STAGE 0: The lead up
BC Bike Race has been on the list since I started racing XC bikes, and it was on Lindsay and my race list for 2025 or 2026. I signed up for the 2026 the moment it opened, and my entire training plan for the year was based on getting to this race in top form. I wanted to be at my 2024 single-track 6 form again, and with my coach, we made a plan to get there.
Then Life happened.
The winter we focused on durability and strength training, and so as we got back into riding more, I had a hard time being consistent and had a hard time controlling my weight loss and energy balance. As we got closer, I started to feel like things were getting on track. I got out to do some BCBR Course recons as part of my longer rides on weekends. The day before an Island Cup race, I would get out and do a recon ride. It was going great until March 28th during recon of Stage 5. I hit a tree on Arbutus Roll and went down. I still finished the ride; however, I had really hurt my left thumb. I rode through the pain, but it wasn’t right for a while. I ran into a physio on a trail the next weekend getting ready to recon ride stage 4, and he told me he was pretty sure I had “skier’s thumb” and that I should get it checked out. I never did and just used tape and braces to get through. Then I got sick, really sick. I pre-rode stage 1 in Cumberland and felt like garbage the whole day. Then I went to race the Island Cup the next day and fought with myself to get to the start line only to pull out 5 minutes later. By the Thursday, I had to go home from work as I was vomiting uncontrollably. 5 weeks to BCBR now. I came back and felt strong for an Island Cup race in Campbell River on the Saturday and a recon of stage 2 on the Sunday. The next weekend, May 2nd, I was in Powell River for the Island Cup XCM and pre-rode the course on Saturday with a couple of friends. With less than a few km to the end on a seemingly flat, boring piece of single track, I snagged something at speed and was thrown over the handlebars. Although I thought I got away uninjured at first, it soon became clear something was wrong with my left hand. I iced it and did everything I could overnight to try to race the next day. I was suited and warming up when I realized I couldn’t stand up on the bike or put any pressure on that hand. My weekend was over, 3 weeks to BCBR. I was off the bike and had difficulties riding the trainer even. 2 days to the start, I rode my bike to my physio, and we spent the better part of an hour trying to figure out how to pad my hand or bars to get through the race and couldn’t find anything that worked. Even with 2 sets of x-rays and awaiting a CT scan with no conclusive evidence, his final medical opinion was that I don’t race. Of course, I went to the race, and I got to the finish line, but I kept how much my hand hurt from almost everyone, and although my physio was pretty sure it was broken at the time, there was no imaging to make that conclusive, so I raced. Now that I have had the CT scan, it has been verified that my physio was right, and my hand is indeed fractured. My season is over now, and I have a plastic surgery consultation scheduled.
I don’t think I could have made it through the week without my coach Adam and Mrs. Coach Mariska, Lauren helping me every step of the way, and all the club shred people who looked up to me and asked for advice. I didn’t want to let anyone down, and that’s what kept me going. Also a special mention to Diclofenac and Robax Platinum.
STAGE 1: Cumberland
I was just about as nervous as I had ever been on a start line, lined up in the second wave with a lot of familiar faces. I hadn’t even ridden hard outside for so long that I didn’t think I would be able to pace myself correctly to get to the top of the most awful gravel climb an organizer could throw at us. But off we went, the brave 850ish soles into the wild. I really tried to ride to power and hope my body remembered how to do this. It went pretty well. I made it to the top in a reasonable pace, almost exactly the time I had calculated. The only problem being I was cross-eyed. I lost a bunch of time on the new Ultimatum trail as it was rooty and bumpy with lots of pedalling. I had a hard time controlling the front of the bike with the newly misunderstood hand functions. I then got really held up on Bear Buns as there was really no passing, and the lineup of people behind got longer and longer. All the work I had put in to be ahead of this group was now coming undone. I did fine on the next climb and made it to the flow trails. As I went over the finish line, I knew that I buried myself, and I knew that it wasn’t going to be sustainable.
Time: 1:45:37
Distance: 28.80 km
Avg Heart Rate: 187 bpm
Max Heart Rate: 197 bpm
Normalized Power: 245 W
Place: 29 th
STAGE 2: Campbell River
This stage started as a road race, a 9km road and gravel race right off the start. I was smart and surfed the wheels and used my strengths to get to the single track. I placed well the first down went great. The pedally nature of this long course I thought would suit me, after all, the elevation gain wasn’t much. However, Campbell River has a lot of old-school XC trail vibes, and the relentless pedalling over bumpy terrain did my lower back in at about the halfway mark. By the time I got to my favourite area of the course, I was in tears from the lower back and hip pain. I just about quit, and when I crossed the line, my coach saw it too. It was one to forget, but I had made it through.
