No two years of the BC Bike Race are ever the same, but for the second straight year the mountain bike extravaganza will be held entirely on Vancouver Island in 2024 from July 1-7.
“BC Bike Race is proud and excited to continue hosting its 18th year on Vancouver Island,” noted Andreas Hestler, marketing director for BC Bike Race. “In 2023 as the world settled back into a mostly normal events year, BC Bike Race returned from the Okanagan to Vancouver Island. When you consider the world class nature of the trails housed within the riding areas between Victoria, the Cowichan Valley, Nanaimo, Cumberland and Campbell River, the choice for Vancouver Island for a second year was easy.”
“We want to give our racers the best possible experience, so we work hard to improve each year,” added BC Bike Race president Dean Payne. “Based on racer feedback, we’ve created some new options and brought back some old favourites for 2024.”
Base camps will be at Victoria, Crofton and Cumberland.
The BC Bike Race is regarded as the ‘Ultimate Singletrack Experience’ and continues to draw both recreational and world class athletes from literally all corners of the globe to experience the thrill of competition set up on some amazing courses.
Related story: Impressions of the BC Bike Race
The BC Bike Race is returning to Victoria after a 17-year hiatus. Victoria was the host of the inaugural event in 2007 and returns to the fold with nearly two decades’ worth of trail development managed by the South Island Mountain Bike Society.
Riders will be taken to the heart of Victoria’s mountain bike scene for Days 1 and 2: Hartland on the flank of Mount Work Park and neighbouring Partridge Hills. Both areas are technically challenging, testing fitness and riding skills.
Immediately after completing Day 2, the scene will shift to Crofton for base camp and Day 3 that features a double bill of Maple Mountain in Crofton and Mount Tzouhalem in Maple Bay, both managed by the Cowichan Trail Stewardship Society.
Maple Mountain has been a favourite for its technical descents that require quick line selection and commitment. Tzouhalem offers fast downhill sections.
Packing up the Crofton base camp at the start of Day 4, racers head to Nanaimo to ride a favourite local trail on Mount Benson, maintained by the Nanaimo Mountain Bike Club, that offers a distinctive experience with surprising diversity.
After the Nanaimo finish line is reached, it’s on Cumberland for the final base camp and the start of Day 5.
The United Riders of Cumberland maintain the community’s network of 197 kilometres of trails, providing many course options for the Day 5 and 7 events. Day 5 will be the longer of the two Cumberland stages, featuring more technical trails mixed with a little flow.
Day 6 is in Campbell River where River City Cycle Club members are incredibly proud of their 100+ kms of singletrack through the Snowden Demonstration Forest and Elk Falls Provincial Park.
The finale back at Cumberland for Day 7 is a shorter course that takes in some of the best descending trails the community has to offer.
The distance and elevation details for the courses will be revealed during the next few weeks.
For more on the 2024 race stages, click here.