TransRockies 2008 Review
August 17, 2008
Afterthoughts
50 years old today. Ouch! 5 TransRockies completed. Ouch! Ouch! Where to go from here?
I would like to take my hat off to the TR organization this year for stepping up and improving the overall product from a disappointing 2007. The course was significantly harder, perhaps the hardest yet. The food was stellar unlike last year’s European gruel. The camaraderie was again excellent and is what I think separates this race from all the others that I have competed in. The fact that this race occurs on several of its days a significant distance from civilization forces all the riders to get to know each other. The underlying Canadian spirit meshed with a common bond of suffering helps also in setting an atmosphere that I have not seen repeated elsewhere.
I have been asked many times which race is the best, or which race is the hardest. It is extremely hard to pick any one of these race as they all have their pluses and minuses. From my point of view, I guess that I have to say that this race has a special place in my heart as it was the first that I did and I have kept coming back. Next year, I guess, remains to be seen.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Day 7 Finish- One hot day
TransRockies 2008 Day 7
August 16, 2008
Crowsnest Pass to Fernie
78.8 km/2101 climbing
Last day, 80 km., finish significantly lower in elevation than the start. Easy day right? Ha, ha, once again not so. Off the start we were immediately into a climb up the local Blairmore ski hill. Although, I reached the top before Trevor, I was soon put on my heels as the man found some hidden reserve of energy and proceeded to put a severe beating into me for the next 90 minutes. I crashed twice and all I could think of was “eat, drink, eat, drink, eat, drink, oh please let me get my strength and mojo back”. Finally I started to feel better about 2 hours in and we both put the hammer down. On the last climb we smoked past several Masters teams and on the long descent into Fernie several more.
The last 7 km were some sweet technical single track and we were flying. We came up on a few teams so fast that I think that they wondered what had hit them as we blew by. What an exceptional way to finish a race on a high!
As usual Fernie put on a great show for the finish with what seemed like the whole town out cheering on the racers as they cruised down the main drag. A great beer tent within crawling distance of the finish allowed even the most trashed racers to get a beverage.
Our teams support vehicles woes continued on when they found a cracked radiator as they headed out of Blairmore for the finish in Fernie. No Dodge dealership in Blairmore equaled no possible solution until at earliest 3 days hence. What to do? Blairmore is an awesome town! The repair shop headed the crew down the road to the GM dealership which took mercy on the assembled clan and gave them (yes, gave them with no more that a name and phone number) the shops pickup truck as long as they had it back by Monday at 8am. At the finish in Fernie, we were greeted by a beater brown GM pickup but no one was complaining.
The final party turned out to be a great evening. On the way to the party, Trevor and I were sitting in the pickups box as there was not enough room in the cab. Sure enough, despite the short distance that we had to travel, we got spotted by the local RCMP and some discussion, eventually got a ride in the back of the cruiser to the party. By chance, my 50th birthday occurred at midnight and this made for even more reason to celebrate. Tomorrow we get some well deserved rest, and I can attest that I can hardly wait.
August 16, 2008
Crowsnest Pass to Fernie
78.8 km/2101 climbing
Last day, 80 km., finish significantly lower in elevation than the start. Easy day right? Ha, ha, once again not so. Off the start we were immediately into a climb up the local Blairmore ski hill. Although, I reached the top before Trevor, I was soon put on my heels as the man found some hidden reserve of energy and proceeded to put a severe beating into me for the next 90 minutes. I crashed twice and all I could think of was “eat, drink, eat, drink, eat, drink, oh please let me get my strength and mojo back”. Finally I started to feel better about 2 hours in and we both put the hammer down. On the last climb we smoked past several Masters teams and on the long descent into Fernie several more.
The last 7 km were some sweet technical single track and we were flying. We came up on a few teams so fast that I think that they wondered what had hit them as we blew by. What an exceptional way to finish a race on a high!
As usual Fernie put on a great show for the finish with what seemed like the whole town out cheering on the racers as they cruised down the main drag. A great beer tent within crawling distance of the finish allowed even the most trashed racers to get a beverage.
Our teams support vehicles woes continued on when they found a cracked radiator as they headed out of Blairmore for the finish in Fernie. No Dodge dealership in Blairmore equaled no possible solution until at earliest 3 days hence. What to do? Blairmore is an awesome town! The repair shop headed the crew down the road to the GM dealership which took mercy on the assembled clan and gave them (yes, gave them with no more that a name and phone number) the shops pickup truck as long as they had it back by Monday at 8am. At the finish in Fernie, we were greeted by a beater brown GM pickup but no one was complaining.
The final party turned out to be a great evening. On the way to the party, Trevor and I were sitting in the pickups box as there was not enough room in the cab. Sure enough, despite the short distance that we had to travel, we got spotted by the local RCMP and some discussion, eventually got a ride in the back of the cruiser to the party. By chance, my 50th birthday occurred at midnight and this made for even more reason to celebrate. Tomorrow we get some well deserved rest, and I can attest that I can hardly wait.
Day 6 Shattered
TransRockies 2008 Day 6
August 15, 2008
Elkford to Crowsnest Pass
102.4 km/2998 climbing
Well there is now no question about it, this year’s version of the TR is definitely one of the toughest ever. This day revolved around the first climb right off the start. The climb covers 250m in about 4 km as you climb toward the Fording Mine. It is all paved and I had hoped that Trevor and I could hang with the front group because at the top you immediately dive into about 5 km of technical single track. This is then followed by about 20 km of slightly downhill road work into the first aid station. Getting into the single track ahead of the majority of riders allows you to gap out on the majority of the field, and this then allows you to ride conservatively during the middle of the day, saving energy for the last few big climbs.
