by admin | Aug 13, 2010 | Fernie TransRockies
Alongside all the obvious skills that are essential to success in long distance mountain biking—fast climbing, brave descending, exceptional endurance—being a good bike mechanic with the ability to improvise solutions in remote places can often be the difference between winning a losing. While World Cup Mountain bike races have mechanical support like the Tour de France, most mountain bike races require that the racers be self-sufficient other than food and drink, and so bike repairs are ingrained into the culture of the sport.
Mechanical issues are a daily occurrence in the TransRockies and riders must be prepared to make a number of basic repairs to things like fix flat tires and broken chains which are a consequence of lightweight machinery, hundreds of kilometres of challenging trails and occasional fatigue-induced rider errors. Already in the first three stages of 2010, TransRockies riders have fixed numerous flat tires and broken chains and a motorcycle tire iron from a TransRockies course moto was even pressed into duty to reinforce a broken frame tube allowing the bike rider to make it to the finish on his bike rather than pushing it.
After three straight stage wins, Kris Sneddon and Barry Wicks of Kona had established a 34-minute lead over 2009 Champions Marty Lazarski and Stefan Widmer (Rocky Mountain Factory Team) in the overall standings. Much of that time was going during Monday’s stage 3 when Marty had to fix a major mechanical a few km before the major climb of the day started. It was perhaps destined then that Kona would suffer its own mechanical challenge on Day 4 when Kris Sneddon snapped his rear derailleur 25km into a 60km ride. He was forced to turn his bike into a single speed for the rest of the day.
The problem with trying to turn most full-suspension bikes into single speeds is that the compression of the rear shock shortens the chain length. When this happens, the chain jumps to a bigger rear cog and then snaps when the shock returns to its normal position. Sneddon snapped his chain twice more before realizing that more extensive surgery was needed. His teammate Barry Wicks remembered locking gears out with duct tape to meet junior racing rules and they tried the same trick again . . . and it worked. They limped to the finish line in 6th place, 43 minutes behind Widmer and Lazarski who will don the Overall Leaders jerseys at tonight’s awards. With less than a 9-minute deficit and more than 170km to be raced over the next three stages, Sneddon and Wicks will feel that the 2010 Championship is still within reach.
While their ride went smoothly for the first 59.9km of the 60km day, Marty Lazarski and Stefan Widmer were nearly undone when Marty crashed just metres before the finish line turning on the transition between asphalt and gravel, and if that weren’t enough, his surprised teammate Stef Widmer also crashed when he rode into him. They were both stunned when they crossed the finish line—Marty on foot, Stef riding—but were up and moving quick and will be ready to race again tomorrow.
Behind all this action, the Timex/Sugoi duo of Will Kelsay and Matt Boobar rode to their second consecutive second-place finish of 2010 and jumped up into 3rd place in the overall standings. With just 5 minutes separating 3rd to 5th in the overall standings, they’ll need to put some more great rides together to get on the final podium in Canmore.
The racing wasn’t quite so dramatic in the other categories though the ride of the day must certainly be credited to the Open Mixed leaders Mical Dyck and Jeff Neilson (Team Terrascape/Trek Canada). After leading the field through the first section of singletrack, they stormed through the race to be the 4th team across the finish line overall and first in their division. Mical Dyck is obviously storming at the moment after medalling at the Canadian National Championships in Calgary. Now that they are wearing the leaders jerseys, they don’t look like they have any plans of giving them up.
With everything to race for, the expectation is for Team Kona to come out firing on the 54km Stage 5 ride from Anchor D Ranch to Little Elbow Camp to try and overturn their 9-minute deficit.
Stage4-TR2010-Official-GC
Stage4-TR2010-Official
by admin | Aug 10, 2010 | Fernie TransRockies
Stage 3 of the 2010 TransRockies was officially the most remote day of the event with a route which travelled deep into some of the wildest, most spectacular terrain in the lower Canadian Rockies and which included a new crossing of the Great Divide that dropped riders in a place more remote and further from civilization than many of them had been before.
The weather added to the untamed feel of the day with swirling, scudding dark clouds that moved in and out of the area rapidly threatening rain but not delivering. The remote Etherington Creek Campground was subject to the same weather with clear sky thunderclaps and ominous clouds that, luckily, did little more than sweep past the valley campground located at more than 1600 metres above sea level.
While the Open Men’s and Open Women’s standings had been relatively static over the first two stages, the Open Mixed and 80+ Men’s Divisions were much more wide-open and Stage 3 continued the trend with a change of overall leader in the Open Mixed Division and another tight three-way finish in 80+ Men setting up a dramatic last half of the race.
