Better Off Being Eaten by a Bear

Nipika Resort to Invermere

After raining hard all night racers and support awoke to muddy mess. The soil around Nipika resort is described as a blue clay and it's "slicker than snake snot" when wet. Today's stage was one of the shorter stages at just a bit over 60k, but it did include a 4km hike-a-bike that took nearly an hour to complete. The sections lead to many riders 'crackin'. Most thought it was completely unnecessary and pointless.

This stage was probably the most remote of the race and the evidence of bear was everywhere. Several racers reported seeing a Brown bear with two cubs.

One downhill section featured over 70 waterbars. One finally took its toll on Tim 'Busto' Erikson and he went base over apex smashing up his knee and hitting his head very hard. Luckily he was able continue to the finish.

Dan and Randy took another stage over the Kiwis. Dale and Derek had one of their best stages placing 6th in the 80+ group and Mel finished another stage solo, but will hopefully be again join by Nicola for final stage of the event.