The cards did not fall our way and when we hit the single track we were behind a number of riders unable to manage the single track riding. The leaders were gone, and we were forced to push the pace over the next 20 to 30 km in an attempt to limit our losses. We soldiered on, viewing some fantastic scenery as we crested Racehorse Pass and flew down the other side surfing over several scree falls that push their way over the trail.
The last aid station led to the beginning of several steep walls that unfortunately were essentially unrideable after 6 days in the saddle and in the 35C heat. This was one of the few times during this week that I questioned the course design. Usually suffering up climbs like this will result in some sweet downhill riding on the other side, but on this occasion what we received was very dangerous quad track that was covered with cross ruts and water eroded ditches. We even found deep mud; personally I was not very impressed with eating cow dung in 35C heat. At the best of times I would call it ridiculous; at this time of the day and week it was particularly annoying. Our thoughts were mostly with the vast majority of riders behind us who would be negotiating this in far worse shape than we were in. We really thought that this part of the day was a recipe for disaster.
The finish required a short run against traffic on Hwy. 3 into a really annoying head wind before we turned under a bridge and headed for home. As usual our support crew was waiting with recovery drinks in hand, but I really think that this time we really scared them with how shattered we were at the finish. We both had the “thousand mile stare” going on. Trevor’s dad was particularly concerned that I was about to keel over. As usual, it only takes about 15 minutes of recovery and everyone looks entirely different.
Trevor’s dad has a reputation for exceptional BarBQ skills on prime Albert beef. He brought along his own BarBQ and our treat later was to reveled in one awesome dinner at the cabin. The results show that there is now less than 5 minutes separating 6th from 11th in our division after 6 days. We are currently in 9th. If we want to finish top ten, I do not think that there can be any sight seeing tomorrow.
Last day is tomorrow. Fernie here we come.
August 15, 2008
Elkford to Crowsnest Pass
102.4 km/2998 climbing
Well there is now no question about it, this year’s version of the TR is definitely one of the toughest ever. This day revolved around the first climb right off the start. The climb covers 250m in about 4 km as you climb toward the Fording Mine. It is all paved and I had hoped that Trevor and I could hang with the front group because at the top you immediately dive into about 5 km of technical single track. This is then followed by about 20 km of slightly downhill road work into the first aid station. Getting into the single track ahead of the majority of riders allows you to gap out on the majority of the field, and this then allows you to ride conservatively during the middle of the day, saving energy for the last few big climbs.
The cards did not fall our way and when we hit the single track we were behind a number of riders unable to manage the single track riding. The leaders were gone, and we were forced to push the pace over the next 20 to 30 km in an attempt to limit our losses. We soldiered on, viewing some fantastic scenery as we crested Racehorse Pass and flew down the other side surfing over several scree falls that push their way over the trail.
The last aid station led to the beginning of several steep walls that unfortunately were essentially unrideable after 6 days in the saddle and in the 35C heat. This was one of the few times during this week that I questioned the course design. Usually suffering up climbs like this will result in some sweet downhill riding on the other side, but on this occasion what we received was very dangerous quad track that was covered with cross ruts and water eroded ditches. We even found deep mud; personally I was not very impressed with eating cow dung in 35C heat. At the best of times I would call it ridiculous; at this time of the day and week it was particularly annoying. Our thoughts were mostly with the vast majority of riders behind us who would be negotiating this in far worse shape than we were in. We really thought that this part of the day was a recipe for disaster.
The finish required a short run against traffic on Hwy. 3 into a really annoying head wind before we turned under a bridge and headed for home. As usual our support crew was waiting with recovery drinks in hand, but I really think that this time we really scared them with how shattered we were at the finish. We both had the “thousand mile stare” going on. Trevor’s dad was particularly concerned that I was about to keel over. As usual, it only takes about 15 minutes of recovery and everyone looks entirely different.
Trevor’s dad has a reputation for exceptional BarBQ skills on prime Albert beef. He brought along his own BarBQ and our treat later was to reveled in one awesome dinner at the cabin. The results show that there is now less than 5 minutes separating 6th from 11th in our division after 6 days. We are currently in 9th. If we want to finish top ten, I do not think that there can be any sight seeing tomorrow.
Last day is tomorrow. Fernie here we come.
Day 4 Stream crossing
TransRockies 2008 Day 5
August 14, 2008
Whiteswan Provincial Park to Elkford
88.5 km/2247 climbing
Day 5 starts with a 14 km road ride. I bridged up to the first group and had the benefit of nice cruise to the first climb. Trevor unfortunately got stuck in no man’s land and had to work the whole way.
After the time trial in Nipika, Trevor commented that after viewing the evening video of the day, he had seen none of the spectacular scenery we were riding through. When you are hammering and it is a technical trail, you rarely have time to look at anything else other than the trail in front of you. He insisted that he wanted to make sure that he had the chance to look at the scenery around him over the last 4 days of the race.
Stage 5 rolls through some spectacular scenery. The initial climb is under the shadow of Mt. Doorman, a spectacular peak that towers over Whiteswan Lake. We took the time today to make sure that we enjoyed the scenery available. After yesterday, we made a plan to stay well within our comfort zone, especially seeing as tomorrow is an epic day. The temperature has been progressively rising all week and when combining tomorrow’s long mileage and major elevation, with the expected 35C I am sure we will see taxing conditions.
