June 29/08 10:22 am - BC Bike Race: Day 1

Posted by Editoress on 06/29/08
 

BC Bike Race - Stage 1

We had arranged to get reports from Seamus McGrath and Chris Sheppard through the week, however, they suffered a disastrous start to the race, when Seamus had serious mechanical problems shortly after the start.

"They had mowed a fresh field, and it was full of hay and stuff, so a bunch of us had problems with stuff caught in the bikes. It ripped off my rear derailleur. so I turned my bike into a singlespeed, but eventually that shredded the frame. So we had to pull out with 40 k to go and grab a ride to finish. It was a pretty disastrous day."

The pair hope that they will be able to start again today for stage 2. "The race organization has been great, the trails are good, everything good except for this."

Report courtesy organizers

Under brilliant blue skies and a hot summer sun, the BC Bike Race start gun fired to launch more than 400 riders from around the world into the first stage of the second annual multi-stage mountain bike event. Over the next 7 days, racers will cover stages totalling more than 550 kilometres as they race a combination of singletrack and logging roads from Victoria to Whistler.

Today's first stage presented an 87km journey from Shawnigan Lake School to the picturesque Lake Cowichan finish. Riders would experience swooping singletrack through cool BC rainforest, sprawling double-track culminating in a gruelling climb with a wickedly fast logging road descent onto reclaimed rail bed.

Team Mona Vie Cannondale - Jason Sager and Bart Gillespie - was the first to cross the line in the 2008 event, with a time of 4:14:26. The Team Cannondale camp was thrilled with clinching the first yellow jersey of the race, as Sager and Gillespie are both family guys who work full-time and race as a passion. When asked about their first day's experience at the BC Bike Race, they immediately commented on the strengths each brought to the table to pull through the race.

When asked about their race experience, Sager and Gillespie dubbed themselves "Team Daddy", stating that each found motivation in their young families back at home. "Not knowing the course, you're riding by feel. The trails were a lot of fun, but we couldn't really look around. It's too bad because the view off the top was amazing." Team Mona Vie Cannondale was riding tight with Team Kona right up through the big climb of the day, "We looked back and didn't see them, so we're not sure what happened."

The race leaders rolled across the finish line 12 minutes ahead of second place team Kona - Kris Sneddon and Barry Wicks. Team Mona Vie Cannondale's Tinker Juarez and Mitchell Peterson had a disappointing day, crossing the finish line in 5:22:37, but look forward to closing the gap throughout the rest of the week.

Last year's overall race winners, Chris Eatough and Jeff Schalk of Team Trek suffered a potentially disastrous mechanical issue during the initial circuit. Mechanics worked hard to make the fastest possible repairs and get the Trek team back on course. With a 30 minute delay behind the very last rider on course, Eatough and Schalk had their work cut out to climb their way back to the lead.

Despite the relentless heat, Team Trek pushed to the limit and devoured the race course until they caught sight of third place Team La Ruta's Manuel Prado and Marvin Campos. The two teams remained together for the remaining low-grade 20-plus kilometres of reclaimed rail bed trail into Lake Cowichan, where they broke out into a full-sprint finish. Team La Ruta just edged past Team Trek to claim third spot overall in a time of 4:26:33.

"We pinned it the whole time as soon as the course opened up," said Eatough. "You have to keep fighting, no matter what happens."

Hailing from the US, the Open Women's team Sara Bersnick-Zocchi and Kelli Emmett (Taint Slo) captured the yellow jersey, blasting through the finish line in 5:15:04.

Canadian cyclocross diva Wendy Simms and partner Normon Thibault (Team Kona - Riding in Memory of Denis Fontaine) claimed top honours in the Open Mixed category finishing in 4:51:37.

Overall it was a challenging first day for both competitors and event organizers. Within 5km the first rider suffered injury during an early stage crash; however the heat would prove the most significant threat to racers on the course.

Though race organizers anticipated the water needs to support racers through the unrelenting heat, the supply ran short at aid stations, and many racers had to wait to replenish their supply. The majority of racers crossing the finish line were feeling the effects of the heat though a few competitors hailing from hot southern countries were in their element.

BCBR Last 2 Spots contest winners Fernanda Mejia and Alonso Sanchez (CJ Bros) seemed happy despite the heat. They crossed the finish line in 7:23:26 along with a fellow countryman whose partner unfortunately suffered a serious shoulder injury during a pre-race ride in Shawnigan Lake on Day Zero. The team of three said yesterday that they hoped the weather would get even hotter to range closer to the temperatures they're used to at home in Mexico. "It was hard," said Mejia, "There were so many roots. This must be what they were talking about when they say the riding is so different in Canada. It was really fun, though!"

Next up for the sun-soaked racers - Stage Two from Lake Cowichan to Port Alberni. With more hot, sunny weather expected, riders are hydrating in preparation for the 125km ride.