with him, his wife Shandi and their 6 month old daughter while getting over the jet lag and acclimatizing in the area. It was strange being back after more than 15 years – it was familiar yet unfamiliar. I settled in, got my bike back together, went for neighbour hood rides and relived good times which we had in Vancouver years ago. On the day before race registration, I sat outside a pub in down town Vancouver, enjoying a glass of wine and watching the late afternoon sun play with the water and mountains on the North Shore side of town…. Yes - the North Shore, the one which is renowned for (downhill) Mountain biking. And the BC Bike Race was also starting on the North Shore in 2 days time. I could not help but wonder…. what was I thinking on that evening in March – was I thinking at all?!

Day Zero - Race Registration
Kati and myself had agreed to meet at registration at 10:00 am. When I walked into the registration area that morning, I was asked whether I was a volunteer… ha-ha! Yes, guess I did not look the part… I was in jeans, t-shirt and heels compared to lycra or baggie shorts ;-) . Kati and Trever (her friend from the States) arrived soon after – both of them totally looking the part, all in CSC outfit (ok, so maybe a little on the roadie side)! The first thing Kati said to me: “I did not sms or contact you as I did not want to scare you – but geez this is hectic!” She and Trever had been out scouting the route of day one and it is “totally mad where they are taking us! If the routes are like this every day, then what were we thinking!!” In a way it was very funny – but yes, it did sound scary! We then started chatting to a guy in blue R&R sport kit behind us …. Tony, a Kiwi! He casually mentioned to me that he was in Canada untill the end of July. Curious me, of course I wanted to know if its all holiday – No, he was going to attend the 24 hour World Championships in Canmore later that month. My reaction: “Wow, you must be really good.” Tony laughed, and told me that he was the New Zealand 24hour Champion!... No, that was so totally not intimidating!! What was I thinking when I entered this race!! While waiting our turn (registration was not a fast process) we also started chatting to Dave, a quiet (or so we thought) local from Vancouver Island.

Overall the registration process was ok but rather tedious. It took a lot longer than we expected. Once done, we had 2 hours to the compulsory race briefing. Trever, Kati and myself were discussing how and where we could eat lunch (the plan was to send Trever out to get us something ;-) While we were discussing this in the parking garage (where the bikes and bags were stored) Dave joined us. He kindly offered to take us in his truck…. (he had no idea what he was letting himself in for!) We were still discussing this when Tony joined us – he was on his hard tail 29er! Kati immediately invited Tony to join us for lunch – we had a “bakkie” and everybody can hop on – no problem. Dave just looked at her – a bit shell shocked.. and then very politely made it clear that, no, in Canada that was not permitted, people were not allowed on the back of a truck. But hey, this was no SA “bakkie”, this was an American truck – there was enough space for all five of us in the front! So off we went, driving through Vancouver. I was crouched on the floor between the 2 little “back” seats behind the driver and passenger seat. After we had driven for a while, I could not help but wonder… we were in downtown Vancouver, and surely there were loads of possible lunch places close by – so where was he taking us? We ended up at a really interesting and funky place (no clue where this was), had lunch and got used to having a conversation in 4 different accents… Yes, we all had an accent, even Trever, the American (or is should we say US’aian given that Canada is also in America?) Not sure what it was – but from then on we five stuck together and became great friends!

Back to the race briefing, which started as scheduled. It was all ok - until Brooks (BC BR Security officer) came on. He was going to tell us about the bears and cougars out there. The route was bad enough, but at least I was in control – I can always get off the bike and walk… but a bear, that freaked me out! Yes, I was really nervous. Kati kept saying don’t be nervous, it is the similar to people coming to SA who are scared of seeing snakes… well maybe, but bears are slightly bigger! Here what we were told: Black and Brown bears - fight back and fight hard. Brown bears with a hump on the back (aka Grizzly) - curl up, protect your neck and head with your hands, braise yourself as you are in for a rough ride! Cougars: hmmm, don’t let them out of sight, they prowl and attack from behind, make yourself as big as possible and fight back! Brookes also issued an appeal to all Solo riders to please find a buddy, to team up and to ride together –and he added: “If you are lost, spoon!” Yes, it was funny, but I could not help but wonder… here we were – all 5 of us Solo riders, and the race organizers were emphasizing the importance of finding buddies to not be out there alone! Hmm… if it was that important, why do they allow Solo riders in the first place?!

