2024 COURSE INFO
* SUBJECT TO CHANGE *
TOTAL DISTANCE: tba
ELEVATION: tba
Today is about warming up your legs and body and making sure your equipment is ready for the week. While it’s shorter, Day 1 is also a way to settle the nerves and seed the athletes appropriately. Get a good warm up as this course will challenge your riding ability, both physically and mentally. Today will showcase the flavour of Victoria’s singletrack – it’s power moves and technical flow. It will remind you why so many top Canadian mountain bikers choose to live here year-round.
– STAY TUNED FOR FINAL COURSE –
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STAGE 2
VICTORIA – JULY 2nd
TOTAL DISTANCE: 28.5km
ELEVATION: 887m
Hartland Mountain Bike Park and Partridge Hills will be the scope of today’s course. Victoria’s singletrack is like no other in the world, a unique flavour that demands attention. It will challenge your slow tech fundamentals of coordination and speed management. Riding up from the valley floor of the Saanich Peninsula to breathtaking views from granite outcrops, you will ascend trails like “Middle Earth”, “Levitate” and “Sidewinder”. Navigating down some of today’s highlights like “Trillium”, “Fun Trail”, and “Torpedo Run” you will feel your suspension moving.
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STAGE 3
COWICHAN VALLEY – JULY 3rd
TOTAL DISTANCE: 47.8km
ELEVATION: 1,376m
Today’s adventure will be to navigate the best trails in the Cowichan Valley. We created a Dual Mountain Extravaganza. From Crofton to Tzouhalem, you will cross through pastoral lands and climb the epic hand built “A Grand Traverse”. You’ll ride amongst red-barked Arbutus Trees until you reach the scenic views of “Field of Dreams”. Descending “Double D” and “Bumble Bee” will complete the first loop.
Next, you’ll head back towards the Crofton basecamp with a stop at the now-legendary Maple Mountain. Hand built “Story Trail” and “Xylem” will bring you to the height of land and the infamous “Maple Syrup” descent. The flow of “Phloem” will highlight the diversity of trails to be found here as you complete this amazing circumnavigation of the Cowichan Valley’s finest.
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STAGE 4
NANAIMO – JULY 4th
TOTAL DISTANCE: 32.7km
ELEVATION: 866m
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.
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STAGE 5
CUMBERLAND – JULY 5th
TOTAL DISTANCE: 41.3km
ELEVATION: 1,348m
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.
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STAGE 6
CAMPBELL RIVER – JULY 6th
TOTAL DISTANCE: 44.9km
ELEVATION: 735m
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”.
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STAGE 7
CUMBERLAND – JULY 7th
TOTAL DISTANCE: 31.3km
ELEVATION: 957m
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.
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