BC Epic 1000 2018

BC Epic 1000 2018 Edition:

In the lead up to this year’s race I had noticed some big names were thinking about racing it. About a month before the race I had a quick look through the sign-ups and with David McInerney - Cloudride winner, Greg Grandegeorge, Bryan Bergstedt, Thomas Hainisch, Lennard Pretorius, Ryan Hamilton and a very last minute sign-up of Evan Deutsch and I figured I had some serious work cut out for me. My plan from last year was to race with the Grand Depart this time, Eastbound, as it would be nice to race with some other people instead of by myself. When I was running the numbers I had calculated out about 300+km days and aimed for about a 3 day finish which would put a big dent into the Eastbound record Lennard had set in 2017.

I had begun training in January this year with the focus on the AZT 300 in the spring and then carry my fitness into the BC Epic 1000. I had planned to skip the Canada Day long weekend with my family in Kelowna and do the race but in the hustle to quickly pack up and get out of Calgary I had forgotten a couple of important things, bottles, CO2, tube. It seems that no matter how prepared you may think you are there is always something missing. This year, at least, I had remembered chain lube and a rear light that I forgot last year. I quickly setup my bike at my parents place in Kelowna Friday morning and by 3 I was packed up for the quick drive over to Merritt.

Upon arrival in Merritt my wife and I quickly went over to the rider BBQ Lennard had arranged with the help of Merritt's Breathe Bike Shop. We were a bit late but it was a great spread although the weather was a bit wet and cool. It was nice to meet some riders before the race and chat with Lennard. Once the BBQ was tapering off the skies opened up and most retired to their accommodations for the evening. I grabbed some last minute supplies and tried to sleep as much as I could, but as always pre-race jitters kept me up.

Day 1

My alarm went off at 6am and I was quickly up and trying to eat breakfast but my stomach was in knots before big "races". I just had to slowly nibble away and try to stuff as much food as I could. My next meal would not be until Princeton. At about 6:40 I jumped on my bike and rode down to the start on the streets that were still a bit wet from the previous evening’s rain. I arrived at the start and there was a huge crowd. Lots of riders everywhere. I was quite impressed at the variety of people, bikes and gear. I went to find Miles Arbour and get the profile picture for an article he was doing for Bikepacking.com (http://www.bikepacking.com/bikes/bc-epic-1000-rigs-2018/). People began lining up for the start and I found Lennard to line up beside. The two record holders side by side would be a fun picture leading the race out. At just before 7am the race began and away we went all on our own adventure....ride/race.

As the race began I had figured that someone was going to push the pace right from town but I found that it was fairly tame. As we rode away from town there was a good group of about six or seven riders forming a good pace group on the road. We all yoyo'd around with each rider having a go up front. I remember one rider on a fat bike in our group go zipping up the road past us and I wondered out loud how long he would last but he just kept on cruising. I had remembered the route fairly well from last year and was able to smoothly navigate until one section where the road paralleled the rail trail. My eTrex showed it staying on the road even though in 2017 coming the other way I had rode the rail trail. I decided to go on the road with the rest of the group. A bit further up the road and finally we were starting on the rail trail. The pace was quick and Matt L.(Fat Biker) and Thomas Hainisch had broken away from the main group.

After going under the Coquihalla Highway overpass I noticed that my handlebar pack was bouncing around a lot and decided to pull over and investigate. The strap that holds the bottom the bag around my head tube had come undone and in my rush to do a quick fix and catch up with the group I decided to just pull out the strap out and fix it in Princeton. I stuffed the strap into my food pouch, tightened down the two other handle bar straps and remounted. I never did put the strap back as I was not able to find the strap later on. It must have found a new home on the open trail.