And then we all headed home – to get ready for day one. That night when I went to bed my last thoughts were…WHAT WAS I THINKING?!

Day One – THE North Shore
Chris drove me to the start on the North Shore. Soon after we arrived, we bumped into Tony and Dave. Later Kati and Trevor pitched as well. Both Kati and myself had the little Springbokkies perched on our helmets…. At least Tony knew what they were! But they also helped to connect with the other 4 South Africans who were in the back of the field. Yes we were rather nervous – the big question was: how much better than we was everybody else? Would we be the very last to cross the finish line? And then suddenly we were off – the race was on…it seemed unreal!

Luckily Trever had given us a run down on how the route marking worked – pink ribbon with the BC BR logo was to be followed, not to be confused with the orange or other coloured ribbons found out there everywhere. A few ribbons dangling on the right indicate a right hand turn at that spot, no pink ribbon for a while is a good indication that you are probably off route and in the process of getting lost.

The route took us along the “pipeline”, “bridal path”, “Baden Powel” and “Severed Dick” (apparently this is named after a guy who had a close encounter with a tree on this section) – wow, this is not cross country riding – this is downhill type terrain! Mad what the Canadians deem ridable! Before we left Cape Town, I had read about the Mountain bike routes on Mt. Fromme and Seymour, I had never dreamt that they would actually make these routes part of the race – way too technical!

As it turned out, everybody around us was walking the sections too. Two noisy Mexicans were laughing more than anything else, it was rather funny! In between the technical bits we actually had two road climbs, so at least we spent that time riding our bikes! 3 and quite bit hours later I rode across the finish line for day one! Day one was done, only 6 to go and apparently the rest was much easier! Can you believe it – my bike and me - we did the North Shore (I never said I rode it ;-))

Kati and Trever were still staying at the B&B. That evening Dave, Tony, Sarah (another Kiwi) and myself went to the local pub for a beer and discuss day one. Can you believe it – both the guys (Tony and Dave) had ridden most of the route – including the “Walk Zone” (=compulsory portage as it was really hectically steep and rooty) ! Of all 370 riders, only 14 riders rode the walk zone, 9 of them made it! .. hmm, nope, Dave was not one of the 9! He crashed and got a good knock on his head and helmet! Mad!!!

Extract from Brandon Stewarts Blog about day one: “Well today had to be one of the most amazing riding days of my life.. The most craziest downhill technical sections I have ever ridden or even seen for a XC bike…..…Knew it was going to technical but man it was crazy to say the least “

Day Two – Vancouver Island: Nanaimo to Parksville
Day Two started with a bus ride to the ferry. We collected our bagged breakfast and were packed into American school busses (not much leg room!). The ferry ride took us to Vancouver Island, it was really beautiful - as beautiful as I remembered that part of the world to be! We were incredibly lucky with the weather – we had sunshine all the way from day one to day 7! The route profile for day two looked almost harmless - only 1200 m climbing. But I soon learned that meters climbing (nor downhill) meant anything in this event. A technical single track climb can be much harder than a dirt road climb of twice the steepness. A downhill can be steep and technical which makes it hard!

Day 2 started with beautiful riding – great trails and yes, they were free flowing…up until just after the first Aid station. Here we hit new cut single track. This consists of loose sand, roots, rocks, totally uneven ground, not compacted and it makes riding really tough (and its also tough to hike-a-bike on this terrain!) Not only was it difficult to ride, but at times its more energy sapping to keep getting on and off the bike than simply staying off the bike. It was a hard day and by the end of it I was totally battered… bruised legs and stiff muscles. But, hey my new friends came to welcome me at the finish.. that almost made it all worth it!

By now we had also figured out that in Canada they do not put up any arrows or warning signs, nor 3 arrows pointing down to warn you of hazards coming up! There is nothing!! Hence you never know what you might find around the corner or on the other side of the incline! But as Dave said rightly – they would have to put up signs to warn you about the signs. Somebody else suggested: well, they can just put up the sign at the beginning of the race – Hazards from here onwards till the finish line!

