Distance: approx 60km/37 miles
Elevation Gain: est. 1600m/5250 feet
Aid Station 1 Distance: approx 30km
Aid Station 2 Distance: approx 48km
Finish Line: Village Park, Cumberland

Wow-Cumberland/Comox – what can we say other than?  Amazing.   We highly recommend checking out the Comox Valley Mountain Bike website.    As you’ll see from the video link below and the pics on their website, their trail systems are amazing.  Definitely gotta get back up there and check it out at some point in the near future. 

On Day 2, We arrived into the little Village of Cumberland.   I picked my bike up and it had a flat (dang!) but Obsession Bikes were the official support and they provided lube, towels and pumps for use as well as selling tubes and changing tubes in a pinch.  I decided to pony up some cash and get them to do the job ($10 for tube and a change - not bad for the convenience factor).  Throughout the week I think Kathy and Virginia also had them do some work and they seem to have done a good job for all. 

The terrain ranged from high speed, smooth, buff singletrack to the rocky outcroppings at elevation and back down into the dark and lush valley trails.  We arrived out our now familiar yellow school buses, gathered our bikes and jumped in with the rest of the crowd, scheduled to depart through mainstreet and heading out to the good stuff.

Of course we climbed some singletrack and then, as you can see on the ride profile, we had a big road climb up, up, up but that led us to an awesome descent which would include a ton of trails like Bevan, Bear  Bait (remember this being fast, flowing smooth ribbons of singletrack), River Rats, Sapporo Steeps, KMA and Transmission.   Before we hit the 2^nd Aid station around 48 km, Kathy ran out of water and got a refill from one of the very kind moto support riders so she could alleviate her thirst on that long dusty road climb.  After that descent we had another big grunt of a climb and were rewarded with another great descent through a few other trails – Two and a Juice, Buggered Pig, Tea Pot , Short and Curly, Soggy Biscuit, Black Hole and Space Nugget. 

As per the usual, when we arrived into town, my fabulous (and fast) tent-mate Angela had gotten our tent staked out, the girls all got showered up, and we headed out to dinner at the Wandering Moose Café .  This was the dinner that, on day one, we had to sign up for.  What did we have?  Lasagna (veggie!) and for the carnivores there was chicken.  Mmmm….salad, rolls, butter, veggies.  A very fine meal in that cute little town. 

Kathy headed off to her hotel, the rest of us trooped back  out to the campground at the park and decided to partake of the beer garden/fundraiser.  The trail systems were so incredible, how could we not “donate”??? 

Once we’d done our charitable part, we all headed off to our respective tents to get another good nights sleep before Day 3.

Check out the video for a little taste of what we got to experience on Day 2...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBxOgACNLX4