Posted on: 30-Jun-2009

Tuesday was another beautiful day for the BCBR racers and organizers.

Weather report

The early morning pack-up and departure from Parksville went smoothly as everyone headed north to Cumberland.

Finish arena

This event is really very unique in several ways. The coordination and organization must be somewhat similar to a circus. You've got to hand it to the dedicated volunteers and staff who just don't seem to rest.

Tents for 400 riders and all the crew get put up and taken down each day.

Stage three course director Jeremy Grasby, had the night before described an exciting course ahead. The course was a mixture of well known flowy trails and trails specifically designed by locals for this stage of the BC Bike race. Unfortunately just before the race begun, it was reported that the course had been changed or sabotaged. After some quick re-taping from Jeremy riding one of the motos, they were back in business.

Lead Moto Steve Mitchell has been supporting the race organizers on his KTM year after year.

I took a walk up the last few finishing trails. The final part of course looked like loads of fun! With twisting, pumpy single track with a little bridge work. I chatted several locals while on their regular rides and apparently Cumberland has quite the trail network, which I look forward to sampling later this summer. Check out the Riding Fool Hostel  these guys are not only the local bike shop but are the place to get all the trail information and great hostel accommodation.

Official BCBR photographer has produced some amazing shots.

Course markers in the correct place

Stage three race results were as follows:

1st Seamus McGrath and Chris Sheppard of Team Jamis/Santa Cruz

2nd  Kris Sneddon and Barry Wicks of Team Kona

3rd Max Knox and Brandon Stewart of Team DCM Chrome 1

Seamus McGrath and Chris Sheppard or Team Jamis/Santa Cruz set the time of 2:51:53, Team Kona's Kris Sneddon and Barry Wicks were almost touching the leaders wheels crossing line one second behind.

"McGrath and Sheppard retain the coveted leader's jersey for the GC but will have to work hard to keep it, with Team Kona only 73 seconds behind overall" - Source BC Bike race Blog

Other categories remained similarly positioned to the previous stages. See the Full results so far

Fresh splash before the final sprint

Part of the BC Bike Race's great finish rating must be something to do with the hard working bike mechanics, tuning and repairing until the early hours. I spoke with James from Obsession Bikes. His team and as many as 6 bike techs worked on over 110 bikes on Tuesday.

Stage four has the riders taking more ferries, now off to the Sunshine Coast!