On day one, when Dave saw my bike, he commented on the bar ends. Apparently nobody in Canada rides with bar ends as the trees are too narrow. Well – after having hooked trees and berry bushes on both days (one and two), I asked Trever to please take them off for me! Wow – that made a huge difference to my riding the next day – much easier to maneuver through the trees! Why did I not do this sooner?

I am not sure how we got to have the best arrangement ever going for our group of 5 … Tony, who always come in amongst the top 10 finishers, grabbed us all a tent together, and by the time I came across the finish line, my bag had been collected and placed into my tent! And if I really pushed it, one of the guys would grab my bike and deal with it for me! What a pleasure… what awesome guys!

(Extracted from Brandon’s blog: “Today was 70km with 1200meters of climbing so it was pretty flat but the single track was crazy again. The first 45km was just single track but so hard and technical that it was really tuff. The descents were steep and tricky and the climbs were so steep and sharp that it hurt the legs. My whole body was so sore when I finished..)

That night, when I went to sleep (after I managed to squeeze a massage out of the massage team in an attempt to not feel so battered and stiff..) I was still asking myself… what was I thinking?! Was this race ever going to get easier?

Day Three – Vancouver Island: Cumberland (circular route)
This was an awesome day with beautiful riding! I had a really great time out there for most of the day… Shortly after the second aid station, we climbed a hill. This hill was definitely not on the profile map, but then the maps we were given never quite reflected reality anyway! But at the next t-junction it all seemed wrong – there was no pink ribbon to be seen on either side of the junction, no indication whether to turn left or right. Two guys who were ahead of me came back. The verdict: we were lost… slowly but surely other riders came up the climb and joined our confused state. Then luckily a crew member on the motorbike appeared! Well, yes, the route marking had been changed! We then saw a quad bike arriving – the guys on the bike carried a BC Bike Race sign and as soon as they saw us they dropped the sign and sped off! Route tampering!!! Apparently this is not uncommon in Canada – non riders tamper with the route marking! Unfortunately the Marshall did not know were the route was supposed to be, so he asked us to stay together and wait until he got support and a proper route indication. As we waited, more and more riders caught up with us… we must have been close to 20 or so. Eventually he sent us off, asking us to please stick together until we are sure it was the right route. After riding for a while we came to a tarred road with no marshals, and no pink ribbons anywhere to be seen! Wrong again – we backtracked to the last marshaled point and finally found the route and carried on. We had spent close to an hour out there trying to figure out where to go… bummer, I had lost a bit of enthusiasm by then! When I finally crossed the finish line, my four friends were waiting there for me. They had been worried about me!!! How special is that! Kati gave me a cup of coke and said – you have to get to dinner in 5 minutes! Wow – I was kind of overwhelmed, but apparently that night, if we did not make our dinner slot, we would not get food! Once again my friends were awesome! Dave took the bike off me, cleaned it and checked it in at Obsession bikes for a service (The chain was slipping of onto the BB). The others went ahead to grab me a spot at dinner – and if I was not going to make it, at least try to get me a plate of food! I went to put on a t-shirt and shorts (no shower) and headed out to join them at dinner! The guys were just laughing at me! Dirty legs and all!! But the food went down at treat – and so did the Hot Chocolate from the shop on the way back! Best recovery ever - straight from the finish line to dinner!!

Day Four – back on main land: Earl’s Cove to Sechelt
Wow – wake up call at 04h30 to catch the bus, a ferry, another bus and another ferry to the start line at Earl’s Cove. Breakfast was on the ferry and was great - loads of food!! As always the 5 of us sat together and had good fun! By now I had figured out that I was always taking almost exactly double the time as Tony did – if he was aiming for 3 hours – I would be out there for 6! As we arrived at the start I saw my bike hanging in the stands of the bike shop – it had not been touched!! Now that does wonders for the nerves- 20 min to go till start at 11h00 and my bike was still to be serviced/fixed. After a small battle with the bike mechanic, we got the bike to be race ok… 10 min work and they wanted to charge 69 Canadian Dollars! I was stunned, but was not going to deal with this before race start. I just took the bike and went to the start – to be addressed later! ( I did speak to them later and they did agree with me – we came to an agreement and I paid 20 Dollars)

