Nimby Fifty: Now THAT'S a race!

What an experience.

The ninth annual Nimby Fifty mountain bike race in beautiful Pemberton BC is just that: A mountain bike race.  A true race that 
tests a rider in every way a good race should.  To do well on this 37km course, a rider must be able to:
a) climb fast and smooth for long periods of time
b) navigate switchbacks like a boss
c) keep some gas in the tank for when it's needed
d) descend rough, loose, steep terrain


Sometimes athletes train for a certain type of sport/event all year and then quickly realize, at some point or another, that they weren't quite as prepared as they would've liked to be.

This was the case for Jena and I at Nimby Fifty.  It's an escorted start on the road for a few kilometers, but then once that truck pulls off, it's time to lay down some horsepower!

It's a steep, wide open road climb for a bit until you hit a nice singletrack loop that takes about 10 minutes.  So you get to rest for a bit before you start the monster: The Nimby.  This is a climb not to be underestimated.  It's long, gives you little room for rest and contains over 100 switchbacks.

When I came out at the top, BOOM! Hamstring cramps. I immediately thought "I'm not ready for this".
Jena said she felt under prepared for this long climb too.  She pushed through and was the third woman to come out of Nimby. 

And what's after that? More climbing.  Straight up a trail named Middle Earth: A wicked new addition to this longstanding race.  Once you reach the top, it's on to some well deserved descending.


Unfortunately for Jena and I, this was the part of the course we didn't pre-ride, so it was a challenge to stay with some of the top riders who know these trails very well.  I distinctly remember getting passed by a guy who didn't say "on your left".  No, he just said "I'm from Whistler".  I couldn't help but laugh as he flew by me and tossed out a whip for bonus style points.

Then it was on to the rough stuff. A trail called Overnight Sensation was the big downhill on the course, and if you're not careful or your too timid, you can end up with a broken bike or a broken body.  Both of us made it down just fine, but this was definitely a section we both lost some time on. Line choice is critical on this trail and we both had only ridden it once, so that made it tough.

The rest of the course tested your stamina, conditioning and focus.  When you're exhausted and there are really technical parts, you have to be focused in order to keep the rubber side down.

I had a wicked sprint finish with Devon Moonie from Kamloops, but he got me at the line, so I ended up in 12th spot in the pro/elite men.  4:15 off the podium.  Next year......
Jena stayed in 3rd place for almost the whole race, but got caught by BCBR/Rocky Mountain rider Carey Mark near the end and ended up landing on the podium in 4th place.  

As for the non-race part of the trip, it was great! We camped at Paul Lake (where I damn near let us run out of gas) on the way there and Rogers Creek on the way home and we had a really nice AirBnB home while in Pemberton.  Apollo came with us for some comic relief and although he hates being in the car, he hates being away from us even more.  

We had the chance to catch up with some old friends, namely Alex Schmidt, Dylan Wolsky and Stephen and Jen Ushy which was really nice.  We'll see most of them again to the two day Sp'akw'us challenge on June 16/17th.