The BC Bike Race have announced details of an all-new enduro event, due to take place on October 22nd-24th. The Mega Volt is a three day eMTB Challenge Event, taking in four stages through the Cowichan Valley in the southern region of Vancouver Island. It’s not a race exactly; each stage presents its own special challenges, both in terms of terrain and the challenge of the day.
Mega Volt Multi-Day eMTB Challenge
The 14th edition of the BC Bike Race is set to go ahead at an all-new location in 2021, Penticton, on the shores of the Okanagan Lake. Six hundred kilometres west of there, in the Cowichan Valley of Vancouver Island, the scene is set for the BC Bike Race’s first ever eMTB only event; the Mega Volt.
From the BC Bike Race:
Cowichan takes it’s 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 climactic 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, Enduro’s 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 mornings 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!
When is it, and how do I enter?
Registration for the Mega Volt eMTB Challenge opens August 10th at 12PM PT. There are just spots available. An entry will set you back $499 CAD. The categories are as follows:
- Open Men
- Open Women
- Open Non-Binary
- 40+ (men, women)
- 50+ (men, women)
- 60+ (men, women)
