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Eatough, Schalk claim first B.C. Bike Race

Seven day stage race finishes with technical Whistler trails
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Seven for Seven. Team Pedal Specialized, Steve Devantier and Barry Lyster of Maple Ridge, cross the finish line of the B.C. Bike Race on Saturday. They rode more than 525 km over seven days in a time of 34 hours and 24 minutes. The race started in Victoria on Canada Day, July 1. Photo by Ian Morrison, ww.coastphoto.com.

The inaugural B.C. Bike Race wrapped up in Whistler on Saturday, July 7, following seven grueling stages. The race started in Victoria on Canada Day, made its way north on Vancouver Island for three days, crossed over to the Sunshine Coast and then rolled up to Whistler on the sixth day. The seventh day was entirely set in Whistler, with some of the most technical riding of the journey.

In total, teams of two and four covered about 525 km of ground, roughly 40 per cent on singletrack.

The goal was to create a stage race in the spirit of the TransRockies Challenge or TransAlp Challenge, but featuring more technical West Coast singletrack.

The title in the first year went to the team of Chris Eatough and Jeff Schalk of Team Trek-Volkswagen. Both are experienced long-distance and stage racers, and they had no trouble with even the most technical trails. They won all seven stages of the race, posting a cumulative seven-stage time of 25 hours, two minutes and 50 seconds.

Team Rocky Mountain Bikes, which included race course setter Andreas Hestler and partner Kevin Calhoun, came on strong in the second half of the race to finish with a time of 25:45:03. Team La Ruta/Sho-Air, with riders Jason First and Manuel Prado, placed second in a few stages but dropped off in the technical trails to finish third in 26:28:52.

The only Whistler riders in the Men’s Open category were Julian Hine and Kevin Phelps, racing as Team Chromag-Sram. They posted a total time of 29:11:52, making their best time on the technical stages of the course.

On the women’s side, Cynthia Young and Michelle Newton of North Shore Girls Don’t Cry won six stages out of seven to finish with an overall time of 35:19:15.

The Jennerators, Jen Keefer and Jen Sawrenko, took second overall with a cumulative time of 36:31:03. Team Tunnelvision, with Whistler residents Emma Smith and Sarah O’Byrne, placed third in 37:52:26. More amazing is the fact that this is only the second year that Smith and O’Byrne have been mountain biking.

Riders in the mixed category produced the scariest moment of the race when David Harris and Lynda Wallenfels had a serious crash on Kill Me Thrill Me on the seventh day. Harris was riding over a bridge and fell off the side, hitting his head and sustaining a concussion. As a result he was taken off-course on a backboard as a precautionary measure, but turned up later at the finish line.

Up to that point Harris and Wallenfels had won every stage in the mixed category, but their crash put them well off the podium. Pemberton’s Hilary Harrison and Ryan Watts — both veterans of La Ruta and the TransRockies — moved up to first while racing as Crystal Mountain Hotels with a cumulative time of 31:16:20. Harrison and Watts stayed with Harris until the paramedics arrived, which slowed down their own time.

Team B.C. also had a rough race, with Leslie Clements still feeling the effects of a gastro-intestinal disease she picked up at the Test of Metal two weeks prior to the B.C. Bike Race.

“The first couple of days were pretty good, we were right where we wanted to be but then my body just started to shut down,” said Clements. After the fifth stage Clements went to the hospital where they gave her three bags of intravenous fluid to rehydrate. The problem was that the fluid stayed in her body for the next two days of racing, adding more than 10 pounds to her usual running weight.

Despite the discomfort Clements and Matt Bodkin pushed ahead until the last day and were sitting in third when they were forced to pull out.

Despite all the issues, Clements enjoyed the race as much as she could and believes it has a bright future.

“It was so well organized and the weather cooperated beautifully,” she said. “Considering it was the first time they put it on, it was unbelievable. The food was good, the ferry crossings were really easy. We were a bit worried, but they pulled it off. Matt got lost on the second day, and I took a wrong turn on the Sunshine Coast, but overall the course marking was great as well. Over that many kilometres you’d expect to have more issues.”

Bodkin and Clements got some support for their ride from Nesters Market and Creekside Market, as well as from Katmandu.

With two of the top-three mixed teams sidelined on the last day, Team San Diego Trek moved into second place with a time of 35:14:01. Team Ride424.com/X-Fusion finished third in 35:31:24. Both teams were from California.

In the Veterans 80 category, Team Gerick-Nelson finished on top, with Randy Richmond and Sandy Mitchell holding off a strong challenge from West Coast Racing to Team Whistler, with Rod Dagneau of North Vancouver and Mike Charuk of Whistler. Their times were 28:38:35 and 29:14:25 respectively.

Team Spike Shooter, David Overstreet and Mark Thompson from Colorado, were third in 29:57:05.

The Skyline Flyers, with Whistler’s Keith McIvor and Kevin Smith, placed 10 th in that category with a time of 34:18:52. Two spots back were locals Paul Nicholas and Henric Medlgard in 35:13:31, riding as Team Ride to Survive. Graeme Fitch of Whistler and Pemberton’s Greg McDougall raced as Team Harbour Air, finishing 17 th in 37:33:20.

According to organizer Grant Lamont, the organizers are looking at ways to fine tune the 2008 race. The website originally advertised the race for late May/early June of 2008, but that will likely be moved back to late June/early July to give teams more time to train for the race. Other benefits include warmer weather, and allowing people in some professions, like teaching, to take part.

The route may also be changed to reduce the amount of road time and increase the amount of singletrack.

“In a way it would be almost better to start the race in Nanaimo so that riders can spend more time riding the awesome trails in Parksville, and I think we’d also like to spend a day riding down in Squamish before coming up to Whistler,” said Lamont. “We are limited by geography to some extent, there aren’t many bike trails to Squamish from Horseshoe Bay, but we can knock out some of the road riding.”

There has been talk of busing riders from riding spot to riding spot, but Lamont said that would add to the cost and footprint of the race.

“I like the idea of riders pedaling the whole way and having a low environmental footprint,” he said.

Otherwise Lamont said he was happy with the way the inaugural race went, and is expecting far more riders for next year.

“We had close to 700 people at the awards in the Westin, we had a great slide show, and all kinds of additional support from all our sponsors,” he said. “I really think it’s going to pan out. We’re already getting a lot of interest from riders across North America and Europe that have committed to other races this year and couldn’t make it to B.C., but want to come in 2008.”

Complete results, photos, rider blogs and registration for 2008 is available online at www.bcbikerace.com.