BC Bike Race - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The BC Bike Race is a seven day mountain bike stage race

Mountain bike racing

The Union Cycliste Internationale recognised the sport of mountain bike racing relatively late in 1990, when it sanctioned the world championships in Purgatory, Colorado. The first mountain biking world cup series took place in 1991. Its nine-race circuit covered two continents—Europe and North...

held in British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. It is traditionally held during the week of Canada Day

Canada Day

Canada Day , formerly Dominion Day , is the national day of Canada, a federal statutory holiday celebrating the anniversary of the July 1, 1867, enactment of the British North America Act , which united three British colonies into a single country, called Canada, within the British Empire...

(July 1).
The BC Bike Race claims to have the most singletrack riding of any similar multi-day race.

The Route

Each year, the BC Bike Race route changes, but has always included Vancouver Island, the Sunshine Coast, and the Sea to Sky Corridor. The 2010 version of the race involved a Prologue on Vancouver's North Shore, then days in Nanaimo, Cumberland, Powell River, Earls Cover to Sechelt, Sechelt to Langdale, Squamish, and Whistler. The 2011 route is yet to be announced.

The event now contains two versions of the race. The Epic (run since 2007) is seven days of racing with the average course length of 60 km each day. The Challenge (run since 2010) is also seven days, but sports an average of 30 km each day. Both options take place at the same time and incorporate the same Base Camps each day.

Teams

In 2007 and 2008, racers had to compete as part of a team. Now, BC Bike Race offers a Solo option. Most categories are for teams of two: Open Men, Open Women, Open Mixed, Veterans 80+ (combined age of both riders is over eighty), and Veterans 100+ (combined age over one hundred). Solo categories are Open Men, Men 40+, Open Women, Women 40+. There is one recreational category for teams of three to five people where at least one rider must race each day for the team to be officially ranked. Teammates must stay within two minutes of each other during the stage or risk a time penalty.

In 2010, a shorter version of the race called the "Challenge" was introduced. Participants could compete in either the Solo of Team of Two categories. The standard version of BC Bike Race is now referred to as the "Epic".

Guest Racers

The race has been known to extend invitations to certain riders to compete as a celebrity guest on certain stages. Past guests include Trevor Linden

Trevor Linden

Trevor John Linden, C.M., O.B.C. is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player. He played centre and right wing with four different teams: the Vancouver Canucks , New York Islanders, Montreal Canadiens, and Washington Capitals...

(Ex-Captain

Captain (ice hockey)

In ice hockey, each team can designate an official captain for each game. The player serving as captain during the game wears a "C" on his or her jersey...

of the Vancouver Canucks

Vancouver Canucks

The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver, :British Columbia, Canada. They are members of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . The Canucks play their home games at Rogers Arena, formerly known as General Motors Place,...

Results

2010 Results
500 starters

2009 Results
380 starters

2008 Results
400 starters

Open Men

1st Place - 25:58:24 - Chris Sneddon and Barry Wicks
2nd Place - 26:19:17 - Chris Eatough
Chris Eatough
Chris Eatough is a mountain bike racer, part of the Trek Racing Cooperative team. He is a six-time 24-hour solo World Cup champion and five-time 24-hour solo National Cup champion.-Career:...

and Jeff Schalk
Jeff Schalk
Jeff Schalk is a professional mountain bike racer. He put his career as a structural engineer on hold in 2006, moving to Washington, D.C. to pursue racing full time with the Trek Volkswagen East Coast factory team...
3rd Place - 26:40:33 - Tim Bennett and Adrian Jackson

Open Women

1st Place - 32:08:16 - Sara Bresnick-Zocchi and Kelli Emmett
2nd Place - 35:40:23 - Kristenn Magnusson and Lisa Ludwig
3rd Place - 36:07:32 - Katie Lindquist and Amy Harris

2007 Results
210 starters