Training Log Archive: carbon

Day 7 of BCBR - Whistler. I had lots of expectations of this day as I have heard so much good stuff about riding in Whistler, but I ended up being quite disappointed at the stage. We started with a 35 minute climb followed by some gravel down hills into a newly cut, wet and rooty climb which very few people rode. I rode a few sections but it was way faster to run with the bike. Next up was the downhill back to the resort and it was quite technical with lots of drops that were beyond my comfort level. With less people around I would have attempted a few more sections but again I was faster running a lot of this and actually passed people who were riding. The very bottom was easy and had some good flow, but it was a pretty short sections. The highlight of the day was to win the stage and the overall open mixed category for the week. Granted, the really good riders didn’t attend this year’s race but I’m still happy with how we rode and I felt great on the bike every day. My technical skills need work, but my climbing felt especially good. The highlight of the week for me was day 4 which was the long day and included lots of climbing and some fun downhill sections.

C • Congratulations 6

Day 6 of BCBR - Squamish. Another climbing start. Legs felt good on the climbs still. Today's climbs didn't feel as hard as on previous days. We took it a bit easier today to start recovering earlier so maybe that is why it felt easier. I was second woman to the top of the first climb (behind Trish from Team Dead Goat). A few really awesome downhill sections gave the day a really fun feel. Half Nelson was the favorite. A couple of hard technical sections as well, including a rooty 10 minute section where I ran my bike most of the way. It was just too frustrating to jump on and off all the time, and I was faster running. If it had been dry in there it would have been easier. We put another 15 minutes on the second place team and have a lead of about 1hr 55 minutes. Nice gap going into the last and shortest day of the week, which will be held in Whistler (22km and a bunch of climbing).

Day 5 of BCBR - Sechelt to Langdale. The time for this stage might not be correct. I'm guessing until I see the posted results. We had another police escort out of town and today the pelaton of uber strong guys (and a few yellow jerseys) took it a bit slower than on previous days. We started with another pretty long climb. I felt good climbing and we kept a good pace to the top. I'm still nervous on the downhills and don't open it up as much as I probably could and should, but with our lead I wanted to play it safe and not get hurt. I have already crashed more times than I can count now and had another couple of good ones today (I'm getting pretty bruised). We came in as the first open mixed team again and will keep our yellow jerseys for tomorrow. If we play it safe and ride steadily without taking too many risks, I'm hoping we will hold onto this until the end on Saturday. That being said, it's raining outside now and the course will be slick and scary for tomorrow.

C • Yellow Jerseys! :) 1

Day 4 of BCBR - Earls Cove to Sechelt. This morning started off with a very cool float plane ride to the start area for a few lucky riders. I was one of them! Got to see some amazing views of the coastline and a nice water fall.

The longest day of the race started with some epic climbing. In fact, most of the day included lots of climbing and of course a few fun downhills. Hot day and tired legs had a lot of people suffeing out there. This was my favorite day so far. I loved the climbing. One section was along these cool forest switchbacks and went on for quite some time. Also liked the cross country single track on this day. Fast and flowy even though it was a little technical in spots. Mike and I rode really well and steady the whole day. Added another 37 minutes on the second place team and got another yellow jersey. The bird shit that fell on my head and face in Vancouver must have brought a lot of luck :)

BC Bike Race. Today was Powell River. A day of more technical riding. Very rooty but not as wet as yesterday. Rode most of it but the body had to work pretty hard to keep the momentum going. Having come here just for the fun of it and finding ourselves in first after the first day of riding has had us go a little faster than we planned. Today we went in with quite a lead on the second place team. We added another 8 minutes for a total of something like 43 or 45 minutes. The yellow jersey presentation every night is great. We have been up on stage every night so far. It's also super nice to get to start in the very front of the pack with all the hotshots. Gives you a bit of a gap on teh riders behind, especially as most days start with some climbing (favouring me).

Day two of BCBR - Campbell River. Another good day for team Carbon Dating. Today's course was much more difficult than yesterday in that it had a huge amount of wet roots which made for tricky riding. At times it was faster for me to pick up the bike and run with it. The last section was super fast and flowy. Amazing! I think we might have gotten first in our category again :)

C • Great job! 3