BC Bike Race here we come!!!

Starting Saturday June 28th and finishing July 4th we'll be racing the BC Bike Race.  

FOLLOW US OVER THE NEXT WEEK BY CHECKING OUT THE DAILY UPDATES AND PHOTOS ON THE BC BIKE RACE WEBPAGE

Should be fun!

RIDING BIKES IS FUN!

 Saturday June 14th: TEST OF METAL. 

Riding bikes is fun!  Especially when you get to do it with a bunch of your friends & hundreds of other inspirational people.  The Test of Metal course was in stellar condition this past weekend and many PB's were made,  records were broken (go Wendy!).. so were a few bikes (see Todd Nowack's story), and a few bones (ouch Gary!).   

Team HHVI had an awesome weekend at the Test of Metal, coming home with two age- category medals (Jeff was 1st in Male 20-29, Kristenn was 2nd in Female 30-34) and a 'guess I'm not retiring' statement from Justin who had a great race, but came a minute shy of his goal of a sub-3hr finish.  

It was awesome to see so many people from the 'Rock' do so well and have so much fun out there!   There were many familiar faces from the Island Cup racing circuit &  Arrowsmith Mountain Bike Club doing so well in the elite category & others having podium finishes in the age category classes, including Justin's Mom Mary, who (you can tell by the photo below) was a bit surprised by her awesome finishing time.

Campbell River 50km Trail Challege 2008

Yesterday we rode the Campbell River 50km of Single Track. It’s not a huge event, but the course is absolutely epic. I think the Campbell River guys who organize it put it together just because they can, which is an amazing feat really, linking together 25km of singletrack trail through the beautiful Snowden Demonstration Forest Trail System and having us ride two laps. It’s in a remote location, the pre-race discussion included warnings about a number of bears that frequent the area and how important it was not to get hurt… unless you were willing to wait 3-4hrs suffering with your injury while someone came to rescue you!

From Team Helly Hensen Vancouver Island Jeff, Justin and I completed the race. We’ve each got a race report to share, I can tell you that the highlight of my day was learning from the mid-course feed-zone people that Jeff was doing exactly what I expected he’d do and was ‘flying’ through the course in first place. Go Jeff Go! Justin completed the Rat Race on the Sunshine Coast less than 24hrs prior to the start of the 50km, I think the guy is a machine!

KRISTENN'S REPORT:

I’m not going to get into many of the gory details of my race other than to say “that course kicked my ass”. I don’t know how many of you reading this can relate to what that really means, but I can’t think of a better way to word it. The race was two laps of the same 25km course, there were some beauty sections of flowing fun single track but the majority of the trail was an unrelenting battle to initiate and maintain momentum to get over roots, rocks, logs and lumpy terrain. With only 30 or 40 riders in the event the majority of us were riding in complete solitude. I think the loneliness lets your mind do even funnier things… I went from moments of singing on my bike, loving the trail to near fury wanting to toss my bike in the woods, and let’s not even get into the debate that went on in my head about quitting or continuing that second lap! I’m so glad that super-support-crew Carey just smiled and supported me for the 5 minutes I was at the lap point stuffing food in my mouth and bitching about my crappy riding! I finished the race in approximately 5.5 hrs, which was what I had predicted for the course, but I think my biggest disappointment was in myself and my lack of will to attempt some of the sketchy downhill sections. When I look at a sketchy downhill I should be computing lines to ride… all I really see are how many awful ways I could crash!! …so I get off and run, and there’s the end to the momentum that is so critical on these types of trails. Grrrr.

This morning my body is feeling fine, a bit battered, but really not bad at all, which is good, it tells me that training has produced the strength and fitness I need… now I’ve just got to pick up my bruised confidence & convince myself to stay on my freakin’ bike and ride. Dammit.

over & out
K 'all-fear' Mag

JEFF'S REPORT:

