BCEpic1000 2019

BCEpic 1000 2019

In the weeks leading up to this years start of the Epic I was working like a mad man. I had picked up a new customer in India and they were placing more and more orders with my company and they wanted the parts as soon as possible. I wasn't able to ride as much as I wanted to in the lead up to the race. We were out of Calgary late Wednesday night as I had to stay late to make sure everything was taken care of while I was gone for the next week. We arrived in Kelowna at my parents place well after midnight. It took a while for me to get to sleep after unpacking the car and getting my kids to bed. I was still wired from the drive. I tried to sleep in the next morning but everyone was up early. I set up my bike and actually remembered all of my gear this year. My wife and I drove over to Merritt early this year and were able to be at the BBQ for the racers. The Merritt crowd put on a good meal for all of the racers and racers had a chance to look over each others rides and meet one another before never seeing each other again....well for most people that is the case.

Back at the hotel I was anxious while I was getting everything setup for the next morning. I always consider the Epic to be my big summer event and this year was not exception. I was nervously double checking everything on my bike. I was in bed by 10 and looking forward to a good sleep but my body was just too wound up. I tossed and turned much like I did before the Buckshot in May. I really had troubles getting to sleep. When I finally started dozing off some party people came back to the hotel and started making a ruckus in the hallway. I finally did sleep for a couple of hours and hit the snooze on my alarm too many times. Finally at 6:20 I pulled myself out of bed and began the prep. Trying to stuff food into my stomach while washing it down with juice and lots of water. Putting on my clothes for the day. The weather looked cool but not rainy so just a thermal was good. I was on my bike for the ride down the hill to the start at about 6:40. It took about 10 minutes to ride in to town and catch the starting line up of forty or so riders out front of Breathe Bike Shop. We somewhat assembled into a group and at 7...ish we were sent off on our ride to Fernie.

The ride out of town was pretty mellow. After the first turn there is usually a group of riders that ramps up the pace. I made sure to sneak in there the best that I could. I knew of some strong riders in the field again this year. There were TD and Epic vets and a good group of strong Americans. I had my eye on Tom Hainisch. When he signed up this year I had him as my pick as the winner. I knew he was a strong rider after seeing the effort he put in during his failed Epic in 2018. Our group jockeyed around on the road and onto the rail trail. We were moving quick and it was not long before we were passing under the Coquihalla and well into the start of the rail grade. Unfortunately for me I still had an old memory of the rail trail being washed out from 2017 and took the bypass around a section not realizing that the rail trail connected through. I was so sure that I convinced Tom to follow me around as well. I didn't realize my mistake until we met back up with the rail trail and found the chase pack of three riders right there wondering where we went. Sorry Tom!

Up towards Brookmere we went. Tom and I pushed a strong pace and we didn't let up any. We both talked and learned about each other but didn't reveal much about our plans other than mentioning it all depends on how we feel. There were not many ATV's on the trail today but still lots of cow poop. We cruised steadily down the trail and after looking at the Strava results Tom and I were swapping KOM's on the three sections into Princeton. It was nice to feed off and push each other and we made in to Princeton in record time. I knew Tom was going to be quick in town. He stopped at the Subway and I elected for the busier Chevron as it has more options. While I was waiting to check out I knew Tom was going to pass me so I quickly loaded up my bike and jumped on with a bun sandwich in my mouth electing to eat on the bike to keep up with Tom. I rode for quite a while and did not see Tom. I wondered if I was actually in front of him but figured he must have stopped quick and was a ways in front. I decided to push the pace to see if I could see him on the switch backs. I still didn't see anyone in front so I started looking back and no one was there either. I didn't understand until I finished the last switch back. I finally saw a rider way up in front of me. Tom was my motivation to catch up and slowly I did close the gap. Not many other trail users were out. Two guys on dirt bikes, some ladies on horseback who were appreciative of Tom and I walking our bikes past and some hikers. Tom and I chatted for a bit while we rode together but I found that I was able to pedal away from Tom while keeping my pace. It wasn't long before Tom began to fade away behind me. Once at the summit just past Osprey lake I glanced back and Tom was not anywhere to be seen. I knew that he would be back so I kept on my pace and rode smart. I felt myself getting fatigue as we wound down the trail towards Summerland and while I was going over one of the slides I could hear Tom riding the trail a ways back. I had a sudden jolt of energy and pushed hard through the final section of rail trail into Summerland and through the trails around Mount Conkle. During this section entering Summerland I remembered also racing against a rain cloud that was dumping its water and hoping to skirt the real down pour while it moved around the narrow valley. I only received a light rain but I wasn't so sure the people behind us would be so lucky.