After two straight stage wins in the Open Mixed Division, Gretchen Reeves and Cannon Shockley (Tokyo Joes) suffered through a tough Stage 3 giving up 15 minutes to stage winners and new overall leaders Mical Dyck and Jeff Neilson (Terrscape/Trek Canada) who will don the leaders jerseys they wore throughout their 2009 TransRockies win. Normon Thibault and Wendy Simms moved one step up the podium to second but remain in third place overall.
In the 80+ Men’s Division, 2009 Champions the Czech Masters won their second straight stage with a narrow 4 minute gap over the British Duo of Team Mule Bar/Abergavenny RC who are hanging tight and preparing for a big push to overcome their 8 minute overall deficit on the more technical coming stages where they feel they have an advantage.
In the Open Men’s Division, the Kona duo of Kris Sneddon and Barry Wicks extended their lead with a dominant ride to grab their third straight stage win. Making their first appearance on the podium were Team Timex/Sugoi Will Kelsay and Matt Boobar, a pair of elite multisport athletes who put their running legs to good use on the big climb to place second on the stage. This finish was even more impressive considering Will’s broken derailleur hanger that forced him to turn it into an emergency single speed for the last part of the stage. Kelsay, who also complete last year’s GORE-TEX® TransRockies Run is seeking to become the first athlete to complete the TransRockies Bike and TransRockies Run double in the same year. We’ll check in with his progress later in the race.
The Open Women’s category held status quo with the Terrascape/Deadgoat Racing Duo of Alana Heise and Trish Graczyk won their third straight stage over the Matching Jerseys Scallion sisters duo. In the 100+ category, the Mountaincruzers (Joe McCarthy/Randy Walker) have established a big lead and look like they’re going to run away with the overall. Many time TransRockies finishers Simon Parker and Jim Seethram are having their best ride yet and sit in second place overall in the 100+ Division.
After the wildest ride of the year, the TransRockies riders head out into the spectacular trails of Kananaskis Country for Stage 4. The style of riding will change and you can expect the top finishers to shuffle again. It would be a surprise if at least one or two sets of leaders jerseys don’t move again after Stage 4.
Stage3-TR32010-Preliminary-GC
by admin | Aug 10, 2010 | Fernie TransRockies
The morning after they’d stretched their legs with a 31km prologue around Fernie’s singletrack, the 450 riders of the 2010 TransRockies and TR3 lined up on Voctoria Avenue for Stage 2. Led by the vintage Studebaker fire engine for the traditional lap around downtown, the riders were heartened by scattered summer clouds the forecast of a perfect midsummer day for their 71km ride up the Elk Valley to Sparwood. Less technical than the day before, the course would test riders with 1900 metres of climbing and some relentless fire road riding along with the precipitous 1000 vertical metre singletrack Porky Blue descent off Fernie Ridge testing nerves and brakes.
Stage 2 was the first mass start or 2010 and the adrenaline was flowing freely with the pre-race jitters finally running free. With one minute until start, the announcer turned up the traditional start song “Highway to Hell” up to 11 and the riders streamed out of town and up the first major climb of the day. With a very different course than the day before, there was a strong chance that different riders would show their faces at the front of the race and that the race would be more tactical than the previous day’s all out effort.
Click here for: TR 2010 Stage 2 Results
2009 TR3 winner Cory Wallace started Stage 2 determined to be in the mix for the stage win and he made the break which formed early in the ride Max Plaxton and Adam Craig, the two fastest finishers on Day 1 and regulars on the World Cup race circuit. Perhaps because they hadn’t raced against him in the past, Adam and Max didn’t respond when Cory upped the pace on the last climb of the day, opening a small gap in the process. He kept the needle at redline on the short road drag into Sparwood and grabbed the stage with a scorching 3:07:32, 23 seconds ahead of his former breakway partners. Plaxton retains the jersey with a 1-minute lead over Craig with Wallace holding third over 5 minutes behind.
The Open Women’s TR3 race has quickly become a one-woman show as Kelli Emmett of Team Giant has showed her World Cup speed and skill on both stages 1 and 2, finishing among the top men both days. With nearly an hour’s lead in the overall she’s a safe bet for the win tomorrow.
After the muddy ride the day before, all the riders commented on how fast the course was on day 2. The picked up a strong tailwind along the valley for the last half of the day helping to push them to the finish in faster than expected times.
Cory Wallace’s Kona Teammates Barry Wicks and Kris Sneddon took their second straight stage win on stage 2 coming in roughly 7 minutes behind the solo category winners, a small gap considering that they’re pacing themselves for 7 days of racing not 3. 2009 Champions Marty Lazarski and Stefan Widmer (Rocky Mountain Factory) finished second and held their second place standing overall. Jumping into the top three were the Belgian duo of Wouter DeClercq and Wesley Luca (Granville-Trustteam) who jumped into third overall as well.