As planned we held it in check until the last aid station which is just before the climb to the top of the rock garden. We then let it loose, and over the climb we reeled in several teams, and extended on others. We survived the descent, in fact for the first time I actually cleared the vast majority of it only becoming unglued when a team of absolute crazies came flying by. Trevor was also put off his bike by the same pair. At the time it was annoying, but in retrospect, it was an awesome piece of riding.
The finish arrived and Trevor got to high five his mom and dad as we rounded into the finish chute. He hadn’t seen his parents in quite a while so he bolted quickly to our accommodation doing laundry on the way. (What a guy!) I hung for a while, getting fed, showered and having a massage.
The adventure continued on our way back to our accommodation as we lost the serpentine belt on our vehicle and had to park it half way up the Crowsnest Pass. Thankfully, Trevor’s dad has a lot of connections and amazingly we were towed into Blairmore in under an hour. By chance, we had arranged to stay in Blairmore two nights and seeing as the finish is here tomorrow, losing the car to repair should not put too much of a crimp in the overall plan. Trevor’s parents will drive us to the start tomorrow and we hope that by then end of tomorrow we will have the van back.
Tomorrow may be the toughest day of the week as we crest the Continental Divide riding over Racehorse Pass. The mileage is high and it end with three vertical walls of 200m plus before descending into Blairmore.
August 14, 2008
Whiteswan Provincial Park to Elkford
88.5 km/2247 climbing
Day 5 starts with a 14 km road ride. I bridged up to the first group and had the benefit of nice cruise to the first climb. Trevor unfortunately got stuck in no man’s land and had to work the whole way.
After the time trial in Nipika, Trevor commented that after viewing the evening video of the day, he had seen none of the spectacular scenery we were riding through. When you are hammering and it is a technical trail, you rarely have time to look at anything else other than the trail in front of you. He insisted that he wanted to make sure that he had the chance to look at the scenery around him over the last 4 days of the race.
Stage 5 rolls through some spectacular scenery. The initial climb is under the shadow of Mt. Doorman, a spectacular peak that towers over Whiteswan Lake. We took the time today to make sure that we enjoyed the scenery available. After yesterday, we made a plan to stay well within our comfort zone, especially seeing as tomorrow is an epic day. The temperature has been progressively rising all week and when combining tomorrow’s long mileage and major elevation, with the expected 35C I am sure we will see taxing conditions.
As planned we held it in check until the last aid station which is just before the climb to the top of the rock garden. We then let it loose, and over the climb we reeled in several teams, and extended on others. We survived the descent, in fact for the first time I actually cleared the vast majority of it only becoming unglued when a team of absolute crazies came flying by. Trevor was also put off his bike by the same pair. At the time it was annoying, but in retrospect, it was an awesome piece of riding.
The finish arrived and Trevor got to high five his mom and dad as we rounded into the finish chute. He hadn’t seen his parents in quite a while so he bolted quickly to our accommodation doing laundry on the way. (What a guy!) I hung for a while, getting fed, showered and having a massage.
The adventure continued on our way back to our accommodation as we lost the serpentine belt on our vehicle and had to park it half way up the Crowsnest Pass. Thankfully, Trevor’s dad has a lot of connections and amazingly we were towed into Blairmore in under an hour. By chance, we had arranged to stay in Blairmore two nights and seeing as the finish is here tomorrow, losing the car to repair should not put too much of a crimp in the overall plan. Trevor’s parents will drive us to the start tomorrow and we hope that by then end of tomorrow we will have the van back.
Tomorrow may be the toughest day of the week as we crest the Continental Divide riding over Racehorse Pass. The mileage is high and it end with three vertical walls of 200m plus before descending into Blairmore.
Whiteswan Lake- Mount Doorman
TransRockies 2008 Day 4
August 13, 2008
Nipika Resort to Whiteswan Provincial Park
109.7 km/2567 climbing
As I said yesterday, eventually you pay the price for every energy expenditure in these races. Today was that day. 110 km of hell! Right from the get go, I did not feel right. I was having great difficulty keeping down both fluid and food, in general, I just felt like crap. The day finished with about 60 km of road work all slightly downhill but invariably into a head wind. Today it was my turn to be regularly popped off the back of pace lines.
We spent a good part of the day riding with Andy and Moe Handford, owners of Different Bikes in Vancouver. Andy is truly an elite athlete and paired with his wife were making an attack on the 80+ mixed lead. I tried to help at the front, but there was just nothing there. Eventually, Trevor was the one to come back and say, “Lets back it down John; we still have 3 more days.” The rest of the ride became survival hidden in behind Trevor’s fantastic windbreak.
If Nipika is in the middle of nowhere, Whiteswan Lake is at the end of the earth. Thankfully, the organization had seen the need for early food, and the BarBQ was on. Trevor and I inhaled 3 cheeseburgers each in the space of about 30 minutes and we both felt much better. It is becoming apparent to me that multiple long days in these races can not be maintained on gels and electrolytes. One half of a cheese and salami or a PB and honey sandwich can do wonders to settle a stomach and provide some slow burn calories that last much longer than the peaks and valleys of power gels. I vow that from now on there will be some of these calories in my back pocket during these races.
The awards ceremony that night included a section for multiple year participants and I received my “belt buckle” for five years of participation. While on stage with the other recipients, it was sort of funny as we all recognized each other with the “Oh yah, I remember you.” On the trail when your head is down, you don’t always recognize the other racers.
From past memories tomorrow is a great day that finishes with a ride down the infamous rock garden made famous by Tom Zidek when he cleared it on his bike carrying his partners’ bike attached to his back by an inner tube. Trevor’s parents are planning on meeting him in Elkford so it should be amusing to see what they think about the TR circus.
