Elkford-Sparwood
116km/2300m climbing
Going into stage 6 of the 2007 TransRockies Challenge all the racers knew that there was every chance that this would be longest and toughest stage of the race. The day dawned ominously with an orange and hazy sunrise above the mountains East of Elkford, British Columbia. While the smoke from forest fires rolling into the area was responsible for the murky day but a relentless and punishing course was responsible for the suffering which ensued.
The day’s challenges started immediately with a 4-km asphalt climb at 7 per cent up the Fording Creek Mine road bringing the riders to the trailhead of some sweet but challenging singletrack along Josephine Creek. The race quickly splintered into pieces as the accumulated fatigue of five days of tough racing left lot of riders running on empty. The main group of roughly 20 riders who reached the top first contained set the racing order for the day’s competition.
By the time the lead riders reached the third feed station with roughly 33km to go, the race was down to three teams, overall leaders Team United Cycles, Team La Ruta and the ad-hoc Rocky Mountain/Opus team of Andreas Hestler and Brian Cooke who had both lost their original partners earlier in the race. A couple of minutes behind Matt Hadley and Matt Green of Team EA Sports were being remorselessly hunted down by a group of five teams which had come together on the long transition between the two major passes of the day.
Though Team La Ruta had the legs on the day, luck was not to be on their side. They had established a gap by fearlessly attacking on the singletrack descent from the Alexander Creek summit but a wildlife encounter brought them to a dead stop on the trail and allowed the trailing teams to catch up. Later a misdirection in the last 5km once again allowed United to close a potentially winning gap. Then, finally, they misunderstood the rule which gives the win to the team whose second rider crosses and though Marco Ramirez crossed the line with a 5-second gap, Ivan Amador came in behind the two boys from Edmonton who finished in 5:04:58 for their fifth stage win in six stages.
Behind them, Hestler and Cooke crossed the line the line in 5:17:38 after being dropped on the final climb for their second unofficial third place in a row. Cooke, a Bike Shop owner in Canmore and father of two had put in one of the performances of the week hanging in bravely with the crew of full time racers. The boys from 100% Per Cent New Zealand surged away from Rocky Mountain EA Sports with enough of a gap to survive a flat tire in the last 5km to snatch the last official podium spot in 5:24:37. The top 5 in the overall standings were unchanged.
The long day took its toll in several categories as the leaders jerseys changed hands in both the 100+ Combined Age Category and the 80+ Mixed Category. In the 100+ The Sygenta Prairie Boys completed a comeback from a 30-plus minute deficit after two stages to grab a 28 minute lead of their own heading into the last stage. In the 80+ Mixed, Team Kona-Le Pedalier grabbed the jerseys back from Team Deadgoat Racing and has a narrow overall lead of less than 4 minutes for the run into Fernie.
After a gruelling and epic Stage 6, every rider who crossed the line will know that their finisher t-shirt was well earned. In multi-day racing, the hardest days are the ones which most often are the most rewarding and though the rewards may not come until the pain has stopped, today was the day which will define the 2007 TransRockies for most of the competitors.
