July 6, 2008 (Squamish, BC) – It’s hard to believe that just seven days ago, racers stood at the Shawnigan Lake start line in nervous anticipation of the 550+ kilometer adventure that awaited. Seven days later, it’s all over but the recovery!

After one last, delicious breakfast in Squamish, provided by BCBR Catering Manager Rick Slowski (owner of Tommy’s Catering in North Vancouver) and his incredible crew, racers geared up and hopped onto a string of buses for the quick ride north to Whistler.

Speaking of delicious breakfast – one of the most important aspects of a seven-day stage race is fuel. Racers need to replenish lost nutrients and stock up on soon-to-be expended calories every single day without fail. The daily menu for BCBR was carefully planned and coordinated by Rick and his staff with these important considerations in mind. That was the easy part. For the seven days of BC Bike Race, Rick and the catering crew started meal preparations at 2:30am every day. And, in many cases, they were lucky to squeeze in an hour or two of sleep before their unbelievably early wake up call.

The demands of preparing, presenting, serving and cleaning up from a meal for close to 650 people are almost unfathomable unless you’ve been there and done that. Without the catering staff, the BC Bike Race would have no fuel… no fuel for the racers to complete each stage and no fuel for the organizers to prepare each stage. This is just a wee tribute to the unsung heroes of the BC Bike Race – Rick, his wife Trish, and all the foodies!! They provided racers and staff outstanding meals with outstanding service and always with absolute grace under pressure. Many thanks, many times over.

And now, back to the final race day action!
The final start line of BCBR 2008 was in the village square at Whistler Creekside – nestled at the foot of Whistler Mountain. With six long days of racing behind them, BCBR competitors had to dig deep right out of the start gate on this day as almost 300m of vertical – translating into at least 15 minutes of climbing – welcomed them to the course.

As the saying goes, riders had to ‘earn their turns’, and the investment in the uphill grind paid off in the reward of Whistler’s best singletrack offerings. By the time racers hit the undulating 3km of trail running alongside the Cheakamus River, grins had spread from ear to ear. Without a doubt Whistler singletrack offers not only beautiful trails with a ridiculously high fun factor, but also stunningly captivating sights and natural features.

The day would be hard-fought for many riders in the pack, but the reward of crossing the finish line at Spruce Grove park would make it all worthwhile.

Top stage finishers of the day, Seamus McGrath and Chris Sheppard (Team Old School), powered through the course in 3:01:06. Not many surprises in the remaining categories: top Women were Sara Bresnick-Zocchi and Kelli Emmett (Team Taint Slo) in 4:01:24; top Mixed were Wendy Simms and Normon Thibault (Team Kona – Riding in Memory of Denis Fontaine) in 3:37:23; top 80+ changed up with winners Dave Harrison and Matt Luhn (Team Grip It & Rip It) in 3:35:49; and, top 100+ were Andy Klumb and Brent Erikson (Team Bicilibre) in 4:41:34.

The final awards banquet was held high above Whistler village at the Roundhouse on Whistler mountain. A 30-minute gondola ride unveiled spectacular views of the valley as it carried racers up the mountain. After an amazing dinner, the stage awards and overall category awards were handed out.

It was an incredible week of racing and adventure for everyone involved – racers and staff! Interest is already stirring for the 2009 event, as online registration opened at noon on July 5th and the first eager teams have signed up for the challenge. See you next year – June 28-July4, 2009!

Full Stage 7 results here.

For more information visit www.bcbikerace.com

Final GC (brief)

Open Men

1. Kona – Kris Sneddon & Barry Witz 25:58:24
2. Trek-VW MTB Team – Chris Eatough & Jeff Schalk 26:19:17
3. Flight Centre – Tim Bennett & Adrian Jackson 26:40:33

Open Women

1. Taint Slo – Sara Bresnick-Zocchi & Kelli Emmett 32:08:16
2. Helly Hansen Vancouver Island – Kristenn Magnusson & Lisa Ludwig 35:40:23
3. LINDQUIST – Katie Lindquist & Amy Harris 36:07:32

Mixed

1. Kona — Riding in Memory of Denis Fontaine – Wendy Simms & Normon Thibault 29:10:27
2. Mona Vie Cannondale Mixed – Matt Ohran & Sue Butler 31:12:16
3. Spike Shooter – Mark & Katie Compton 31:19:53

Veterans 80+

1. Grip It and Rip It – Dave Harrison & Matt Luhn 30:36:54
2. Different Bikes/Deadgoat Racing – Andrew Handford & Pat Doyle 30:38:41
3. Spike Shooter – Mark Thompson & David Overstreet 31:16:27

Veterans 100+

1. Double Shot – Brian & Bruce Johnson 36:38:39
2. Bicilibre – Andy Klumb & Kent Erikson 37:53:27
3. Harbour Air – Greg MCdougall & Graeme Fitch 43:10:58