It is the 1st of July, Canada Day! It was a public holiday and everybody in the village was standing along the road – proudly holding the red flag with the maple leaf, cheering us on. We asked Dave what the significance of Canada Day was – and why the 1st of July. Dave’s response: Canada never had to fight for independence.. the British probably got bored and let us go. So we just celebrate… and we chose the first of July so we are ahead of the US .. just to piss them off ;-)

Day 4 was a horrendous day … not only was there a lot of ups and downs, it also had a horrible hike a bike section and on top of all of this I got lost (this time all on my own – I was too focused on clearing the tree trunk across the road that I did not notice that we were meant to turn right just before the trunk ;-).. I carried on straight on the road – 2 climbs and a downhill later I reached a t-junction… no ribbons!! ARGH!!!! How do I manage to do this to myself? And as icing on the cake for this day, the deer flies launched their attack on us. These things are as big as our horse flies with a vicious bite. And they seem to hang out in a crowd – not one, but many come and bite you! Horrible things!

After the second aid station we got more gnarly singletrack. By then I had hit a serious low and was battling to keep going, my body was shaking. My polar watch’s distance indicator was all out, it had stopped working for a while, plus I added extra kms while getting lost, so I had no clue how much further it was to the finish. At that point, all I wanted was to see a person, a marshal, anybody who could advise how much further it was or at least encourage me to carry on. Nothing, nobody – between aid station 2 and 3kms from the finish - not one representative of BC BR! I was stunned (As there were only 370 riders in the race we were very often out there alone with no fellow riders around) I crossed the finish line at 18h30 that night, totally exhausted. Sarah (the Kiwi) came past and asked me how my ride went .. …hmmm, I just burst out in tears! She was a real honey and said she’d call my friends. I was sitting on the grass trying to regroup and get control of it all, when suddenly somebody gave me this huge, warm hug… it was the best thing ever – exactly what I needed to feel safe and not so alone out there! Slowly but surely, Life seemed ok again. And that night I actually managed to go to bed without wanting to pull out of the race! Thanks Dave – you don’t know what you did for me! However, as it turned out and it was really good to hear – everybody had a really bad day out there… even Tony (all of 4 hours!)! But while you are out there battling it out on your own, you don’t know this! So you think its just you! Apparently the route was 11 kms longer and had 300 m more climbing than advertised…and all this after a 04h30 wake up call and an 11 o’clock start…. Go figure!

During the day, Sarah actually tumbled of one of the bridges – yes, one of the higher ones. She fell onto her backpack – which acted as a good airbag, and other than a shock, she was fine. This became a joke for the race… her “team” name was “This Kiwi can’t fly”… so did she try to proof this wrong?

Day 5 - Sechelt to Langdale Ferry
I am not sure whether it was because Day 4 was so horrendous or whether it was really easier, but day 5 was a really good day for me! Yes, long, but great riding and a lot more time was spent on my bike than walking next to it! There were stretches of wide and (believe it or not) flowing single track, really beautiful stuff! And at the aid stations I bumped into Dave… which was really great too. All good …and then it happened, I came around the corner and there he was - the big black bulky cuddly bear. He just happened to step onto the path approximately 50 meters from me! Wow, did I hit the breaks hard and came to a standstill within seconds! Eeeesh…. So that’s what it is like to come face to face with a bear. The bear was standing there looking at me! Was I scared? I am not sure… but I was really not to sure what to do. Brookes only told us what to do when they fight, not when they just stand there and look at you. I then decided to politely shout: “Please go away!!” He shook his head and ran off! Phew….good thing they listen! But now what? I had to carry on and ride past the spot where he had been (yes, this was in a forest and he could be hiding behind the next tree!). Should I wait for somebody behind me to catch up and ride with me, or should I carry on?! I decided to pedal really hard and fast and ride past. My heart rate probably hit max very quickly. But retrospectively it was really, really awesome to see a black bear out there…. And a polite one! How lucky!!

