2008 Scouting Reports

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Port Alberni – Scouting Day 2 – Cougars and Bears and ... Snow? Oh My. This isn’t Kansas, Toto!

So what do BC Bike Race Course Managers do in the springtime? Go snowshoeing of course. Those of you who have been following along know that we had a Management teambuilding exercise that including snowshoeing at Mt Seymour in North Vancouver, but the weekend of March 29th and 30th saw Day 2 Course Manager Brent Chan and 2007 BC Bike Race finisher Doug Doyle don snowshoes and head out to scout some of the trails for Day 2, Lake Cowichan to Port Alberni.

Brent shares their experiences....

    Footprints in the snow  

Vancouver Island has seen some pretty heavy snowfall this year and the Stage 2 route includes a significant climb to almost 1000 metres in elevation. With route information due to the map makers soon, and unable to drive in to check out the summit at Duck Lake, we strapped on a little extra floatation and challenged the climb through snow that was 6 or 7 feet deep in places.

Duck Lake April 3rd, 2007  

In 2007, Bryan Tasaka and I ate our lunch beside a partly frozen Duck Lake, this year Doug and I walked on several feet of snow that completely covered the frozen surface underneath.

   Duck Lake March 28th, 2008

Last year’s racers may remember significant bear signs in the area, some strategically placed in the middle of the trail, but if Yogi was anywhere this day he was snuggled up tight in his bed waiting for another month or two of melting. The only tracks in the area were our own and the perfect weather made for a fine trek through the fresh powder. A 5 hour round trip confirmed the ripping descent would be as breathtaking as we remembered it.

We're going down there...    

The following day saw us scouting the lower trails leading into Port Alberni and the multiplex that would be the site of the finish line and base camp. Once again we were extremely lucky with the weather and the only precipitation we experienced was the runoff from the snow melting off the trees overhead.

We had just walked away from the truck when we heard the voice call out. A kind neighbour wanted to make sure that we knew that a “cat” had been spotted in the area in the last few days. Port Alberni is one of those places where nature comes right up to your doorstep and you can literally step out into the backcountry from the end of almost any street. Around here “cat” means cougar and apparently our friendly feline was of the large variety.

Some other hikers just exiting their vehicle with a small dog chose discretion as the better part of valour and packed up to find a less “exciting” trail for their daily walk. We thanked the neighbour for the information, but brave (foolhardy?) souls that we were we simply tightened our pack straps, checked the map one more time and set off up the trail. I’m attributing any shaking of my knees as due to the cold and snow.

Doug and I discussed various defense tactics as we strung together possible route options. Ice cold stream crossings helped to keep the pace up as we wandered up and down the various trails east of the town. Land features like the “hole” in the wall, the rifle range and Stokes creek were all contemplated in an effort to string together the best possible singletrack to wrap up what will definitely be a long day in the saddle.

   The "hole" in the wall

Recent blow downs had created some tricky trail conditions but by the end of day a solid route was forming in our minds.

Surveying the damage...    

The day ended with a quick bite in town before tackling the drive back to home base in Victoria.

In a race like the BC Bike Race, that traverses the Pacific Coast and showcases some of the beautiful communities of British Columbia, some distance needs to be covered and Day 2 certainly delivers on that. By June, the snow (and the cougars?) will be gone and with a leg-quivering climb in the second half of the course and an arm-numbing multi-kilometre descent, Day 2 has all the makings of a memorable stage that is part of the BCBR experience. See you there!

Cougars and Bears? This young bruin was spotted during scouting of the 2007 course.

Brent Chan

BCBR Day 2 Course Manager
Lake Cowichan to Port Alberni

Thursday, February 14, 2008

An Early Season Peek at BCBR 2008 Stage 7: Whistler!

Well the snow on the ground in Whistler is so deep right now that the only person thinking about riding is our Course Manager for Day 7 - Grant Lamont.

This year’s final day course is set to go from Whistler's Creekside area (south) along a sinister 60km of singletrack that will test riders' stamina and dexterity and finish at Spruce Grove Park at the north end of Whistler. This final day will be the culmination of seven days of exciting exploration...so riders will have to remember to save just a little bit of energy for this the last day!

Grant, Andreas Hestler (BCBR Marketing Director and Course Designer), Dean Payne (BC Bike Race President and Founder) went over the area trail maps in detail last weekend and when everyone had left the Day 7 route was pretty well agreed upon with just a few things left to work out.

It was great to see Grant up and around after snapping his patellar tendon in a bizarre gardening accident on one of the local Whistler trails last November. He is back up skiing after surgery 9 weeks ago and is incredibly psyched to be serving up such a feast of singletrack for the final day of this great journey.

Let none of us forget, Grant himself has been a long time racer and completed the TransRockies Challenge just a few years ago, so he knows well what makes a great race course.

Highlights for the 2008 Day 7 route in Whistler include such trails as Big Timber, Bear Creek, Home Run, See Colours and Puke, Tunnelvision, Riverside and Farside, Lower Sproat, Beaver Pass, River Runs Through It and the yet to be determined final hour of fun!

You can check out lots of these trails at http://www.whistlerbikeguide.com to see what Day 7 has in store!

