Friday, June 26, 2015

BCBR update 2 from Day -1


I have been on the go a lot over the past couple of days - another couple of rides in, connecting with my parents who are now here in Vancouver, with Gerhard following tonight, and meeting all kinds of awesome members of the BCBR Family, including racers, course designers, bike patrollers and more. 

This year on top of riding (cause that's not hard enough), I'll also be sharing some "tales from the bike wash" for Bike Mag so stay tuned for coverage starting on Sunday. Let's see if I can pull this off, eh? If you're reading this and part of the race, let me know if you have a great BCBR story to share and I'll come find you :) 

Anyway, to keep it quick, here are a few pics I snapped on my phone over the past couple days with some rambling to go with them. Energy is building, excitement is palpable and everyone is ready to get rolling! 



I am SO thrilled to be working with my sponsors at Eliel all the time, but for this particular week, I'm on cloud nine. Just LOOK at what they have put together for me for this special occasion! I will be rolling in style. Gerhard has the new kits which on Monday were just a couple of jpegs, and by Thursday afternoon were fully printed and sewn, high-end, high tech examples of kit-doping. Look for these on the trail! Stoked. 



Spotted this 2016 Thunderbolt on the Cumberland Women's Ride (UROC) on Wednesday night. It was the best night. Thanks to the six women in my group for an epic tour and awesome vibes. Got a nice preview of the BCBR course over Blockhead and the newly routed Bear Buns, plus we did a bonus round on Climax with some time on Broadway, and some other new-to-me trails I can't name this second but that were all amazing. We rode until 9pm and it was still totally light out. Cumberland is heaven. 



This is the whole ladies' group meeting outside the Riding Fool Hostel in Cumberland - the place to stay if you're visiting the area, which you definitely should. Our group had THREE Thunderbolts out of six riders in it ... it was a THUNDERSTORM.



There are so many awesome trails in Cumberland, even the locals gotta double check the map. 



The Wednesday Night Bike Gang. 




The next morning, my Thunderbolt and I made our way over to the mainland from Nanaimo. Thanks to Gerhard and Christine for the lift -- I was the last one on the boat but just made it! It was funny to learn that your bike is treated like a vehicle so I got to ride on with the cars and then roll on up to the front. This is the view -- a first for me -- of us docking in Horseshoe Bay. I met lots of cool cyclists on the ferry and one day it would be neat to do it with a proper touring bike like they were.



Next, Thunderbolt and I hit up the bus! It was a long beautiful trip into Vancouver and I can't get over how many senior citizens use the public transit! And even more next-level, they ALL seemed to know each other! For $4, it was a nice alternative to riding with my giant hiking pack. 


After posting up at a Starbucks to do some work, I got a quick tour of Rocky Mountain HQ and then hit up some North Van trails with my tour guide, Bryan. Perfect "gnarly north shore" shake down ride and I was feeling great, albeit hot. It's going to be a tough week for hydration! After the ride, I connected with the athlete I've been working with, Bjorn, down at BCBR central for racers, the Holiday Inn. From there, we headed to Granville Island for dinner at The Sandbar with my folks. And check out these silos we spotted! 


When we got back to the hotel after a nice little tour of Stanley Park and the Lionsgate Bridge, we saw this sign and had to wonder.


And that brings us to this morning when I was caught having a threesome. o_0

Registration is today, and later I'll be moving into our home on wheels, the RV so stay tuned on Instagram for more shares a little later on. 

Tomorrow: Safety Meeting and transfer to Cumberland! 

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