Day 6. (Hard to believe we started racing six days ago. The start last weekend seems like it was last month). We found ourselves today in the self-proclaimed "adventure capital of British Columbia": Squamish. For those who have never had the pleasure of journeying to BC, Squamish essentially lies between Vancouver and Whistler (site of the 2010 winter Olympics). I have been here on numerous occasions to mountain bike . It truly does have some of the best trails I've ever ridden. Of course having ridden here, I knew all too well what lay in store for us: lots of challenging trails and some serious suffering. The day started out with us trying to enter our customary "Group A" start chute, only to find out we had been moved back to start Group B. Bummer. Lots of fast teams out there. No matter. Once the gun went off we quickly moved up into the middle of the front and ended up about where we would have started anyway. We headed out on pavement and quickly climbed up, up, up through the neighborhood developments. Dave's gears weren't shifting properly so he was really working hard to get up the hills. After we climbed some more, we finally entered the woods and the real fun started. After some really nice trail riding we ended up climbing some more and then entered into a very technical section of trails. Dave's prowess lies in his ability to move down the mountain at breakneck speeds without fear. My strength lies in the climbing. Compared to Dave, I might as well be standing still while going downhill. We started down and encountered some really steep pitches. Some pitches made me think twice and I got off and walked. Others, I just sat back and went for it. Dave made all of them. We entered an area with a really steep rocky descent and I hesitated for about half a second. That's all it took and I was over the bars and sliding on my back and arms. Not fun. Luckily it was just a few scrapes. I was back up and riding again in a second. Shortly after this crash we encountered our (much faster) friends Andy and Aaron. Aaron had crashed, spun his handlebars and snapped off the hydraulic brake line for his front brake. Both Dave and I thought their race was over (in order to be a "finisher" both team members must finish all the stages together), but they thought they could slowly work their way through the course. I was skeptical. (Turns out they not only finished the race with Aaron riding without a front brake, but he also broke his chain and had to ride out in only one gear. They finished the day only about 5-10 minutes after us. Amazing). So Dave and I plodded along and did some more climbing. Dave was climbing really well--despite his grunts and groans as the steepness failed to relent. After a few more significant climbs, it was time to go back down. We had a ball descending for another 20 or so minutes at breakneck speeds. Then it was time to enter the famed "Powerhouse Plunge." The Plunge is one of the most technical sections of singletrack in Squamish. I have ridden it numerous times and thought I knew what to expect. Unfortunately the fatigue of riding hard for 5 days prior had really taken its toll on my body and senses. In the Plunge I had another "sliding" crash down some rocks and re-scrapped up my arm and now added a nice goose-egg to my leg and back. At this point my confidence was shot and I opted to walk anything remotely rocky until we were out of the Plunge. After exiting the Plunge, we were off for some more climbing in Crumpet Woods. Dave protested, but I assured him numerous times that "this is for sure the last climb." We finally rolled through the finish line just around 5hrs. It had been a very hard day in terms of trying to stay focused while being so tired. Despite the crashes I had a great time riding in the woods. This is what it's all about. Tomorrow we're off to Whistler for the final stage.
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