Poor Gary. He’s managed to make it through over 123km in the blazing heat of today’s 125km stage, nearly puked three times at the 90km aid station, but in the final (and only) section of single-track, he crashed hard into a rock garden and now the whole right side of his body is in pain.

Todd continues to be the workhorse for Team Helly Hansen / MOMAR and pulled Gary along in warrior like fashion. “My universe only existed within 10″ off of Todd’s back tire,” said Gary. “I didn’t want to look up to see the terrain ahead of me otherwise I would fall off the back.” During the first 80km, Gary and Todd hung with all the top teams in one big peleton.

Gary is one dirty boy… literally… Dave Silver must have taken this photo not long after Gary’s crash. I’m also surprised to see Gary ahead of Todd… Gary must have sensed there was a camera guy nearby… ;0)

Reflecting back on Stage 1, Gary said that yesterday’s 89km stage was “the most painful biking experience of my life.” Today’s relatively benign stage proved to be a welcome relief and a bit of a recovery stage for Gary.

Active heli logging put a kibosh to the original route that would have taken riders up and over the Duck Lake pass. Post race comments from the teams sounded disappointed in the course route but there was no other option from Lake Cowichan to Port Alberni. Maybe for a future year, they will be able to build a trail up and over the Nitinat headwaters?

Gary and Todd finished with a time of 4:50:50 and moves them into 19th spot in the all male category and 24th overall. Team Comar / John Henry (Graham Tutti & Adam Smith) had a strong day and finished ahead of Gary and Todd by just under 5 minutes. Team Helly Hansen Vancouver Island’s Justin Mark and Jeff Reimer were 5 minutes back of Gary and Todd.

Congratulations to the other Team Helly Hansen Vancouver Island all female team of Kristenn Magnesson and Lisa Ludwig who had another third place finish. And Team Kona’s Wendy Simms and Normon Thibault continue to lead the Mixed category with another fast finish.  Norm sent me a text tonight saying his “[groin] is a bit raw…”  Photo to come… ;0)

I also want to send a shout out to Da Apples, Billy Adams and Heather Macintosh, for finishing another stage of the BCBR. Funny… I just figured out the significance of their team name. Nice. Heather and Billy completed today’s stage in 6:47:34.

END NOTE: As I was riding today on SFU, I tried to imagine riding for that long in one day and then having to do it for six more in a row… Thankfully, I was back in my van in 90 minutes (exhausted) and that was enough for me! The rest of my day consisted of lunch with my family and then to the office to work on the MOMAR. SIDE NOTE ON THE END NOTE: Today I took my new full suspension Berg Bike on Nicole’s Trail for the first time. I turned my rear Fox shock onto the ‘bouncy’ mode and flew down the trail with a massive smile on my face. It was a rush! I LOVE my bike!!!