BC Bike Race

[Mark Roberts]

Follow Matterhorn's story here...

http://www.theprovince.com/sports/olympics-amateur/Bike+Race+blog/5041827/story.html

[Mark Roberts]

Apparently that link isn't as functional as I had hoped. Check this one out to see the most recent posts...

http://www.theprovince.com/sports/olympics-amateur/index.html

[StephenU]

Hey Ya'll,

Just back at the office for the first time in 11 days and feeling the post BCBR blues!  What a great week of racing, eating, resting, hanging out with friends, and visiting places I have never been to before!

I am going to keep the race details to a minimum because we raced 7 separate mountain bike races in a row!  There is just not enough space to cover each one, and quite honestly, I cannot even remember where I was exactly!  Just one race in a week is normally enough to stress the systems so this was an extreme test of endurance and recovery.

My strategy for every stage was to start super hard and fast and hope I don't get passed by too many racers before the stage would end.  Some might think this is totally ridiculous but I seemed to have the power and speed to stay with the top riders for 30 or 40 minutes before eventually exploding.  This meant hammering as hard as I could out of the start and staying with the pros along the roads and fireroads that always preceded the single-track.  Peter would always encourage me to hang-on as long as I could but an exploding Quail was inevitable!   So after exploding every day after 45 minutes to an hour, I would throttle back, recover, and then settle into a pace I could sustain.  What would have happened if I started slower everyday?  I am not sure and I will never find out!  I discussed this with Ian and he said "that's the way you race, just keep doing it!"
Race Strategy - B
My technical riding skills were sufficient to get me through each stage safely and fairly fast! (no major crashes)
Technial Riding Skills - B
I would finish anywhere from 15th to 20th all week, eventually settling into 17th place overall in the Solo Open Male field.  I happy with this result and my consistency.
 
Some technical problems with some heart rate monitors in the first couple of days would see me racing for most of the time with no HR Data.  I was rocking it old school with only the time of day in front of me.  No mileage, race time, or HR data for me to contemplate during the racing allowed me to race as hard as my legs and resp. rate would allow.  So I don't have any idea what my HR was throughout the week but I can guess it was drifting downward as the week went on.  Hopefully some of the others can fill in the details to what happens to the Heart Rate later in the week.
Pacing - B
Fuelling for every race was done with 2 bottles of eLoad endurance/Fly combo, Gel, and then supplemented by the occassional water fill at the aid stations. I think I only took on 3 extra bottle fills all week, two of which where on stage 4 from Earls Cove to Sechelt. (Long and hot day!)  I had my only 'flat or bonky' section of my week on this stage, about 2 hours in.  Andrew and I decided it was a lack of calories that day that caused it. 
Fuelling - A- (one gliche as I described above)

My Trek Superfly Elite HT was bombproof all week.  Nothing major happened to it as Brock and his team kept it running smooth all week!  Brock got the BPR Mountain Bike race team to the start line every day on finely tuned machines!  Thanks Brock!

Quail Out!

[PeterW]

The Post BCBR blues are upon me as well. I have spent all day wishing I was still on the west coast hanging with the coolest crew, and riding the most epic trails I have ever laid rubber, sweat, and blood on.

Going into the race, I had a goal of top 15, based on the results of last year. I had been riding strong so far this year, and thought this was achievable, even after seeing an increase in the caliber of racers coming to BCBR this year. The numbers of pro riders was impressive, with top riders from Canada, USA, and Europe.

I will give a quick summary of each day, although the days began to blend into one endless image of epic image of dirt, rock, foliage, and bikes.
Each day, for nutrition, I carried 2 bottles of 1.5 scoop e-load,  1.5 scoop eload fly. I would try to take 2 e-discs every hour. I would stop at feed station 2, usually 2 hours in, and fill one of my now both empty bottles with water, and use eload gels for fuel. Every day this fueling method was spot on!

Day 1, Cumberland: avg HR: 172 BPM. Time: 2:42:12.
My intro to BCBR, a couple long fire road climbs, some rocky technical descents, and lots of buff single track. I tried to ride under BP all day, knowing that there were many days ahead of me. This day was consistent, and uneventful. I finished in 9th place on the first stage. My Cannondale Flash Carbon 29er was a rocket on the fire road climbs, and super smooth on the descents.

