Bear X'ing - October 10, 2016

 

Cross-giving weekend. What a great weekend it was!

A long weekend, featuring two cx races - one on the lower mainland and another on Vancouver Island. I rangled up my mutually-cycling-crazed partner to do both races that weekend, as well as have a home cooked Thanksgiving meal....and I have NEVER before made a turkey dinner. EVER. Not once. I'm a virgin.

We raced Queen's CX in New Westminster on Saturday (race report here), enjoyed a turkey dinner at home on Sunday, then woke up brutally early and went to Vancouver Island to race on Sunday.

Before I get into race details, I should mention that the turkey dinner turned out fantastic! I made a green bean casserole (smothered in cheese and cream), velvety mashed potatoes, Brussel sprouts, stuffing and a full turkey. It was far too much food for the two of us, but it all got used up in the days following, as well as turned into turkey soup. I can now say that I have made a turkey dinner!!

Okay. On to the race details.

In order to make the travel cheap and affordable, we walked on the ferry and had my Dad pick us up on the other side. He generously offered to drive us and our bikes to the race, as well as watch the race and drive us back to the ferry afterwards. How amazing is that?!? #bestdadaward

BC Ferries and My Inability to Open Doors

We had a brutally early morning, having to corral the bikes, our gear and the dog in order to catch the 6:30 AM ferry out of Horseshoe Bay. If you have ever been a walk-on passenger with a bike or dog to that ferry terminal, you'll know about the door code that you are given to get into the terminal, and how that code can only be used once. Well, we were already running behind on buying our ticket. We arrived to the ferry just as they were doing FINAL call for boarding passes. So the ticket lady wasn't too thrilled to sell us a last minute ticket. I made the situation even worse because when I entered the code to the door, I couldn't open the door. So, I ran back to the ticket booth in a fury, and requested a new code. The ticket lady made a big deal about it, had to call the ferry workers and see if we still had time to walk on, then lectured me, and she wasted so much time when she could have been issuing me a different code! So, I was frantic. I got the code, ran back, input the code and opened the door. Turns out I was either pushing or pulling the door, but I was doing the opposite of what needed to be done to open it. I was furious. We ran, bikes, bags and dog in tow, to get to the loading bay.

In the end, we managed to board the ferry for 6:30 AM. We found a spot for the bikes and then we settled into the pet room with Winston. Our day was not off to a good start.

On the Island

The ferry arrived in Departure Bay as scheduled, and I was so relieved to see my Dad there with his vehicle. He had even gone so far as to borrow a bike rack that fit his tow hitch, so loading up the bikes was a breeze.

We got on the road, comfy in the back seat with Winston snuggling in, and made our way down the island highway towards Victoria. It was a beautiful day and the drive down the highway was so beautiful! I felt it had been far too long since I had last been on that highway.

Bear Mountain

It was my first time going to Bear Mountain, and I was pleasantly surprised. It reminded me of a ski resort in the summer. Mountain bikes everywhere, a nice lodge area, and a spa/fitness centre. I have added a return trip to Bear Mountain to my to-do list...preferably during prime mountain bike season. The race site was just up behind the lodge and restaurant, on a golf range. I was told that the resort re-makes their driving range each year, so holding the race on the grass is no problem. How exciting is that!? Racing on a golf course! That's one item checked off my bucket list.

The race site was quite open and exposed, and even though the sun was shining, the wind was also blowing. It was cold and breezy. Really windy! The beginner race was just getting underway when we arrived, so we had a chance to cheer on some of the younger riders and the newbies. We changed into our skin-suits and race gear while the first race was happening, so that we could at least get a practice lap in before our start time.



 

The Race

Since this was not my first time racing on the island (and since I preregistered) I was fortunate enough to get a minor call-up. This meant that instead of starting at the very back, I was one row from the back! Every little bit counts.

*Side Note* I have to mention, that I love the island races because of the number of women coming out to compete. At Bear X'ing, there was 352 racers! That's incredible! In the Intermediate Women category (which is combined with single speed women, 40+ women, and U17 women) there were 42 racers that day. It's just incredible! We don't get those numbers showing up to race here on the Lower Mainland.

Image via Sean Voight

Image via Sean Voight

At the start, I did my best to blow past as many riders as possible, knowing that the technical, off-camber, soft loamy sand section was coming up, and I didn't want to be forced to run it due to someones' nontechnical ability. For lap 1 though this didn't quite work out the way I had planned, and I had to dismount and run a section.

The course featured a lot of switchback corners, the above-mentioned off-camber sandy section, a bit of a sand pit, a couple short straight stretches, a few punchy uphill sections that us mere mortals ran, and a drop-in section that made a lot of people walk their bikes. It was a fun mix of fast and fun and I feel that the technical sections really helped off-set the speedy sections, so that everyone (no matter their cycling expertise) had a fair play.

Each lap, I managed to pass a few people at a time. With so many riders out in the course, I couldn't tell how many women were actually ahead of me, so I just kept pushing. Part of my drive came from the fact that I wanted to win, and the other part of it came from the fact that I didn't want to be lapped by my partner, who was also racing in the Men's Intermediate category which had a one minute head start before the women. So nice of the race organizers to give the men a head start, no?! ;)

The Hole Shot.ca

On lap 2 I heard a familiar voice, and low and behold, my partner had suffered a mechanical failure and was unable to continue on with his race. He was now on the sidelines, with my Dad, cheering me on. He assured me that there were only a few more women in front of me.

Lap 4, I was starting to get tired. The weather was nice, but the strong wind and multiple run ups really started to take their toll. There was one girl closing in on my from behind, and I did my best to ward her off. I kept looking back to see how close she was, and pushing even harder to stay ahead.

