Twelve kilometres straight down the North Thompson valley, deep in the British Columbia interior, with the Monashee Mountains on one side and the Cariboo range on the other.

The riding itself is generous. Ninety-one metres of climbing across the whole route and a total elevation range of twenty-five metres means this is a course you settle into rather than survive — a long, fast run along the valley floor from Finn Creek, on a line so straight the start and finish are eleven kilometres apart in a twelve-kilometre route.

The only thing resembling a climb arrives in the last kilometre and a half: a steady lift at around 4% into Avola, finishing at the highest point on the course.

Big mountain scenery, small elevation numbers, and a finish that rewards anyone who saved something.