August 13, 2008
Nipika Resort to Whiteswan Provincial Park
109.7 km/2567 climbing
As I said yesterday, eventually you pay the price for every energy expenditure in these races. Today was that day. 110 km of hell! Right from the get go, I did not feel right. I was having great difficulty keeping down both fluid and food, in general, I just felt like crap. The day finished with about 60 km of road work all slightly downhill but invariably into a head wind. Today it was my turn to be regularly popped off the back of pace lines.
We spent a good part of the day riding with Andy and Moe Handford, owners of Different Bikes in Vancouver. Andy is truly an elite athlete and paired with his wife were making an attack on the 80+ mixed lead. I tried to help at the front, but there was just nothing there. Eventually, Trevor was the one to come back and say, “Lets back it down John; we still have 3 more days.” The rest of the ride became survival hidden in behind Trevor’s fantastic windbreak.
If Nipika is in the middle of nowhere, Whiteswan Lake is at the end of the earth. Thankfully, the organization had seen the need for early food, and the BarBQ was on. Trevor and I inhaled 3 cheeseburgers each in the space of about 30 minutes and we both felt much better. It is becoming apparent to me that multiple long days in these races can not be maintained on gels and electrolytes. One half of a cheese and salami or a PB and honey sandwich can do wonders to settle a stomach and provide some slow burn calories that last much longer than the peaks and valleys of power gels. I vow that from now on there will be some of these calories in my back pocket during these races.
The awards ceremony that night included a section for multiple year participants and I received my “belt buckle” for five years of participation. While on stage with the other recipients, it was sort of funny as we all recognized each other with the “Oh yah, I remember you.” On the trail when your head is down, you don’t always recognize the other racers.
From past memories tomorrow is a great day that finishes with a ride down the infamous rock garden made famous by Tom Zidek when he cleared it on his bike carrying his partners’ bike attached to his back by an inner tube. Trevor’s parents are planning on meeting him in Elkford so it should be amusing to see what they think about the TR circus.
Day 3 Watching the time trial
TransRockies 2008 Day 3
August 12, 2008
Nipika Time Trial
49 km/1514 climbing
Last night at awards we got the scoop on how this time trial was going to take place. Starts at the TransRockies are usually separated into 3 start blocks. The first start block holds in general the first 60 teams on overall standings, the second start block the next seventy, and the third holds the rest of the field.
The second start block went out first thing in the morning at 0900 hrs, starting with the fastest team in the block and finishing with the slowest. Each team went out at 30 second intervals. This was followed at 1030 hrs with start block 3 following the same pattern. A break then ensued until start block 1 went starting at 1300 hr. Intervals were 1 minute for this block. Our start time was 1332 hr as we were in 32nd position overall after our Day 1 result.
I have to admit that I found this day sort of cool. I had not competed in a time trial until the prologue in this years Cape Epic. That race lasted about 50 minutes; our expectation was that this one would take about two and a half hours. Interestingly, since our cabin was on the start/finish line we got to watch the whole thing under the comfort our blankets. The course went out of Nipika on a large loop to the north. It then came back through the start/finish area and did a loop to the south. At 2.5 hrs into the race, not even the first teams had completed the first loop, so Trevor and I were quickly revising our expectations.
We were discussing our strategy at about noon, when the owners of the Nipika resort came up and asked if we were ready for our day to get significantly worse. A few minutes earlier my 12 year old son Blake had headed out to ride his bike around Nipika’s skills park and apparently had immediately fell off an A frame and landed on his out stretched hand against a cut off stump. Crash against stump equals fully displaced radius and ulna fracture right arm.
Thankfully, the TR travels with a fully equipped medical team and they quickly had an IV started and with the help of some drugs had it splinted. The fracture needed to be set, and I thought that there was a good possibility that it might need open reduction and internal fixation. What to do? Race, or go to the hospital? Blake is one tough dude, and it was decided that we would race, and that my wife and eldest daughter would make a sprint to the Banff hospital.
Off they went, and shortly after off we went. What a wicked course; lots of technical single track interspersed with rolling fire roads! It did take far longer than initially expected. By the time we came through Nipika after the first loop in 2 hours and 20 minutes, we had passed two teams and had been passed ourselves by one. Another team was passed as we rode through Nipika, and then we really put the hammer down. Our second loop was one of the fastest of the day and in the end we finished 5th in our division and 28th overall. Trevor and I were both pretty trashed. On the course today, it was pretty clear that many teams were pretty shattered after yesterdays off course extravaganzas. We were both pretty worried that our time to blow up was soon to come. Tomorrow, the next day, the day after that, eventually in these races you will pay the price for every expenditure of energy.
Once the race was over, and we had had a chance to recover, I began to worry a great deal about Blake. Nipika truly is in the middle of no where and despite attempts to call my wife on the owners’ satellite phone; I could not contact her. We were about to try again when out of the window of the cabin who should appear but Blake with his arm in a cast. Thank god for Alberta medical care. Blake had been in and out of the hospital in less than two hours without an operation and was now back in Nipika, seemingly no worse for the wear and tear except for a plaster cast.
What a day! Tomorrow is another tough one finishing with 60 km of road riding into Whiteswan Lake.
August 12, 2008
Nipika Time Trial
49 km/1514 climbing
Last night at awards we got the scoop on how this time trial was going to take place. Starts at the TransRockies are usually separated into 3 start blocks. The first start block holds in general the first 60 teams on overall standings, the second start block the next seventy, and the third holds the rest of the field.