Back on the bike now I pushed to catch up with the front group of guys. I knew there was some tricky navigation coming up as you need to take a sharp right and up over a sandy knoll. I was cruising along when I suddenly saw the turn. I double checked with my GPS zoomed all the way in and it was the right turn. Some people went straight and others turned with me. The first hike-a-bike followed quickly after the turn although it was much easier going east instead of west. Over the bridge and around the bend to start the climb up to Brookmere. Just after turning the bend and starting the climb a rider was coming back at me. I thought that was strange. It was Thomas Hainisch. He had gone straight with Matt and I am not sure where they were able to cross the river but they did and Thomas was trying to figure out his navigation error. He rode with me for a bit and told me that he had a stick go into his rear wheel and his bike was not shifting and the wheel was warped from a broken spoke. He eventually drifted off behind me and I set my sights on trying to catch Matt. It was finally after Brookmere that I could see a figure riding down the trail way in front of me. I kept a strong pace and Matt kept getting closer and closer until I finally caught him where the bridge is missing over Coalmont Rd. We rode for a bit together and talked a little and went on testing each other’s strength. When we hit the long straightaway we ran into our first gate. One of what was to be many gates but for some reason this year most of the gates were open. After going through the first gate we hit a herd of cows and nature put on a little show for us. As we rode into the cows they started parting ways and running around but one young calf ran past a bush and suddenly out jumped a coyote and it went straight after the calf. A small chase ensued but the calf was able to get back into the herd and the coyote trotted away with an empty stomach. Both Matt and I were both amazed at what we had just seen. Down through the farm/cow poop corridor we went until I found myself riding alone and Matt nowhere in sight. I assumed he took a rest along the trail and I never saw him again. Impressive riding for Matt on his fatbike, he eventually scratched in Kelowna.

On the trail between Tulameen and Coalmont I had my only scary moment on the whole ride. A side-by-side came ripping up the trail not even slowing down for me as I dove to the side of the trail for my safety. He had a huge cloud of dust and I could hear more ATV's coming. I was at the side of the trail and the second ATV came zipping by unaware of my presence until the last second and he dodged right. I jumped back on my bike and slowly made my way through the super dust cloud now when I could hear even more ATV's coming. Two more crazies blasted by me at full speed not seeing me at the side of the trail or just catching me at the last second and tapping the brakes. The adrenaline was flowing now. I cautiously rode the next little bit until the dust had settled. Those were the worst ATV's on the trail that I encountered. The rest were very courteous and slowed for me.

A bit further down the trail and I heard a rider coming up from behind me. It was Thomas Hainisch and he was on a very quick pace. I did my best to match him and exchange stories. He told me that he went back and rode the trail that he missed and was trying to get to Princeton quick so he could get some repairs to his bike. He had broken three spokes and his derailleur was damaged and was not shifting. I was amazed that he was able to catch up and still keep a fast pace as we rode into Princeton. I let out a whoo-hoo as we hit the paved pathway into Princeton. I was out of water and planned to the A&W for food. Thomas left me just before the gas station to try to find a bike shop to get his bike fixed. I found out later that the damage was bad enough that he would end up scratching in Princeton. It didn't help that it was the Canada Day long weekend and most shops were closed.

I quickly restocked at the gas station and walked over to the A&W and it was busy. I peeked in the door and the lineup was huge. Quite the difference a year makes. In 2017 I was at this A&W on a Tuesday evening and I was the only customer. Damn long weekenders. I double checked my food and figured I had enough to get to Penticton and set off. As I climbed up the triple switch back climb out of Princeton I was always looking back to see if anyone was gaining on me if they too skipped lunch. Nobody was ever there. I was by myself and kept ticking off the kilometers. The skies became overcast and the drizzle had settled in for the long climb up to the pass at Bankier. I threw on my wind breaker to make sure my thermal jacket didn't get too wet. The climb over the pass seemed a lot faster than last year and soon I was headed down towards Summerland. Around the new washout and over the new landslide and I was down to the KVR rail train. This was a quick downhill where the Epic bypasses the active tourist rail tour. I thought about what I needed in Penticton so I could make a quick stop. Straight into the A&W and ordered a greasy meal. Perfect. I checked into Trackleaders to see where the riders were behind me. There were some people close, so I finished up my dinner and hopped the road over to the gas station for a quick refill. After the race I guess Evan had passed me while I ate but as I was headed back towards the KVR he had doubled back into the city so he could restock too. We never saw each other.

