Words & Pics by Johnny Bazett 

To be completely honest, I wasn’t in a huge rush to wake up Saturday morning knowing what was awaiting me. The wind howling and the rain beating down outside definitely wasn’t helping. Having grown up on the North Island I knew that if the weather was bad in Courtenay, Chances are it wasn’t going to be any better 3 hours north in Port Alice. After dosing myself with 3 or 4 cups of coffee, I packed the car with my camera gear and headed out the door to pick up my traveling companion, Kyuquot, A 105 lbs, fetch addicted German Sheppard Lab cross, Or ‘Bear Spray’ as I referred to her all weekend.

I chuckled as I wailed through a giant fog bank forming just north of Campbell River, knowing full-well that the tip of the island is covered in the thick white haze 200 (+/-) days a year.  To my shock and amazement, Around the mount Cain turn-off the heavens opened up and before I knew it I was getting a truckers tan, baking in the sun. It was short lived but sweet while it lasted. The weather ended up being very sporadic bouncing back and forth between rain, fog and brilliant sunshine.

We arrived in Port Alice just in time to catch the tail end of the big Salmon BBQ and the trials demo. Unfortunately we missed the last of the salmon by about 5 minutes, so it was off to the café in the Quatsino Chalet for supper. After setting up camp it was time for the Bevies to come out and the party to begin. Being that we were set-up right at the bottom of the course and had a warm fire, we had countless drop-ins and had a pretty good B.S. session with some of the North Island Locals and Racers from down south as well. We hit up the pub after dark, where ‘DJ Hash’ was performing, more drinks, more laughs and a late night bike demolition (Which I missed because I’m not a very accomplished drinker!) were all part of the nights festivities.

I was surprised when I woke up Sunday morning to find that some of the heaviest drinkers were the first racers on the course in the morning. Having rained the majority of the night and early morning, the course was looking pretty slick. Even with some ‘less than ideal’ conditions there was still some lightening fast runs in the first heat and even faster in the second. Some expert riders cutting there time by almost 15 seconds! On the short course, Shawn Miller (2:29) took the win in beginner men, followed closely by Stanley Nelson (2:33) and Kevin Burnett (2:37). It was a bit tighter race in intermediate men with the top three times within 6 second of one another. Scott Brown (2:53) came out on top, followed by Kyle Marshall (2:57) and Julien Menard (2:59). Expert riders had to contend with a new section at the top of the course with some gnarly steeps. Expert men finished with a tie for first place between Matt Perzci and young Sky Gustin from Port Alberni (4:25), followed by Cumberland’s Dan Espeseth (4:29) and Jaime Battle (4:30). Comox Valley locals Adrienne Miller (4:58) and Fiona Taylor (5:15) took the top two spots in Expert women, followed by Seana Wright of Port Alberni.

After watching the frenzy of the schwag grab, it was time to pack up, Say good bye to Port Alice and hit the road. A huge thanks to the race organizers, who put on a great event. Rumblefest is an annual event that promises to be a great time for everyone who is willing to make the trek. With XC, Trials, DH and kids races there really is something for everyone and the locals were super helpful and inviting. All in all, another stellar stop on the Island Cup tour and a great way to close out the Series!

Don’t forget to check out http://www.rumblefest.com/ for the full results of the race and updates regarding Rumblefest 2008, See you there!