Day 2, Campbell river: avg HR: 167 BPM. Time: 2:30:53
Epic Epic Day!! One of my fav's! I spend most of the day riding with Jeff Nielson, an Uber quick rider from Calgary, and Belgian Michiel Van Aelbroeck. My highlight of this day is hammering up the final part of a hill to pass a rider before the most technical descent of the day, so he wouldn't hold me up. Why the heck was he on my ass the whole way down?! turns out I attempted to lead Brian Lopes (probably the best technical rider the world has ever seen) down! I pinch flatted at the bottom of this hill... luckily I was able to shake some stan's into the hole before I lost too much pressure to ride!

Day 3, Powell River: avg HR: 170 BPM. Time: 2:47:55
My nemesis. Warren, you are a sick sick man. All Day I was praying for a Scalpel 29er. This day consists of endless roots, and bumps. The first half of the course was so hard on my back, that I struggled to keep any power output through the second half. However, I was stoked during this day to realize the strength of my breathing, and the positive effect of spiro'ing over the winter. In the past my breathing would correlate with the bumps and sporadic pedaling. this day I found my breathing to be completely in control, and rhythmic. Thank you quail for Pacing me back to my usual group of riders after I struggled with the start of the race.

Day 4, Earls Cove to Sechelt: avg HR: 160 BPM. Time: 3:53:07
This was the big traverse of the week. I knew it would be a long day, so I took it easier than usual off the start, and focused on getting into a rhythm right off the bat. This set me up to ride almost completely solo the whole day. With 20km'ish to go, I ran into some fork issues, which cause it to lock up completely. I ended up riding the final singletrack on a completely rigid bike. My hands took a beating!! Thankyou Brock for saving the rest of the week. Cannondale's fork Compatibility is brilliant... allowing my to take the fork of my RZ120 26" wheeled bike, and put it on my 29" flash, by just swapping out some spacers. What other fork can do this??? Thanks mom and dad for buying me a post race massage this day!

Day 5, Sechelt to Langdale: Avg HR: 160 BPM. Time: 2:25:37
We were told going into this day that it was 28km, and would take under 2 hours. Turns out it was actually 41km. And I'm glad it was! this day had one of the funnest descents of the whole week. It also saw 2 of my 3 crashes of the week. One of which I was suspended over a deep gully, hanging by my pedals. The second, on the final descent, one of the crown bolts on my fork rattled out, allowing the wheel to track any direction it pleased, despite my steering attempts. I re-tightened the second bolt, but I decided to take the rest of the descent easy, not knowing when the wheel would go rogue again. Again... Brock to the Rescue!

Day 6, Squamish: Avg HR: 160 BPM. Time 2:47:14
Great Day. Fun riding. Fun Descents. Nice to see some familiar trails from the test of metal. I was way more confident in the plunge after a week of bike practice throughout the BCBR. My mechanical for the day... My cleat fell off my shoe! I stood up to hammer on a fire road, and my whole leg came right up, just about over the handlebars! luckily the cleat stayed in the pedal, with both bolts, so I was able to hammer the cleat out with my multi-tool, and bolt it back on my shoe, and then continue the chase!

Day 7, Whistler: Acg HR: 160 BPM. Time 1:33:26
The highlight of this day was putting time into the French MTB Marathon Champion. I though he was long gone after climbing the "alp d'huez" like hill at the beginning of the race. However, I passed him descending Comfortably numb, a super rocky, droppy, technical trail, which I had practice on from a few weeks before.

I finished the week in 11th on GC. Well within my goal. I have gained a lot of confidence in the training I have put in with balance point racing, since last Summer. Over the week I was competitive with a lot of full time, pro cyclists, including several Pro's a similar age as me, including Brady Kappius and Mitchell Hoke.

The week would not have been the same without the whole crew there. I could not imagine riding every day, without the technical support of Brock, Cindy, and Myra.
BPR turned a lot of heads this week. Everyone rode ridiculously strong and consistent!

[Andrew]

reposted from the upcoming races page...sorry for the duplicate reading.

I will begin with an apology for those who have recently read Gin's Transalp report. I am sorry that this will be neither as eloquent nor as revealing as hers. The good news there should be at least 7 other reports to follow from the entire crew who attended this epic event. Each will have their own take on the week, with their own trials and tribulations, triumphs and accomplishments. Week-long events truly are a test fortitude and conditioning, and I will take a moment to congratulate everyone who raced at BCBR. The BPR crew was extraordinary all week. impressive and consistent performance from EVERY member of the team. Truly, a coach's greatest reward is seeing athletes you have seen working so hard reap the rewards they deserve.