On the way out of Penticton the clouds had cleared and it was nice and sunny all of the way up the KVR. Beautiful evening ride and I was feeling great. Up past the Chute Lake Resort at 8pm and I was on a good pace to knock off 300km the first day. I just kept a steady pace and tried to not take any breaks. It was starting to get dark by the time I hit Myra trestles and I decided to put on all of my warm clothes to ride into the night. There were some people on the trail that were looking for a rider. With my lights on now I pushed on down the trail and soon I was past the Hydraulic Lake campground. It was about 15-20 minutes later that I came across a large water/pond across the trail. I had not heard about this so I just assumed it was like any other puddle on the KVR and slowly pedaled through the water but the water kept getting deeper and deeper. I knew I was going to be in trouble so I decided to stop and find a route around. I put my foot on a log and it just sank down with my weight and I almost fell over in the water. Now one foot was really wet and the other was getting wet. I cursed and decided to just pedal through the water and it was really deep while pedaling across. After the race many riders said they found a trail around the water that I had missed in the dark. I was worried about the water seeping into my hubs and bottom bracket and causing issues later on in the race as both were submerged. When I made it to the other side I saw the large slide and water flowing into the pond/trail(See picture #1 below). With the temperatures dropping and now soaking wet feet and lower legs I decided to push on to Arlington lakes and maybe stop by a fire and dry my feet off but by the time I made it there I was getting warm again and my feet were drying out a little. I continued on down the trail and finally came across the large landslide that Lennard had posted on the BCEpic Facebook page. I hiked up and over the slide area and the bugs were going crazy with all of the water/mud in the area. I had my mind set on stopping in Beaverdell as it was now almost midnight.

I rolled into Beaverdell just after 1am and tried to find a nice spot to setup camp. I went up to beside a barn and looked around when out of the darkness came four big aggressive barking dogs. I immediately backed off and moved away. It was almost as if each dog was egging on the other dog to get closer to me. I tried talking/yelling at them but they were pushing me back down the road I had come from. I finally gave up and decided to find a spot closer to the village. I found a nice ditch just where the Epic course turns onto the road. I tried to set up camp as quickly as I could but the temperature was cool and my body started shivering with my feet still moist from the pond. After about 10 minutes I had my tent setup and I was inside stripping off my clothes and getting my dry sleeping clothes on inside my sleeping bag. I cleaned my nether regions and tried to sleep but I still had too much adrenalin pumping to sleep. I finally started to doze off but then heard a cyclist coming down the trail across the road. I knew it was Evan from checking Trackleaders before I setup camp. He mistakenly turned left and lit up my tent but then corrected and went right. I thought to myself that I hope he planned to sleep but he continued on. I heard the dogs start up barking again when he tried to go by them. After the race he said they were quite aggressive to him as well and came up right alongside his bike. The dogs finally stopped barking and I drifted off to dream land.

Day 1 Stats:

Total Distance 372.4km (not much deviation)

Race Distance 370km

Moving Time: 17h 17m

Total Time: 18h 28m (1-1/4hours is very good for stop time)

Day 2

I had set my alarm for 5am but I was up by quarter to five. It was cold and I was shivering. I grumbled and tried to quickly pack everything up while stuffing a bag of BBQ flavour chips down my throat for breakfast. Beaverdell would not open until at least nine so I decided I would try to get to Rock Creek for breakfast. I was back on the bike by a little after five and hoped to quietly sneak past the dogs. Nope. They came shooting out of the residence again barking like crazy and getting very close. I was ready to kick them and shoot them with the bear spray but they finally let up and went back home. The morning air was crisp and the clouds began to spit on me. I saw the Evan had not slept at all that night and was now down by Rock Creek. I had to really push it to have any chance of catching up.

