If good things come in threes then this year’s BC Bike Race is a “spoketacular” example. For the third year in a row, the event will return to Powell River for day three of the popular stage race, sold out with nearly 530 participants in attendance from 31 different countries.
The race is the biggest of its kind in Canada, drawing both amateur and professional riders for a seven-day trek through the trails and backcountry of British Columbia. Powell River will host the event this Tuesday, July 3.
After arriving midday by ferry from Vancouver Island, riders will start at Willingdon Beach and weave their way through city streets toward the tough, root-ridden terrain that has put Powell River on the map and attracted the event to the region in the first place.
Course director Wayne Brewer said that just like last year, this year’s course has been designed to take just under or just over two hours, depending on the rider. Participants can choose to race at the 48-kilometre Epic level, the 37.3-kilometre Challenge level or pace themselves for two newly added Enduro races within the race itself. “Those are more downhill,” said Brewer. “People wouldn’t necessarily be able to get a podium finish overall but they could hold themselves back a little bit and when they get to [an Enduro race] they could let loose and have gravity as their friend.”
While several of the trails and much of the on-pavement portion of the race course will remain the same this year, Brewer and his team have changed things up a bit in an attempt to make some of the sections more manageable. “Last year we gave [the riders] way too much hard, difficult single track; some really challenging stuff,” he said. “You want to show them everything... but there’s such a thing as too much of a good thing and that was a good example.”
This year, a respite zone with more climbing has been added and Brewer is confident it will leave the racers more than satisfied. “I think it’s the best race course we’ve had,” he said. “They’re just going to be ecstatic at what we’ve put together.”
Members of Powell River Cycling Association [PRCA] spent hundreds of hours over the winter months to get the course in shape, said Brewer. “All of the members have been really helpful but I have a team of three that work really closely with me,” he added, crediting Hugo Sloos, Ron Diprose and his son Russell Brewer with much of the heavy lifting.
In addition to the work by PRCA members in advance, over 100 volunteers will be coming into town on race day, working alongside City of Powell River crews and a team of local volunteers.
Logistics for the event will be slightly more challenging this year, given that the opening ceremonies for International Choral Kathaumixw will take place on the same evening in the venue used in past years as a makeshift dining hall for the racers. Instead of having a group dinner at Hap Parker Arena, participants will be fed in two sittings at Dwight Hall.
Not only is the arena in use and the majority of the city’s chairs spoken for, but volunteers are also at a premium, said Brewer, chuckling at what can only be described as the positive consequences of Powell River’s global reputation and its way of encompassing multiple things, from music festivals to bike races.
Since becoming a host city for the race in 2010, Powell River’s reputation as a top destination for mountain biking has increased significantly. More and more racers from around the world are finding out about the local trails, coming to ride them and returning to ride them again.
The large media contingent that travels with the race certainly doesn’t hurt either. In addition to photographers, magazine and newspaper writers, bloggers, and hundreds of riders with laptops and portable devices of their own, CBC and CHEK News will both have crews in Powell River for the race.
While residents can certainly watch the media coverage on their television screens on Tuesday evening, they will also be able to catch a live piece of the action during the day. The best time to see riders will be at 12:45 pm along the lead-out route, said Brewer, “anywhere along Marine [Avenue] or Duncan [Street] or Manson [Avenue] as far as Edgehill School.” Cowbells are available again this year for spectators and can be picked up free of charge from the Tourism Powell River office at 4760 Joyce Avenue. Residents are encouraged to come out and cheer on the racers as they pass by.
For more information about the race, interested readers may visit online.
