by Diana
Joanna and I were lucky
enough to score a sea-plane ride from Powell River to Earl’s Cove, the start of
Day 3. The clouds cleared shortly before take-off, so we had gorgeous views of
the Sunshine Coast and its many islands. By race-time, though, the rain had started
again.
We met the other riders
at the ferry terminal and rode the 58 kms over to Sechelt, our base camp that
night. Day 3 felt like a mountain biking expedition, rather than a ride. Lots
of logging roads and double-track, with a few, very short single track trails. There
were some lovely moments – including my dear friend Deb Dovgala surprising us
at the terminal. (Thanks, so much, Deb!!) Some of the views from high above the
ocean were spectacular – one even stopping the racers to take pictures, which I
had yet to see.
On the whole, though,
it was a long slog. By the time we reached the long down-hill into Sechelt, we
had ridden 5 hours, and I was bagged. Five hours of fun single-track is exciting,
invigorating even. Five hours of dull climbing had drained me. Joanna embraced
the downhill, calling out, “Let’s give ‘er, Mom!” I replied, “I’m not sure I
have much more to give,” but Joanna was gone. Her North Shore experience set
her up to shred the technical, muddy, rooty trail. I could find no flow, slipping
in the large exposed roots, stepping off my bike frequently and sinking
ankle-deep into the mud more than once.
Generally, Jo and I
have been good at checking in with her other, waiting at intersections and
riding as a team. I think Joanna had had enough of this long day, and wanted to
get it over. Not seeing her along the way, I sunk deeper into a funk. (The fact
that I had only gotten 3-4 hours sleep the previous two nights, amid my snoring
camp-mates and the pounding rain, didn’t help.) By the time I saw her waiting,
I was ready for a full-on melt-down. It wasn’t pretty.
Recovering somewhat, I
finished the ride and we crossed the finish line a little over 6 hours in. We
were greeted by lots of other long faces and comments of “Glad that’s over!”. I think the organizers could easily lose this
stage of the BCBR with no complaints!
I heard good things
about Day 4 from Deb (who had supported her buddy Andrea Quinlan in the BCBR
two years ago). “It’s just your kind of trail,” she said. “You’ll love it.”
After a pretty demoralizing day, I headed to bed, looking forward to better
rides ahead.
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