The 80+ Men’s Division saw a change of leaders’ jerseys on stage 2 as last year’s champions the Czechmasters (Milan Spolc/ Martin Horak) turned around a 4-minute deficit to Stage 1 winners Team Mule Bar (Pete Turnbull/George Rose) of the UK with an 8-minute gap on stage 2. The Open Women’s Category looks as though it will be a two-team race with the Calgary Duo of Trish Graczyk and Alana Heise (Deadgoat Racing) holding the upper hand over 2009 Champions Magi and Kate Scallion of Canmore.
by admin | Aug 8, 2010 | Fernie TransRockies
Like many ski towns, Fernie has more than the usual amount of great coffee shops lining its Main Street and they were bursting at the seams with hundreds of mountain bikers and their friends throughout Day 1 of the 2010 TransRockies and TR3.
Riders were, of course, looking for a last caffeine jolt before embarking upon the opening singletrack time trial while friends and family were looking for a cover and respite from the rain which arrived during the previous night’s opening ceremonies. After stopping overnight, the drizzle started again in the early morning and didn’t let up until the elite riders started to leave the start line at 1:30. The rain was a shock to many as Fernie had basked in sunshine over the previous days as riders arrived in town and prepared for the challenges to come.
The 9th edition of the TransRockies is the first one to open with the now traditional time trial giving all the competitors a chance to leave all their first day jitters and nerves out there on the trail without the added pressure of a mass start with hundreds of other riders.
The day was divided into two waves of starters: non-UCI licensed riders and teams left the start line between 9 and roughly 11:30am with 30 second gaps between each starter. The UCI licensed riders and teams left every minute starting at 1:30PM with Adam Craig of Team Rabobank/Giant given the honours as the highest internationally ranked racer.
The fastest times in the first wave were turned in by the top teams in the Open Mixed and 80+ Men’s Division along with some of faster solo riders. Competition in the Open Mixed Division was expected to be close and it lived up to advance billing with three strong teams fighting for first place. Last year’s Champions, Jeff Neilson and Mycal Dyck (Team Terrascape/Trek Canada) were nipped by Coloradans Gretchen Reeves and Cannon Shockley (Tokyo Joes/Tennessee Pass Cookhouse)who won the stage in 2:19 roughly a minute ahead of Dyck and Neilson who clocked a 2:20. In third place were Wendy Simms/Normon Thibault of Kona/Frontrunners who finished in third 5 minutes later.
The 80+ Men’s Division was another tight battle on day one but this with an intercontinental flavour as a team from the UK beat teams from Canada and the Czech Republic to reach the top of the podium. Pete Turnbull and George Rose (Mule Bar) came in first ahead of Pat Doyle and Craig Bartless (Deadgoat Racing/RMCC) who finished just behind in second and last year’s 80+ Men’s Champions Milan Spolic and Martin Horak of the Czech Republic.
The second wave of riders who started at 1:30 were treated to gradually clearing skies and course conditions which were firming up rapidly under the occasional breaks of high mountain sunshine. Max Plaxton (Team ShoAir) left the startline second behind Craig and pushed from the start hoping to catch Craig and take the honours on the first day. At CP 1, he got word that he had cut the one minute gap to 30 seconds and he finally got Adam in sight coming out of Stage 2. With two big days of racing to follow, Adam and Max worked together to the finish line to gap the rest of the men’s field with Max taking the stage honours.
Kelli Emmett (Giant) showed her world class fitness and riding skills to rage through the course passing riders and teams who started ahead of her to post a dominant victory in the Open Women’s category of the TR3.
In the TransRockies Open Men’s Division, the field was lead by Barry Wick and Kris Sneddon (KONA) who started 1 minute ahead of 2009 Champions Marty Lazarski and Stefan Widmer (Rocky Mountain Factory). While the gap never stretched out during the day’s racing, Wick and Sneddon held their advantage to the finish and took the first set of leaders’ jerseys of 2010.
Fernie riders placed well with several reaching top ten placings. Frank Gilmard, below, shows his pleasure with a 6th place finish in men’s over 40 open.
The first day time trial should have settled the nerves of the 450 riders and with clearing skies and a sunny forecast for Stage 2, riders will be good and ready for the 70+ km and nearly 2000 metres of climbing to come on the rider to Sparwood. Stay tuned to www.transrockies.com for reports, images and full results to be posted as they are available.
by admin | Jul 28, 2010 | Fernie TransRockies
Stage 2 will take riders from Fernie’s Historic Downtown to Coal Creek Summit and on a single track trail named Porkypine Rim that drops to the Elk River from the ridge near Hosmer.
This 4000ft descent will approx take fast riders 20-25minutes, the ridgeline you see in backgrounds of some frames is where you descend from.
Trans Rockies Stage2 from jesse mong on Vimeo.
Thanks to Fernie Trails & Ski Touring club for building such an epic trail.
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