Just after 6am I came across a farm access road the crosses the trail and I hit something weird and it made a very funny clonk noise. I hit the brakes and just heard the tell-tale hissing of a tire losing air. I checked the rear and there was a huge nail diagonally through my tire. I yanked out the nail/spike and threw it into the bushes and then went to work assessing the damage to my tire. I had two punctures. One on the tread which sealed up quickly when I spun the tire. The other puncture was to the side wall just above the bead and it took the next hour and a half to finally get it to seal. I would pump up the tire. Pick up my bike. Spin, shake, rock and bounce the tire to get sealant in. Ride for about 10 minutes or so until the tire was flat again and repeat. I was so cold from stopping and starting so I tried to stop in the sunny sections of the trail as the clouds started to clear. It took about 45 minutes for the tire to finally seal up which was just before I entered back onto the dirt trail. I knew that I had wasted a lot of time with the tire and in hindsight I should have patched and tubed the tire but I was worried as I only carried one tube and who knows where I would be able to buy another. The rest of the Kettle River Valley was uneventful after a trying morning. I rolled into Rock Creek just before 8 and the KVR station store did not open until 9ish. I quickly checked Trackleaders to see how far Evan was in front and he now had a good 40km (3hour) lead. I had to try to reel him in. I pushed on to Midway planning to stop at the gas station for food as my supplies were getting quite low.

I stopped in Midway just after 9am. The ride from Rock Creek was good. You could see where the flooding in the spring had caused damage. I grabbed water, *ades, sandwich, jerky, chips and ate a quick brunch while sunning myself outside the gas station. I readied myself for the climb over the Eholt pass and tried to push the pace but fatigue was playing tricks with me and just past the Llama farm to the summit felt like it took forever. Lennard had warned us about the large amount of blow downs coming down from the summit and sure enough I came across two guys with chainsaws on the fire road that had cleared most of the road already. I could easily blast the downhill around the cut trees. I yelled thanks as I went by them but I am not sure if they heard with their ear protection on. Back on the rail trail I did not remember how rough and rocky the trail was from the previous year but I thought for sure I was going to reopen a puncture as I did my best to float the tops of the rocks.

I rolled into Grand Forks just after noon and went straight to the A&W for calories. Evan was still about 35km in front of me as I checked Trackleaders while I ate. I hit the gas station for a restock and the attendant had told me another racer was there about 2.5 hours before me. I was excited that I could possibly close the gap. The trail out of Grand Forks is paved then a hard pack crushed gravel all the way to Christina Lake. It was nice to be on a smooth trail although you had to keep an eye out for the big sticks (snakes) on the trail basking in the sun. The first one surprised me when it moved. My eyes were peeled after.

Over the Kettle River trestle bridge and now up one of the tougher climbs on the course. 40kms up to the summit and 40km back down to Castlegar. The climb was hot in the midday sun but the temps cooled off the higher I went. Some weather moved in and it spat on me sporadically over the summit. It was quite cold at the summit but I had to relieve myself and get to Castlegar for dinner. The Bulldog tunnel was exciting but much easier to ride through when you can see the end. Going west bound the tunnel is very dark until you come around the bend at the very end. I was looking forward to the downhill after Bulldog tunnel as last year when I rode it west bound the double track trail from the bottom to the top was amazing hard pack, lush, green trail. I was shocked when I found that the rail trail had been turned into what felt like a wide fire or mine road. The big sweeping corners were especially nasty with loose rock ballast that you had to brake on or risk blowing a tire or rolling off the trail. I was very disappointed as this was my most favorite section the previous year. The huge road finally disappeared once the trestles and tunnels started to appear again and the rest of the roll into Castlegar was just as I remembered it.

I went straight to the Subway in Castlegar as I know that is open late when the rest of town in closed up for the long weekend. I grabbed a sub and also restocked my supplies. I checked Trackleaders and found that I had put some good time into Evan. He was just 30km (two and a quarter hours) in front of me now and he was in the middle of the challenging single track section of the trail. Daylight was running out for me though and I did not want to ride the single-track in the dark as it is dicey during the day. I began to panic as I crunched the numbers to get to Trail before dark and it didn't look good. I had to really motor through the single-track to make up time. I shot out of Castlegar and for the first time while grinding on the road the bike felt funny. It was as if the bike was working against me. Like there was a drag on the bike. I couldn't see or hear anything and began to think that maybe some water had penetrated my bearings from the water the night before. I tried to not think about it and focused on the task at hand. I flew around the College trails. I found that Lennard had re-routed the section that went down to the river and was usually flooded. Through the neighbourhood, past the dump, across the old orchard and down into the single-track. On the single-track I was amazed to see that someone had attempted the trail on a touring/motor bike and from reading the treads it looked like that motorbike had gone through after Evan. The single-track was very difficult on a mountain bike but could you imagine a 250lb. dirt bike. Crazy.

