October 5, 2008 – Here’s Part 2 of my Season Opener to Season Closer report and what transpired in between including the BCBR, NSMB “Wade’s Excellent Adventure”, a media camp with Bike Magazine, the Downieville Classic, the TransRockies, Interbike… and more.

May 17 – Meeting on the Sunshine Coast BCBR
It was back home to Vancouver for a BCBR meeting in Sechelt, BC which usually involves two days of meetings, a bbq or two, some beer and some riding – how else would amazing events happen.

May 24 – NSMB “Wade’s Excellent Adventure”
On the following weekend was the NSMB’s Ripper “Wade’s Excellent Adventure” into which Sombrio entered a 4-man team of Dave Watson, Steve Mitchel, Paul “the Rock Spider” and myself.

June 1-6 – Bike Camp w/Bike Magazine
Last year I joined this media camp with Bike Magazine for the first time and it was an amazing experience. Invited back this year I knew it would be great and it didn’t fail to deliver. Most of us flew into Vegas and some who were nearby drove to the camps. In the end it was great people doing what we all love to do – ride bikes and drink beer. The general objective of the camp is to test early season products and the ‘s how and tell happens’ for the next edition of the mag. Some of the highlights were riding Thunder Mountain, The Jem Trail, Gooseberry Messa and getting snowed on at 7,000 feet while asleep in our tents.

June 24 to July 4 – The BC Bike Race
The BC Bike Race is a 7-day epic mountain bike race that goes from Victoria to Whistler, covering 540km, 40,000 feet of climbing and was an absolute amazing week of single track heaven. Three days on Vancouver Island, two days on the Sunshine Coast and two days on the Mainland, one in Squamish, and the final day is in Whistler.

The first three days on the island were hot, hot and really hot – many of the 400 competitors weren’t prepared for that kind of heat. But by the time we reached the Sunshine Coast and the main body of singletrack conditions were perfect, the course was amazing and it was a feast of BC singletrack for the next four days.

My race was marred with incidents which I could do nothing about. That’s racing, but in the end after one stage win, my boots full of twisting and carving, and nearly 23 hours of great riding, I was stoked and ready for my next adventure.

July 9-14 – The Downieville Classic
Over the last few years I have consciously decided that it’s time to search out the hidden gems that I have missed over the last few years of being a serious racer. One of these events is the now legendary Downieville Classic. It is a small town nestled in a steep valley on the West side of the Sierra Nevadas between Reno and Sacramento. Town elevation is about 4,000, shuttles were taking us to 10 or 11,000, and the DH was 50 minutes long – yup that long. The number one event of the weekend was the All-Mountain Challenge, one bike, two events, and a weigh-in before each start. Day one was the XC up and downs – more like big up and big down. Day two was the coveted DH.

I was traveling with Wade and we had brought what we thought were the right tools, but as it turned out we a) needed way more time to get to know the course and b) needed to reassess our gear choices. Wade was overweight with a Slayer built up with some bigger parts and I was under-prepped being dog-tired after seven days of racing the BCBR and was shredding on the New Altitude – bike good, me bad.

So after realizing that this trip would suffice for a ‘recon’ for next year, we settled into have fun and worked the crowd. What an amazing event with 800+ people, the town completely sold out, every restaurant packed and thousands of other people hanging out and enjoying themselves. The list of participants wasn’t shabby either – Miles Rockwell, Brian Lopes, Mark Weir, Chris Sheppard, Jason Moeshler, Greg Herbold, and Jurgen Beneke basically a ton of fast guys who know where to spend a weekend having fun and getting the job done.

Hot and high in the mountains, staying cool by the river was a priority, and judging the River Jump contest turned out to be the best way to do it all.

Other Stuff
Somewhere in all this stuff just prior to my last big event of the year the TransRockies I managed to get to the Chilcotins twice, once with Ride Guide to shoot with Darcy Turenne and our camera man Corey Horton. As usual Dale Douglas and Tyax Air took care of us and we had the run at the Tyax Lodge – just look at those flowers.

August 9-17 – The TransRockies
And it was finally time for another big epic adventure in the 7-day department. I have been doing the TransRockies for six years now and was happily rewarded by the organizers with a Campagnolo wine opener, lovingly engraved with my name on it – how’s that for service.

This year’s partner Chris Sheppard and I have been friends for a very long time, and when you ride hard all day, that’s not the part where you need a friend. It’s the eight hours in the RV for 10 days straight where it really matters.

We were strong, but our competition was stronger. Day one put us in 4th and we pretty much locked down that position for the overall. Days 5, 6 and 7 did allow us to uncork our combined experience and deliver a 2nd, another 2nd, and on the last day we took the Stage Win – ahhh, victory is sweet and fleeting.

It’s been exactly three weeks now since that final day and though the victory was sweet I was absolutely rocked-sacked-blown for every one of those last 21 days. Finally starting to feel normal I am planning the final (yeah, right) adventure for the year – Interbike.

This year’s program looks a little different than usual – Cactus Cup the weekend before (three stages) instead of the Cheakamus. Then the usual Dirt Demo and show which I quite enjoy, followed by a week of shooting with Ride Guide in Nevada, and the grand finale ‘The Red Bull Rampage” where teammates Wade, Gully and Shrew will be doing their stuff.

I may talk into the mic for the T.V. but you won’t see me dropping off those cliffs. Talk about a big event to close out the year – road trip, two events and a trade show to boot – see ya’ll in the fall.