The details of 7 days of riding are already blurring together, so that only a few details remain clear in my memory. I do recall having a stellar Day #1 in Cumberland, after a fun road trip with the BPR extended family. There were 7 of us in full kit, Peter (PW) Watson, Jen (Big Ring) Schulz, Stephen (The Quail) Ushy, Matt (Horn) Ewonus, Ian (Little Lion Man) Crossthwaite, Rob (Spinner) Spiller, and me (the Guardian). But there were more in the entourage...Brendan from Calgary, Joe from Kelowna, a crew of friends from Revelstoke, and too many others to mention. The greatest gift we received was the continued support from our major sponsors, which included hydration and nutrition support from e-load, and a financial commitment that helped support the mechanical services of Brock and Cindy Garvin and the new team trailer. They brought along Myra, who was like a woodland nymph, and the three of them greeted us after every stage with a warm smile, and boundless energy, cleaning our bikes, while Brock fine tuned them to perfection in prep for another assault on the trails. I don't think I would have survived the week were it not for their support. Plans are already in the works for Brock to support a select number of riders in 2012 for this event. Put your request for one of these coveted spots in early, and recognize that Brock will save you hundreds of dollars in bike maintenance costs and allow you to focus on enjoying the event, rather than worrying about the bike.

My race can be summarized as a rollercoaster of emotions and physical performance. I felt absolutely elated with my performance on Day #1 and 2, which saw me stick to my plan of riding hard on the climbs, and safely on the descents. I was pleased with the fact that only a small handful of riders caught me on some of the technical sections, and I felt strong on the long fire roads that brought us to the single track trails of Cumberland and Campbell River. This approach of being aggressive climbing also gave me the fantastic reward of witnessing the performance of all but two of the BPR crew in action. PW was riding with the elite men at the front of the field, and I never saw him once the horn sounded each day. Were it not for an unfortunate flat on Day #1, I never would have seen the Quail either. It was so great to see Jen controlling her effort, but still riding at the front of the women's field. the Horn was riding conservatively, and had not had any issues with his cramping nemesis. Later in the rides, I was caught by Lion Man and Spinner, who are both seem to flow through the technical sections, and were getting stronger with every passing day. So my experience of day #1 and 2 was enhanced through surrounding myself with team mates, all performing so well.

Day #3 and #5 took a turn in the opposite direction, as my body just could not recover from the efforts I had put into the first two days. There were certainly some fuelling issues, and I could have done a better job of hydration in the evenings. But, I recognize my prime problem was poor pacing early in the race, and a relative lack of strength when compared to the athletes I was surrounding myself with. As a coach, I was so proud of everyone. As an athlete, both my ego and my body were taking a beating.

Day #4 was truly epic...66km of mostly fireroad riding, with steep climbs under the power lines down the Sunshine Coast. I had done my best to conserve some energy on Day #3, which added to my dismally slow pace, but the strategy paid off. I rode well all day, and was very proud to be riding back with the top Master's Teams, while the rest of the BPR crew continued to ride even better. I savoured the challenge of this day, and the lack of technical trails helped me enjoy the adventure, rather than dread the pounding that my body takes on the more technical terrain.

Day # 6 in Squamish...a great start with the Lion Man, but a rough section through the middle, made for a really tough slog. My mind turned to some great words of wisdom from Ginny who had just returned from her own epic challenge at Transalp, "Live in the moment, enjoy the trails, be happy with what you are capable of, and what incredible things you CAN do." Enjoying the descents was easy. Even the challenging "Plunge" and other famous routes in Squamish did not take away from my enjoyment. The climbs were certainly soul-shattering at times, but I really did enjoy the challenge. Seeing ex-National riders like Andreas Hestler on course, and witnessing some inspired riding by other participants helped keep my own performance in perspective. Coming upon a fellow rider who had broken his nose and splayed open his chin just moments after passing me was a good reminder of how this race is not just about speed. I was content to be safe, and proud of my continued focus on completing the race in one piece.

The final stage in Whistler gave me some opportunity to see Big Ring Schulzy put on a true show of determination and skills mid-way through the stage. And having the privilege of riding with her down Comfortably Numb will be remembered as a highlight of the week. With many riders opting to walk this long rocky descent, Jen and I found ourselves weaving and diving through some of the gnarliest trails that a XC bike can handle. I survived it all on my Trek 29er Superfly, which is a pretty incredible bike given that it led me safely through routes that most would describe as all-mountain. It climbed like a dream, and kept me safe down the rocks. I don't have the skills yet to race these descents, but the safety and security of the 29er wheels sure helped.