I had my only crash during the race in this single-track. It was on the infamous sand hill where you could go straight down and surf the sand or go left and a switchback will take you down(#2 see Guy Stuarts,@abmtnguy, picture below). I decided to surf but my skills just were not there and I fell to the side and ate the sand. I was so full of adrenalin that I jumped up looked over the bike and remounted. It was starting to get dark enough for me to need to put on my lights when I finally came out to the double track towards the end. Across the sand bowl and down into Trail just as the Canada Day fireworks were starting. I watched the show while checking in with my family and pondered how far I should push the night. I put on my warm clothes when I stopped to change maps in my etrex and rode into the night. The highway goes out of trail goes up and up and up. Up past Montrose and up past Fruitvale where unknown to me Evan had finally grabbed a bed in a hotel to rest his body for about three hours. I just kept going into the night. The highway was very quiet and the temperature was dropping. I had decided to see what I could find in Salmo for the hotel but by the time I arrived at 1am everything was shutdown except for a party house just off the main street. I decided to camp again in the cold and setup just off the trail beside the old Salmo Rail Station. Sleep came quick this night.

Day 2 Stats:

Total Distance: 317.5km

Race Distance: 315km

Moving Time: 16h 43m

Total Time: 19h 40m (3 Hours of stop time could be improved, fatigue a factor)

Day 3

I awoke to a cool and damp morning in Salmo at about 5am and sat in my sleeping bag crunching numbers to see how long it would be to the ferry, what time is the first ferry, where is Evan, is he catchable. Evan was already down in Nelson by the time I started moving. I had planned to take the third ferry departure but it was going to be close. I had to minimize the breaks. I was very low on food but I knew if I grabbed the third ferry there is a little cafe on the Ferry and a bakery and convenience store on either side.

This section of trail from Salmo to Ymir is rough ATV double track and the trail gets progressively better the further up the valley you go. Not far out of Salmo I ran into two Westbounders that had left Fernie at the same time as the Grand Depart. We exchanged pleasantries and went on our way. The grass was very dewy and I started to feel the moisture on my feet so I made a point of avoiding the overhanging grass. Into Ymir I noticed a water spigot beside the trail and figured I needed water so I topped up my bottles. A bit further up the trail and after taking a drink the water definitely was hose water. Just had a rubber taste to it but it was clear water so I would be fine. The trail began to get more and more overgrown and the coolness of the morning was getting worse the higher up I went. The sun was up but I was shaded in the bottom of the valley. My feet were really starting to get wet and cold and it took a long time to get my body heat up. The trail finally turned north towards Nelson and the sun was high enough that it was hitting the trail. I began to warm up nicely just as the trail disappeared under the tall grasses of the pass's meadow. I had wondered if I was going to see any bears out in the morning as this section is well known for bears. I did not see any but that might be because I had a large male deer guide me from the highway crossing all of the way across the meadow. He was always way out in front of me but I watched him closely to see if there were any sudden movements that would hint at a bear in the bushes. Once I crossed the highway again I knew I was onto the long fast downhill into Nelson. I was flying and there was no one else on the trail. I had to keep eyes open though as there was a re-route around Nelson instead of through Nelson and I did not want to miss the turn. Prior to the race I had thought about a resupply in Nelson but after the ride from Salmo I just didn't need one and kept on riding down the highway.

