July 7, 2007 (Whistler, BC) — In every stage race there is a defining day that stands above the rest. At the inaugural BC Bike Race: the Pacific Traverse that day came Friday, July 6, during the arduous 58km journey from Squamish to Whistler.

The sheer amount of climbing “” over 2,500 meters “” was daunting enough. But when you added in an extensive menu of technical trails and black diamond descending, it was enough to make some of the event’s 160 hardened riders cry “” literally.

For others it was all smiles and laughter, relishing the chance to ride some of the amazing trails that have made Whistler a Mecca-like destination in the mountain biking world.

But no matter what emotions were elicited by Stage 6 of this seven-day, 500-plus kilometer race, racers could rest easy at Base Camp in Meadow Park, knowing they were just one day from making history. Each finisher of this daunting test of courage will forever be part of an exclusive class that finished the first BC Bike Race.

“It’s definitely something I’ll proud of “” if I get through tomorrow,” said Rod Dagneau, a 47-year-old environmental technician from North Vancouver, who along with his partner Mike Charuk took the stage win in veterans 80-plus category. “I suffered all week. But I’ve gotten a little stronger each day and persevered. I’ve always dreamt about doing something like this here in this place I love, and now it’s almost reality.”

The rest of the stage winners roll call from day 6 included Jeff Schalk and Chris Eatough (Trek-Volkswagen) in open men, Cynthia Young and Michelle Newton (Shore Girls Don’t Cry) in open women, Davis Harris and Lynda Wallenfels (Team Desert Cyclery/HealthFX) in open mixed, and Doug Nottebrock and Con Diamond (Kootenay-Okanagan Cooperative) in veterans 100-plus.

In the overall standings with one stage to go, Trek-VW leads the Rocky Mountain-Haywood Securities duo of Andreas Hestler and Kevin Calhoun by more than half an hour. The Shore Girls and Desert Cyclery also have commanding leads in their respective categories, while it’s Randy Richmond and Sandy Mitchell (Gerick-Nelson) on top of the veterans 80-plus category. Nottebrock and Diamond are the only 100-plus team remaining.

Seventy-five percent of the Grant Lamont-designed course was run on the Cheakamus Challenge (www.cheakamuschallenge.ca) route. The day kicked off under clear blue skies at the Brennan Park Recreation Centre in Squamish, as riders enjoyed an easy 12km neutral start through Brackendale, Cheekeye and Paradise Valley.

From there it was climb time, as the field made their way up the stunning Cheakamus Canyon trail, which snakes along the Sea-to-Sky Highway and the raging Cheakamus River. A quick 2.5km run on the highway was next, before the course headed back onto dirt at the Chance Creek Bridge.

A little more highway ensued, and then the meat of the day unfolded with Lava Flow trails and singletrack leading up to the Cal Cheak Suspension Bridge. Soon after came the famed Trash trail, a tricky rolling ride that rewarded skilled riders and punished the meek.

Cardiac Hill, Lower Sproat and a River Runs Through came next, then it was time for the British Columbia version of Alpe d’Huez, a climb Lamont joking called “Yelp d’Huez” during his pre-race course description the night before the event’s queen stage.

Depending on who you ask, the climb has somewhere between 27 and 32 switchbacks. No one “” including the pros “” cleared the whole climb, and many of the mid-pack riders spent sustained time pushing their bikes.

The reward at the top was the Billy Epic trail, which is rated double black diamond in the local trail guide, and had even the likes of Eatough impressed with its difficulty.

“That was tough. You might as well have had a full face helmet on for that,” said the six-time 24 hour solo world champion. “But that’s the beauty of this race. If it was less technical it would be just another TransRockies or TransAlps. Trails like that are what separates this event from all the others, and that’s what riding in British Columbia is all about.”

Things won’t get any easier on the final day of the race. After a heart-pumping 100kph cable line ride at Skyline at Cougar Mountain, the Stage 7 Whistler-to-Whistler time trial will send riders on a 25km trip over trails such as Kill Me Thrill Me, North Secret and Comfortably Numb. They call them cross-country trails around here, but as anyone who’s ever ridden in Whistler knows, when it comes to mountain biking, everything is just a little tougher in B.C.

