Almost a whole week without the computer...yikes...actually it's been nice; read a book in 2 days flat, get to bed early. So now I'll lump days 2,3,4 and 5 into a quick update before I fall asleep.
Day 2 - Naniamo to Parksville
Early morning ferry from Van to Naniamo, oh yeah, 15 min late ferry. Nothing like a run in bike shoes across the tarmac to grab our bikes, pee behind the car and run to the start line. You'd think with everyone in the race on the ferry, and the ferry ebing late that they'd postpone the start at least a couple mins...nope. It was a rolling neutral start through Naniamo for about 20 mins, but once the police cruiser cleared the path it was allllllll out. The day ended up being a long day pre-dominately new, rough, remote singletrack. I am totally ashamed to say that I was actually excited to hit the gravel road for a couple kms...I don't think my arms/fingers/shoulders/bum...everything could have handled much more. Jeff and I had a great day and finished 2nd.
Day 3 - Cumberland
After a crazy windy night on the Parksville beach (didn't know that a tent could bend that way), we took an early bus ride to Cumberland. Wow...awesome trails, sooooo fun, I would totally go back there to ride. I hit a wall half way through but the only thing that got me through (besides Jeff giving me the occasional push) was Jeff's insistance that "Space Nugget", the last trail out, was totally worth all the pain...and wow it totally was. Had to let out a couple of yippees and yeehaws through there, and finished 2nd on the day again.
Day 4 - Earls Cove to Sechelt
Really, the 4:30 am wake up call from the chicken is not the best way to wake up...I wanted to throttle that thing this morning. Day 4 started with a 30 min bus ride to the ferry, 90 min ferry ride to Powell River, 45 min bus ride to ????, 45 min ferry ride to Earls Cove..yikes. And the race started on the road right. This day I was in a world of hurt all day. The pace started pretty mellow as everyone needed to warm up just a little, but it didn't stay like that for long. There was a lot of climbing, a lot of powerline riding , a lot of hike a bike (felt a little like the Transrockies..which is totally cool when you're expecting the Transrockies), and 1 hour into the 4 1/2 hour ride I blew. Thanks to the best partner Jeff 'f" Nielson, who had to practically drag and pull me the entire race we finished 4th (after getting lost and loosing 3rd in the process). I totally owe Jeff a litre of DQ for that one :)
Day 5 - Sechelt to Langdale
Early morning (theme - early monrings). Best course so far. I totally can't do justice on this course trying to explain it, so I won't evem try, but if you get the chance to ride out here...do it!!!! Jeff and I had a pretty good day, lots of fun, finished 3rd, battling it out with Pat Doyle and Geoff Clark at the finish...hehe.
Tomorrow - Squamish
Ciao for now
1 comment:
Great job on the race! How did you like the last day in Whistler, isn't that something to make you smile:)
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