When I arrived at the finish at the ferry terminal, they were busy dismantling everything – no other rider was left there! It was horrible – and I was not even the last rider coming in! How could they do this to us?! Send everybody off on the ferry and start clean up before we were even home? I was told that I had 2 hours till the next ferry would leave and hence could take my time. So I started to wash my bike, clean myself and relax. Suddenly, I was shouted at to hurry up and get down to the ferry. The lady was kind of harsh (probably stressed), but I was glad to get on the ferry and to find my friends again! It was a horrible finish for me – to arrive at a deserted place after a hard day out there is not great!

We headed to Squamish for the night. When the bus arrived Tony (who had been home for hours) welcomed us all and led us to our tents (first class customer service ;-) …. Well chosen, our tents were at the back in the middle and against the fence – well out of the way of any meandering bear. That evening, while lying in my tent (by then the bruised and beaten up body had gotten used to snuggling into the seriously hard and thin foam mattresses) I had different thoughts: “Why did the bear step out onto the road when I came along when there are 370 other riders out there.. Why me, the one who has been particularly nervous about meeting them up close and personal? Maybe it is true that by being so nervous and thinking about it, my energy was out there and attracting him?! Whether it was true or not, I made a deal with myself… for the rest of the race, I was NOT going to think about Grizzlies or Cougars at all, ever, no matter what! One bear was enough!

Day 6 - Squamish
On day six, guest and celebrity riders joined us for the day’s ride. As we were riding out of town, I was asked whether I was a celebrity rider! Ha-ha...maybe wearing Cape Epic shorts triggered this – or Bokkie on my helmet?!

As the route took us onto the first single track section, two of the guest riders really got on my nerves. They kept chatting and commenting about the route, how often they had done this already and asking whether the BC Bike Riders would ride this or that section or get off the bike and walk it. Eventually I stopped to let them go, it was getting too irritating! And then, at the first Aid station, they pulled out – this route was just a little too tough for them! Ha-Ha I could not help but think – next time try humble pie first!

It was a day with lots of good riding and some good “hike-a-bike” too… Dave was around me frequently (he had a broken chain, a slow puncture and a buggered knee) We even stopped for picnic and a catch up with the medics. The medics themselves here are in downhill kit and have the downhill bike right there with them so that they can get to us when needed. As we left the medics, the Mexicans (who have been my on and off riding mates for the past few days) arrived. The medic told us that the next stretch of single-track was free flowing, flat and downhill – totally ridable. We carried on riding with great anticipation.. but Canadian free flowing and flat is slightly different to what we would deem free flowing and flat… and yes, it was not all downhill. Shortly after on a stretch which was a little technical and definitely climbing, Sergio lost his sense of humour…flat and free flowing my ass!! But it was really, really funny and he laughed too later!!

(…to put my experience into perspective, I thought I add what the professionals (aka Brandon Stewart) had to say about Day 6… copied straight from his Blog…”Well today was a beast of a day.. The course was amazing but I was so tired my body feels like I have been 10 rounds with Mike Tyson.. I have never done 10 rounds with him before but it must hurt like hell. It was 50km today with 2000 meters of climbing in steep single track so it really hurts. …... My upper body was so tired I couldn’t even hold on on the downhill sections anymore…. The single track was incredible it’s something that you can’t even explain but today was also super technical. In South Africa no matter where you ride it doesn’t get anywhere near this stuff. …”)

Donna, Tony’s wife arrived that evening and they headed to Whistler… to sleep in a soft bed! We were all envious – but then again, we are hard core and one more night on the hard mattresses was nothing!

That evening in Squamish, we (Dave, Dan and Don from Calgary and me) went to have a Frosty (Milkshakes) at Wendy’s in the village. After fighting many mozzies while walking there, we caught a taxi back, they were too persistent! As we arrived back at the tent village, we were told that a bear was in the area! Well done Tony for choosing the tents furthers away from where he was. As we got to the tents, I went to “steal” Tony’s mattress in an attempt to add a bit of padding for the last night. While I did this, Dave noticed that Tony had forgotten his shoes and helmet! If Tony was not going to come back that night – Dave was going to pretend we never found the shoes and see what Tony’s reaction would be (he was only lying 3rd overall!) per race start…. Ideally he would get really angry and then ride hard to win ;-) But not all of us are good at keeping a straight face when pulling a prank…so Tony soon figured out we were leading him on! But the relief was very visible in his face when Dave gave him the shoes...

