The British Columbia Bike Race - The Pacific Traverse is a 7 day mountain bike stage race from Victoria to Whistler, July 1st - 7th, 2007. Teams of 2 or 4 riders ride over 500. For full information go to www.bcbikerace.com
On a day when Canada celebrated its 140th year of nationhood, nearly 200 mountain bikers from all over North America and beyond commemorated a birth — the birth of B.C. Bike Race — The Pacific Traverse.
Indeed, July 1's Canada Day was also day one of the seven-stage mountain bike epic that will see riders cover over 500 kilometers as they make their way from the southern reaches of Vancouver Island all the way to the famed trails of Whistler.
Stage 1
Up first was a 108-kilometer, northward journey on Vancouver Island from the working class town of Sooke to scenic Lake Cowichan. The Andreas Hestler-designed course featured everything from smooth logging road and reclamated rail trail, to swoopy fast singletrack through dense rainforest.
Stage 2
For 70-plus kilometers everything was reasonably calm, as riders rolled up and down along the logging roads that helped bridge the 118km stage 2 gap between Lake Cowichan and Port Alberni. Then the climbing commenced, as profile and riders rapidly ascended skyward to the Duck Lake summit. Depending on who you asked among the race's 180 riders, the 700-meter logging road/loose doubletrack climb was mean, cruel, inhuman or simply very steep. But no matter what they said about the trip up, the ride down was a smile-inducing good time.
Stage 3
On Tuesday, the adventurers were the 180 participants of the B.C. Bike Race: The Pacific Traverse, who made the grueling 83-kilometer journey from Port Alberni to Cumberland, which finished on some of the area's best trails, including the devilishly name Bucket of Blood.
Stage 4
Getting out of bed at 5 a.m. is never easy, but the prospect of two spectacular ferry rides made the task a little easier for the riders and staff of the B.C. Bike Race: The Pacific Traverse. When the second ferry pushed into its dock at quaint Earl's Cove it was game time, as riders readied for the 11:15 a.m. start that sent the field on an undulating, 58.5-kilometer run south to the tourist town of Sechelt. The Rod Camposano-designed course was a balanced mix of logging road, doubletrack and famed Sunshine Coast singletrack. There was also one nasty uphill that had most riders on and off their bikes most of the way up the steep, singletrack climb.
Stage 5
A 58-kilometer fun ride from Sechelt to the Langdale Ferry Terminal. The area is known as the Rat Race Trail System, but it's humans that have all the fun on these buff and fast rainforest trails.
“This was the best day so far,” said Jennifer Keefer, who along with partner Jen Sawrenko, took the stage win in the women's race, stopping the four-day unbeaten streak of Team Shore Girls Don't Cry. “There was so much fun, ripping singletrack. We ride the North Shore all the time so we were in our element.”
The previously unbeaten Shore Girls Don't Cry duo of Cynthia Young and Michelle Newton had a tough day, with Newton battling mechanical issues that kept them off the podium all together. Fortunately for the Shore Girls, they came into the day with an hour and 25 minute lead, and were able to hold the top spot in the overall standings.
Stage 6
An arduous 58-kilometer journey from Squamish to Whistler. The sheer amount of climbing — over 2500 meters — was daunting enough. But when you added in an extensive menu of technical trails and black diamond descending, it was enough to make some of the event's 160 hardened riders cry — literally.
Stage 7
The Whistler Time-Trial On yet another glorious sun-splashed day in British Columbia, the inaugural BC Bike Race: The Pacific Traverse came to an end on July 7, 2007.
Overall results
Team of 2 Open Women Category - Cumulative Awards Listing
1st Place 35:19:19 54 SHORE GIRLS DON'T CRY Cynthia YOUNG 28
Michelle NEWTON 41 North Vancouver S
2nd Place 36:31:03 58 THE JENERATORS Jennifer KEEFER 31
Jen SAWRENKO 30 Vancouver S
3rd Place 37:52:26 57 TEAM TUNNELVISION Emma SMITH 26 London L
Sarah O'BYRNE 29 Whistler S
Team of 2 Open Mixed Category - Cumulative Awards Listing
1st Place 32:16:20 40 CRYSTAL MOUNTAIN HOTELS Hillary HARRISON
Ryan WATTS
2nd Place 33:50:36 46 TEAM BC Lesley CLEMENTS
Matthew BODKIN
3rd Place 35:14:01 44 SAN DIEGO TREK Greg NOROMBABA
Lisa RIEHL
In the women's two-person category, Team North Shore Girls Don't Cry (Cynthia Young and Michelle Newton) scored their sixth stage win, stopping the clock in 2:32:33. The North Shore Girls also won the overall title, with a cumulative time of 35:19:15.
“We thought we could get on the podium, but we didn't come here thinking about winning,” said Newton, a homeopath and mother of three. “We spent 55 minutes on the side of the trail with a mechanical on stage 5, but came back and only ended up losing 17 minutes. Just to finish all seven days is an amazing accomplishment.”
Second place overall in the women's category was locked down by the two Jenns, Keefer and Sawrenko (The Jennerators) who finished with a cumulative mark of 36:31:03. Team Tunnel Vision (Emma Smith and Sarah O'Byrne) were third overall, in 37:52:26. Smith and O'Byrne met last summer in Whistler, the same time they both started mountain biking.
“It took us a few stages to learn how to work together,” admitted O'Byrne. “But we figured it out. We were constantly just asking each other, 'You good?' and if the other person didn't answer you knew there was a problem. Thankfully that didn't happen very often.”
Overall, 69 two-person teams completed all seven stages of the first BC Bike Race. There were also two four-person squads that made it all the way to Whistler, plus six solo finishers who lost teammates to injuries or illness somewhere along the way.
Possibly the most impressive feat of all was turned in by the husband and wife duo of Jochen and Diane Faber. The couple drove more than 2000 miles from Ann Arbor, Michigan, then battled hard everyday on their way to an honorable seven-day total of 50:13:36. It was the slowest mark of any official finisher — and more than double Trek-VW's time — but maybe that means they had twice the fun.
Elly Nash