Around the outskirts of Summerland the railway is still active and we need to bypass onto the roads which is a nice reprieve from the gravel of the trail. The pavement doesn't last long though and soon you are riding over the very high Trout Creek Trestle that leads you back onto the rail trail towards Penticton. A couple on E-bikes whizzed by me on their way to the trestle and I could feel Tom behind me and as I came into the outskirts of town Tom had caught up to me. We rolled down the hill into Penticton and made plans for dinner. We both agreed on A&W(a BCEpic staple) and sat down for a quick meal. The girl had filled my mug up with Root beer instead of Coke and was going to dump it out but I told I would still drink it if she was going to waste it. I chugged the whole mug and handed her the empty to fill with Coke. In hindsight I do not think I would do that again. It may have led to my scratch later on but who knows. After a quick meal we headed over to the gas station to load up our bikes for the next long stretch. Looking back I should have grabbed an extra bottle of water. Meh. As we left another rider arrived on his cross bike....found out later that it was Ilya Cantor. Tom and I stayed together as we rode through Penticton and jumped back on the trail through the vineyards. While on the rail trail out of town we were cheered on by 2018 Epic Veteran James McGrew and his family as they had given a ride to Tom up to the Epic. They were eating at a good smelling winery just beside the route. Tom and I chatted some more on the beautiful climb out of Penticton and after the first switch back I was feeling strong and decided to push the pace a bit. I found that once again I could push a smaller gear and I began to creep away from Tom. By the time I hit the short cut on the next switch back I could not see Tom behind me. I focused on pushing strong up the trail and before I knew it I was at the Chute Lake Lodge. I zoomed past the lodge towards the infamous trestles. The air was cooling down with sun now setting and I still pushed on determined to make it across the trestles before dark. But during this time my mind began to lose focus and began to wander. My parents place was just below the trestles and my wife and kids were down there and I wondered what plans they had. I found myself having a hard time concentrating on the trail. I was planning to put my warm clothes on once I made it past the trestles in the parking lot where I had stopped in 2017 going West and in 2018 going East. The darkness and cool air began to take my mind else where. I was pushing to make it to the parking lot but not realizing that I needed to take care of myself first. By the time I made it to the parking lot it was too late. I was done and I knew it. I slowly put on all of the clothes I had brought while I shivered away. I was exhausted and had popped. I waited for my body to warm up and mentally debated calling my wife. I finally made the call. I hung around long enough to see Tom and tell him I was done and wish him well. I rode through the parking lot and turned left down to Kelowna.

My wife and mom met me on the dirt road up to the trestles. They were talking to me but my brain wasn't working and I mumbled some words out while I pushed by bike into the back of the suv. I was so upset and disappointed with myself. Did I not train enough? Did I not get enough rest? Did I ride to hard and fast? Every possible question entered my mind. I can only think that I was too tired from working so much the week before and then racing on minimal sleep the nights before and then pushing the pace for a good part of the race led to my exhaustion. Once I was exhausted my mind gave up and that was the end.

I did follow Tom and his ride for the next two days. He executed the perfect race exactly as I had planned it myself. No sleep until the ferry. Sleep as much as possible at the ferry terminal and then grab food and eat breakfast on the ferry and then ride to the finish. I messaged Tom after his finish to congratulate him on a great ride. It will be a time that will be tough for anyone to beat. But then again I am sure we say that every year and the next year the record is broken once again.

Looking back at my stats for the day. I rode 304 km in about 14hours and 40 minutes. Just over 20km/h average including stops. To me that is really impressive considering I usually budget 16-17km/h average on my bikepacking rides.

Below are some pictures of my setup and prep the night before.