Hmmm I thought this was my favorite race, but man it is a tough course. 50 KM of the most technical single track we have on the Island. The venue was excellent at the Nursery near Snowden demonstration forest. These marathon XC races usually have a smaller turnout than the shorter XC races as few beginners usually are willing to brave the single track. I would say there was about 30 racers.
After the start line I hammered up the road and tried to set a quick pace through the first single track section. I noticed right away the exact spot last year where I lost my water bottle in the rough stuff ( I have changed my bottle cage since). Fred (Hodgson) would become familiar with this spot as he lost his water bottle here each lap. I was feeling great going into the race and stumbled a bit on some short rock up hills sections and lost a couple spots. Fred, a younger kid from Quadra Island and Drew Mackenzie went by me. I regained my position a while later as Drew stopped to fish something from his jersey pocket, Fred fumbled on a rocky section and the younger kid seemed to blow-up a bit not anticipating the length of this race. This race is tough in that you have only a few precious sections to drink or take a shot of energy gels from. This being the third year that I have done this race, I always find the second half of the first lap the hardest since you are tired (the race took 3:51) and have a whole other lap to look forward to. I consider my strengths to be brute force, strong climbing and flat section power but this race had very little of it. Drew Mackenzie caught up to me near about km 19 and I kept him in sight where he stopped to let some air out of his front tire. I kept going, passing him and only stopping to grab another water bottle so I put on the gas and pushed hard thinking I would be getting chased. The feeling of getting caught by someone always makes me go faster so I pressed on only to find out at the end that Drew had called her quits at lap 1 and second place was 15 mins back. My favorite section of the race is this false flat down old road grade that snakes through the forest. It feels like you are going light-speed whizzing by the re-grown trees and working through the single track for a few km. At the end I saw Jay there already changed so I gave him a hard time for calling her quits being a wimp with a sore back until I tried to sit down and my lower back was so sore too. I guess it was from all of the aggressive bike handling to negotiate obstacles on the course. Now I was hungry--real hungry and luckily they have the a TACO DEL MAR in Campbell River so once Kristenn finished, we headed over there and I order two mondo burritos. I think it was the Moab trip that Justin and I took that fuelled my burrito addiction and coined the "I'll get a burrito with a side burrito please" phrase.

Jeff 'where does he put those burrito's' Riemer signing out.


JMAR's RACE REPORT

The alarm sounded at 5:00 AM. An hour into the drive up to Campbell River Carey and I drove through a torrential downpour, I was very close to turning the car around and heading home. Having raced the day before in Sechelt, I was exhausted. Fortunately the weather improved as we rolled into Campbell River and I kept reassuring myself that I would benefit from the back to back races during the week of the BC BIKE RACE. Campbell River boasts one of the most challenging and gruelling courses I have ridden. The two 25km loops are almost entirely singletrack and they test not only your legs but your upper body and your concentration. Sections of the course are quite threatening as crash on the sharp rocks would most likely result in a trip to the local hospital. With tired legs I started the race as fast as I could. Trying to keep pace with Riemer, Hodgson and Latiff. 3 minutes into the race, I heard my tire deflate on a section of sharp rocks. 1st flat all race season, and it showed as I botched the first inflate and had to start over. 10 minutes later I set out again, this time in last place. In many ways this was a good thing, as it allowed me to refocus my goals for the race. I told myself that I wanted to work my way up to girls and then try to catch buddy Bill McMillan who's a strong veteran rider. I figured this would put me in the top 10. With tired legs I tried to ride consistently. Slowly, I worked my way up through the pack. As I rode through the feed zone and lap point, I spotted a couple racers who had withdrawn, "Two less to catch up to" I thought to myself. I was told that I was in 6th place as I started my 2nd lap, it took 30 minutes of riding to catch up to Bill, who was having a stellar race. Content with 3rd place I eased back, and dropped a few notches on the suffer meter. I cruised into the finish a shocking 30 minutes behind Riemer, a little embarrassed by gap the, but happy to be doneI kicked back and enjoyed being finished for the weekend. With 2 weeks to go before the TEST I can only hope that I'll be fit enough to put together a sub 3hr performance. Many thanks to the organizers and volunteers of this great race, one of Vancouver's best kept secrets.

