August 10, 2018 (Vallée Bras du Nord, Quebec) –  After yesterday’s debacle with route-finding, I was looking forward to redeeming myself on today’s stage at Vallée Bras du Nord (VBN) Shannahan. There was a bit of a buzz among the other QSE riders about the stage, as it had been well-hyped by the locals and organizers as the signature stage of the event.

VBN was born in 2002 as a co-op to support outdoor activities in the area. The mountain bike trails were initially conceived with input from Vermont’s Kingdom Trails, which remains its sister destination and one can certainly see some similarities in design, especially at St. Raymond sector. But, in recent years VBN has come into its own. Riders from the northeastern US now travel to Québec to bike the iconic trails that top the must-do lists for anyone who sets a wheel down in eastern North America.

From downtown Quebec, the Shannahan trails are a bit of a haul, making this the furthest destination of the seven days. We were also downgraded from our normal coach to a school bus for this trip, but with good reason – our starting point was near the top of the fabled Neilson North trail. It’s a twisting, bumpy climb to the trailhead that no luxury coach could manage. We got the full bouncy castle experience, with tree branches whipping the windows and AC/DC’s Thunderstruck playing at full volume. Yup, lots of energy on that bus.

From the start we had a short distance on the road before popping onto Neilson, which descends about 300 metres alongside the Neilson river as bubbles its way into the valley. Much has been written about Neilson North – it’s as good as everything you’ve read, possibly better. There’s so much to appreciate about this trail, from the technical rocks and bridges to the occasional waterfalls to the ingenuity of the trail’s design. Due to its complexity, however, the beauty of the surrounding terrain is not something you can appreciate while racing. I was among many who took a few moments to stop, look around and snap a few photos.

But Neilson isn’t the only trail VBN Shannahan has to offer and we rode a total of 44.5km of them, including a new trail, Petite Ourse and Chutes à Gilles, both of which have trailside waterfall features, and a quartet of super flowy trails leading into the finish.

I’d have to say that my favourites of the day were the timed climb and descent trails: L’Aurore and Boréale. The last time I was here I missed these two trails due to a malfunctioning dropper post so this was a bit of redemption of another sort. Fittingly, just before I began the 4.1km climb (complete with 115 switchbacks and 68 bridges), AC/DC made a second appearance, this time in the form of bona fide thunder.

The rain held off, for the most part, until I finished the descent – over 2km of pure joy. I felt solid on the features and was fast enough to garner a top 30 overall descent time for the day. Other than finishing the final stage tomorrow, that might stand as my personal triumph for the race.