The section between Nelson and the Ferry terminal was a nice paved shoulder the full way and I set into a steady pace and would try to tag onto any roadies that might come flying by me. They were usually good for a 10second sprint/draft. On the ride up to the ferry the rain clouds spit on me off and on. I could see up the valley and up to the Gray Creek pass. It was hidden by rain clouds all over. I figured I was going to get wet. I kept my eye on my clock and arrived at the ferry with about 15 min to spare. As I rolled in I noticed a group of cyclists milling around and one was wearing my cycling teams old thermal Jersey so I thought I would say hi. It was Jos Van Ommeren, the father of two teammates I had(Tom) and have(Neils) on the cycling team. He had ridden over to the ferry with his friends on their morning cycling trip to say hi and wish me well. It was nice to talk to them after not talking to anyone for a while. As the ferry arrived I ran over to the bakery to load up on cookies, a date square and nanaimo bar.

Once loaded on the ferry I grabbed everything I needed from my bike and grabbed an order of french toast and sausage. Yum! I hit the bathroom and took care of my underside as it was starting to get quite sore then relaxed for a bit while checking in with my family. There were some other bikepackers on the ferry that were headed north for a weekend trip and we chatted a bit. They knew about the race wished me well. They were in full rain gear. Evan was already up on the pass when we arrived on the other side of the lake and I knew I had to just keep moving forward. The road section to the base of the climb was uneventful but had quite the climb and fast descent after leaving the ferry. I stopped in at the Grey Creek store thinking about how wet I was about to get and thought about getting some warm/rain gloves. It was not raining at the store and I decided against it and just grabbed some bars for the climb.

I did not remember much of the climb from descending it last year in the dark but it went up the minute you left the highway. And up and up. The gravel road was nice a compact and the rain began to fall just past the winter gates. I had to get in my easiest gear and spin away. I tried standing on a harder gear but in the steep sections I felt that walking (hiking) was faster. The rain kept up and was harder the higher I went. Then it would stop and the sun would come out long enough for everything to start steaming and then the rain would fall again. It was like the full water cycle was happening before my eyes. I was cold and wet and just had to keep moving forward. As I came around one of the last big switchbacks I heard a ruckus in the bushes on the right side of the road. I figured it was a deer something but as I looked closer I saw one bear cub shimmying up a tree followed by its sibling. I knew this was going to be bad because if they are crawling up a tree their mom would be below watching out for trouble. I immediately grab the bear spray from my back jacket pocket and watched the side of the road for mom to come out and see what was going on. I watched and watched while I pedaled up the road. She never revealed herself and I finally stopped looking back behind me and worked to get away from there as quickly as I could. With the adrenalin pumping I made short work of the climb up to the top 3 hours after starting at the bottom. Two off-road touring motorbikes came up behind me and a truck came up the other side. We all waved at each other. I did not want to linger at the top as I was wet and cold and knew the descent was going to be very cold so I zipped up and pushed off.

The descent down the other side was fast, rainy, wet, muddy and cold. I felt like I was flying down the hill and gripped the handlebars tightly with my numb hands while navigating the rough sections of the road. The road went up and down for the next couple of kilometers. The up and down was tough as you would get cold on the descents and try to warm up on the climbs only to freeze on the next hill down. The fire road finally began to even out and the grades were more pleasant. The rain finally stopped and some sun came out in patches the rest of the way to Kimberley. I looked back at the dark and rainy pass and was sorry for all of the other riders coming up behind me. That was tough. The road into Kimberley was dry but as I could see into the valley the clouds were very dark and eerie. There was some serious rain on the other side of the Columbia valley.

