NANAIMO — Several hundred mountain bikers are taking over Nanaimo area backcountry trails, part of a longstanding tradition.
The 20th annual BC Bike Race enters the sixth of seven Vancouver Island stage races on Friday, May 29 in Nanaimo, with about 800 riders attacking trails in The Abyss, Mount Benson and Westwood Lake areas.
The Nanaimo portion of the race starts at 10 a.m. from Nanaimo’s Vancouver Island University campus and ends at Westwood Lake, with riders travelling 34 kilometers and gaining a little over 1,000 metres of elevation on primarily single-track trails.
Andreas Hestler, marketing director co-owner BC Bike Race, said the 20th anniversary of the popular event resulted in a boost of registrants, including nearly half representing alumni riders back for another adventure.
“The history of mountain biking is so rich and so deep in British Columbia that we are one of the meccas of mountain biking in the world,” Hestler said.
Seven days of staged racing totals 250 kilometers of courses, with the series getting underway on Saturday, May 23 in Cumberland.
Since then, daily races have been held in several communities, including for the first time at the Hammerfest trails near Parksville’s Englishmen River Falls area on Tuesday.
Racers from 32 different countries are represented at this year’s BC Bike Race, Hestler said.
Reflecting on the early days of the event, Hestler said the growing nature of the sport and quality of mountain bike trails on Vancouver Island made the BC Bike Race a good fit for many people.
“We saw a need to create a race/tour that would let people come to British Columbia and enjoy mountain biking in a stage race format.”
While a recent economic impact report has not been done, Hestler said an analysis from about 2018 when 500 riders participated showed $3 million dollars worth of economic impact to Vancouver Island, and $5 million province-wide.
This year’s BC Bike Race concludes on Saturday, May 30 at Maple Mountain and North Cowichan for a 45 kilometre course.
More information on BC Bike Race is available here.
— with files from Jon De Roo, 97.3 FM The Eagle
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