From flat tires to stubborn mechanical issues, Jasper鈥檚 Cory Wallace beat the odds to take home the top spot during the B.C. Bike Race, July 7 to 13.
Considered one of the world鈥檚 premier mountain bike stage races, Wallace鈥檚 victory was never assured thanks to a series of bike troubles and an unexpected crash with only five kilometres to go during the final stage.
By all accounts the race started just as he had hoped, winning the first stage in Cumberland, B.C. with a comfortable 45-second lead.
During stage two in Powell River, Wallace found himself in a pack of eight to 10 riders jockeying for position for most of the race.
As the pack began to dwindle, it聽was a rock-paper-scissors battle between his teammate Spencer Paxson and American Stephen Ettinger, who narrowly missed a spot on the U.S. Olympic team.
Despite finishing third, Wallace still managed to retain his leader鈥檚 jersey heading into stage three from Earls Cove to Sechelt.
Widely considered the hardest stage of the race, things quickly went pear-shaped for Wallace thanks to a flat tire followed by a chain malfunction, throwing into question whether he would ever regain his lead.
鈥淚 thought my race was done,鈥� recalled Wallace, who is sponsored by Kona and Freewheel Cycle. 鈥淚 thought I lost about 10 or 15 minutes because I felt like I was fixing the chain for a long time.鈥�
According to Wallace, the more he tried to untangle his chain, which somehow managed to get wrapped around his crank, the bigger the knot got. To make matters worse, while he was fixing his chain his rear tire started leaking sealant adding to his problems.
After a few minutes he eventually managed to untangle his chain only to realize six links were bent. After removing the damaged links he reconnected his chain with a quick link that just barely fit back on his biggest gear, essentially turning his bike into a single speed.
With his chain fixed he returned his attention to his tire. Having used up his CO2 cartridge to inflate his tire the first time around he got back on his bike and caught up with the fourth and fifth place riders who lent him their CO2.
鈥淚t鈥檚 really about doing what you can with what you have,鈥� said Wallace, 鈥淚 thought I was screwed.鈥�
From there it was a battle to the finish line, pushing his bike up hills and jumping back onto the saddle wherever he could, hoping his leaking tire would stay inflated long enough to get to the finish line.
鈥淕oing downhill you could kind of milk it and get a few pedal strokes in, but any hill you just had to get off and run,鈥� said Wallace, who finished the third stage in sixth, losing about five minutes to the overall leader.
Fortunately, things began to go in his favour the following day from Sechelt to Langdale on the sunshine coast.
Initially his plan was to conserve his energy and attack the last climb, but things dramatically changed in the opening kilometres when his emotions got the better of him and he attacked the first steep climb.
鈥淲hen your adrenaline is firing you got to go with it, because the next day it might be shut off and you don鈥檛 know how much adrenaline is in the tank either,鈥� explained Wallace.
Opening up a gap he extended his lead on the next single-track descent, but with a long open fire road he struggled to stay ahead of a group of 10 riders who managed to cut his lead down to 20-seconds.
Just as he thought the group would swallow him up, Wallace found a second wind and opened up the throttle to attack the last climb and crossed the finish line with a three-minute lead.
With his second stage victory, he was now only one minute behind Paxson and Ettinger, the race leaders.
Building on his victory, Wallace continued to find his stride during stage five on the North Shore of Vancouver.
Prior to the race, he and Paxson had scoped out the track to find the best lines, but come race day one of the lines he thought would have been open was closed throwing him for a loop.
With foggy glasses and his adrenaline firing he launched off a small drop only to realize race organizers had tapped off the line he had intended to hit.
Going through the tape he slammed on the brakes, ran back up the hill and got back on course. The miscalculation was enough to let Ettinger and Paxson pass him.
Back on his bike, Wallace eventually caught back up聽 to them to win the stage by 35 seconds.
But just as things began to go his way, his bike troubles returned during stage six in Squamish.
This time around he was able to get to the first feed station to fix his bike, but his bike troubles returned a few kilometres later.
After deciding to take things a bit slower to avoid any catastrophes, his rear tire had other plans and decided to detonate going over a small rock鈥揾is second flat tire of the race.
After stopping to fix his tire, he dropped to eighth place losing four to five minutes in the process.
Miraculously the tubed tire held up and he managed to catch up to the fifth place rider eventually crossing the finish line in fourth, holding onto second place overall.
鈥淎gain, I thought the race was over,鈥� said Wallace 鈥淚 was fully expecting another flat, you always flat when you鈥檙e going that hard, but it survived.鈥�
With one minute and 13 seconds between himself and Paxson, the race leader, going into the seventh and final stage in Whistler was anybody鈥檚 guess.
With 15 km to the finish line Wallace鈥檚 legs were firing on all cylinders helping propel him into the lead. With a minute and 15-second lead, it looked like it was a done deal, but with five kilometres to go his luck would run out.
Taking his hand off his handle bars to fish some mud out of his eye and remove his foggy glasses his front wheel suddenly hit something and the next thing he knew he was flung over his handle bars.
鈥淚t was a total yard sale,鈥� recalled Wallace.
After quickly assessing the damage and straightening out his handlebars as best he could by banging it on a tree, he jumped back on his bike before Paxson could catch up to him.
Bruised and bleeding, but not beaten, Wallace managed to cross the finish line without his glasses and a stem that was still 10-15 degrees out of whack.
鈥淎t that point there was so much adrenaline firing you don鈥檛 feel anything. It was a weird state,鈥� said Wallace. 鈥淚 remember letting go of my breaks and just bouncing off of everything.鈥�
Unsure how far the finish line was he went full tilt ultimately winning the stage two minutes ahead of Paxson and taking the overall title.
鈥淚t鈥檚 one I always wanted to win,鈥� said Wallace, reflecting on his victory. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been a goal for a long time.鈥�
Wallace will be in Jasper training for the next week before heading to the Marathon National Championships in Quebec at the end of July.
Paul Clarke
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