Results

Teams of 2 Open Men
1. Chris Eatough, Jeff Schalk (Trek VW Mountain Bike) 4:08:43
2. Manuel Prado, Jason First (La Ruta/Sho-Air) 0:01:05
3. Andreas Hestler, Kevin Calhoun (Rocky Mountain-Haywood) 0:08:45
4. Justin Mark, Andrew Clarke (Team Helly Hansen) 0:31:10
5. Michael Cushionbury, Damon Roberson (Bicycling Magazine) 0:45:38
6. Timmy Dougherty, Rich Dillen (Bearnaked Cannondale/T) 0:50:41
7. Evan Plews, Bear Perrin (Capitol Subaru Cycling) 0:53:36
8. Reed Melton, Marc Driver (Sun Summit South-Drive) 0:53:46
9. Julian Hine, Kevin Phelps (Chromag-Sram) 0:53:47
10. Kip Mikler, Mark Sevenoff (Bike Magazine) 1:02:26
11. Gary Jackson, James Durand (Twin Sin) 1:07:12
12. Jeff Cote, Mark Coates (Itscanadianeh) 1:07:35
13. Neall Banner, Paul Martin (Bow Cycle) 1:14:07
14. Scott Hedlund, Brad Samis (Sin Twin) 1:17:02
15. Graham Tutti, Paul Player (Tutti) 1:20:01
16. Alexei Marko, Ross Mccredie (Fat Chance) 1:23:09
17. Nigel Halsted, Brian Mccurdy (Ridin’ Dirty) 1:28:03
18. Nicholas White, Jesse Epstein (Team Marty’S) 1:31:46
19. Dan Peters, Brett Zagozewski (Prairie Boys) 1:32:43
20. Barry Lyster, Steven Devantier (Pedal – Specialized) 1:37:24
21. Phil Johnston, Paul Sharman (The Hustlers) 1:42:07
22. Sterling Mudge, Mike Bordogna (Cloud City Cyclists) 1:46:17
23. Charles Halliburton, Nicholas Vipond (Fat And Slow) 2:00:38
24. Erik Keniston, Doug Gangi (Cold One Please) 2:12:49
25. Rick Bruce, Cam Robertson (Los Hombres) 2:15:31
26. Daffyd Roderick, Mike Peshko (Rpm Spinning Plus Grav) 2:15:49
27. Rodrigo Elvira, Guillermo Cuello (Miti Batai) 2:18:50
28. Mark Coates, (Team Coates (Team 13)) 2:24:44
29. Chris Mccann, Layne Nadeau (Sierra Spokesmen) 2:40:04
30. John Nakashima, Andrew Mckean (Keep The Rubber Side D) 2:57:06
31. Tim Logie, William John (Phat’N’Dirty) 3:02:36
32. Dan Stern, Doug Clawson (Sts) 3:16:49
33. Terry Williams, Todd Williams (Williams) 3:22:49
34. Nick Thelen, David Simpson (Slowmosapiens) 3:34:46
35. Kelly Sherbin, Darren Butler (Sherbin Butler)

Teams of 2 Open Women
1. Karen Eller, Carolin Rahner (Scott / Trenga / De) 5:45:56
2. Cynthia Young, Michelle Newton (Shore Girls Don’T Cry) 0:11:40
3. Jennifer Keefer, Jen Sawrenko (The Jenerators) 0:23:35
4. Stephanie Tuck, Megan Kogut (Lucky Golden Star Bicy) 0:35:33
5. Emma Smith, Sarah O’Byrne (Team Tunnelvision) 0:49:23
6. Danielle Fisher, Karen Todd (Katfish) 1:22:14
7. Andrea Kraft-Costigan, Carmen Turner (Sombrio Dakine Bavaria) 1:32:46
8. Jennifer Garrett, Janna Mackenzie (Rider’S Cycles) 1:35:12
9. Beth Crowther, Lanie Forman (Team 10-33) 1:40:23