Day 7 – Whistler
It’s Day seven of the BC Bike Race 2009 and we are in Whistler…. Can you believe it! The last day and I made it all the way! Before the start, Dave discovered that he had a flat tire…bugger, I gave him my tube. Risky yes, but hey I ended up not needing it! The start of the route was up a really steep slope with loose rocks – everybody was walking, even Tony and his 29er. It makes you wonder… did we really have to go up that one particular slope when there are so many others around? The rest of the route however was beautiful. Much easier than I expected Whistler to be! Yes, a few technical section, steep drop offs, tunnel vision and some bridges…down rock faces and other things, but nothing I could not deal with (either on or off the bike). Great aid stations, and all good ..and then we had a 2 km road climb, just as we got to the finish! Again, this was definitely not on the route profile! But to be honest, it was not too bad… just a steady climb, followed by a steep hike-a-bike up wooden stairs and the last downhill section! And as I came into Creek Side at Whistler, Tony and Donna came walking towards the finish, Trever, Dave and Kati were sitting close to Bob, the bear at the finish …And then I crossed the finish line and everybody was there. Hugs and congratulations were shared! What an awesome finish! Can you believe it!! I (we) did it…hmmm…Nope, I still don’t know what I was thinking!!!

Celebratory drinks at Dusty’s and veggie burgers for lunch! We had to get our luggage and bags sorted by 17h00. We were all waiting for prize giving – to see Tony on podium, and guess what?! They cocked it all up – they gave the trophies to the stage winners instead to the overall winners. As Tony would have said: Wankers! … But as true friends would, both Trever and Dave went to the race organizers to let them know that we think they messed up! By the time they “fixed” this I had given up and was in the shower. .. It was all over! It was unbelievable! I made it…all the way!!! My shoes were totally buggerd, but duct tape worked and kept them together for the last 2 days. I showed the to the Shimano Marketing manager from Japan (the race sponsors) and as per his email received today – the replacements are on their way to me.

We had 2 great days in Whistler after the race. Dave hitchhiked to Vancouver to fetch his truck while Kati and me tried to spend money in Whistler village; instead we bumped into Tony and Donna at Starbucks. Trever and family headed up the gondola for the day. That night we had a really great dinner – all of us and Sarah (the Kiwi who still can’t fly) - great food and super company. Tony, Donna and I headed up on the gondola the following morning – riding from Whistler mountain to Black Comb and back – to see the views and enjoy the scenery. When Dave dropped me off in Whistler that morning to meet them both, I almost fell out of the truck - I had forgotten how big it was!

When we came down the mountain, we met Dave, Kati and Sarah for lunch… it was farwell time! We were going to hit the road to Vancouver and leave Tony and Donna behind! It was sad to say good bye to great people! Dave dropped me and my bike of at Starbucks in North Vancouver where Chris was going to fetch me. The truck, Dave, Sarah and Kati carried on to Vancouver Island. Seeing them drive off in the huge truck was also sad…. a slow start to getting back to reality.... like a slow puncture! A great time had come to an end – it was almost as if we had lived in this bubble and wow what an experience it was and what awesome people! As Sarah said in her email to me:” Hard to know whether it was just because we were on holiday or whether we would all have got on so well if we had met while doing the day to day drudgery stuff - probably would have, maybe it is a certain kind of person that is dim enough to do the BC Bike race!!!” Well… you dim people – I do miss you guys – a lot!

Thanks for all your support! I know that without you all it would have been have as much fun and definitely a lot harder…..

I spent my last loonies and toonies (a loony is a one dollar coin…and yes, 2 dollar coin is known as a toonie) in Duty Free… I bought a small stuffed black bear wearing a Canadian top. He is Bokkies replacement, as Bokkie stayed with the Kiwis as a mascot for Worlds! Bob, my little bear, is proudly wearing the New Zealand Fern needle on his shirt and keeps me company. While Bokkie survived a tough ride, perched on my helmet being hit by many branches and flying insects, Bob is in for a cushy ride.. He is sitting in my Audi ;-)