Of course I was so excited before day 1 that I could barely sleep, and with good reason. A year of preparing, racing on my home trails, and knowing my amazing friends would be there.
I seeded myself in the 4 hour group and we headed up Lynn Valley Road. When we got to the end of the line so many of my friends were there with signs and costumes that I seriously teared up before even riding any trails!! The first bit of singletrack (Circuit 8) created a 20 minute bottleneck. I was worried that things were off to a bad start. Luckily I was wrong. I got nearly clean runs at both the fun descents and definitely passed tons of people, which is a huge confidence booster. Having all my friends out and racing at home made for what was one of my best days ever on a bike.
Day 2
After the North Vancouver stage we took a ferry and a bus and rolled into our huge tent village around 9:30 in Cumberland. I was hoping for a better sleep then last night, but first night in a tent and midnight trips to the bathroom kinda stood in the way. 6 am is an early start, but luckily Bean Around The World had coffee on hand and I tried to eat a huge breakfast. We started right on Main st in Cumberland, which really speaks to the towns commitment to riding. We started with a 15km road climb, which of course I didn't love but I stuck to my plan and stayed in an easy gear and went slow. The first bit of singletrack was a fairly new trail and was really muddy. I felt really great on it and once again passed lots of people, which in case you didn't hear, I like, especially the guy who commented that I wasn't working hard enough on the climb. Lots of awesome long descents today, but some hard hot road climbs too. 48km is a long time to ride even though it was less climbing than yesterday. On a ferry now to Powell River and I'm looking forward to being in the same place for two nights.
It's been go go go for 2 days, but despite that, it's insanely well organized considering the feat that it is to move, feed, and house this many people. Sorry for the lack of cohesiveness to this and to any typos. I'm doing it on my phone after a long hot day in the saddle.
It's been go go go for 2 days, but despite that, it's insanely well organized considering the feat that it is to move, feed, and house this many people. Sorry for the lack of cohesiveness to this and to any typos. I'm doing it on my phone after a long hot day in the saddle.
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