Teams of 2 Open Mixed
1. David Harris, Lynda Wallenfels (Team Desert Cyclery/He) 5:21:38
2. Hillary Harrison, Ryan Watts (Crystal Mountain Hotel) 0:07:52
3. Greg Norombaba, Lisa Riehl (San Diego Trek) 0:41:05
4. Karl Etzel, Jennifer Ratay (Team Ride424.Com/X-Fus) 0:56:17
5. Brady Fleguel, Astrid Bonter (Vancouver Bike Gallery) 1:09:22
6. Lesley Clements, Matthew Bodkin (Team Bc) 1:26:02
7. Robin Kay, Jameel Adam (Special K And Captain) 2:16:26
8. Ming Gin, Christina Cuthbertson (Gin) 2:21:42
9. Jochen Faber, Diane Faber (Faber) 2:51:37

Teams of 2 Veterans 80
1. Rod Dagneau, Mike Charuk (West Coast Racing To T) 4:38:58
2. Randy Richmond, Sandy Mitchell (Gerick- Nelson) 0:08:56
3. Andrew Handford, Pat Doyle (Different Bikes One) 0:09:21
4. Brent Martin, Greg Hayes (Ryders Eyewear Corp) 0:22:40
5. David Overstreet, Mark Thompson (Spike Shooter) 0:31:35
6. Michael Wardas, Ken Waring (Up And Down) 0:44:59
7. Keith Mcivor, Kevin Smith (Skyline Flyers) 0:52:39
8. Mike Hardenbergh, Tim Crum (Damn Dirty Apes) 1:04:02
9. Paul Nicholas, Henric Meldgard (Ride To Survive) 1:05:50
10. Dave Howells, Denis Fontaine (Ironhorse/Helly Hansen) 1:07:11
11. Doug Doyle, Darin Nevin (Sleepmonsters.Ca) 1:10:25
12. Michael Stiles, Rick Lewis (Stitch Me, I’M Bleedin) 1:28:19
13. Trevor Plestid, Stuart Jones (Winded) 1:29:25
14. Dean Hachey, Mike Davidson (Hachey) 1:38:23
15. Steven Wallouch, Bruce Kelsch (The Aristocrats) 1:41:44
16. Dave Mountain, Jim Bennett (Midlife Mojo) 1:44:18
17. Greg Mcdougall, Graeme Fitch (Team Harbour Air) 1:54:30
18. Bruce Gordon, Ken Knight (Wheely Forkin’ Tired) 2:05:45
19. Derek Riley, Monti Burtini (Burley M F) 2:14:41
20. Greg Stevenson, Jim Clement (Ready & Wheeling) 2:20:01
21. Chris Mccue, John Ratzke (Big Ride – Bigger Hair) 2:20:02
22. Shuichi Kanamori, Leon Fetzer (Team Shuichi-Leon) 2:33:52
23. Ken Oertle, Jonathan Mcquenn (Team Action Cyclery) 3:00:34

Teams of 2 Veterans 100
1. Doug Nottebrock, Con Diamond (Kootenay-Okanagan Coop) 6:06:15
2. Gary Stetler, Guy Dutil (Team Synergy) 0:26:49
3. Rick Kaleta, Jean Michaud (Team Canine Carnage) 1:08:32
4. Clive Rubens, Leo Groenewoud (Geopsyclos) 1:53:43

Team of 4
1. Rob Blanchard, Rob Herbst, Bruce Barker, Darrell Jones (Out There Guys) 7:05:58
2. Tori Fahey, Alana Heise, Lisa Le Poole, Alison Jones (Out There Girls) 0:25:23
3. Calindy Ramsden, Donna Macintosh, John Ramsden, Unknown Rider (Dark Horse Racing)

Team of 4 VIP
1. Richie Schley, Dave Watson, Seamus Mcgrath, Unknown Rider (Richie; Dave & Seamus) 5:21:13
2. Melanie Mcquaid, Lesley Tomlinson, Wendy Simma, Unknown Rider (Melanie; Lesley & Wend)
3. Brian Green, Sam Brovender, Michael Brown, Kevin Falcon (Falcons Fliers) 2:52:13

