The BC Provincial Cyclocross Championships took place last weekend in North Vancouver at Mahon Park. It was cold, clear and dry but the course was muddy and slippery. Congratulations to everyone who competed!

Results can be found here.

An amazing photo slideshow from the race by John Irvine can be viewed here.

Dave Shishkoff has posted a great report from the race including pictures on his blog here.

(Photo courtesy of Dave Shishkoff)

VeloNews.com – Seamus McGrath and Chris Sheppard left no doubt as to who owned the strongest set of legs at the 2009 BC Bike Race, winning the final day into Whistler to clinch the race’s overall prize. The two Canadians attacked the field on the day’s opening fire road climb and never looked back, finishing clear of the second-place Monavie-Cannondale squad of Matt Shriver and Ben Sonntag to take their fourth stage of the 2009 race.

“We wanted to do it up in style,” McGrath told VeloNews. “Me and (Sheppard) are the grizzly old veterans at this race. We wanted to put it to the young guys.”

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Dirty Duo Trail Run/Mountain Bike Race, March 7, North Vancouver

• Gary Robbins – Gettin Dirty At The Duo (An Epic Race Experience) – Dirty Duo 2009 however will forever go down as one of my personal breakout races! I have NEVER been pushed like I was at this past weekends race…
• Steed Cycles – Dirty Duo 2009 – The 10^th annual Dirty Duo kicked off Saturday March 7th. For those of you who don’t know what the Duo is – it’s a fun North Shore mountain bike and trail running event held on Seymour every March…

Cypress Yeti Snowshoe Race, March 7, North Vancouver

• Team Helly Hansen Vancouver Island – Cypress Yeti – Wow, snowshoe season is finally done, the suffering is finally over. It was another great weekend of snowshoeing for Team Helly Hansen Vancouver Island…

UBC Triathlon/Duathlon, March 8, Vancouver

• 3:10 to Boston – UBC Sprint Tri Race Report – Kept this kind of under the radar. Hadn’t really been training much for tri’s since Gunner broke his collar bone…
• Martina – ‘Playing with da boys’…. UBC Triathlon – Well, first triathlon race of the year!  Not a stellar one, but it’s still early in the year and I just wanted to fun racing again : )
• Joanne Alison Fox – Busted! – I decided to race the UBC duathlon race, a little last minute. Like the day/night before, over a glass of coffee/wine with my friends.
• Vincent’s Ramblings – UBC Triathlon race Report – Yesterday kicked off the start of the 2009 Triathlon season with the UBC Triathlon. My heat was pretty late in the day, 12:40 so I had a nice relaxing morning getting ready and then watching some of my friends race before the start.

Harry’s Sprint Run Off 8K, March 8, Vancouver

• Steve Osaduik – My Past Race – I felt good going into the race, our group did not cut mileage for this race, rather we trained through it more or less, I hit 110 miles for that week.
• Bomber – That felt tough – Raced an 8km on Sunday as a tempo run, but it still felt terrible. My hips have been bugging me all week and my legs seemed beaten up after Tuesday’s track session (much more than the ease of the workout itself).

Bazan Bay 5K, March 8, Victoria

• Shane Ruljancich – Bazan Bay 5K – Three seconds…that was how close I came to getting my goal of under 16min on this race!
• Kyle Jones – Gramps still got game – Yesterday morning we ran the Bazan Bay 5k in Sidney. I wasn’t expecting to run too fast going in but I was still looking forward to having a crack at it.
• Simon Whitfield – how to hurt your calf – click the link and start hitting NEXT (on the far right). A) You’ll learn how to hurt your calf (it’s not that bad but it’s going to take a few days to feel better) B) you’ll laugh at two idiots sprinting like they stole something C) see the exact moment #808 thought “oh oh, crazy is about to beat me” – when you come across that photo you’ll know!

A group of four men from North Vancouver’s Steed Cycles recently completed in the inaugural Chilko Challenge , a 3-day, 126 kilometer XC mountain bike stage race through the heart of southern British Columbia. The group posted highly informative write-ups of their experiences on the Steed Cycles Blog . Following are excerpts from the write-ups. Perhaps this will encourage you to sign up for next year?!

