Geof Harries

On May 31, 2026 I participated in the 9th annual Cowichan Crusher Gravel Fondo in Lake Cowichan, BC.

I rode the Full Fondo Plus distance, which was about 150 km with 3,400 m of climbing. The route was steeper (I had to walk some parts uphill) and rougher (some sketchy downhill moments) than I was prepared for and used to; turns out my usual Whitehorse gravel routes are pretty smooth surface-wise!

Overall, the Cowichan Crusher was a fantastic experience. I feel privileged to have been able to travel to and stay in Lake Cowichan, swim in warm lakes (much warmer than Whitehorse-area lakes) and race my bike in a spectacular area of BC.

As an event organizer myself - the 3rd annual Yukon Fat Tire Fever is on August 8, 2026 - I like to use these participant experiences to see how others do things. I wrote an article for the South Canol Road in 2024 and Belgian Waffle Ride Canada (BC) in 2023.

Now as for the Cowichan Crusher, let's start with some photos.

Pretty spectacular, huh?

Finishing

• My goal was to finish in 8 hours or less. I finished in 7 hours and 10 minutes.
• I'm not sure I could have gone any faster or cut more off my time. I only stopped for about 20 minutes total: to shuffle around food, a few nature breaks, lube my chain and take some photos. Let's be honest, I'm not shooting for the podium anymore - I'm just a happy participant at this point - so stopping isn't a big deal and it's nice to be able to pause and appreciate the moments while they're happening.

Course

• Compared to the BWR BC event marketing, the Cowichan Crusher marketing was much more understated and subdued. While BWR BC was longer - 218 km vs. 148 km - I found the technial uphill and downhill parts of the Cowichan Crusher more challenging than BWR BC. There were multiple ascents and descents of more than 20%. On some descents, I was pushing hard back on my bars to keep from going over the front, while at the same time trying to brake in order to slow down a bouncing set of wheels cascading off sharp rocks in every direction. Sounds risky, but it was also fun!
• I trained for this event as much as I was able, and felt quite good the whole time. I had been sick with a bad cough for about 3 weeks before the event, but thankfully the cough subsided a few days prior.
• I don't own a bike computer and had forgot to load the route map onto my phone, so with no cell service most of the time, I relied solely on the Cowichan Crusher signs and markers to find my way around. Both were very well done and I never got lost.
• As mentioned, the route was at times remote and on top of that, there was no cell service for around 7 hours. The volunteers who were on course and watching for us to come through checkpoints were each maybe about 30 km apart. It wasn't until afterwards when someone asked me about my experience that they pointed out the potential danger of that situation; what if we someone had a bad crash or had some sort of major issue? I honestly hadn't thought about it too much given where I live - we're in remote places all of the time - but it's definitely something to consider. A satellite GPS messenger would have been a smart idea.

Training and preparation

Training for the Cowichan Crusher was not as intense for me as it was for BWR BC; work, family, illness and lack of sustained energy/interest fought their usual battles with commitment. That said, I did what I could and throughout the course of the 7+ hours, I felt physically strong and mentally capable.

From the perspective of total preparation, from the start of January to the day before the event, my activities amounted to:

• 1,711 km of cycling
• 202 hours of cardio, weight training and other sports
• 11,715 m of elevation gain

Compared to BWR BC, I rode my bike about 40% less but spent more hours lifting weights, xc skiing and doing other training activities. As I've aged, I now seek out and have more balance in how I approach getting ready for a bike race.

Post-event, I feel weirdly strong and still interested in bicycling, which sounds funny but it's true. After BWR BC, I lost all motivation to ride a bike and it took me about two months to find the spark again. In hindsight, the serious emotional and physical toll that BWR BC took left me burnt out and highly fatigued. I did too much.

Equipment

• My Trek Checkpoint SL 5 performed flawlessly, again. No issues at all, although as mentioned a suspension fork would have been desirable at times due to the large rocks and boulders plus extended sections of rough, gravel washboard.
• I ran a pair of almost brand new Maxxis Reaver 45mm tires. The Reaver are shockingly fast rolling in a straight line and in the same breath, still manage to corner and brake well while at speed and in sketchy, loose corners. I wasn't aware until I was hoisting my bike into the rental truck that I had two small punctures in the rear tire; both had sealed on their own. Hooray for tubeless and the magic of tire sealant.
• I'm typically a fairly confident descender, but as mentioned there were parts of the route that were chunky, deep and tricky on my semi-slick 45 mm tires, steep head angle and no suspension fork. It was like early 90s mountain biking all over again. I noticed a lot of people in my category had fatter tires and a suspension fork (others were riding xc mountain bikes); that should have given me a clue about what was to come.
• Thanks to the size of my 61 cm bike frame, I was able to carry three water bottles and refilled them fully at the two aid stations on course. If the event had been longer, I would have needed more to drink. I used three Revelate Designs bags on my bike, so storage was not a problem.

Food

• If there's one thing that BWR BC taught me, it was why and how to eat when I don't want to eat. A long event like either of these doubles as an eating contest. I burnt 7,500 calories and that meant a lot of food. The aid stations were well supplied and the volunteers at them were helpful, friendly and encouraging.
• At the finish, there was pizza, beer, snacks and friendly people, all situated in a beautiful residential park setting. Not as flashy as BWR BC, but still awesome and more of a grassroots, homegrown feeling.
• On the drive back to the place where I was staying, I bought a pizza with the plan to sit by a nearby lake and wash it down with my beer from the event. After floating around the lake for a little bit, I got out and sat on a log to enjoy them together.

The 9th annual Cowichan Crusher Gravel Fondo was an amazing adventure and I'm happy that I did it. Thanks to the organizers and volunteers who made the Cowichan Crusher happen.

Thanks also to Cycling Association of Yukon and the funding support of Lotteries Yukon's Travel Assistance Program (TAP). This helped offset the cost of travel expenses which I really appreciated.