Almost 500 mountain bike riders enjoyed Nanaimo's trail system on July 4, part of the week-long BC Bike Race which stretches up and down Vancouver Island. (Blackbird Works photography)

By Jordan Davidson

epic mountain biking

‘An amazing experience:’ mountain bikers take over Nanaimo trails for BC Bike Race

Jul 5, 2024 | 5:24 AM

NANAIMO — Around 500 mountain bikers spent Thursday winding their way through Nanaimo’s treed trail systems, part of an epic week-long mountain biking adventure.

Now it’s its 18th year, the BC Bike Race is a gruelling seven-day mountain bike stage race up and down Vancouver Island.

Marketing director and co-founder Andreas Hestler spoke with NanaimoNewsNOW shortly after he finished the 35-kilometre journey on trails surrounding the Harbour City.

“Most of the participants are a little bit tired. Day four is kind of the middle of the seven days. They get through day four, they can start looking towards the end of the week. Everybody really enjoyed the course that was organized in Nanaimo today.”

Hestler said Nanaimo is full of beautiful single-track trails, and with a clear sky and temperatures around 23 degrees for the day, he couldn’t have asked for better conditions.

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Around 480 riders from 36 different countries began their day stagging at John Barsby Secondary School, with the finish line once again at Westwood Lake.

“You had to see it. 100 racers all dipping their heads and hands in the lake. What a way to finish probably 35 kilometres at that point, off the clock at the lake, relaxing, speaking all different languages, Spanish, French, German. It was an amazing experience.”

Racers cooled off at Westwood Lake, the finish line for the Nanaimo leg of the BC Bike Race. (Blackbird Works photography)

The entire BC Bike Race is an approximately 200-kilometre journey, starting in Victoria on July 1 and concluding in Cumberland on Sunday, July 7.

Hestler, a former Olympian, said Vancouver Island’s natural beauty and varied topography makes for a unique and challenging race experience.

Famed races such as the Tour de France may have greater distances to cover, but it’s difficult to match the tests that Vancouver Island has to offer, Hestler said.

“Because of B.C.’s nature, and the single-track being so technical, the kilometres don’t seem like a lot, but when they’re steep, up and down, and they have the number of routes and rocks and trail features that all mountain bikers crave, this is why British Columbia is the number one mountain bike destination in the world.”

Racers get ready to take part in the 2023 BC Bike Race, which started at the Vancouver Island University parking lot. (Jordan Davidson/NanaimoNewsNOW)

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jordan@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @JordanDHeyNow