BCBR 2010 - Stage #5
July 1, 2010

Route: Sechelt - BC Ferries Langdale Terminal
Distance: approx. 65km

After a very great dinner I awoke in the middle of the night to discover my metabolism had kicked into overdrive. With several days of only riding and eating, followed by more riding and more eating, what can happen is that you wake up in a puddle of sweat, especially if you're in a cocoon sleeping bag. I cooled down, got things sorted out, and was able to get a few more hours of sleep. I was lucky to be awake just before the chicken wake up call. For those of you who don't know, the BCBR organizers have a rubber chicken at the base camp like a daily wake-up mascot, and each morning they use it with a megaphone and walk around to wake us up. It's quite hilarious actually.

HAPPY CANADA DAY!
Today we woke up to some dark clouds and just before the start it started to open up. Being privileged enough to live on the west coast I just changed my mind frame to think I was riding in December, not July. The stage was a little longer today with lots of single track climbing - it was very punchy, very soft, and all together an awesome day in the saddle. My legs felt like 400lbs of sand but my head was in the right space so I just stared at the ground and chugged along. With all the wet roots, bridges, and soft loamy track you can pick out the people who are used to it versus the people who aren't. Those who are familiar with the terrain just pick a gear and pedal through like it's no big deal. But I do understand the challenge that many riders have with these kinds of trails and feel blessed to live here.

We passed the first aid station where I ran into Martin Ready from Island Mountain tours out of Cumberland on his single speed so we tagged on and climbed up a ways together. We also grabbed onto Robin Duttons' wheel for while just as we neared the downhill. If you've never ridden this track, try do so soon - it's one of the best downhill trails I have ever ridden with almost 15km of soft and flowy descending. I passed a few guys on my rigid which put a big 'ol grin on my face!

The trail gets a bit rough at the end through a creek bed but when I hit the road and the overflow terminal at Langdale I was begging someone to shuttle me up for another run!! Alas, no takers. Thankfully it's only a BC Ferrie ride away for future reference.
It was a quick shower, a sandwich, then hose off the bike and drink some cho-mo so we can catch the 1:30pm boat. Thankfully we had ample time so no worries, we were on. We landed in Squamish and set up "Pro Tent City" and are just waiting for today's results and then on to some dinner.