Today, in Whistler, was the final day of my 2015 BC Bike Race experience. The stage was 21kms with and decievingly tough 850m of climbing. 850 meters doesn’t seem like a lot when all the other stages had more than 1,500, but the trouble for me, was that a lot of the elevation game came all at once, and the opening climb up the ski hill just got harder as we hit the single track. Easily ridable on day one would be The trail ‘Yummy Numby’ but on day 7, with 300 Km’s of racing in the legs, this super technical climb proved to be very hard. I sort of went backwards today…but that’s okay. Bringing it home one last time. The XC trails around Whistler are very technical, with lots of roots and large rocks to navigate around / over. I’m pretty sure I broke my pinky toe by slamming it into a rock as I transitioned from pedalling to the ‘attack stance’ of pedals at 3 & 9 o’clock. My foot began to throb and sort of distracted me from the task at hand of finishing up BCBR on a strong note. Receiving my Finisher’s Belt Buckle from my lovely ladies Enjoying some post race watermelon (a staple around these parts) with Women’s solo winner Katrina Nash Filling Scott from Rocky Mountain in on my day. Awesome support from the Rocky crew really made a difference in my race. Sharing stories with Dwayne, a local Squamish dude who still rips super hard. It was really fun racing with him all week long. This is what MTB Racing is all about. My second post race staple – potato chips! One last bike wash. Another routine task of racing BCBR. Pro Freerider Geoff Gulevich rocked the skinsuit for the final stage. ALN and I thought he looked pretty good in an XC racing kit. I ended up loosing too much time on Day 7 as I was thoroughly punched so I slid down one spot. My final ranking was 12th overall in Solo Men covering ~322kms in a total time of 18:46:12. A super solid result that this working dad can be proud of. I learned a lot about my riding and myself and made some new friends along the way. This is such an awesome event that I encourage anyone who mountain bikes to serious consider entering. Myla is happy to have her Dad back 🙂 Thank you to Tyler, Scott, & Ben @ Rocky Mountain Bikes for all the great support through the week. It really takes a mental load off by knowing your machine will be taken care of. A last minute cable change was stress free. My Element worked awesome all week. No mechanicals and my bike worked perfectly each stage. Thanks to our team title sponsors, Kokanee and redbike, for helping me get to this great event with super support and encouragement. Brent had the forethought to reach out to Rocky, and it made a big difference in my race. Danielle Baker, racer relations kingpin, keep on being awesome. You always answered my questions as if it was the only one you were asked each day. You made this experience really fun and memorable for me. Thank you. Thank you also goes out to Andreas Hestler, one of the big cheeses at BC Bike Race, for inviting me to participate and share my experience to Pedal Mag’s readers. Dre still shreds as evident by his top 10 result, and it was super fun to ride hard with you each stage. A happy family at the finish And of course, a huge thank you to my family. To my inlaws who traveled to Vancouver & Whistler to help Liesje take care of our daughter. To Liesje and Myla, you ladies where so supportive. You helped me do my selfish racer thing and celebrated my achievement together as a family. It was really special to me to see you as I finished to get my belt buckle. I love you ladies! Well, that’s it. BCBR 2015 is in the books. What an awesome event, awesome experience, and awesome adventure. Thanks for reading, Mike