Yeah, I finished the BC Bike Race

Feeling the pain after stage one in Cumberland

It was by far the hardest physical accomplishment of my life: 7 days, 30,000 feet of climbing, 350 kilometres. The BC Bike Race is an annual seven day mountain bike race that jumps from community to community in southwestern British Columbia. Dubbed the "ultimate singletrack experience" each stage traverses the best of the local trails.

My buddy Paul LaPerriere and I entered last winter and trained hard all spring. We both have families and almost full time jobs, which made getting in shape for 50 kilometres of riding a day a logistical struggle every week. But in July we did it, finishing 22nd in teams of two, around the middle of the pack in the 470 person race.

I wrote about what I learned during the race for one of my favourite websites, TheGearJunkie.com. I have a few other articles planned.

It was one of the best weeks of my life full of amazing trails, tiring uphills and flowing descents. My favourite stage was on the Sunshine Coast from Sechelt to Langdale - 40 kilometres of fun singletrack ending with a 10 kilometre descent. Sick.

The Squamish stage was another epic and the week finished on a high with a long, exciting final plunge down Whistler's Comfortably Numb and into the Lost Lake Lake trails.

Would I do it again? I could probably be talked into it. I'm definitely looking for another race like it somewhere else.

Third place finish in adventure race

At the Mind Over Mountain Adventure Race a summer of paddling helped me claim third place in the solo men's category, September 25. The 50 kilometre race was long and hard, made tougher by windy and wet weather and a cold.

I was feeling so crappy I almost pulled out the night before, but I pushed through and am glad I did. I did well on the opening paddling leg, surfing my surf ski on the small waves blowing down Comox Lake near Cumberland, British Columbia. I landed in second overall, first solo boat.

The mountain bike leg was my weakness and I got passed by a few teams getting to the trail running/orienteering transition. I held my own here, despite a few mistakes, and was back on the bike, for the second bike stage, in third overall, but I was tired. It didn't take long before several solo guys had passed me, relegating me to fifth. I didn't care though. The riding in Cumberland is so much fun it's impossible to be in a bad mood bombing the single track.

The race ended with another orienteering section. Despite being dead tired I managed to claw my way back for third. I was super happy and know if I'd made a couple of better navigation decisions I could have challenged for second.

Photo: That's me on the left standing next to winner Todd Nowack and second place finisher Jeremy Grasby.