Organizers of an annual mountain bike race are tweaking next year’s event so racers spend an extra night in Powell River.
Wayne Brewer, a Powell River Cycling Association organizer, is one of the course designers for day three of the BC Bike Race in Powell River.
“Since the race first came, people around town have been asking if we can get them to stay longer,” said Brewer, adding that day three was “logistically awkward” for race organizers. “They’ll get a chance to really see Powell River this time.”
Time was tight on day three of the seven-day race, he explained. Over 500 racers had to get up at 4 am, get ready to travel from Campbell River to Comox, wait for the ferry and then race nearly 50 kilometres of mixed single-track, once they arrived in Powell River, in the afternoon.
“It was a scramble to get a start time and get racers off course in time for the banquet,” said Brewer. He estimates that next year the race and its entourage of approximately 1,000 people will be in town for about 15 hours longer.
Andreas Hestler, BC Bike Race, said that change makes more sense for the logistics of the race and it gives racers “two beautiful sunsets on Willingdon Beach. We’re showcasing BC at its finest. That is a perfect example of it.”
The racers will now come over on the evening before. “The racers will still race in Campbell River on day two, but they will have an earlier banquet and then come over on the last ferry from Comox,” explained Brewer. He added that he knew of a few long-time racers who were already doing that just to be prepared for day three.
Next year the race in Powell River will shift to the morning which will mean all racers are finished by mid-afternoon. The banquet can then be held at a decent hour, said Brewer.
Racers can have a nice full evening to relax and check out the town and still get to bed early enough for a race the next day, he said.
Brewer and other Powell River race volunteers will hold their first planning meeting soon to talk about what changes can be made to the day three events. “We’ve only just begun to think of what the implications of this are and how we can make the racers’ experience even better,” he said.
“The lasting impression for the racers that camping on Willingdon Beach for two nights will leave is just amazing,” he added.
Brewer, who spends up to five days a week on the trails in the summer, said he has noticed a lot more mountain bike riders, either past participants of the race or other riders, coming to ride the course. “The word is spreading about Powell River.”
Day three of the BC Bike Race is scheduled for July 1, 2014.
