The BC Bike Race Adds an eMTB Event, the Mega Volt
Press Release: BC Bike Race
THE MEGA VOLT
BC Bike Race in cooperation with the Cowichan Trail Stewardship Society would like to announce an all new event, the MEGA VOLT, a Fully Charged E-MTB Experience, four(4) stages over three(3) days October 22- 24th, 2021 in the pristine and beautiful Cowichan Valley.
The world has been waiting for the MEGA VOLT. Well, it’s arrived and it’s Mega Awesome! Get charged, get amped and let's rally the E-Mountain Bike Nation. This is North America’s first ever multi-day E-Mountain bike challenge.
The MEGA VOLT is a weekend of different course styles, aimed to be both challenging but ultimately extremely fun! To explore the full potential of the E-Mountain bike we have devised a number of unorthodox formats and routes to both showcase this legendary region, the capabilities of the E-MTB and the abilities of the E-Riders. Fasten your seatbelts and hang on for this first gathering of the E-Mountain bike Nation, we’re changing the script and everyone will be a winner in this weekend of amazing single-track, challenging routes and hi-fives.
 | I gotta say I was super excited to see that BCBR is adding an Ebike event to it’s offering! I have been lucky to have participated in 2 previous BCBR’s, and am now stoked to try my hand at this event. Ever since Rocky’s first Powerplay model, I realized the potential and inclusiveness of these bikes! Long live mountain biking and the BCBR! |
LOCATION
We will be exploring the beautiful Cowichan Valley and its legendary trails, Cowichan takes its name from Quw’utsun’, an Indigenous word that means warm land. Cowichan is on the southern part of Vancouver Island, bordered by the Nanaimo and the Alberni-Clayoquot and located in Canada’s only maritime Mediterranean climatic zone, it is home to the warmest year-round temperatures in the country, perfect for an E-MTB bike race in October
The Cowichan Valley has hosted Island Cups, Enduros and Stages of the BC Bike Race, now with the assistance of the Cowichan Trail Stewardship and BC Bike Race a new chapter is about to be written.
Stage 1 – Consistency Enduro – Friday afternoon
Inspired by the moto world comes this unique format. This warm up stage will pit rider and bike against none other than themselves and the route – find you groove as you pick your tempo and try to match each lap as closely as possible – consistency is the name of the game and a true understanding of yourself is required to come out on top of this stage!
Stage 2 – Tech Gnar Rally – Saturday morning
Let the games begin as we ramble all over the mountain tackling everything up and down that can be challenging, gnarly and fun. This is pure heaven as far as a mountain biker goes; roots, rocks, old growth cedars, arbutus’, slabs and loamy chutes. We think the contest will be decided by the best technical eMTB climbers.
Stage 3 – Flow Master 3000 – Saturday afternoon
To juxtapose the morning's excitement we’ll take time to siesta and recharge our batteries for a curated afternoon of maximum fun, flowing singletrack, every which way that can be found to heighten the adventure. The spoils of this war will go to the Flow Masters!
Stage 4 – Poker Challenge
Today's course is all about wicked fun trails, what an e-bike can do and how to have a Rip Snortin Good time doing it. Instead of creating a race, how about a poker challenge to get out and ride the trails at your preferred speed, it is day three. This might be the day to manage your battery and your body as we want to put the icing on the cake for the first ever weekend of E-mountain biking – lets celebrate the E-Bike Nation. No bluffing, this is for real and the best hand wins!
| BCBR knows its stuff when it comes to designing spectacular courses for racing and the ebike challenge will be no exception. I didn't have a lot of riding experience on the island and was asked to join a photoshoot there this past month. It was fast, flowy with steep tech sections and beautiful views all day long I’ll definitely be a regular there and am looking forward to the event this fall. Sign me up, I'm in! |
DETAILS:
Registration opens August 10th at 12pm PT.
There will be only 75 spots available for this first ever gathering of the E-Bike Nation.
Get more information at theMegaVolt.com
Photo Credit: Dave Silver
BC Bike Race and the Cowichan Trail Stewardship Society would like to respectfully acknowledge that this event takes place on the unceded and traditional territory of the Coast Salish Hulquminum Speaking peoples, and the traditional territories of Cowichan Tribes
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58 Comments
Purchased an e-bike, used that as soon as I could bend my leg round enough to spin the pedals. It allowed me to jump right back in, and after a couple months of that I hopped onto a normal bike for a quick spin, this was two days ago. I realised the e-bike allowed me to build/maintain strength. So here’s the facts in my experience.
They don’t give you a free and effortless ride, they amplify and assist whatever you can put in, but you do work hard.
They are simply fantastic when used for the right reasons. Not to make it easier to do the same rides you would on a standard bike, but to go further and do more than your body may normally allow.
In my case, an e-bike saved me from the depths of depressions.
All of you who judge anyone you see on an Ebike, without considering you don’t know that person or their story, crawl back into your hole.
E-bikes are great if you have limited time of want to self-shuttle but there is zero sense of accomplishment knocking off a big ride (or stage race).
Racing them in enduro races makes some sense because you're timing the downs and are above the speed cutoff on any track worth it salt.
Either way, enduro racing is a race format. Whereas the BCBR is a race (even though probably not everyone actually views it as such and some just want to ride it out and enjoy it), from what I understand this Mega Volt thing isn't really a race. Or well, they say "everyone is a winner" which implies there is not much more to achieve beyond that other than to just enjoy the ride.
Canadian E-Bike Champs -$185 + lift tickets. No thanks.
Don’t they know that e-bikers have spent all their money on the bike?
We both have well built AC's and spend a lot of time in the westside/sproatt area. But the bike park was a new experience. I did apologize to every liftie for hauling my 54 lb steed off the rack though, lol. I'll stick with my Demo8 in the future, but it was cool to experience the park on the bike that gets most of my seat time.
It has been a hard couple of years for events, just happy to see them giving it a shot! Not all events have/will survive the pandemic!
DB@EB