The BC Bike Race is very real and very fun mountain biking. The kind of mountain biking that you see in photos and looks exactly the way you wish it would. And at that, seven fantastic days of it. This year was the wettest BC Bike Race to date and as a result it was also the most accurate depiction of what BC singletrack is really like.

I live in amazing Squamish BC, where rain falls one out of every two days and the trails can’t be beat. Squamish is home to the most loved stage five of the BC Bike Race. It’s not my favourite, because I ride it any and every day I wish to. My favourite stage would have to be Powell River…it’s technical XC singletrack all day. the type of terrain which exhausts your arms as much as your legs.

enough ranting and raving…

The racing itself was ideal for me this week. It was incredibly challenging and pushed me to my limit daily. It was apparent early into the first stage that the battle would be between Barry, Chris, and I. We separated ourselves from the rest on the first sustained climb with Barry setting the pace and Chris reaching the summit first. Chris made an effort to gap us on the first descent and failed. Shortly after I would make an effort on a technical climb and fail. And then Barry would make an effort on a climb nearing the finish and fail. I don’t know if any of us actually made whole-hearted efforts or if we were only testing one another, but following day one I think we all knew it was going to be a tough week.

With that in mind, I made my best efforts to be conservative and burn only what fuel was required to stick with the leader for stage two and three. What was required was a lot! I started day four feeling exhausted and I knew it was going to be one of the most testing stages. Barry was riding the stage at a hard tempo and Chris and I were doing our best to match Barry’s pace. We would both eventually fall off of Barry’s wheel losing minutes.

Knowing an effort in Squamish was easily anticipated I figured Sechelt would be my best opportunity to make a committed effort. I had a strong ride and was well prepared mentally. The day’s efforts had me pulling the leaders jersey on in my hometown of Squamish. My family was out to see this and it was a special moment for me.

I went into stage five with the goal of extending my lead with another big effort. Barry had a tough day and when Chris and I noticed this we didn’t hesitate to “put a few knives in him” as one rider described it. The two of us worked together to get “out of sight, out of mind” as quickly as we could. We continued working together throughout the Squamish stage knowing that we both had a lot to gain with this combined effort. It wasn’t until Farside that the game changed. Chris dropped me temporarily at the end of the Crumpit Woods area but I was able to claw my way back while ascending a sustained aerobic climb. I made a move entering the smoke bluffs, earned a small gap and used my hometown knowledge to ‘no brake’ nearly the entire smoke bluffs descent. The gap was enough for the stage win and a few more second on Chris. These, as it turns out were nearly needed on the final day in Whistler.

During stage seven I was prepared to follow Chris and do little more than I needed to safely roll in with my GC win. Mid-stage I tore the sidewall of my rear tire open. I tubed it up as quickly as I could and got on my bike and suffered for 30 minutes. I finished 3rd on the stage and won the overall GC with a very slim 15 second lead on Chris.

I’m really proud of this result. It is a big win for me and I have worked hard for it. That being said, I can’t claim it as my own. Many people have chipped in the time, money, and positive guidance that makes my cycling career possible. Thank-you Kira, Evan, Hannah, Colin, Francis, Sarah, Rippin’, Dave, Sandra, Pat, Fraser, Ahren, Kate, Nick, Brent, Joe, Owen, Chris, Take, Cuz, Susan, Dean, Dre, Danielle, Mom, Dad, Jeff, Meghan, Brenny, and Lauren.

Thank-you to Specialized Canada, EMD Serono, Corsa Cycles, Ryders Eyewear, Squamish Therapeutics, E13, Carney’s Waste Systems, Zett, my friends and family.

Next up is some excitement on the road at BC Superweek.

Enjoy the heat, haze, and hectic summer roads!

-Neal. Stoked.

A detailed report of the BC Bike Race can be found here.

Results from BCBR can be found

here.