GC after Stage 6

Teams of 2 Open Men
1. Chris Eatough, Jeff Schalk (Trek VW Mountain Bike) 23:33:00
2. Andreas Hestler, Kevin Calhoun (Rocky Mountain-Haywood) 0:34:37
3. Manuel Prado, Jason First (La Ruta/Sho-Air) 1:16:09
4. Justin Mark, Andrew Clarke (Team Helly Hansen) 3:05:43
5. Evan Plews, Bear Perrin (Capitol Subaru Cycling) 3:14:50
6. Julian Hine, Kevin Phelps (Chromag-Sram) 3:57:25
7. Michael Cushionbury, Damon Roberson (Bicycling Magazine) 4:18:05
8. Reed Melton, Marc Driver (Sun Summit South-Drive) 4:36:49
9. Timmy Dougherty, Rich Dillen (Bearnaked Cannondale/T) 5:30:13
10. Gary Jackson, James Durand (Twin Sin) 6:16:05
11. Neall Banner, Paul Martin (Bow Cycle) 6:23:17
12. Kip Mikler, Mark Sevenoff (Bike Magazine) 6:26:54
13. Scott Hedlund, Brad Samis (Sin Twin) 6:44:52
14. Graham Tutti, Paul Player (Tutti) 6:56:29
15. Nicholas White, Jesse Epstein (Team Marty’S) 6:57:34
16. Sterling Mudge, Mike Bordogna (Cloud City Cyclists) 7:21:35
17. Dan Peters, Brett Zagozewski (Prairie Boys) 8:04:42
18. Nigel Halsted, Brian Mccurdy (Ridin’ Dirty) 8:19:37
19. Barry Lyster, Steven Devantier (Pedal – Specialized) 8:31:09
20. Alexei Marko, Ross Mccredie (Fat Chance) 8:37:38
21. Phil Johnston, Paul Sharman (The Hustlers) 9:12:36
22. Rodrigo Elvira, Guillermo Cuello (Miti Batai) 9:30:42
23. Daffyd Roderick, Mike Peshko (Rpm Spinning Plus Grav) 9:57:59
24. Jeff Cote, Mark Coates (Itscanadianeh) 10:32:07
25. Charles Halliburton, Nicholas Vipond (Fat And Slow) 10:56:57
26. Erik Keniston, Doug Gangi (Cold One Please) 11:11:35
27. Rick Bruce, Cam Robertson (Los Hombres) 11:21:14
28. Tim Logie, William John (Phat’N’Dirty) 14:07:59
29. Mark Coates, (Team Coates (Team 13)) 14:55:42
30. Terry Williams, Todd Williams (Williams) 15:13:21
31. Chris Mccann, Layne Nadeau (Sierra Spokesmen) 15:33:48
32. John Nakashima, Andrew Mckean (Keep The Rubber Side D) 15:43:25
33. Dan Stern, Doug Clawson (Sts) 16:17:55
34. Nick Thelen, David Simpson (Slowmosapiens) 20:09:38
35. Kelly Sherbin, Darren Butler (Sherbin Butler)

Teams of 2 Open Women
1. Karen Eller, Carolin Rahner (Scott / Trenga / De) 32:45:29
2. Cynthia Young, Michelle Newton (Shore Girls Don’T Cry) 0:01:17
3. Jennifer Keefer, Jen Sawrenko (The Jenerators) 1:10:58
4. Emma Smith, Sarah O’Byrne (Team Tunnelvision) 2:23:18
5. Stephanie Tuck, Megan Kogut (Lucky Golden Star Bicy) 3:28:40
6. Danielle Fisher, Karen Todd (Katfish) 4:27:24
7. Jennifer Garrett, Janna Mackenzie (Rider’S Cycles) 6:26:45
8. Andrea Kraft-Costigan, Carmen Turner (Sombrio Dakine Bavaria) 10:11:16
9. Beth Crowther, Lanie Forman (Team 10-33) 10:40:17