I turned left into the XC trails of the Kimberley Nature Park and the rain started. I was at a low point here while riding the "fun" forested single and double track trails. The new rain had dampened my spirit and I just wanted to get through this section quickly. My energy levels were very low and I began to make simple mistakes that would make me curse. I just kept on moving forward and soon was rolling into Kimberley. I stopped at the gas station and loaded up. I was watching the sky the whole time. The clouds were very dark to the south where I was headed. I checked Trackleaders and Facebook alerted me that BCEpic1000 had posted a video. I checked it out and Lennard had found Evan on the highway and was checking in with Evan. It was here that I found out that the great Mayook single-track section of trail was not included in the race this year. I decided to continue on to Cranbrook as the trail is paved all the way there and grab a good dinner and plan my night ride into Fernie. The paved path was dry until I crossed the bridge over the St. Mary River then it became quite wet. I had just missed the rain shower. A couple was out for an evening stroll and waved at me and asked if I was doing the Epic. I was surprised someone was going to be out cheering on the riders in the rain. I think they grabbed a picture and I rode the last couple of kilometers into Cranbrook. I headed straight for the Wendys but they were closing up. It was Monday night on a long weekend and everything was closing early. I did a quick search on my phone and found a Subway further into town that was open until 11. Just as I was about to leave the Wendy's a car pulled up and out came Rob Haine, an old teammate from my cycling team and his parents. It was nice to chat with them and they wished me good luck but I told them I was really worried about the rain as the clouds seemed to be getting darker and night was about to fall. At the Subway I ordered a lot of food, so much that the employee questioned whether I was going to be able to eat it all. I did and while eating I checked the weather reports and they looked grim. There was a huge rain storm coming up the valley from the south headed straight towards Fernie. I did not have heavy rain gear just a light wind breaker. I knew that I could get to the finish before 7am for a sub 3-Day finish but it would have been very difficult and possibly dangerous. The rain had begun outside the Subway and my bike was getting very wet. The smart thing to do was grab a room and let the storm pass. I asked the Subway employee where the closest gas station so I could grab supplies as the hotel I booked was right off the BCEpic route. The rain really began to come down on my ride over to the hotel and by the time I was at the hotel I was soaked through and freezing. In the room I hung up everything to dry and had a hot shower and went to bed setting my alarm for 3am, 4am and 5am. That way I would check the rain situation in the morning. I was incredibly disappointed that I had to take a hotel as I had my eye set on completing in less than 3 days.

Day 3 Stats:

Total Distance: 221.2km

Race Distance: 211km

Moving Time: 13h 31m

Total Time: 16h 24m(Sat at the Cranbrook Subway for 1 hour)

Day 4

3am and it was still wet. 4am and it was drying. Go time. I packed up quickly and was out the door into the chilly, dewy dawn. Even at 4am it was already light enough out that I did not require a light. I pushed quickly through the hard packed crushed gravel rail trail outside of Cranbrook. Onto the highway and I was flying but disappointed I was not able to try the Mayook single track in the opposite direction. At the turn to Ha Ha Creek road I finally was warming up. The ride on Ha Ha Creek road was quite pleasant. Older pavement but pavement nonetheless as I was planning on a gravel service road. It was a very nice area to ride through. Down into the Wardner, "The town with nothing", and up the fire service road down towards Kikomun. On the service road there were many large puddles and I could see Evan's tracks often. I wondered how wet/muddy he must have been going through there although many of his treads went around the puddles so he may have avoided the rain. I thought about stopping at the camping resort on the west side of Koocanusa but I just wanted to finish as quickly as possible. Once into Kikomun campground the route was new to me as it felt like Lennard had optimized the course although it took me right into the campers and the turn onto the trails was easy to miss. This area is quite a scenic park and it would be fun to spend some time here.

I rode down the dump road and into the cattle fields where the road deteriorates into a clay double track. This is where I noticed Evan tracks and it looked like he was well into the clay mud. I could see that he was dragging his bike along in sections. It did not look like fun. I was happy I did not push through the rain the night before or that could have been me getting a serious challenge to my willpower. I was just thankful that the clay track had dried up enough to just be tacky and easy to roll through. The trail seemed to disappear quickly behind me. Across the highway, over the fence and through the grass. This is one section where I really remembered Ryan Correy's notes when he did the ride back in 2015 or 2016 and he couldn't find the trail even though it was just through the fence and across a small grassy field. (Hmm I couldn't find his notes. It may have been when he was doing the TransCanada Trail.) I pedaled up the road and stopped to let the logging trucks pass by as I was no match for them. Next I was back onto the highway. The clouds were lightening a bit now and the sun was trying its best to peak through but there were dark patches still lingering. Those dark clouds would still spit on me all of the way to the finish. Down across the rain swollen river and I knew I had a couple of tough climbs ahead to get me up onto the Wigwam plateau. It was somewhere along here that I came across Tom DeVries on the side of the trail. He was well prepared as always with full rain gear and the classic plastic bags over his socks in his cycling shoes. A very experienced rider. On my reverse attempt in 2017 I used his Trackleaders to plan out my entire route as he had ridden in backwards in 2016 as an ITT much like he was doing this year. We talked for a while and went on our way. It made me happy to talk with Tom and briefly let my mind rest and not think about the riding I still needed to do to get to the finish.

