Gearjammer course changes before weekend's race

Gearjammer race director Curtis Roberts announced a change to the end of the race's course that increases the amount of singletrack for a better finish to the point-to-point 47km event from Alice Lake to Rose Park near Squamish in British Columbia. The race will take place Saturday, July 26 at 11:00 am.

The new course drops riders from Plateau Drive behind the Valleycliffe General Store and back up to Hospital Hill, through the gully, and around the Blind Channel.

"We want to make the final kilometre as good as the rest of the race," Roberts said. "We haven't really been happy with the end of the race through the Smoke Bluffs Park and along Loggers' Lane."

The new finishing stretch runs through private land, and Roberts expressed gratitude to the landowners who have allowed the race to run through their property. "I think they appreciate the importance of mountain biking to the community, and all these people are community minded," he said.

The Gearjammer route follows the first half of stage six of the 2008 BC Bike Race.

For more information, visit www.gearjammer.ca.