The second start block went out first thing in the morning at 0900 hrs, starting with the fastest team in the block and finishing with the slowest. Each team went out at 30 second intervals. This was followed at 1030 hrs with start block 3 following the same pattern. A break then ensued until start block 1 went starting at 1300 hr. Intervals were 1 minute for this block. Our start time was 1332 hr as we were in 32nd position overall after our Day 1 result.
I have to admit that I found this day sort of cool. I had not competed in a time trial until the prologue in this years Cape Epic. That race lasted about 50 minutes; our expectation was that this one would take about two and a half hours. Interestingly, since our cabin was on the start/finish line we got to watch the whole thing under the comfort our blankets. The course went out of Nipika on a large loop to the north. It then came back through the start/finish area and did a loop to the south. At 2.5 hrs into the race, not even the first teams had completed the first loop, so Trevor and I were quickly revising our expectations.
We were discussing our strategy at about noon, when the owners of the Nipika resort came up and asked if we were ready for our day to get significantly worse. A few minutes earlier my 12 year old son Blake had headed out to ride his bike around Nipika’s skills park and apparently had immediately fell off an A frame and landed on his out stretched hand against a cut off stump. Crash against stump equals fully displaced radius and ulna fracture right arm.
Thankfully, the TR travels with a fully equipped medical team and they quickly had an IV started and with the help of some drugs had it splinted. The fracture needed to be set, and I thought that there was a good possibility that it might need open reduction and internal fixation. What to do? Race, or go to the hospital? Blake is one tough dude, and it was decided that we would race, and that my wife and eldest daughter would make a sprint to the Banff hospital.
Off they went, and shortly after off we went. What a wicked course; lots of technical single track interspersed with rolling fire roads! It did take far longer than initially expected. By the time we came through Nipika after the first loop in 2 hours and 20 minutes, we had passed two teams and had been passed ourselves by one. Another team was passed as we rode through Nipika, and then we really put the hammer down. Our second loop was one of the fastest of the day and in the end we finished 5th in our division and 28th overall. Trevor and I were both pretty trashed. On the course today, it was pretty clear that many teams were pretty shattered after yesterdays off course extravaganzas. We were both pretty worried that our time to blow up was soon to come. Tomorrow, the next day, the day after that, eventually in these races you will pay the price for every expenditure of energy.
Once the race was over, and we had had a chance to recover, I began to worry a great deal about Blake. Nipika truly is in the middle of no where and despite attempts to call my wife on the owners’ satellite phone; I could not contact her. We were about to try again when out of the window of the cabin who should appear but Blake with his arm in a cast. Thank god for Alberta medical care. Blake had been in and out of the hospital in less than two hours without an operation and was now back in Nipika, seemingly no worse for the wear and tear except for a plaster cast.
What a day! Tomorrow is another tough one finishing with 60 km of road riding into Whiteswan Lake.
Day 2 Off Course Hike a bike
TransRockies 2008 Day 2
August 11, 2008
K2 Ranch to Nipika Resort
73.7 km/3813 climbing
Well it wouldn’t be a TransRockies without some sort of controversy. What a frustrating and painful day. An early start out of the K2 ranch quickly resulted in a nice pack road ride down the west side of Lake Windermere and around the bottom before heading back up the highway to the entrance of Fairmont Hot Springs resort. This was the start of the first climb of the day, initially pavement, and then gravel. We reached the bottom of the Fairmont Springs ski hill and I thought here we go again. See ski hill, climb to top. Thankfully we just rode up the main hill a short distance before we jumped into the trees on a rolling double track trail and continued up. A quick descent down a gravel double track with some hidden water bars and nice switchbacks almost caught me off guard a couple of time. We then rode about 10 km of rolling double track into the first aid station.
37 km down, 1000 m elevation completed. Uneventful day, right? Well ha ha, now the fun began. Out of the aid station we began the second climb of the day, supposedly about 1000 m over 6 km. The climb started slow and then ramped up after about 1 km. From our point of view, pretty much unrideable! As we kept going the route just kept getting steeper and steeper until we were all climbing straight up an avalanche chute covered in loose scree rock. From our location about 40 teams back from the front, the route was to say the least extremely scary and intimidating. It was so steep you could not push your bike; we all had to sling them on our backs and literally move one step at a time to make sure that we did not slip and fall. I am not sure that you could have stopped had you slipped and fell, and I am quite sure that your bike would have been long gone unless someone grabbed it on the way by. Every once and a while, a hail from above would have you avoid a massive falling rock. The air was full of curse and invective, sort of like a fog flowing down the hill.
Trevor and I climbed for about an hour, and we were about three quarters of the way to the summit (we figure we climbed about 600 m straight up), when the leaders actually summited. We heard what they found as they all made their way back down past us, and we all looked for the marked trail. I gather that the top was quite scary; the other side was essentially a cliff into thin air. An exploration in both directions along the spiny ridge revealed no flags and no rideable terrain, and so the descent began.
The view behind us as we all headed back down was kind of surreal; a long line of 300 to 400 riders snaking down this chute, with those at the bottom recently informed of the mistake frantically looking for the trail as many saw their opportunity for a good result. The trail was eventually found with the marker on the uphill side of a tree and not visible from below. To the chagrin of those formerly at the front, when we reached the entrance, our path was blocked by those formerly at the back. The trail was quite technical and many ahead of us were unable to ride the single track. A long walk ensued, but we all understood that essentially we were to blame for our own misfortune. The fun soon started, with bets between teams being laid as to who had the mojo and skill to ride many of the sketchy short descents without dabbing.