2007 scouting reports

Monday, may 28, 2007

Dre's Sooke to Lake Cowichan Adventure

This past weekend, BCBR Course Designer Andreas Hestler joined Days 1&2 Course Director - Bryan Tasaka on Vancouver Island for two days of scouting the Stage One race route: first on four wheels, then on two. The Stage 1 route runs through areas including Sooke, Shawnigan and Cowichan, which have a long history in the development of western Canadian culture. Read on for Dre's adventure insights...

"First Day - Four Wheels

After getting hooked up with my man, Bryan Tasaka, it was off for a full day of scouting the backcountry. As the route was already known it was a matter of looking at access points and random other issues to 'totally dial in' the perfect course.

Truck scouting Stage 1 was fairly uneventful: we took our bikes for a 10-hour drive, almost got stuck once, and were generally cooked after all the hard work, sitting side-by-side all day long staring at each other, me worrying about a 'logging truck instant death' and Bryan white-knuckling the steering wheel.

We followed up with some wicked pints and burgers at the New Fernwood Inn, a bike friendly pub just on the outskirts of town. I dragged a few friends down, introduced Bryan, and it was a laugh a minute until I remembered the next day's huge ride. Ok, now we sleep.

Second Day - Two Wheels

Come noon on day 2 - which was a wee bit late to start an epic ride such as this - we had our crew ready. The riders: Brent Martin from Ryders Eyewear, Simon Norris our GPS expert and Course Maps Director on a 'Cross Bike' and myself. The support crew: Bryan Tasaka had Brent Chang as copilot in the truck.

And it was Sooke to Cowichan for us! With a beautiful start along the Sooke River, we climbed up to the High Point and were making good time until Simon's Cross Bike started to act 'funny' - something about the rough nature of the roads we were on - flat, flat and yet more flats for Simon!

I will digress to say there was lesson learned here. Simply, it was the answers to the questions that we've been asked before, "Can I bring a cross-bike? Can I ride skinny tires?" Well, I rode a full suspension Rocky Mountain Element 70, while Brent rode an ETSX 70 and both of us had good volume tires - I 2.3s and he 2.1s. With the nature of non-groomed backcountry roads, gear choice simply must be burly and survival. Pack extra lights (see below), food, water and equipment - it really is an adventure!

So by the time we met for our first feed zone we were 45 minutes behind. Simon was forced to hang with the support crew and our stock of patches was completely done. I think the total was 8 flats...ouch!

Then we started again, just Brent and me. Everything was OK until we decided to go exploring, you know just 'cause, and followed a will-o-the wisp down a bad path and lost another 1.5 hours. Once we stopped chasing our tails and got back on track, the sun was shining and we were having a blast, despite our waning time management skills. 

With a fast descent down to Burnt Bridge hitting 60km+, we were into some wicked singletrack, followed by a small climb, more singletrack and then into the sun for a big climb. It was hot, we'd been out for about 6 hours and it was getting late in the day. A quick call to the support crew and we committed to heading over the second pass of the day. Eagle Ridge loomed large as we pushed our now tired bodies up. Brent was moving well and we were still joking and having fun. Nearing 7:30pm, we were deep into the forest climbing on an awesome doubletrack trail...climbing but running a little light on energy and water.

Finally, by 8pm we had crested the climb and began moving to the descent when things went a bit awry. The new logging cut block had put up a whack of new roads and our map was a little off. All we needed to do was get through this small, but confusing, area and we were on the way. Checked with GPS, called the crew, but just couldn't make a rational decision. I think it was the long day and the fatigue setting in - with a loss of nearly 2.5 hours to messing about with flats, stopping for lunch, and side-bar exploring, we were done. The light was coming down fast as we made the call to get picked up by our support crew. I have to say it was a bit nerve-racking to be almost lost, but we got picked up safely with just 10 minutes of light left, thanks to Bryan, Brent (the other one) and Simon.

We descended the rest of the course by truck and saw how confusing the route could be to find, but now we've been there, done that, and updated the mapbook. And, Simon, our resident mapping expert, will compile all this detail into a clear snapshot for BCBR racers. Between Simon's detailed map and our soon-to-be well-marked course route, racers will have a blast on Day One! Oh, and be sure to save for another day any urges to explore off the beaten path...

So, massive amounts of information are coming at us and we are getting it out as soon as possible. It's nice to note that the last two times I was up here, once with Seamus McGrath this spring and a couple of years ago with Ryder Hesjedal, Roland Green and Liam Killeen puts into perspective the nature of this area (the confusion and danger of back country) and it's importance in training our world-class Canadian National Team Athletes.

Look for Ryder Hesjedal and Seamus McGrath to make an appearances at the BC Bike Race this year - these locals really do know this area!

Thanks Team for this awesome day, and I can't wait for everyone else to experience it as well."

Friday, may 25, 2007

Amazing Single-Track Awaits in Cumberland!