Chilko Challenge Day 1- The Beginning
The Chilko Challenge! What a nutty event! Loved it! The organizers were super cool and explained the night before Day 1 that this event was grass roots and we shouldn’t be expecting dream single track riding on groomed trails. Instead we should be ready for a tough plow through the Chilcoutin on some of the most remote beautiful trials, which would entail SOME bushwacking. A must was a GPS which they gave us co-ordinates for each day in advance so we could program them into the unit. The views were incredible! Continue reading…

Chilko Challenge Day 2- Epic Suffering!
Day 2 was our longest day by far. My Giant Reign was the perfect bike. It would consist of huge climbs, long alpine meadow rides and fantastic views. The initial weather forecast called for sun and clound, but the day started with beautiful sunny skies. Looking at the weather at the start of the day I re-evaluated what I was going to bring – neoprene gloves, nope don’t need those. Goretex pants, gone. Wow could I have made any worse decisions. Continue reading…

Chilko Challenge Day 3- Creek Crossing Fun!
It was cold the night before day 3. We woke up with a good layer of frost on our tents and grass. There was a dog that had followed a group of riders through all of day 2 (someone had to take a 2 hour car ride to return this dog to its home ranch) and it barked half the night. Continue reading…

Trainharder.com blogger Hugh Trenchard is currently competing in the Cascade Classic .

The Cascade Classic is the longest consecutively run elite stage race in the US and has attracted most of North America’s top cyclists and teams over the years. The quality of the race courses, the beauty of Central Oregon and the fun atmosphere of the race has made it a perennial favorite and has the competitors returning year after year.

Hugh is Rider Number 170 and is riding for Team Schawlbe.

Check out the results here: 2008 Results

Stage 7: The Whislter Finale!

It’s hard to believe that just 7 days ago, racers stood at the Shawnigan Lake start line in nervous anticipation of the 550+ kilometre adventure that awaited. Seven days later, it’s all over but the recovery!

After one last, delicious breakfast in Squamish, provided by BCBR Catering Manager Rick Slowski (owner of Tommy’s Catering in North Vancouver) and his incredible crew, racers geared up and hopped onto a string of buses for the quick ride north to Whistler.

Read more here…

Stage 6: Squamish Highlights

The outdoor recreational capital of Canada (Squamish) hosted the BC Bike Race for the last 2 nights and served up the full meal deal of bountiful BC singletrack to racers. From punishing grunty climbs to “wooohooo”ing bermy downhill bliss, there was something for every rider on the Day 6 course. Some might call this the Squamish highlights tour, as the course consists of the Gearjammer and Test of Metal courses combined.

Read more here…

Stage 5: Cumberland to Langdale (Bus transfer to Sechelt)

July 2, 2008 Squamish, BC – BC Bike Race repeat competitors knew what was in store for Day 5 of the seven-day mountain bike stage race from Victoria to Whistler. In fact, they’ve been eagerly counting the days to get to this stage. And new comers quickly found out what all the hype was about.

Read more here…

Stage 4: Cumberland to Sechelt
BC Bike Race staff showed their national pride by donning red and white garb to reflect Canada Day – the national holiday that celebrates Canadian independence from Britain. Red Canadian flag and ‘BOB’ (bear on bike) logo tattoos found their way onto many racers, staff and volunteers alike. With beautiful hot, sunny weather, why not celebrate Canada Day with a 67km mountain bike ride along the Sunshine Coast?!

Read more here…

Stage 3: Port Alberni to Cumberland
BC Bike Race Stage 3 had an explosive send off as the local West Coast Rangers Black Powder Club fired dramatic black powder cannons to start the race. After a police controlled start through the city of Port Alberni, racers deked into a sampling of singletrack destined to whet their appetites and, more practically, thin out the field in the early stages.

Read more here…

Stage 2: Lake Cowichan to Port Alberni

Stage 2, the longest of the week, threw racers onto 124km of active logging road cutting through the Cowichan and Alberni valleys enroute to Port Alberni. Though the race profile appeared to highlight massive, gruelling climbs and descents, the actual elevation gain only capped out at 193m, making for a fast, undulating course.

Read more here…

BCBR Stage 1 Race Update

Under brilliant blue skies and a hot summer sun, the BC Bike Race start gun fired to launch more than 400 riders from around the world into the first stage of the second annual multi-stage mountain bike event. Over the next 7 days, racers will cover stages totalling more than 550 kilometres as they race a combination of singletrack and logging roads from Victoria to Whistler.

Read more here…