Across the Wigwam and down to the double track vehicle trail and once again I can across a park ranger/warden on patrol. This park area has to be one of the most patrolled areas I have been in. He was looking for the fly fishermen I had seen a little ways back on the trail fishing in the river. I was happy that the trail was not really muddy at all and you couldn't tell there was much rain the night before as it drained so well. Unfortunately that was not the case when I came out on the forest service road. The road just had received some rain and there was a greasy mud film on the top of the road. The mud began to coat me and it looked bad when the white parks trucks that drove past where a milk chocolate colour. The slop lasted all the way up the climb and down the other side. I tried my best to hide my face from the mud spray but it was spraying everywhere on the descent. The mud bath finally let up with about 15 km to go. The clouds opened up and the sun shone for me to push into the finish. I rolled into town and down to the City Hall building where Evan and Lennard were to greet me and congratulate me for finishing. I was very happy to see them and begin debriefing the whole race with them. Evan, Lennard and I shared stories for a long while on the steps. Evan raced an amazing race and it will be my inspiration to push that much harder on my next attempt...maybe in 2020. After racing at the AZT and BCEpic this year it seems that the only way to do better is to attempt riding without sleep for future races and see how my body reacts. Sub 3 Days is definitely possible.

Day 4 Stats:

Total Distance: 137.1km(Missed the turn at the finish haha!)

Race Distance: 137km

Moving Time: 7h 36m

Total Time: 8h 10m

My wife and kids arrived after a couple of hours and I was happy to finally get to a hotel and get the caked mud off of me. Evan, Lennard and I had made a plan to meet back at city hall after dinner and welcome in the racers. David M. arrived in third place to complete the podium. RJ S. was not far behind him and then Greg J., Ryan H. and Greg G.. It ended up becoming an evening City Hall steps party with everyone talking about their races. I really enjoyed getting to meet everyone and hear their stories. It was almost 12:30 by the time my body said enough was enough and I needed to sleep and left the steps. I had made a point to come back to the steps when I could and greet any riders before my family and I drove back home to Calgary. I missed a couple of people that finished in the early and mid-morning hours but I did catch Carl M., Steve O. and Ken D. as the finished close to each other. It was great to talk with them as well. I really enjoyed hanging out with all of the racers and thought it was a special treat to have other racers to share stories with. It was good to see such a large US contingent this year and see how much fanfare there was online for this race. I really think it can become a premiere Canadian bikepacking race....maybe it already is.

Final Race Stats:

Total Distance Ridden: 1048.2 km (hmm a whole 14km of bonus riding)

Total Race Distance: 1034 km

Riding Time: 55h 07m

Elapsed Time: 62h 42m

Race Finish Time: 77h 13m (3Days 5Hours 13Minutes) (About 11-12 hours of sleeping and the rest setting up and taking down camp and fiddling around)

GOAL FOR NEXT ATTEMPT: FASTER...

Hindsight & Thoughts

I went without a camera this year so I could focus on racing so I did not get any pictures. Just lots of mental images.

If the forecast says rain, no matter how little, prepare for the worst.

Do bears sleep at night during the summer?

Favorite section of trail. Penticton to Myra Parking Lot....

Worst section of trail was my favorite from last year. The section from just above BullDog tunnel down to the first tunnel going into Castlegar. Somebody sure destroyed an amazing trail there.

My Finish video filmed by Lennard. https://www.facebook.com/BCepic1000/videos/865192243672723/

Miles Arbour's article on Bikepacking.com : http://www.bikepacking.com/bikes/bc-epic-1000-rigs-2018/

Photos from the start of the race taken by my wife.