BC is Incredible!!!

As Kim and I made it on to the ferry Vancouver Island bound, we were so excited. We both love heading to the quiet nooks and crannies that the Island has to offer. This time we were making our way to the outer cost to the small town of Ucluelet. This incredible part of the world has almost been untouched by time and the pounding surf hits this rocky coastline hard. It was the second Mind over Mountain Adventure Race of the season. As we pulled into the 5 star Tauca Lea Resort and then saw our room, our jaws were on the floor. This magical place rest inches from the water on the inner coast. The awesome silence was only broken when giant sized Sea Lions would come up for air and pass on fish info to their hungry friends. I grabbed my surf ski and hit the water to explore. It was not long before I was surrounded by these massive creatures that seemed to not care about me paddling throughout them. They would follow the fishing boats that had returned from days out on the water. Back at the Resort we jumped into our balcony hot tub to rest up for the evening and next days event.

Brian always caters to the racers. We had a wicked salmon barbeque Friday night, while myself, Sean Lunny, Ina Kerkoff, Denis Fontaine did a question and answer period where newcomers to the sport could find out all our secrets of what we use and how we do it. Norm Thibault was the mediator and he was super funny. We had an amazing time and everybody left with a smile on his or her face. The next day we woke to rainy skies and choppy water. As the gun fired, the wind howled in our faces as we made our way out towards the rough pacific. Near a Native landsite, we turned around and surfed downwind for 8 km. I arrived at the kayak finish with Teams Denis and Sean and Geoff and Yvonne. I rushed through transition and made my way out of transition in first and was joined by Denis and Sean once again.

I used my early spring fitness to move into the lead once again by myself and arrived at Mussel Beach where we had to spend a mandatory 5 minutes building drift wood furniture. I built a wicked recliner and then continued on to CP 5 and a hard trek up 250 meters to a Radar Tower Lookout. Back at my bike we returned to our kayaks and a 3 km paddle back to the start in time for one last run along the newly developed Wild Pacific Trail, which traverses the outer coast much, like the West Coast Trail. Dialing all the checkpoints I finished with a brief swim before hitting the finish line. Awesome.

The party went until 3 am when we finally ran out of dancing power and hot dogs. The next day Kim and I hiked some of the Wild Pacific Trail before leaving town. On our way out we stopped as a mother black bear and her mini cub crossed the highway…ah…BC! Off to Vermont for Appalachian Extreme next weekend…d

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