Time: 2:46:20
Distance: 49.60 km
Avg Heart Rate: 179 bpm
Max Heart Rate: 193 bpm
Normalized Power: 223 W
Place: 37 th
STAGE 3: Cumberland
And then it rained. A lot of people knew that when it rained on this course, it was going to be a tough time for those whose root, wood feature, and rock skills were not great in the wet. I didn’t want to start the day after the day that I had yesterday, but I lined up and decided I would do the climb trail, and when we got to the top, I would see how I felt, and maybe it would just become a fun ride for now on. Well, that’s what happened after the climb trail. I basically took it down 10 to 15% and got passed on the gravel. I made passes on the first down of Blueprint and then back on the climb, got passed a lot more. Then on further burger, I found my footing and moved forward towards Race Rocks. That’s where the fun began for me. I must have passed 30 people walking, and I had a blast. Race Rocks is a serious trail; it can be challenging in the dry on a short travel bike, but in the rain, it’s a bit silly. I had a great time though and kept it rubber side down. From then on, I talked to the riders around me and told them about the next one of my favourite trails we were going to ride. Finally, at the top of the timed descent, I was having a blast and I knew these trails so well. As I came into this right-hand corner, I saw some woodwork that I instinctively thought I needed to get on; however, it was a bride onto a skinny that I had ridden many times but not at that speed and not in wet. As soon as my tyre hit the wood, it was launched sideways, and I went off the bride like a jump; I was completely on my right side above the trail and falling. Somehow I slid and only had a few light scratches and a small bruise on my hip. Across the line this time with a smile. Adam and Mariska told me they were really concerned based on how I looked going out that I wasn’t going to be doing well coming in, and they were so happy to see my smile as I crossed the finish line.
Time: 2:37:56
Distance: 36.48 km
Avg Heart Rate: 175 bpm
Max Heart Rate: 188 bpm
Normalized Power: 225 W
Place: 40 th
STAGE 4: Hammerfest, Parksville
Then the wheels came off. I started well and made it over to the first real climb, and my back started ceasing up. The pain of day 2 returned, and the legs were flat. The whole time we kept climbing up some of my favourite trails in the wrong direction. It was just awful. Until we got to the downs, when I just let it rip. However, with my climbs being so slow compared to where I fit in the field, I found myself catching riders on the downs that were a lot slower. This made it hard to find space to let rip; at one point, I accidentally even ran into a stopped rider on a bridge section. Sorry, dude, I couldn’t even stop fast enough to avoid him. I had a great time on the downs, but my competitiveness was completely crushed at this point.
Time: 2:35:22
Distance: 33.27 km
Avg Heart Rate: 174 bpm
Max Heart Rate: 188 bpm
Normalized Power: 218 W
Place: 49 th
STAGE 5: Mount Tzouhalem, North Cowichan.
Well, I fell back to the 3rd wave, and to be honest, this was a big weight off. The second wave group started fast and went fast; I just wasn’t there. This starting place gave me a chance to find room and ride my pace. I went a little too hard on the Moonscape starting climb. Then, once we were on AGT, I climbed so efficiently, knowing every corner. There were guys around me who were stronger climbers but couldn’t match me up on AGT; the downs were some of my best ever, and overall, through the day, I had fun and focused on efficiency. I needed a reset, and this was it.
Time: 1:47:32
Distance: 22.96 km
Avg Heart Rate: 174 bpm
Max Heart Rate: 186 bpm
Normalized Power: 226 W
Place: 41 st
STAGE 6: Nanaimo
A gravel racer’s dream day. Starting on the road again and with a whole lot of gravel, this could have really truly been my day. Except I got a little too greedy. On the first down, I was looking for a passing lane a bit too eagerly. After all, it was a very fast down, and I really wasn’t losing that much time with the guy in front of me setting the pace, but I wanted free air to stretch my legs, and that’s when it hit me, the tree that is. An almighty crack to my left shoulder and the sound of wind escaping my lungs. I didn’t technically fall, but I had to take a minute to breathe again. It was slightly painful, and I managed to get back in a groove, especially on the gravel sections where I was breaking other riders. The final and biggest climb ahead as I came out of the timed down section, and Coach Adam was there yelling “Go Chad, long gravel climb ahead, this is your thing, put down the power!” So I put my head down and fuelled and focused on my stem as I gapped those behind me. Then I heard them yelling in the distance “Turn around, turn around.” Well, shit, I just climbed past the single-track part of the climb and had to go back. This took so much moment out of my stride, and it took a while to get back into it, but by the top of the climb, I was angry and letting it out on the course. I ripped the last section, passing probably everyone I let past by going off course. I think I could have easily taken 5 to 10 minutes out of my time had I had a clean race, but that’s bike racing. The good news was I felt like a new man, and the reset had worked.
Time: 2:01:11
Distance: 37.53 km
Avg Heart Rate: 171 bpm
Max Heart Rate: 185 bpm
Normalized Power: 223 W
Place: 33 rd
STAGE 7: Maple Mountain, North Cowichan
A 10 km road start that was untimed was going to be raced at full speed, but I didn’t want to have anything to do with that, so I just did enough not to fall back into the start wave behind me. Then when we hit the start, I eased into it. It wasn’t long until the compressions on the first section over Mount Richards brought us all back together, and I hadn’t done half the work the other guys did. I knew full well that once we hit Maple Mountain, they were going to pay for that. The Maple climb gets steeper and more technical as you go. If you start too fast, the end part in 30 to 40 minutes of climbing becomes a real slog. The further we went, the more people I passed on the climb. I didn’t PR the bottom half, but I did PR the top half, and at the top, I still felt super fresh. I then went faster from then on and got PRs the rest of the mountain to cross the finish line. I had so much energy at that point that I rode the return 10 km of untimed road at race pace, passing people who were just party pacing it home. At the 3km sprint, I told a fellow participant that I would lead him in since I didn’t really care about the end sprint time. I immediately made a wrong turn, and I hope it doesn’t make the GMBN video that he was filming. Sorry, Richard.
Time: 1:56:53
Distance: 24.7 km
Avg Heart Rate: 169 bpm
Max Heart Rate: 181 bpm
Normalized Power: 222 W
Place: 39 th
Book of Chad 
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