- Cross country riding has come a long way since the days
of fully rigid bikes and massive c tyres.
The terrain that could be ridden now
has become much more technical as bikes have developed.
Bikes and cross country riders now have had
to become more capable.
But just how far have things evolved?
(upbeat music)
That's why I'm at the B.C. Bike Race.
Shimano invited me along just
to see how capable a modern mountain bike is.
What? You say.
The BC Bike Race?
The legendary single-track
multi-day cross-country stage race?
Yes, but just a taster.
Unfortunately, schedules couldn't be worked out.
My fitness is getting there
after my injury back in February,
but I'm not quite there for racing the whole thing.
(upbeat music)
(gravel crunching)
(biker muffled talking)
So here I am, day five, the queen's stage.
Earl's Cove to Sechelt.
Sixty kilometres of riding.
1600 metres of elevation.
The ultimate single track adventure and I can't wait.
I'm riding my Canyon Lux, it's been tweaked
for the technical trails here in British Columbia.
Modern cross-country racing is getting really technical,
but this is next level, and big day's out.
The top riders here
at the B.C. Bike Race ride burly cross-country bikes.
Bigger tyres, bigger forks, wider bars, shorter stems.
I've gone down from a 18 mil stem to a 60.
My bars are wider, they're now up to 760,
to exactly the same as my Enduro bike.
Of course one by 12 setup
with the Shimano XTR drop post over on the left hand side.
I've got a remote lockout on the right hand side.
I've actually gotten rid of the fork lockout,
just running the rear one,
'cause there's gonna be a lot of gravel on the trails here,
so I'd rather just keep the rear lock tight for extra sort
of power through the pedals, but keep the fork nice
and soft for a bit of comfort.
I'm running the 2.3 Cross King Continental tyre,
so decent size, nice volume, gonna be nice and comfortable
but super fast rolling still.
I've gone for Shimano XTR M9-100 brakes,
that's the cross-country rather than the trail versions.
It's got that super lightweight and stiff carbon lever
and the two pot pistons.
Super powerful, I don't need
that four pot power I don't think
on this bike anyway.
I ordered a new air chamber for the RockShox Sid fork
to bump it up from 100 to 120
which Dotty nicely fitted for me,
it took him about ten minutes to do that.
So slackens the bike out a bit and obviously gives me
that bit more comfort.
(upbeat music)
I'm feeling stoked actually.
I feel like a bit of a cheat, I'm only doing one day,
and everyone looks very tired and battered
but can't wait to get involved.
I'm always nervous before a big long race.
Well any race I suppose, but I feel all right now.
Piling in the food all morning.
Lot of big names here.
- [Announcer] Okay we are coming up to...
(upbeat music)
(bike clicking and clattering)
- [Man] Put your claw in, gear down, stay right.
(bike clicking)
(man yelling)
- At the start line, Andreas Hessler,
the legendary Canadian cross-country racer,
and organiser of the B.C. Bike Race got me feeling nervous
when he asked "What size is that chain ring?"
A 34, it turns out lots
of the riders here were running more like 30's or even 28's,
but I took a look at Jeff Kubush's XTR-equipped Yeti SB100
and he was running a 36, pretty formidable.
Actually for me it turned out fine.
With a 10-51 cassette on the rear
and a nice low gear.
Any lower and I wouldn't have much used it at all.
'Cause most of the climbing
in those super slow techie situations needed the punch
to get up them.
There was gear-mashing going on all over the place.
(gears crunching) (man groaning)
As tired minds and bodies
battled the wet, gritty mud of B.C.,
mid bouncer kept the morale up in the tough climbs,
if you can't find it grind it, came from the pack of riders.
And there were more than few snapped chains,
as flowy downhill corners revealed
gnarly root-stepped climbs
and some moving through the gears.
(upbeat music)
(bike clattering)
(bike clicking) (gravel crunching)
The Hyperglide Plus works to make the chain slide nicely
from gear to gear.
Don't get me wrong, I was not a well-oiled race pilot.
Thumbs working overtime, up and down gears,
post up and down, as my heart rate was maxin'.
But fortunately it was smooth,
so I could concentrate on the trail.
I had chosen the cross-country option
with the M9-100 brakes,
a stiff lightweight carbon lever, and the two-pot pistons.
With 160 millimetre rotors
each end was plenty powerful enough.
(people chattering)
(gravel crunching)
(groans) Get some fruit.
- [Man] Gatorade or water?
- [Niel] Gatorade, thanks.
It's going good, feeling the burn a bit.
Was at a really nice pace for a while but I think,
just slightly too high and I paid the price a little bit.
- [Man] Hey guys push it back.
- Still 600 metres climbing to do,
so it's a decent amount left
but it's good, pretty good fun.
(gravel crunching)
(people chattering)
(Niel laughs)
I'm an expert at wily riding.
(upbeat music)
(bike clicking and clattering)
- I feel sweet, I'm chasing down BKXE (laughs).
Right overtook me at the feed station.
I'm feeling roasting hot, it's humid but.
Oh check it out.
Feel that?
Excuse me I'm chasing down Brian.
(gravel crunching)
(upbeat music)
Whoa, you okay?
The final ten minute descent was incredible.
But by now my shoulders and arms have probably had more
of a workout than my legs.
I was happy to have 120 mil fork and a dropper post.
(man mumbling)
- Yeah!
Oh, wow.
That was a really good day of mountain biking.
Incredible trails, like ten minutes at the finish
there was just amazing, it's on my GoPro's.
(GoPro beeps)
In fact I can finish it now.
Some of those GoPro's gonna be so good,
just proper B.C. trails.
Put in day eight mountain biking.