Eventually, we all got back on our bike and the race began again in earnest as we all tried to limit our losses on the day. A third climb up to the start of the infamous Bear Creek trail let us accumulate the last of the 3800 m of elevation over the day and then we headed down Bear Creek for the finish in Nipika.
Bear Creek trail was slashed out of the bush two years ago as a relatively direct way to get across the mountains in TR 2006. Although we climbed it that year, for the last two years we have been riding down in the opposite direction. I highly doubt that there are any other riders on this trail over the rest of the year, so I have been quite amazed that each year we have used it, it has become significantly more rideable. Perhaps we have the bears to thank for this as they must use it as an easy way to get to the multitude of berries that line the trail. Apparently, our course designers had to “encourage” a grizzly sow and cub off the trail earlier in the day.
Whatever the reason, better trails, more skill on our part, lack of oxygen from the earlier climbs or just stupid luck both Trevor and I cleared the vast majority of the trail. Out the bottom, we had about 8 km of road riding to the finish, so we put our heads down and pace lined home.
A day that we expected to take about 6 hrs ended up taking about 8, and I am sure that we will pay for the extra expenditure later in the week. Thankfully, pretty much everyone is in the same position.
There were a significant number of upset people at the finish because of the “poor course marking”. From our point of view, it seemed a little unfair that our weeks overall result was going to hinge on this issue. At the finish it became apparent that a number of teams had cut the course as they descended the scree field and had bush wacked through the trees and eventually found the trail ahead of the majority of the riders. The rules state that if you go off course you must enter it again at the point where you made your wrong turn. Further, the trail markers were such that it wasn’t just one or two teams that missed the trail; it was essentially the whole field. I am quite sure that if the top teams had continued over the top in their search for the trail, eventually every single other team would have been up there with them.
In the interests of fairness the organizers decided to let the days results stand, but not to include the results in the weeks overall standings. Both Trevor and I thought that this was the right decision.
Tomorrow, we time trial a 50km course around Nipika on trails that I have ridden several times over the last few years. I am really looking forward to this as it should really cater to one of our fortes, technical single track riding.
August 11, 2008
K2 Ranch to Nipika Resort
73.7 km/3813 climbing
Well it wouldn’t be a TransRockies without some sort of controversy. What a frustrating and painful day. An early start out of the K2 ranch quickly resulted in a nice pack road ride down the west side of Lake Windermere and around the bottom before heading back up the highway to the entrance of Fairmont Hot Springs resort. This was the start of the first climb of the day, initially pavement, and then gravel. We reached the bottom of the Fairmont Springs ski hill and I thought here we go again. See ski hill, climb to top. Thankfully we just rode up the main hill a short distance before we jumped into the trees on a rolling double track trail and continued up. A quick descent down a gravel double track with some hidden water bars and nice switchbacks almost caught me off guard a couple of time. We then rode about 10 km of rolling double track into the first aid station.
37 km down, 1000 m elevation completed. Uneventful day, right? Well ha ha, now the fun began. Out of the aid station we began the second climb of the day, supposedly about 1000 m over 6 km. The climb started slow and then ramped up after about 1 km. From our point of view, pretty much unrideable! As we kept going the route just kept getting steeper and steeper until we were all climbing straight up an avalanche chute covered in loose scree rock. From our location about 40 teams back from the front, the route was to say the least extremely scary and intimidating. It was so steep you could not push your bike; we all had to sling them on our backs and literally move one step at a time to make sure that we did not slip and fall. I am not sure that you could have stopped had you slipped and fell, and I am quite sure that your bike would have been long gone unless someone grabbed it on the way by. Every once and a while, a hail from above would have you avoid a massive falling rock. The air was full of curse and invective, sort of like a fog flowing down the hill.
Trevor and I climbed for about an hour, and we were about three quarters of the way to the summit (we figure we climbed about 600 m straight up), when the leaders actually summited. We heard what they found as they all made their way back down past us, and we all looked for the marked trail. I gather that the top was quite scary; the other side was essentially a cliff into thin air. An exploration in both directions along the spiny ridge revealed no flags and no rideable terrain, and so the descent began.
The view behind us as we all headed back down was kind of surreal; a long line of 300 to 400 riders snaking down this chute, with those at the bottom recently informed of the mistake frantically looking for the trail as many saw their opportunity for a good result. The trail was eventually found with the marker on the uphill side of a tree and not visible from below. To the chagrin of those formerly at the front, when we reached the entrance, our path was blocked by those formerly at the back. The trail was quite technical and many ahead of us were unable to ride the single track. A long walk ensued, but we all understood that essentially we were to blame for our own misfortune. The fun soon started, with bets between teams being laid as to who had the mojo and skill to ride many of the sketchy short descents without dabbing.
Eventually, we all got back on our bike and the race began again in earnest as we all tried to limit our losses on the day. A third climb up to the start of the infamous Bear Creek trail let us accumulate the last of the 3800 m of elevation over the day and then we headed down Bear Creek for the finish in Nipika.
Bear Creek trail was slashed out of the bush two years ago as a relatively direct way to get across the mountains in TR 2006. Although we climbed it that year, for the last two years we have been riding down in the opposite direction. I highly doubt that there are any other riders on this trail over the rest of the year, so I have been quite amazed that each year we have used it, it has become significantly more rideable. Perhaps we have the bears to thank for this as they must use it as an easy way to get to the multitude of berries that line the trail. Apparently, our course designers had to “encourage” a grizzly sow and cub off the trail earlier in the day.