Island Cup XC Race Report: Cobble Hill and Wakeboarding

I'm not a huge fan of racing sick. I picked up a nasty bug this week, terrible sore throat and headache that just wouldn't quit. Wednesday and Thursday were spent on the couch and in bed. I never imagined that I could sleep so much. Friday, stir crazy I decided to ride with Jeff for a couple hours. Nothing like feeling like crap and having to keep pace with a greyhound. Saturday we checked out some new trails at Sproat Lake in the Port Alberni area and rode for a solid 3hrs. The trails were great, but my head felt like a football. After sleeping an epic 11hrs Saturday night I awoke feeling better than I had all week, but still suffering from a foggy head. Despite having very little desire to race, Care, Jeff and I made our way down to Cobble Hill. A little community just south of Duncan. The organizers were trying out a new venue. In previous years the race had been held on Maple Mountain. The start of the race was rather unique, as just under 50 racers lined up behind a rock barricade with a 2 foot gap. The course organizer warned us that a group of 8 equestrians had refused to heed warnings are were somewhere out on course. Gotta love island cup racing. The race started in a civilized fashion and there were no crashes as racers yielded to each other through the 2 foot gap in the barrier. Jeff Riemer, wisely deciding to start in the bushes on the other side of the rock barricade and was off like a shot. Not feeling super spry I decided for a back of the pack start. As we started on the climb I was feeling surprisingly strong and started working my way to the front. Passing 2nd place Matt Hewitt at the top of the climb, I decided to try to wheel Jeff back in. It did not go well. 30 seconds into the downhill I missed a turn and took 3 other racers off course. A minute later we reunited with the trail, a little confused where we had gone wrong. Hewitt passed and I had the pleasure of following him for the rest of the lap. It was getting a lesson on how to be smooth. Starting the 2nd lap Matt pulled over with a mechanical and I was almost disappointed as I knew I was faster on his wheel than on my own. Feeling relatively strong I rode on my own for most of the 2nd lap, catching up to Jeff briefly only when his pedal fell off during the climb. I knew this would provide some good ammunition for some ribbing about his mechanical ability, he is after all a mechanical engineer, and quite meticulous about his bike repair. I faded a bit on the 3rd and got caught by Island Cup all star Andrew Kent. Finishing the lap on my own I cruised in for a 3rd place finish. I was knackered, much too tired than I should have been for an hour and a half race. The organizers provided generous draw prizes and I didn't see a single horse the entire race. The course was fantastic, great hard climb and fast flowy singletrack. Bill Macmillan a strong veteran rider who participated in the race, made our day by inviting us to his place on Long Lake for some swimming and wakeboarding. I've never wakeboarded before, but I'm hooked. With my sorethroat and headache receding I'm looking forward to a solid week of training and next weekend's marathon race in Campbell River.

Kristenn's race report; Squamish MOMAR May 10, 2008

What a race!  Many racers, including our fearless Team HHVI leader Justin Mark, are saying it was the toughest MOMAR yet!  With Jeff and I having just one MOMAR under our belts we can only agree that it was tough, real tough!  

For the guys race report see Justin's blog at www.justinmarkplayingoutside.blogspot.com.

For the girls race report... read on...

It's always fun to enter a race with a new teammate, you never know just what to expect.  I knew that Bobbie and I would have fun, there was no doubt about that.  The great thing about Bobbie is that not only is she a super strong fit chick with a huge hurt locker, but she's bloody hilarious!  So there we were getting geared up to race together, her first AR ever and my first in about 4yrs.  I'd never been in charge of navigation before.  I knew I had some map reading skills, but just wasn't sure about implementing them.  Bobbie's comment when I asked her about her nav skills was "I know my role in navigation, it's to follow you".  Nice.  We decided that our #1 goal was to a) cross the finish line smiling and b) have fun along the way!

After we sorted out our gear, borrowed a pack from superstar '07 Squamish MOMAR female champ Carey Sather, and had a little "this is a compass" refresher from Jeff we were all set to head to the start for 8am.  With a sold-out event the start area was a busy place, everyone pouring over maps and trying to time their last bathroom break just right.  Lining up at the start with speedy people and some familiar faces it was nice to feel a part of it all!

The first half hour of the race saw us transition quickly from run to bike and back to run again.  We were into the navigation section before we knew it and wow!  How the heck does everyone figure out where to go so fast??!  We headed off up the service road as I though we'd be better off on some easy terrain to start.  We soon ran into Frontrunners Norm Thibault and Jason Sandquist, which surprised the heck out of us.  We threw some jokes at them and managed to hang on behind them long enough to get lost... and then found... and then to all the checkpoints... so it worked out nicely for us, just added a few extra 'off the map' kms!

Near the end of the navigation I was running along behind Bobbie and noticed only one cycling shoe strapped to the outside of her pack.  "Hey Bobbie?  your other cycling shoe is inside your pack right?".  A startled "NO" came back at me.  Shit.  It was lost on the trail.  Shit.  Backtracking to find it was NOT an option, so onward we ran, wondering silently what the cycling stage would be like for her with only one proper shoe.  BUT, as I've witnessed many times in adventure racing, wonderful people do nice things even when racing... when we got back to the transition area Bobbie's shoe was waiting for us!! Another racer had found it and carried it into transition!  Whoever it was:  THANK-YOU!!!

