Three riders with Powell River connections will be putting pedals to the metal for a solid week to challenge themselves in this year’s BC Bike Race.
Beginning Sunday, June 29 in North Vancouver and including a race stage in Powell River on Tuesday, July 1, brother and sister Russell and Saravie Brewer, plus Lyell Woloschuk, are preparing for the tough event, which will test their riding skills through beautiful coastal forests and landscapes. The distance of the local stage is 49 kilometres with an elevation of 886 metres.
Russell said his motivation for this race came as a result of the work of his father Wayne, who is listed as the designer of the Powell River stage, and others locally, who campaigned to bring the race to Powell River. Initially, the racers bypassed this community, driving from Westview to Saltery Bay between the Vancouver Island and Sunshine Coast stages. With the event having run from Willingdon Beach for several years, Russell, an avid mountain biker, has witnessed the athletic and social side of the race firsthand.
“I always thought it would be fun to do the whole thing,” he said. “It was a really good motivator for me to get out and ride a lot.”
Woloschuk was inspired to participate when he was riding with Mike McHugh last year before McHugh rode the BC Bike Race.
“On one of our training rides he just told me to do it because it would be fun,” Woloschuk said. “I decided to compete in this year’s event about a week before last year’s race.”
In the race, there is a real mix of technical cross-country and classic cross-country riding in the off-road portions, Russell said. There is also some road riding that is part of the course.
All three local competitors have ridden sections of the BC Bike Race course prior to this year’s event. Saravie has been to Whistler and Squamish. Russell and Woloschuk went to Cumberland to familiarize themselves with that section of the race. Woloschuk expects each of the seven days will be challenging.
The race includes the start in North Vancouver and day two in Cumberland. The third day of competition will be in Powell River where day four features a ride from Earls Cove to Sechelt. The following day will be from Sechelt to Langdale and the sixth part of the race will be in Squamish. The week-long event will conclude in Whistler. Saravie called the Whistler stage “our victory lap.”
Russell said his pre-race preparations have included building endurance so he can ride the 50-kilometres a day through challenging terrain for a week. BC riders are used to the technical aspects of the race but for riders coming from Nevada or Mexico, BC terrain can be difficult, he said.
Elite professional riders can cover a stage in the two-hour range. The average rider takes three to five hours. Woloschuk is expected to complete the Powell River stage in less than three hours. He has trained on the Powell River course a number of times.
Difficulties and challenges extend beyond the physical strain of racing. Saravie is riding a borrowed bike because she “broke” hers in training.
“I plan on bringing some duct tape and zap straps with me to the races,” Russell said.
As with most demanding sports, the equipment is specialized. Russell had his bike stolen a couple of years ago so he saved up for one that is lighter and meant for cross-country riding. It’s an all-round bike for this type of riding, he said.
Most race bikes have 20 gears because that lower number is lighter but Woloschuk rides with 30 for more versatility. The bike he is riding is known as a hardtail, meaning it has no rear suspension. It saves on weight but can be jarring on the kidneys in rough terrain, he said.
“I find a big difference on my climbs,” he added. “It’s a lot quicker.” Russell said he likes the feeling of a hardtail but can’t handle it anymore.
Woloschuk is entered in the men’s open category and it is “going to be tough.”
“I’m not expecting to be top, but I’m hoping to be top 10,” he said. “This is my first time ever racing so I don’t have a really clear idea of what my goals are.”
Saravie is on a team with another woman and her category is small, with only five teams of women. Catharine Pendrel, a two-time Olympian and 2011 world champion in women’s mountain biking will be in the category, so Saravie has a good idea of who may be at the top of the podium.
Russell said he thinks her other goal is to beat his times, to which she responded: “that’s true.”
Saravie has been racing regularly this past year to prepare herself for the BC Bike Race.
“My goal this year has been to not crash. I raced for the first time two years ago and I crashed every single race.”
Russell said he wants to have fun, finish, and being in the top half of the pack would be a bonus. He will be racing in the 40-plus category.
The racers are taking the ferry here after the Cumberland race on Monday, June 30, racing Tuesday, July 1 and spending a second night at Willingdon Beach before heading to the Sechelt Peninsula.
Russell said most of the racers will be finished between noon and 3 pm on race day so they will be looking for things to do.
“I know a lot of businesses are going to stay open for the racers,” he said.
Powell River is a popular stop for the annual race series.
“I think Powell River consistently has the highest reviews for camp,” Russell said. “They just love staying at Willingdon Beach. It’s a spectacular setting. We’ve been lucky the past few years because the weather has been beautiful when they get back. A lot of the racers go swimming there.”
They also appreciate the reception they receive in Powell River.
“It’s unlike any of the other ones when they get off the ferry and people are cheering,” Russell said. “One year, a bunch of people lined up near Edgehill Elementary School, where the riders leave the road, and they cheered. There were lots of comments about it on racers’ blogs.”
This year’s race will have a new feature in the forest. The addition of the Aloha Trail has cut out some of the rough road that has been part of previous events.
Powell River Cycling Association member Ron Diprose said the trail was started about two years ago and a decision was made to incorporate it into the BC Bike Race.
“We’ve spent more than 1,300 hours building it,” Diprose said. “It’s now one of the best trails out there. It features an under-over bridge that riders go underneath and then loop around to the elevated deck.”
At 800 metres in length, Aloha is a sanctioned trail. Local cyclists received government approval to build it and Powell River Community Forest was supportive of the project.
“It’s one of the nicest trails we’ve built,” he said. “We won’t be able to build too many like it. There’s just so much time invested in it, but we wanted to make it spectacular.”
At Powell River City Council’s meeting on Thursday, June 19, 2014, Russell, a city councillor, reminded residents to watch the BC Bike Race’s start at 9 am at Willingdon Beach.
Councillor Maggie Hathaway added that riders arrive by ferry at the Westview Terminal on Monday, June 30 at about 8:20 pm.
“We would really like to have a big crowd of people to greet them on the street,” Hathaway said. “Come down and welcome the BC Bike Race.”