Whatever the reason, better trails, more skill on our part, lack of oxygen from the earlier climbs or just stupid luck both Trevor and I cleared the vast majority of the trail. Out the bottom, we had about 8 km of road riding to the finish, so we put our heads down and pace lined home.
A day that we expected to take about 6 hrs ended up taking about 8, and I am sure that we will pay for the extra expenditure later in the week. Thankfully, pretty much everyone is in the same position.
There were a significant number of upset people at the finish because of the “poor course marking”. From our point of view, it seemed a little unfair that our weeks overall result was going to hinge on this issue. At the finish it became apparent that a number of teams had cut the course as they descended the scree field and had bush wacked through the trees and eventually found the trail ahead of the majority of the riders. The rules state that if you go off course you must enter it again at the point where you made your wrong turn. Further, the trail markers were such that it wasn’t just one or two teams that missed the trail; it was essentially the whole field. I am quite sure that if the top teams had continued over the top in their search for the trail, eventually every single other team would have been up there with them.
In the interests of fairness the organizers decided to let the days results stand, but not to include the results in the weeks overall standings. Both Trevor and I thought that this was the right decision.
Tomorrow, we time trial a 50km course around Nipika on trails that I have ridden several times over the last few years. I am really looking forward to this as it should really cater to one of our fortes, technical single track riding.
Day 1 Finish K2 Ranch
TransRockies 2008 Day 1
August 10, 2008
Panorama to K2 Ranch
52.3 km/2478 climbing
Off we go!!!
Out of the start we headed straight up the mountain that loomed behind at the start. A quick spin through the resort stretched out the field and then the pain began. A la TransAlp, see ski lift, climb to top. The climb was all rideable but very steep in places and certainly had everybody on the rivet for the first hour. As we passed the bottom of the Summit Quad and then the top of the Champagne Express, all I could think of were those riders smoking “down” the bike park and then riding “up” the lift. A short hike a bike led us to “Outback Ridge” which is winters access to double blacks like “Devils Drop” and “C-Spine”. It felt a little unreal to be riding my bike past double black ski run signs and looking straight down chutes that would probably cause a significant cremasteric reflex in the winter. (look it up!)
The elevation here is about 2400m and as could be expected the temperature was a tad chilly. I suppose I should have expected that a climb to the top of a ski resort would be associated with a snow storm and sure enough as we exited “Outback Ridge” the wind came up and the snow started. The last 7 multi day races that I have done have never seen temperatures less than 25C and have reached highs of 43C. I guess I have become complacent because we were way underdressed and I was sure worried that if the snow kept up or changed to rain that we would be in danger of significant hypothermia and forced into survival mode on the first day. Thankfully, we were required to hike some significant hills which kept our core temps up, and by the time we started our major descent, the wind had decreased and the snow had stopped.
The sun eventually peaked out, and it immediately warmed up. Trevor and I were having difficulty moving forward because of the severe sketchiness of the trail. The consequence of a mistake would have led to a quick slide down a very steep scree slope in similar manner to the rider that went over the edge in this years “Tour de France”. Our road block ended when Trevor blew by me and cleared a long, steep, and extremely muddy slope traversed by lots of eroded roots and rocks. Clearly, I had to step it up as he went by, and we must have passed 8 teams as we hailed “rider up” and slid our way to the bottom. Being in the back, I heard the impressed comments of the riders as we went by them, but at the bottom I had to remind Trevor of rule #2 “Live to ride another day.” The gap that we achieved was enough to send us through to a great finish after we hammered the last km on gravel road; 7th overall in our division and 34th in the field.
Not a bad start!!!
Tomorrow looks really ugly with three major climbs and the nasty descent down Bear Creek. At least it starts with about 20 km of road. If we can get out in the top pack we can hide and cruise to the first climb.
August 10, 2008
Panorama to K2 Ranch
52.3 km/2478 climbing
Off we go!!!
Out of the start we headed straight up the mountain that loomed behind at the start. A quick spin through the resort stretched out the field and then the pain began. A la TransAlp, see ski lift, climb to top. The climb was all rideable but very steep in places and certainly had everybody on the rivet for the first hour. As we passed the bottom of the Summit Quad and then the top of the Champagne Express, all I could think of were those riders smoking “down” the bike park and then riding “up” the lift. A short hike a bike led us to “Outback Ridge” which is winters access to double blacks like “Devils Drop” and “C-Spine”. It felt a little unreal to be riding my bike past double black ski run signs and looking straight down chutes that would probably cause a significant cremasteric reflex in the winter. (look it up!)
The elevation here is about 2400m and as could be expected the temperature was a tad chilly. I suppose I should have expected that a climb to the top of a ski resort would be associated with a snow storm and sure enough as we exited “Outback Ridge” the wind came up and the snow started. The last 7 multi day races that I have done have never seen temperatures less than 25C and have reached highs of 43C. I guess I have become complacent because we were way underdressed and I was sure worried that if the snow kept up or changed to rain that we would be in danger of significant hypothermia and forced into survival mode on the first day. Thankfully, we were required to hike some significant hills which kept our core temps up, and by the time we started our major descent, the wind had decreased and the snow had stopped.
The sun eventually peaked out, and it immediately warmed up. Trevor and I were having difficulty moving forward because of the severe sketchiness of the trail. The consequence of a mistake would have led to a quick slide down a very steep scree slope in similar manner to the rider that went over the edge in this years “Tour de France”. Our road block ended when Trevor blew by me and cleared a long, steep, and extremely muddy slope traversed by lots of eroded roots and rocks. Clearly, I had to step it up as he went by, and we must have passed 8 teams as we hailed “rider up” and slid our way to the bottom. Being in the back, I heard the impressed comments of the riders as we went by them, but at the bottom I had to remind Trevor of rule #2 “Live to ride another day.” The gap that we achieved was enough to send us through to a great finish after we hammered the last km on gravel road; 7th overall in our division and 34th in the field.