Highlight of the week...absolutely witnessing the performance of EVERY member of the team. Top Open Woman for Big Ring Schulzy, 11th for PW, Top 20 for the Quail, and top 30 for Horn, Lion Man, and Spinner (were it not for experiencing the only major mechanical of the week).

I am proud of my own survival, but knew by Day #3 that I was over my head trying the race at the same level as the rest of the crew. It has left me with a great desire to continue to improve towards my short term goals of racing well at Xterra Canmore and Whistler, in my quest for a birth at World Championships in October. First, a few days of rest, to rid myself of these bruises and cankles, and solve this little issue of not being able to walk and breathe at the same time. Happy to be back in the arms of my loving family, and enjoying sharing stories late into the night with Ginny, as we share the details of our separate, but equally epic, adventures.

[GinnySellars]

Thanks for the great reports!
A few things really impressed me:
ORGANIZATION. No athlete can consistently have a top finish without great organization and attention to detail. You met pre-race, and planned the event together, organizing vehicles, camping/motels, food etc
TEAM SUPPORT. Your support of one another was outstanding. I've heard a numerous stories of how you boosted each other during the race itself, pep talks, grabbing tent spots etc.
MECHANICAL SUPPORT. Your race reports made it perfectly clear how critical a well functioning bike is to performance. Sounds like Peter would have been SOL without Brock's mechanical ingenuity! I had no idea that you had Cindy, Myra and Danny out there also. I'm sure the other athletes were seriously jealous.
FITNESS AND KNOWLEDGE. There is no faking it to race competitively for 7 days. Beyond your fitness is an awesome understanding of your personal physiology. Your knowledge about strengths, weaknesses, and compensators allows you to get the best out of your race as systems take a blow throughout the week.

Congratulations to all of you for superb performances, and your dedication to get there.

[Matt]

BCBR was definitely the most challenging race I have attempted and I’m happy that it went so well.

My main goal was to figure out how to avoid cramping and survive seven days of racing.  My last race, two weeks earlier, had been a disaster at the Test of Metal. 

I will summarize the week rather than focusing on each of the seven stages.  They all pretty much went the same way for me. 

Day one I decided to slow down a bit and ride LBP minus 10-12 to reduce the chance of cramping.  I also had 2 water bottles with 2 scoops of eLoad Endurance each.  I had ediscs and Zone Caps as extra supplements.  Each day I stopped at the second aid station and filled up on extra bottle with water and used gels and cliff blocks for fuel in the last hour. 

During day one I went out a bit hard at the start, then settled into my race plan.  Halfway through I was passed and gapped by, Ian, Rob, and I could see them riding up the road with Andrew.  I hammered my way up there (balance point plus 5-10).  That was a mistake!  My legs started to feel crappy shortly after and I had to let them ride away.  By slowing down I was able to let my legs recover and finish strong.  No cramping for the first time this year!  This was my best race of the year.  Every stage got a bit better as I figured out which bio-marker to pay attention to – my legs!

The rest of the week I focused on starting out hard (up to balance point), then riding LBP minus 5-10 until my legs felt poor, then slowing down until I recovered so I could hammer the last 45 minutes to the finish. 

It seems that muscle tension is the biggest factor in managing cramping for me.  I focused on pedaling smoothly with high cadence, and gearing down over the rolling terrain instead of powering up it.  This meant I went a little slower initially, but was able to keep my intensity up in the long term – and I didn’t end up lying on the side of the trail!  On the downhill I also focused on trying to let my legs relax where the trail would allow it, if only for a second or two. 

Nutritionally I was consuming about 250 calories per hour, 200mg of salts per hour mixed in with 750 ml of water per hour. 

My respiration never was really challenged because I worked at controlling my intensity. 

I started the week in 36th place on stage 1, and finished 23rd on stage 7, and 24th overall. 

The week of racing was the most fun I have had on a mountain bike.  Mostly because there was such a large BPR crew who were super fun to race and hang out with!
I’m working on getting in for next year  - 65% of the entries are sold already, so sign up soon!

Oh, and let me also say a big thank you to Brock!  Without his help I’m sure my race wouldn’t have gone nearly as smoothly.

