West Shore cyclists capture overall team title at BC Bike Race
Published 4:00 pm Friday, June 5, 2026
A West Shore RCMP sergeant and his Colwood training partner conquered the 20th annual BC Bike Race.
Sgt. Dave Vunic and Cody Canning captured the overall team title at the gruelling mountain bike stage race, which ran across Vancouver Island from May 23 to 29.
Riding under the Team Rocky Mountain banner, the duo navigated stages featuring up to 47.6 kilometres of riding and 1261 metres of elevation gain in Cumberland, Campbell River, Parksville, Duncan and Nanaimo, finishing as the fastest duo in the field.
Both men had tackled the demanding race in previous years as solo competitors, but they decided to join forces this time around. “I came up with the idea and was like, hey, I’m a team guy. Let’s team up. Let’s see if we can win this thing,” Vunic explained. “It ended up working fairly well.”
The team format requires partners to ride the entire course together and cross every finish line side by side, adding an entirely different dynamic to the multi-day grind.
“Cody and I actually had a really good seven days. We didn’t have any mechanicals, like flat tires or broken chains. We didn’t have any crashes, and our levels were basically the same. It was pretty flawless, which is quite unlikely,” Vunic said.
West Shore RCMP Sgt. Dave Vunic navigates a technical section during the 2026 BC Bike Race. (Photo courtesy of BC Bike Race)
The event – sprawled out across several divisions – attracted several hundred riders from around the world, including competitors from Australia, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Denmark. Among them was Swiss superstar Nino Schurter, the 10-time world champion and 2016 Olympic gold medallist who claimed the solo open men title.
“Cody and I were riding with him at some points, which was just mind-boggling,” Vunic said. “He’s like the Michael Jordan of mountain biking.”
Vunic spent months preparing for the event, balancing 12 to 15 hours of weekly training with his policing duties and family life.
“I found personally the most difficult part was the nutrition,” the West Shore officer said.
“Every day you’re basically doing almost a marathon-type ride. You really have to force food down your mouth because the last thing you want to do after a hard effort is to eat food.”
Going into the final stage at Maple Mountain with a comfortable lead, the tension began to set in.
“I was really stressed out the night before,” Vunic said.
“The last stage is quite an aggressive stage. A lot of rock faces, a lot of things can go wrong with equipment. We kind of came in with a plan just to be at an 80 or 85 per cent effort and not take unnecessary risks because if you break something, the race is over.”
That strategy paid off for Vunic and Canning, finishing the final stage in 1:38:22, eight minutes ahead of the closest competitors.
They were not the only local riders to make an impact against the international field.
Max McCulloch finished third in the 105-rider solo open men division. Ethan Pauly placed seventh and Peter Disera eighth, while Jeffrey Macleod crossed in 25th, Cody Murray in 30th and Michael Kleve in 97th.
Victoria riders Chad Grice, Jonathan Hickle, Tye Spicer and Roland Rabien competed in the men 40-plus division. Roger MacLeod, Harold Williams and Brian Einarson raced in the 50-plus category, while Angus Forsyth, Peter Lichtensteiger and Tim Loewen tackled the 60-plus division.
Up next, Vunic plans to race the provincial championships later this month. After 19 years with the RCMP and a lifetime of competitive cycling, he is more than happy to joke about his very specific claim to fame.
“I’ve won World Police and Fire Games multiple times,” Vunic said with a laugh. “So yeah, I’m the fastest police officer on the planet on a bike.”
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