Not a bad start!!!
Tomorrow looks really ugly with three major climbs and the nasty descent down Bear Creek. At least it starts with about 20 km of road. If we can get out in the top pack we can hide and cruise to the first climb.
Afripex Tygirs
TransRockies 2008 Preview
August 9, 2008
The Road to the Race
Hello again from the TransRockies. This is the fifth year in succession that I have competed in this race, so I am feeling a little bit like an old hat at this.
The course appears somewhat similar to last years, although quite a bit harder as they have toughened up day 1 and 2. Day 1 now heads out of Panorama to the K2 ranch south of Invermere with a massive climb right off the start straight to the top of the 3rd highest ski hill in Canada. Last years day 1 was over in about 3 hours, this year promises to take about 5. Day 2 attacks the Rocky Mountains from a different direction from last year as we loop around the south of Lake Windermere and then head into the mountains through Fairmount Hot Springs Resort. The day quotes a massive 3800m of vertical which Trevor and I hope might be a typo but it will certainly take at least 6 hrs to complete. The fire hazard remains manageable this year, so it appears that we will be able to take on last years proposed Day 6 over the Continental divide as we climb through Racehorse pass. All in all, an intimidating course.
My partner this year is Trevor Linden, recently retired hockey player extraordinaire. He loves to ride his bike and since the end of his season, has put in a significant number of miles. Last week, we were riding in Whistler and combined two great technical trails. (Kill me, Thrill me, and Comfortably Numb) Our ride time was by far the fastest that I have ever done, and it seemed to me like our technical skills will prove to be one of our strengths. He is super enthused and I highly doubt that I need question his competitiveness. In fact, I am quite worried that I may be on the short end of the stick this week. Of course time will tell.
Our drive to Invermere was not without problems as our support vehicle appears to be acting up with intermittent starting issues. A long wait on the descent of Rogers pass as an accident is cleaned up has also put us into Invermere a little behind schedule.
Today we did final prep on the bikes replacing chain rings, cog sets and chains. A quick 75 minute ride with a few sprints tuned up the systems as we made sure that we had no shifting issues and that we were happy with our shock, fork and tire pressures.
Registration revealed many familiar faces including quite a few riders that have made there way here after riding this springs Cape Epic. Amanda Brooks from New Zealand is here riding with her boyfriend from Great Britain. As well, a large contingent of South Africans has arrived including Simon Hough and his partner. They make up the famous Afripex Tygirs and will be wearing their classic tiger skin suits all week. It will be interesting to see how they cope with the technical riding here as my experience in South Africa suggests that they are in for a big surprise.
Tomorrow’s stage start will quickly tell whether our fitness is anywhere close to that needed, as we will have to pin our heart rates immediately as we climb Panorama ski resort. It might be bit difficult to sleep tonight with that on our minds.
August 9, 2008
The Road to the Race
Hello again from the TransRockies. This is the fifth year in succession that I have competed in this race, so I am feeling a little bit like an old hat at this.
The course appears somewhat similar to last years, although quite a bit harder as they have toughened up day 1 and 2. Day 1 now heads out of Panorama to the K2 ranch south of Invermere with a massive climb right off the start straight to the top of the 3rd highest ski hill in Canada. Last years day 1 was over in about 3 hours, this year promises to take about 5. Day 2 attacks the Rocky Mountains from a different direction from last year as we loop around the south of Lake Windermere and then head into the mountains through Fairmount Hot Springs Resort. The day quotes a massive 3800m of vertical which Trevor and I hope might be a typo but it will certainly take at least 6 hrs to complete. The fire hazard remains manageable this year, so it appears that we will be able to take on last years proposed Day 6 over the Continental divide as we climb through Racehorse pass. All in all, an intimidating course.
My partner this year is Trevor Linden, recently retired hockey player extraordinaire. He loves to ride his bike and since the end of his season, has put in a significant number of miles. Last week, we were riding in Whistler and combined two great technical trails. (Kill me, Thrill me, and Comfortably Numb) Our ride time was by far the fastest that I have ever done, and it seemed to me like our technical skills will prove to be one of our strengths. He is super enthused and I highly doubt that I need question his competitiveness. In fact, I am quite worried that I may be on the short end of the stick this week. Of course time will tell.
Our drive to Invermere was not without problems as our support vehicle appears to be acting up with intermittent starting issues. A long wait on the descent of Rogers pass as an accident is cleaned up has also put us into Invermere a little behind schedule.
Today we did final prep on the bikes replacing chain rings, cog sets and chains. A quick 75 minute ride with a few sprints tuned up the systems as we made sure that we had no shifting issues and that we were happy with our shock, fork and tire pressures.
Registration revealed many familiar faces including quite a few riders that have made there way here after riding this springs Cape Epic. Amanda Brooks from New Zealand is here riding with her boyfriend from Great Britain. As well, a large contingent of South Africans has arrived including Simon Hough and his partner. They make up the famous Afripex Tygirs and will be wearing their classic tiger skin suits all week. It will be interesting to see how they cope with the technical riding here as my experience in South Africa suggests that they are in for a big surprise.
Tomorrow’s stage start will quickly tell whether our fitness is anywhere close to that needed, as we will have to pin our heart rates immediately as we climb Panorama ski resort. It might be bit difficult to sleep tonight with that on our minds.
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