BCBR Gravel Part 2
We rejoin our heroes on the morning of stage three.
At this point we were accepting the gravity of this week. It was taking it toll on us and the light at the end of the tunnel was oh so far away.
The rumors around the venue where that stage three would be the most “gravel” of the week, but that was a good thing. The prospect of a stage with 1400m of climbing in the first 20km seemed pleasant to me. That would average out the gradient to a much more manageable sub 10%. Today was my day.
Right out of the gate I knew I was feeling good. Weirdly good. I put the pace down at the base of the climb and established a group of 4 riders, riding in 5th, through 9th place overall. With the top 3–4 guys on a completely different level I was stoked to be in this position. Slowly but surely we ground our way up the climb, ticking off the kilometers and climbing higher and higher towards the clouds. Winching my big body up the mountain I was super hopeful about the outcome of the day. At the top there was a aid station that I blew right past, in an effort to stay with the riders I was with.
I railed the decent. At least in my mind. Averaging 60kph for over 20min off road. towards the bottom I made contact with another rider that I had been chasing. I could feel the individual bones in my hands clattering together along the washboard roads, the smell of burning brake pads at every switchback.
Id find out later that the King of Kamakazi riding himself, Big Pete, AKA Pedro, AKA my boss and 45 year old father of 2, would close nearly 4 minutes on me on that downhill. Not to anyone's surprise that he delivered that news from the medical tent after the stage! I’d finish up in 7th overall this day. Not too shabby.
The next day was stage 4, the shortest stage of the week, at just 44km, but maintaining that ever familiar elevation profile of over 1000m of climbing. It was going to be STEEP. My luck from yesterday would run out today.
5km into the stage, and just about to hit the base of the 13%, 15km climb, I was positioned well, riding in the front group, maybe 2 or three riders from the front, and CRACK! front flat. I didn't see a large rock just to the inside of the riding line, and that was the end of the front group for me.
I tried and failed to plug the tire, and as I watched the race ride away from me, I realized today was going to be a different day than previous. Peter caught up and stopped to take a selfie, and to give me a tube, as the slice in my tire was promising more flats to come. In a surprisingly calm manner, I installed an innertube, and got back on the trail. DFL*.
*see footnotes
After a few minutes of climbing I decided to make my effort count. I was going to pedal HARD. I would catch peter after about 20minutes, and by the top I caught garret, whom was having his own tire issues. Feeling decent on the bike still I decided to pull. “GET ON THE WHEEL GARY” I yelled as I came past him. I pulled hard. As we started the downhill we were hauling. when suddenly, my front tire was empty again. I stopped and was happy to see garret stopping with me, only to realize he had a flat too. After a quick pep talk about “why us” and “what's the point” and probably “the kids are starving in Africa” or something, we were sorted. I fully embraced peters mentality on the last descent. FULL SPEED.
The last day. I could write a whole post on the last day. I really felt like I was racing my bike. I’ll save the theatrics on it, I rode well, measured my effort, and brought it home in a crazy hard finale. I would come up just short of a top 10 overall in the general classification. I guess I need to go back someday.
Thanks so much to Peter, and Country Cycle for making this possible for me. The support is seriously appreciated in ways I cannot express. Until the next one, Want to go for a bike ride?
Written by Logan Wiebe
*Dead F***ing Last