I had fun writing the blog for the province as well.  If you’re interested in reading it, check out http://www.theprovince.com/sports/olympics-amateur/index.html

Cheers
M

[IanC]

A few of my favourite things at BCBR:
-Starting the race everyday with Guns N Roses song, Welcome to the Jungle being blasted from the speakers just before the horn went off.  Every time I hear that song now, it raises the heart rate!
-Eating as much as I could at the dinners.
-Ripping along smooth, twisty singletrack in Campbell River with Rob and Andrew in a mountain bike paceline.
-Hanging out with a fun crew and riding my bike for 7 days on the sweetest trails at the coast.
-Raging through Crumpet Woods in Squamish and passing a bunch of Challenge riders, then not lining up a bridge properly and falling into a stinky, festering swamp in front of everybody!
-Having Brock, Cindy and Myra at the finish line everyday to take my bike and get it ready to rock for the next day.  Thanks!
I started out the week a little conservatively because I wanted to be able to finish the week strongly and enjoy the riding the whole time.  This worked out well because I felt like I was getting stronger as the week progressed and was able to ride hard over the last couple days.
Each day, I would start out with 2 bottles of e-load/fly mix and refill at the aid stations as well as eat a banana.  I also supplemented with gels when needed.  I always felt properly fueled and hydrated and didn’t ever feel bonky. 
The only bad luck I had all week (besides falling off the bridge!) was that on the first day, Rob, myself and a handful of other racers missed a turn and lost about 10-15minutes before getting back onto the course.  This probably cost me a position or two in the overall classification at the end of the week.  Other than that, I didn’t have any mechanicals or even a flat tire. 
My Trek Top Fuel was a great bike for the week.  It held together with no issues and the dual suspension was very nice to have after the first couple days.  The guys on hard tails were getting pretty shaken up after the first couple days. 
So, after about 22hrs of racing over 7 days, I ended up in 30th position in Solo Men and thoroughly enjoyed the week.  I felt like my riding improved over the week.  Next time, more practice riding wet roots beforehand!

[Matt]

I agree with Ian - a couple trips to the coast for bicycle practice would be a great idea!

[Schulzy]

I also attended the BC Bike race last week. One of my favorite aspects of the week was having so many other BPR Teammates attend the same bicycle camp! I would really like to extend a HUGE THANK YOU to all my teammates and the awesome mechanical support that I received from Brock, Cindy and Myra. Without this great team, there is no way I would have been able to successfully complete the BC Bike race. My bike (TREK Top Fuel – perfect BCBR bike) has never run so smoothly thanks to the daily mechanical support. I am also very grateful for the tremendous support that my teammates offered me when they were already exhausted from their own racing and trying to make necessary plans to recover and prepare for the next day. As some of you know, I often struggle to admit that I feel unwell due to some metabolic challenges and in turn have some difficulty accepting support. Well… at BCBR I needed lots of help with logistical details, emotional support and dealing with the fact that I would experience some challenges while riding. The team went above and beyond… Thanks for putting up with Big Ring Schulzy!! I had extreme doubts about the race, even as I stood on the start line on day one… but I can say with certainty that I am happy with my decision to give it a go and problem solve along the way!

Day 1, Cumberland: avg HR: 163, max 174 (Current BP:169),  Time: 3:06:25
Fueling: 2 bottles (each bottle had 1.5 scoops of fly + 2 BCAA,s + added electrolytes), 1 bottle of water, 4 gels (each with 50mg of caffeine).
I started the race at the front of the pack of 500 riders and planned on getting the holeshot into the first singletrack section. I tried to keep track of the other female riders in the dust cloud and was pretty sure there was only one girl ahead of me. I hammered my way to the first single track where I was able to recover while everyone was complaining about the bottle neck! I then proceeded to settle into a good pace up the first 10km fire road climb where I soon established a lead on the other women. It was really nice to get feedback from teammates who reported where I was in relation to other riders and I was encouraged to maintain my current pace and conserve energy for subsequent stages. I felt awesome on the DH sections, conserved energy on the flats by drafting behind all the men and rode smoothly to the finish.

