My bike and bags are packed. Tomorrow I catch the 6am flight to Vancouver. Then a coach- ferry-coach-taxi combo to our hotel in Victoria. Tomorrow will be a long day.
Daily race results and race reports will be posted here. Photos, video clips and other random stuff will be posted daily here.
On the surface BC Bike Race looks much like Trans Rockies - I'm racing in the mixed category with team mate Dave again and it is a seven day mountain bike stage race in Canada. There the similarities end. At Trans Rockies we rolled out of bed, ate some breakfast and started. Often the start line was within view of our RV. This time around there are some amazing logistics involved with buses, ferries and one day even a zip-line transfer to the start. The race staff are being uber creative to put us on the best trails they have. Also we are in a tent not an RV. No luxury package for us this year.
BCBR has a very different flow than TR had. We went to TR to win. We peaked for it and set up everything possible for the win - and we won :-) Since then both of us have smashed our collar bones into multiple pieces and had titanium plates inserted. The acronym BCBR - Broken Collar Bone Rehab - is not lost on us. Mine is most recent. After surgery I asked Dave the burly question - did he want to get a replacement team mate for me? It looked like it would be a tight time squeeze to get my strength and fitness back by the start. He stuck with me and I have built my fitness back nicely. I'm lighter and my threshold power is higher than it was at TR last year. I come into BCBR with no recent racing under my belt so still a bit unsure of what my legs have to offer.
Towing was allowed at TR and is not allowed at BCBR. At TR last year we were towing 4 miles off the start line on day One but put away the towline halfway through day 3. I made some mistakes in my role on the team last year. We learned a lot last year about our strengths and how to race effectively as a team. This year we go in with our strategy more refined.
Most of all BCBR is about chasing white moments, riding my bike a ton, enjoying some rad trails in BC, laughing with Dave and seeing some big and beautiful scenery. I can't think of a much better way than that to spend a week.