MISSION POSSIBLE

It’s become a very old story. Way back in 2014, this writer was fortunate enough to spend a day riding the famous North Shore trails of Vancouver, in British Columbia, Canada. Even more fortunate was doing so with MTB free-ride legend Wade Simmons and ex-Canadian MTB Olympian Andreas Hestler. And that’s where this story really started; Hestler is actually part of the brains trust behind the creation of the BC Bike Race (BCBR), one of the world’s most famous MTB stage races, now in its eleventh year.

I barely survived that 2014 experience – the term ‘way in over your head’ didn’t even come close to covering the first 10 minutes of riding on some of Wade’s ‘special’ trails, much less what followed on that day. Somehow, Andreas got me excited (or I might have just been over-pumped on adrenalin after actually surviving what I thought was a serious attempt to kill me) about the prospect of riding the BCBR. The event itself is magical; seven days of BC’s winding, technical, and steep singletrack, with the race stages spread out over a number of BC communities’ trail networks, makes it look pretty speccy. So, rather incredibly considering my near-death experience of that same day, put my hand