2025 COURSE INFO
STAGE 1 – PROLOGUE
MAPLE MOUNTAIN, COWICHAN VALLEY – JUNE 30
TOTAL DISTANCE: 23kms: 7.7kms timed – 15.3km untimed
ELEVATION: 754m
Today is about warming up your legs and body and making sure your equipment is ready for the week. This will be a telling loop in the lower Maple Mountain trails. If you have been hiding anything, these trails will find you out. Day 1 is also a way to settle the nerves, seed the athletes appropriately and give you a preview of what you can expect on Day 2.
STAGE 2
MAPLE MOUNTAIN, COWICHAN VALLEY – JULY 1 (CANADA DAY! 🎉)
TOTAL DISTANCE: 24.6km + 7.5kms off the clock back to basecamp
ELEVATION: 705m
Day 2 will send racers on a sweet journey up and over both Richards and Maple Mountains. Rolling out from basecamp along country roads, racers will traverse over the smaller Richards to get to Maple’s climbing trails, parts of which will test your technical skills. The reward is a 380 m descent on the mountain’s signature trail Maple Syrup and the flowy Phloem before finishing on the more undulating Solar Coaster and Logger’s Lane.
STAGE 3
MOUNT TZOUHALEM, COWICHAN VALLEY – JULY 2
TOTAL DISTANCE: 24.7 km
ELEVATION: 992 m
Behold the Cinnamon Roll!! Day 3 will weave a path all around Mount Tzouhalem with 5 climbs and super fun descents. With an undulating profile rather than a big up and a big down, every effort has an amazing reward. We’ll finish it all off with a smile-inducing rip down the mountain’s favourite flow trail, Double D.
STAGE 4
NANAIMO – JULY 3
TOTAL DISTANCE: 39.6km
ELEVATION: 929m
With an abundance of trails, Nanaimo has been a staple mountain bike location on the mid-island for decades. You will get to sample 3 distinct riding zones today. Heading into the Abyss first, you will notice the giant slab of granite. Circling around this landmark, you will enjoy trails like “Nookie”, “Diggler” and “Hootenanny”. Making your way to south Mount Benson via “Chicken Dinner”, your first sustained descent, “Gatekeeper”, is mind numbingly fun. After more goodness here it’s up and over towards Westwood Lake, highlighted by “The Other Cheek”, “Pink Unicorn” and a ton of other sweet trails to finish your day.
STAGE 5
CUMBERLAND – JULY 4
TOTAL DISTANCE: 38.2km
ELEVATION: 1,216m
Starting in Cumberland you will make your way up a short section of gravel double track to spread out the field. Then it’s onto Sobo no Michi, a masterpiece of a purpose-built climbing trail, which will get you to the upper trail network. From here it’s mostly down with the occasional punchy climb to connect some of the best trails the network has to offer. “Furtherburger”, “Race Rocks”, “Felicia”, “Field of Dreams” and “Woodcutter” are only a few gems of the day. Once you get to the top of Nikkie Mountain you’ll be descending all the way back to the village of Cumberland.
STAGE 6
CAMPBELL RIVER – JULY 5
TOTAL DISTANCE: 44.9km
ELEVATION: 736m
Today’s stage is a classic epic XC ride. Around 45km of up and down through the phenomenal second-growth forest of the Snowden Demonstration Forest and Elk Falls Provincial Park. The course immerses you in the green room all day on a sliver of brown trail as you skirt alongside remote lakes and out onto open rocky bluffs. Some highlights of the day will be “Jabberwocky”, “Rotary Rock and Roll”, and “Dean Martin”.
STAGE 7
CUMBERLAND – JULY 6
TOTAL DISTANCE: 31km
ELEVATION: 893m
Your final stage of the BC Bike Race! This is a shorter course that takes in some of the best descending Cumberland has to offer. After climbing “Sobo no Michi” you will be hitting over 2km of “Vanilla”, the trail that’s on everybody’s ride plan. From here, a gravel road climb will get you to almost 5km of mostly descending. Starting on the slightly spicier “Blockhead” and “Bear Buns”, onto some high-speed riding down the local favorites, “Scat”, “Brat”, and “Bonestorm” before crossing the finish line to celebrate your week and accomplishments.
