BC Bike Race
Day 1 Cumberland/ Comox Valley; 54km Epic Course
News Release / 02.07.2012
Barry Wicks, and Wendy Simms (Kona Bikes) won the opening stages of the 2012 BC Bike race in very different fashions. Simms came across the line without a close competitor while Wicks was forced into a three-man sprint against Neil Kindree (Specialized/ EMD Serono) and last year’s winner Chris Sheppard (Rocky Mountain Bikes).
Stage one BCBR
On Canada’s birthday, the Cumberland Marching Band and a Helicopter from the Canadian Air Force Base at Comox arrived before the start to pump up the racers and give them an idea of how much the community supports this annual traveling circus. After being fed breakfast and picking up their bikes, riders stood under the watchful eye of BOB, Bear on Bike, the BC Bike Race mascot and waited nervously for their week of riding the best trails in the world to start. An overcast sky held its threats and left the weather at a perfect racing temperature all day. Course Designer, Trail Builder and Riding Fool Hostel owner Jeremy Grasby watched as the field left from the main street of town directly in front of his building, the racers on their way to see the result of hours of trail work from the United Riders of Cumberland (UROC) trail building association.
Rain the day before knocked down the dust and gave riders a few slick roots but mostly the greatest dirt Vancouver Island has to offer. For the day’s winner Barry Wicks, it was “That perfect loamy wet dirt that you can just push so hard through the corners. You feel like a superhero!”
How the Men’s race unfolded:
After riding in a group of 15 for the first 16 kilometers of the 54k day, Wicks, Kindree, and Sheppard separated themselves from the group as the riders started testing each others legs on the ten kilometer climb up to Forbidden Plateau. The trio came into the first aid station together, but Sheppard got a 20 second gap out of the exit. Less than 2km later he ducked into the Two Shieks and a Dog trail alone on his way to the start of the first Gravity Enduro section sponsored by Fox Shox. Wicks and Kindree were able to close the gap before the bottom and all three emerged together and stayed glued through the next hour of the race. None of the three could shake the other through the epic trails; Tea Pot, Crafty Butcher, Black Hole or Space Nugget.
It wasn’t till the open stretch to the finish line that Wicks managed to stretch out the group for the win. Kindree popped across the line a second later with Sheppard pulling through minus two more seconds.
“It’s gonna be exciting, fireworks all week.” Wicks commented after crossing the line.
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