As part of our May 12/13th Management Team meeting, several Directors got together and joined Stage 3 Course Director Jeremy Grasby for a preview of some of the Day 3 race route. The weather was pristine and the trails were in amazing condition, which delighted Jeremy as he’d incorporated them in the Island Cup XC race that was being held there on the 13th (our own Andreas Hestler was a competitor!) We were treated to such amazing single-track beauties as Momma Bear’s, Buggered Pig, and Bronco’s Perseverance. Short and Curly, a relatively new trail in the Cumberland network, was in prime condition and really tested our pedal power.

A few of us were exceptionally keen to sample the Cumberland riding scene, so we actually arrived a day early to maximize our riding time. We had found our way through the Stage 3 trails that Jeremy showed the BCBR Team and took in the incredible descent on Bucket of Blood and a few other trails as well. There is simply no way that you will end Day 3 without a huge grin on your face!

We bet you’ll want to come back to Cumberland to play some more…

And our Supplies Director, James Durand, did just that. Last weekend, while spending some time on Vancouver Island with his race partner and their significant others, James decided to revisit Cumberland for another kick at the fantastic trails:

“It was a long weekend and Monday was the bonus day off. We were not far from Cumberland (finish to Day 3) so decided it would be a great time to sample some of the more technical trails on the BC Bike Race course. Gary and I figured we would take our significant others out for a ride and show them some great single track. They have been very, very supportive during all this training!!!

We started at the Riding Fool Hostel in downtown Cumberland and were on the trails within a few minutes. The first 1 ½ hours was more exploratory on the lower trails and sooooo much fun. We popped out and then decided to head back in for another loop before the pub.

As the girls headed to the pub, Gary and I decided it was just too much fun and we should climb up and do Bucket of Blood, the main descent on Day 3. So we rode up in a full sprint (we had beer waiting) and found the top of Bucket of Blood, had a little snack, drank some water and then apparently Gary and I thought we were in a down hill race. We made those little XC bikes work as hard as possible and all you could hear was two full grown kids whooping and hollering all the way down. Boys will be Boys. The last section of this trail is tight twisty and FAST. I’m surprised they don’t charge admission for this ride. We finished it off with Buggered Pig and Mamma Bear’s on the way back to town. We went hard so it was a little painful, but its a couple days later and I’m still smiling.

I think Day 3 might be a highlight for more than a few of us racers.”

Wednesday, march 28, 2007

Sweeeeet Sunshine Coast!

As part of our March 10/11th Management Team meeting, several Directors got together and joined Stage 5 Course Director Rod Camposano for a preview of some of the Day 5 race route. Though the rain came down in monsoon proportions that weekend, the trail gods blessed us with a break in the weather on Sunday long enough to sample some of the amazing single track trails Rod has lined up for the race. Ear-to-ear grins were the gear of the day. BCBR President, Dean Payne, gives his review of the infamous Highway 102 trail:

"We ripped 8 km of the most bufffed single track all downhill to the Ferry. We pinned it to make the 2:30 sailing, and did so...just! I had to try to keep up to James Durand, former Marzocchi Canada Director, long time 'industry guy', and current BCBR Supplies Director. Dark & rainy...crossed a stream up to my waist...rain forest...loamy trail...I can still feel it in my hands and feet. We were not just riding the trail to rip it, we were rippin it to catch a Ferry back to the mainland! This trail is locally and famously known as Highway 102....and it's unreal!!! This will be the finish to your Day 5 , literally right down to the BC Ferry. This could be one of the 'funnest' descents you will ever experience on a cross country bike ."

Time and weather kept us from hitting everything that Rod has planned for Stages 4 & 5, but if the sampling we got that weekend is any indication, you're in for the ride of your life!

Thursday, February 1, 2007

Run, Ride and Rip it Up in Comox Valley!

On the weekend of January 20/21, Management Team members Dean Payne, Andreas Hestler, Thomas Howard and John Crosby went on a venue scouting mission to the Comox Valley area.

John Crosby reflects on the Stage 3 finish line venue, "On Day 3, racers will be coming off the hills to the small town of Cumberland which is nestled in the hills just west of the Island Hwy (#19) with a population of just over 2,700 people. Thomas Howard, Dean Payne and I found a town full of history, parks, heritage buildings and small shops that would be a great way for racers' moral support teams (friends and family) to spend their day. There is a water park, playgrounds and sports fields that will keep any children and kids at heart entertained during a nice summer day in BC."

The Team stayed at the Riding Fool Hostel in the heart of Cumberland and took advantage of the close proximity to Mt Washington where the first race in the Yeti Snowshoe Series was held. Andreas Hestler placed third overall in the race...not bad for a biker! Dre credits the tough sport of snowshoe running with giving him a great option for winter cross-training. Congratulations to Marc Campbell and his crew for putting on an amazing race. The next Yeti Race is on Feb 3rd at Mt Seymour in North Vancouver. Head out and try a great new sport and get in some serious cross-training time!

While the Management Team hit the snow, Stage 3 Race Director and Riding Fool Hostel owner, Jeremy Grasby, hit the trails. After a great ride that weekend Jeremy was pumped, "People should be really excited about the Stage 3 riding because of the rawness of the terrain in this area!"

We'll definitely be back to scout the trails in the Comox Valley area later this spring. Meanwhile, stay tuned for the next scouting report.