Team Sad Sacks - BC Bike Race Stage 3: Powell River’s Pleasure Trove

Words by Brice Minnigh
Photos by Morgan Meredith

The 500-strong field in the 2012 BC Bike Race converged yesterday morning on the tiny community of Powell River, disembarking their ferry to a rousing welcome from the local community—including bagpipes, a choir and applause from hundreds of the town’s residents.

Within a half-hour of arriving on the Sunshine Coast, they were off on the third stage of the seven-day race, ripping through lush forests of Douglas Firs and giant cedars along narrow ribbons of flowy singletrack. Though the recent rains had left much of the trail wet and muddy, this was less of a factor than it was in stage two, and riders found it easier to clean the many sharp, root-choked climbs along the 48-kilometer course.

The descents—particularly the two timed Gravity Enduro segments—featured beautiful banked turns filled with a mixture of loam and mud, making for some of the week’s finest dirt surfing.

Keep checking back at bikemag.com for more Instagram glimpses of the race.

And for the meantime, here’s a look at some of today’s highlights:

The traveling circus prepares to board the ferry from Campbell River to Powell River. Ferries are the only way to transport such large numbers from one BC island to another.

The BC Bike Race has a small but tight-knit staff. One of the key people keeping the wheels turning is Racer Relations Director, Danielle ‘Big Deal’ Baker.

Thrilled to see blue sky after the recent rains, racers wasted no time getting kitted up and hitting the Powell River trails.

The BC Bike Race not only centers on amazing trails—the scenery is sublime. We felt like we were riding through a Bike magazine Buzz shot.

We spent most of the afternoon racing after Gandolph along the undulating Powell River trails.

Racers exit the singletrack and enter the feed zone.

The sight of the Gravity Enduro always brings smiles to our faces—and a shred to our souls.