As I neared the finish line, I knew she was right behind me. My Garmin said I had been racing for about 30+ minutes, meaning there would be another lap to make 45 minutes. So, after crossing the timing station, I dropped in on the downhill section and began lap 5.

When I looked back to check and see how close that girl was, I noticed she was gone. No where in sight. I assumed she had a mechanical and couldn't continue.

Well, was I ever wrong! As I continued on lap 5, I noticed fewer and fewer people out on the course. I started to pass more women, who I was lapping...when I came to the finish line, I noticed a LOT of women standing around. Turns out I was a doofus, and I rode an extra lap!

Tired and thirsty, I was fortunate that a co-worker stopped by to watch the race, and had brought some nice, wet, cold bevies. I enjoyed a victory beer, having realized that I placed third overall in the Intermediate Women's category.

Not a bad weekend on the new bike!





Race results are available here: http://www.crossontherock.com/php/race-results/?raceid=70

Race Sponsors

Series Sponsors 

Prizing Sponsors

Other Sponsors

My partner is known for going on really, really long bike rides. 200km, 300km, 400km rides...followed by an 'easy' ride recovery day of 100km +. He's a bit nuts. But I like it.

He has done a few bicycle touring trips, and he really enjoys them. I had never done anything like that. Until this weekend.

I agreed to go on a mini bicycle tour to Vancouver Island, to the city where I was born...Victoria.

Day 1 - Vancouver to Tsawwassen, Swartz Bay to Victoria

I booked us a cheap hotel, packed my bag, sent the dog to a pet sitter, and pulled on the lycra.

We hopped on our bikes after work on the Friday, and headed towards the Tsawwassen ferry terminal. Since bikes aren't allowed to ride through some tunnel, we had to take a long way around - riding all the way down River Road, and then over the Alex Fraser Bridge, and all the way back along River Road. Of course, the distance was only worsened by the fact that we had to fight a head wind nearly the entire way on the second half of River Road and all the way to the ferry.

We were also on a deadline. The ferry would leave at 7pm. We didn't leave any space in our timing to get lost or for any mishaps. So what happens? We get lost, of course! We took one wrong turn and ended up having to find our way through the scenic Ladner, rather than the more direct route.

The change in route, and slower pace, meant that we were ultimately late for the ferry. It wasn't as if we didn't try to catch the 7pm. I tried best as I could to sprint as if my life was ending, to keep up with Corey, in a head wind, with a big back pack, and we still missed the ferry. We were a couple minutes too late. 5 minutes after 7. The ticket clerk wouldn't let us on or sell us a ticket...even though the ferry was not finished loading yet.


What a stump in our trip plans!

After finding something to eat at the ferry terminal, we impatiently waited for the 9pm ferry to arrive. Once on the ferry, I tried to get a hold of the hotel we booked, to let them know we would be late. There was no answer and no answering machine...turns out that the hotel closed at 9pm. So not only would we be arriving into Victoria late, but we would have no hotel booked.


We arrived into Victoria, Swatrz Bay after dark, around 10:30pm. It began to rain just as we left the ferry and the rain drops continued for about a half-hour. It was around this time that I realized that my chamois was not comfortable, something was rubbing, and I was starting to get saddle sores. THIS WAS NOT NORMAL! I haven't had too many issues with saddle sores...and here, on day one of our bike-packing trip, I was developing some. SHIT. Wieners.

The ride into downtown Victoria was pleasant, especially after the rain stopped. The bicycle route was well-marked and spacious - we were able to ride side by side nearly the entire way. Some of the route was a gravel pathway through trees and farms, and very quiet and eerie. I nearly got hit in the face by a bat, who decided it didn't like the way I looked. Holy f'n scary! I've never seen a bat that close before, and it nearly made me fall off of my bike.


We arrived into downtown Victoria near midnight, found a hotel along the bike path and got a room for the night. It was a bit more expensive than the hotel we had booked, but it was a place to sleep and clean up. Showering felt amazing!

The hotel bar downstairs was still open, so we treated ourselves to a beer. We just rode about 100km...it was a very well deserved beer. A Facebook friend of mine came to join us, and took us on a cruise to a local pizza joint --- delicious!

The night ended late and we zonked out quite quickly.

Day 2 - Victoria to Sooke, to the Meadery, and Return

On the second day, we checked out of the hotel, cycled across a bumpy pedestrian bridge to Esquimalt, found coffee and breakfast, then headed on a tour towards Sooke.

The cafe we found in Esquimalt was super neat! It was a bike shop, combined with a bakery, combined with a coffee bar - they all shared one space, but had separate service counters. We shared a meaty, bready sandwich; I had a tasty Americano.

After our tummies were satisfied, we found our way to the (again, well marked) bicycle path, and started the trek to Sooke.

The roads were peaceful and quiet for the most part, and the bicycle lanes were well-marked. In many parts, the bicycle paths were off of the road and hidden in the bushes, they were wide, but shared with pedestrians. They felt like bicycle highways. We had no problem navigating our way to Sooke and only ended up minorly lost once. The highway out to Sooke was clear of debris and quick. Though, the saddle sores I had accumulated the day before were really being a pain in the ass. Literally. No amount of chamois butter was helping.

When we got into Sooke we were hangry. Almost to the point of fighting. So we made rest at a restaurant and devoured lunch. I attempted to eat a gigantic bowl of poutine...to no avail. Corey had the most amazing soup and sandwich. Once full, fat and happy, I decided I wanted to cycle the extra 10km further and visit Tugwell Creek Meadery. I had heard about the place when I worked at the fruit winery, but I had never been. Now was the time.

It was actually kind of a romantic sort of ride.