Teams of 2 Open Mixed
1. David Harris, Lynda Wallenfels (Team Desert Cyclery/He) 28:24:50
2. Hillary Harrison, Ryan Watts (Crystal Mountain Hotel) 1:16:33
3. Lesley Clements, Matthew Bodkin (Team Bc) 3:14:01
4. Karl Etzel, Jennifer Ratay (Team Ride424.Com/X-Fus) 4:22:15
5. Greg Norombaba, Lisa Riehl (San Diego Trek) 4:28:43
6. Brady Fleguel, Astrid Bonter (Vancouver Bike Gallery) 6:15:53
7. Robin Kay, Jameel Adam (Special K And Captain) 13:58:15
8. Jochen Faber, Diane Faber (Faber) 17:44:54
9. Ming Gin, Christina Cuthbertson (Gin) -13:56:03

Teams of 2 Veterans 80
1. Randy Richmond, Sandy Mitchell (Gerick- Nelson) 26:44:51
2. Rod Dagneau, Mike Charuk (West Coast Racing To T) 0:40:38
3. David Overstreet, Mark Thompson (Spike Shooter) 1:11:05
4. Andrew Handford, Pat Doyle (Different Bikes One) 2:00:38
5. Brent Martin, Greg Hayes (Ryders Eyewear Corp) 2:45:22
6. Dave Howells, Denis Fontaine (Ironhorse/Helly Hansen) 3:24:55
7. Mike Hardenbergh, Tim Crum (Damn Dirty Apes) 4:01:46
8. Michael Wardas, Ken Waring (Up And Down) 4:10:14
9. Keith Mcivor, Kevin Smith (Skyline Flyers) 4:36:53
10. Doug Doyle, Darin Nevin (Sleepmonsters.Ca) 4:36:59
11. Michael Stiles, Rick Lewis (Stitch Me, I’M Bleedin) 5:39:36
12. Paul Nicholas, Henric Meldgard (Ride To Survive) 6:07:14
13. Dave Mountain, Jim Bennett (Midlife Mojo) 6:38:52
14. Trevor Plestid, Stuart Jones (Winded) 7:10:34
15. Steven Wallouch, Bruce Kelsch (The Aristocrats) 7:40:40
16. Dean Hachey, Mike Davidson (Hachey) 7:51:17
17. Greg Stevenson, Jim Clement (Ready & Wheeling) 8:18:29
18. Greg Mcdougall, Graeme Fitch (Team Harbour Air) 8:22:38
19. Bruce Gordon, Ken Knight (Wheely Forkin’ Tired) 8:49:17
20. Shuichi Kanamori, Leon Fetzer (Team Shuichi-Leon) 9:14:57
21. Chris Mccue, John Ratzke (Big Ride – Bigger Hair) 10:14:38
22. Derek Riley, Monti Burtini (Burley M F) 11:30:13
23. Ken Oertle, Jonathan Mcquenn (Team Action Cyclery) 13:48:59

Teams of 2 Veterans 100
1. Doug Nottebrock, Con Diamond (Kootenay-Okanagan Coop) 33:18:45
2. Clive Rubens, Leo Groenewoud (Geopsyclos) 8:22:48
3. Rick Kaleta, Jean Michaud (Team Canine Carnage) 10:42:33
4. Gary Stetler, Guy Dutil (Team Synergy)

Team of 2 VIP
1. Rob Blanchard, Rob Herbst, Bruce Barker, Darrell Jones (Out There Guys) 36:40:42
2. Tori Fahey, Alana Heise, Lisa Le Poole, Alison Jones (Out There Girls) 3:38:56
3. Calindy Ramsden, Donna Macintosh, John Ramsden, Unknown Rider (Dark Horse Racing)

Team of 4 VIP
1. Richie Schley, Dave Watson, Seamus Mcgrath, Unknown Rider (Richie; Dave & Seamus) 5:21:13
2. Melanie Mcquaid, Lesley Tomlinson, Wendy Simma, Unknown Rider (Melanie; Lesley & Wend) 4:44:52
3. Brian Green, Sam Brovender, Michael Brown, Kevin Falcon (Falcons Fliers) 7:27:04