The trails of Cumberland, B.C. sizzle after the B.C. Bike Race’s first day of competition

The B.C. Bike Race’s opening stage in Cumberland, British Columbia last weekend was ridden under hot skies amid dusty, dry conditions, but the parched Vancouver Island weather wasn’t enough to stall the first exciting day of action.

In terms of the span of the event itself, though, it was its second full day, with registration on Saturday in North Vancouver that saw over 600 mountain bikers register for the singletrack competition. From there, riders continued on by ferry to Nanaimo, across the Strait of Georgia from Vancouver, to begin the trip by bus up-Island to Cumberland. The early 20th century mining town has been a stage of the BC. Bike Race since the event’s first incarnation nine years ago, with the trails of the Cumberland Community Forest an international attraction for riders worldwide.

With the dry, unusually hot conditions in coastal British Columbia and Vancouver Island of the last weekend, those trails presented certain trials, with many cyclists getting a face full of trail detritus when approaching the rider ahead of them. But by the same token, the dry terrain also provided a good deal of traction, building the tempo of the race early.

For Katerina Nash of Luna, the winner of Stage 1’s Women’s Solo open, that searing 40-degree heat was quickly eclipsed by the thrill of the race. “The first hour was pretty challenging with the heat,” she said. “But once we hit the trails things changed for me and I was just having a really good time riding the trails.” After a race in Colorado immediately before the race, Nash poured on the power early in the race, inviting attempts by Vicky Barclay of Stan’s NoTubes to break her lead — attempts quickly countered by Rebecca Hodgetts at the top of Further Burger, one of Cumberland’s best-known trails.

Neither effort was enough to put a dent in Nash’s momentum, though. With her brake failing and Nash dialing up the energy, Barclay fell back to third position, with Hodgetts three minutes ahead as the Stage 1 Women’s Solo crossed the finish line.

On the same trails, the Stage 1 Men’s Solo was a much tighter race. Spencer Paxson of Kona Bikes took the top spot for the men, cresting the Further Burger climb early with Rocky Mountain Bicycle’s Quinn Moberg less than a second behind. Hard on their fenders was Barry Wicks and Kris Sneddon, also of Kona Bikes, with Competitive Cyclist’s Tristan Uhl and Thomas Turner of Team Janis only a minute back.

While Moberg’s tailing of Paxson fell off, Wicks and Sneddon clung to their pace, matched by Uhl after the Texan rider dropped Turner before the final climb to the Feature Trail Blue Collar. In its final stretch, Wicks finished the race with a hard sprint to second place, with Uhl in third — two minutes behind Paxson. Sneddon, last year’s champion, crossed the line 17 seconds later to finish the race in 4th, with Moberg coming in 5th three minutes later.

Next, the B.C. Bike Race jumps back across the Strait of Georgia to Powell River, where racing continues for its second day. The event is seven days in total, with stages on B.C.’s Sunshine Coast, in North Vancouver, Squamish, and a final stage in Whistler.