Tabernacker

There's great races, good races, alright races and then there's the Tabernacker races. Last Sundays island cup xc in Parksville was a Tabernacker. The race started good with Team Yukon (Daniel Sessford) and I taking a solid lead off the front. That was where the goodness ended.

Fifteen minutes into the race Team Yukon took a muddy corner in overdrive. I figured he was going to eat it hardcore but apparantly the laws of physics don't always apply. Seeing Yukon make the corner I figured what he could do I could do as well. Not happening. Logics took over and the wheels slid out and I torpedode 30 km/hr into a stand of dead willows. Stunned, bloodied and stuck I peeled myself and my tangled bike out of the mess just in time for 3rd and 4th place riders Sullivan Reed (Team Prince George) and Carter Hovey to catch up. Carter was soon dropped as Sullivan and I gaver hard to catch Team Yukon on the long fired road climb.

In the pre-race briefing the organizer had informed us the local loony toon characters had changed some of the course markings. Apparantly we were to follow some arrows but not the others. Having not pre-ridden the course neither Sullivan and I were to sure which arrows were fake and which were real.

We found out in a hurry as the fireroad we were on deadended in the middle of a cutblock. Already 4 minutes off course in a 1 hr race I was content on calling it a day and rode into the cutblock to find a place to curl up and sleep. Sullivan wasn't too ammused and insisted we try to get back on course. I felt bad as Sullivan had drove 10 hrs from PG for the race so I saddled up and we headed back down the fireroad. We ran into 25 or so other lost racers. We turned them around and eventually got back on course to ride humbly to the finish.

All in all it was a text book Tabernacker race. I was impressed with the effort Daffy duck and Twitty bird put into getting us lost as they hadn't just changed arrows to get us off course but they had put up more arrows once we were lost to insure we got royally screwed. Grade A effort boys. Off to work...Pedi Cabing.....