BC Bike Race: Day 6

Distance: 29.28 miles
Elevation: 4304 ft
Time: 6 hours
Difficulty: Best Day of the Race!

Theme of the day: Rock Gardens are NOT my friend. Beer Gardens are!

So today started out a little rocky, as when we got to breakfast we were informed that today’s route would be 60K instead of the advertised 48K. That was a bit of a blow, as after 5 hard days of riding, we were looking forward to a slightly shorter one. But at the end of the day, what’s an extra 12K after the 250K + we had already completed?

So we set out through the town of Squamish for our last BIG day of the race. There were promises of big climbs and sweeping descents, and they didn’t disappoint on either front! We started out with a bunch of up, some on the road, some on fire trail, and some on single track. Up, and up, and up! Surprisingly, as the week has gone on, my legs have felt stronger. What’s more, most people, while definitely more prepared for the technical terrain than I, were certainly NOT prepared for the climbing or the endurance of it. So today, I was riding with and passing people I hadn’t encountered all week!

After about 20K of uphill we hit a trail called “Half Nelson” - it was a seriously banked, rollercoaster of a trail, that if you knew how to ride it, would have been the highlight of the week! I had some trouble at the start of it, but by half way down, I had found a rhythm and was giggling to myself as I made my way down…it was some serious fun! Good thing, as after that, we hit a trail called “The Plunge”, which was aptly named for its steepness, but threw in an extra dose of a complete rock garden! It was relentless! Even if I could ride it, I don’t know why I would want to…it was so jarring!  Needless to say, I walked most of this section of trail, but this was the only part of the day that I really did so.

We hit aid station 2 at 40K and most of the folks around me were looking pretty haggard. They were grasping for food, and seriously not wanting to get back on their bikes. I chatted a few people up, ate a bunch of orange slices, and wait for it - ate a banana and LIKED IT! So weird! It must have been out of desperation! J

I took off from the aid station with a fellow triathlete, who was also new to mt. biking. We chatted a bit on the climb out of the aid station, then hit a legitimate ramp to head onto our next bit of single track. The rest of the day was single track similar to what I’m used to at Tamarancho, so I was right at home! It was rolling, with some roots and rocks, some steepish ascents and descents with some rocks and switchbacks thrown in. Flashes of Zoolander came to mind as I made all the left handed switchbacks, but failed on 2 or 3 right handed ones. I just can’t turn right!

So at 2:30 pm, I hit the road, and a volunteer said it was just 3K to the finish - a full 10K shorter than the 60K advertised in the morning! Apparently they thought it would be funny to mess with us on Day 6! At the end of the day, it didn’t matter, and was a pleasant surprise in the end. It meant I was just that much closer to the finish line and the beautiful, beautiful beer garden and pizza that awaited me!

Tomorrow is a mere 20K in Whistler, which promises to  be challenging, but fun and short at the same time!

p.s. There will be pictures, GPS data and VIDEO coming shortly after the race. We just haven't had the time or energy to coordinate it all this week.