We jumped onto the bikes and I felt happy again, we were passing teams and making up for lost time (no pun intended!).  The single track was more technically challenging than expected.   I took a header when trying to attempt to ride a drop I didn't time well.  That shook my confidence a little, and everything a bit challenging became ominous and potentially deadly.  I've become very good at getting off and on my bike quickly, I think it's a 'west coast wimp' skill I've picked up, so I put that skill to use and sprinted on foot the sections I didn't want to ride.  Bobbie was a rock-star on the technical descents and we blew past a number of teams.  About 2/3rd's of the way through that long cycling section we got a greeting at one of the check points that went something like "hey cool you are the first team of two women!".  We were honestly totally surprised!  We had just managed to pass experienced adventure racers Ina Ervin and Amiee Dunn on the 'furtherside trail', so I knew we were doin' alright, but I had no idea we were anywhere close to first!  OK game on!  #1 goal still was to cross the finish line smiling, but hey, first place is cool too!

We got to the next transition and back into our running shoes.  It was a challenging run through the Smoke Bluffs area, Bobbie & her power legs set and excellent pace on the climbs and I managed to keep the clip up on the flatter rolling stuff (surprise surprise prairie girl).  We made it through the rappel smiling and safe, and powered out the last bit of the run back to the bikes.  I've never looked so forward to getting back on my bike in an AR before!

The final stage of cycling back to the start/finish at the Quest University was a gift, mostly double track and service road.  We set a strong pace and felt like we were really going to do this!  One last transition to run up the final hill to the finish line!  With Jeff, Justin & Carey (& super dog Umbro) waiting for us it felt great to be done!  And great to be first in our category!  And great to hear the news that Jeff & Justin had finished first overall!!!  They devoured that course, and came in just 1 minute & 42 seconds ahead of 2007 MOMAR series champs Gary Robbins & Todd Nowack of Team Helly Hansen MOMAR !!  They had a super tight race, such an impressive battle between these two teams!  What a day!

A HUGE thank-you to our key sponsor Helly Hansen, who also sponsored the event and sent winning teams home with awesome new duffle bags.  Thank-you HH!!!   With the unpredictable weather conditions it's nice to have the warmth and wicking of Lifa on our side!   Another HUGE thanks to cycling sponsors Arrowsmith Bikes Nanaimo &  Arrowsmith Mountain Cycle Parksville for helping us out!  

The Mind Over Mountain Adventure Racing event organizers & course designers put together a killer event from start to finish, AMAZING job!  Next MOMAR July 26th!  Looking forward to it!  

For now it's back on the bike as we pile on the miles for Test of Metal and BC Bike Race with a few Island Cup races in between 

Over & Out.

kmag.

GO TEAM! WHAT AN AWESOME MOMAR!

Suburban Rush Race Report

It was so nice to race in the sun, as the clouds parted and the temperature rose to the mid-teens for this year's version of the Suburban Rush. Jeff, Carey and I caught the ferry over Friday night and enjoyed an amazing sushi dinner with friends Marc Campbell of Helly Hansen and his wife Catherine. Jeff and Catherine teamed up for the ordering and we were treated to a Japanese feast. I'm not sure what I was expecting with the Suburban Rush. I knew it was going to be a relatively short race, and that it was geared to first time adventure racers. I have a fairly good knowledge of Port Moody's local trails after living there for four years, but I wasn't sure which ones the organizers were going to include. The race started frantically as our Helly Hansen mainland counterparts Gary and Todd, arrived at the start lines seconds before the start. Gary and Todd set the pace up a relentless 3km climb to the bike transition. More comfortable on the bikes we caught up to the mainland Helly boys and enjoyed the lead for the first time in the race. The course brought us down the winding singletrack of the Academy trail into Buntzen lake park for a navigation section. To say the least despite a positive attitude and having a great time, we must have been directionally challenged as we emerged from the stage almost 15 minutes behind Gary and Todd with 3 other racers between us. With Jeff setting the pace, we caught the lead solo competitor, but had to settle for 3rd overall on the day. It was a great race, with just under 2hrs and 20 minutes of racing, my legs were fully spent. Lina Augaitis of Steed Cycles and Helly has a strong race and was the first woman to cross the finish line. The day was capped off with a visit to Steed cycles to pick up my new bikes, a Giant XTC Carbon hardtail and a ANTHEM equipped with SRAM/TRUVATIV/ROCKSHOX goodies. I love new toys. Steed Cycles rocks. Congrats to Gary, Todd and Lina for strong performances, and a big thanks to the organizers and volunteers for hosting an amazing event.