Day 2, Campbell River: avg HR: 150, max 169,  Time: 3:15:26
Fueling: same as day 1.
I felt great for the first 15 minutes of the race until we hit a relatively flat fire road where I knew it was very important to get into a good draft in order to hit the upcoming single track in a good position. Well… my hr was over 160 and I was trying my absolute best… but was basically riding backwards!! I could not stay on a single wheel that went by! My legs felt weak and eventually started to really hurt! I began taking in some fuel earlier than day 1 thinking that my legs simply needed fuel to get going!! I started to feel OK at the 2 hr mark and was riding the wet technical sections well and was passing lots of people on the DH. I told myself to think “Big Picture” and minimize my time loss for the entire 7 days by ripping the DH where I didn’t need to have as much energy. Just as everything was coming together…. I punctured my front tire and struggled to fix it quickly. I watched several riders, including several women ride by… I eventually fixed the tire, thanks to the help of another rider who tossed me a wicked pump! I got going again and reminded myself of the “Big Picture” and did my best to get to the finish.

Day 3, Powell River: avg Hr: 160, max 175, Time: 3:13:13
Fueling: same as Day 1
My legs felt much better on day 3 but I unfortunately hammered way too hard for the first 15 min of the race and struggled to recover for about 25 min. Once I recovered I felt awesome for the rest of the stage. I rode technically well, was able to think very clearly and my legs felt awesome! I had a lot of fun and rode strong right to the finish!!!

Day 4, Earls Cove to Sechelt, avg Hr: 151, max 165, Time 4:34:14

Day 5, Seschelt to Langdale, avg  Hr: 147, max 165, Time 2:56:03

Day 6, Squamish, avg Hr: 141, max 160, Time 3:30:23

Essentially, Days 4-6 were very similar racing experiences for me… the only difference was the variation in terrain. After hammering too hard on at the beginning of Day 3, I decided to ease into subsequent stages in an effort to avoid “going backwards, feeling weak and legs hurting” for the first hour of the race. Well…. Easing into the race did not seem to make much difference! I moaned and groaned for the first hour of stages 4 – 6. I struggled to pedal and became quite frustrated! Nevertheless, I continued to problem solve and learned a few things. By stage 6, I learned to take in as much fuel, caffeine and water as I could in the first 45 mins which allowed my legs to come around sooner! I would start to feel good between 1 – 1.5 hours and then would start to pass tons of riders right until the finish. I had to learn to ride my own race and trust that I would eventually start to feel great! Nevertheless, it was mentally tough to have so many riders pass me before the first single track!   

Day 7, Final Stage: Whistler, avg Hr: 145, max 161, Time 1:58:06
My goal was to hold onto my GC spot and try and avoid feeling crappy within 20 mins of the race. Andrew, Peter and I had a great warm-up in the lost lake trails and I was feeling rather optimistic about the final stage. My legs felt absolutely awesome during the warm-up. I tried to problem solve the night before and had some Eload Emend at 3am, a great breakfast and 2 gels after the warm-up! I was convinced I could avoid my usual “legs feeling extremely terrible within 20 mins problem”… I started the stage somewhat conservatively and eased into a comfortable pace. I was climbing well until the 8 min mark… when once again I struggled to pedal! By this point, Andrew has easily caught up to me (he had to start further back in the chute) and I was definitely complaining. Andrew rode with me and even looped back for me as I was trying sooooo hard but riding pretty slowly! Andrew basically sacrificed his own stage to help pace me and encourage me up the hill!!! THANK YOU!!! I pounded 5 caffeine gels (50mg each) within the first 35 mins of the race and 1 gel at the 1 hr mark. My legs eventually started to feel great! I had fun riding with Andrew down the Comfortably Numb trail and had a smile on my face by the time I hit the finish line! 

Jen

[GinnySellars]

Jen, it still blows my mind that you can win an event as huge as BCBR with such a significant metabolic condition. You are a superb athlete. Well deserved win.

[Andrew]

Jen, you kindly failed to mention that on EVERY day when your legs finally "came around" you eventually caught me, and blew by me with a whoop and a smile. It is always a pleasure to see you riding in good form, and we all are looking forward to the day when we can help you overcome the metabolic issues, rather than just manage the symptoms. And on the final day, when we rode together down Comfortably Numb, there was nothing but dust when you finally blew by me! Unbelievable skills despite your challenges on the first climb. It was a pleasure to be able to watch your success through the week, and be a proud member of your support crew!

[Andrew]

For those who want the details of a few of the stages...lots of information, and some fairly obvious trends as the week went along. I have sent Chris some information so he can help me prep for Whistler and eventually Kona...