The Epic Comes to a Close

by admin | Aug 16, 2009 | Fernie TransRockies

Stage 7: Crownest Pass to Fernie

After four consecutive days of unseasonable cold and rain, riders left Blairmore, Alberta for the final stage of 2009 with the finish line in Fernie squarely in their sights. The euphoria of completion added an extra level of excitement to the morning, as did an extra hour’s sleep with a later start made possible by slightly shorter and flatter route than the previous three days which had seen most riders on course for at least 7 hours a day in tough conditions.

At 75 km long with 1300 metres of climbing, Stage 7 looked like a mere blip compared to the 300km and 6700 metres of climbing they’d overcome in the previous three stages. It would still mean nearly four hours on course for the winners and much longer for most of the field thanks to course conditions which remained slick after the wettest edition yet in eight years of TransRockies riding. 

The leading group of riders stayed together through the first two feed stations before the leading Rocky Mountain Factory Team duo of Stefan Widmer and Marty Lazarski dropped the hammer, determined to celebrate their GC win with a solo ride down Victoria St. in Fernie. They had been the fastest team on the singletrack all week and again, they were able to open a sizeable lead on the technical sections and rolled into the finish alone for another impressive stage win.

Next across the line was PeteTurnbull of the UK, who has been riding solo since his partner was forced to pull out on day 1 with a serious virus. Though only teams are eligible for prizing, Pete has been in the action all week pushing the leaders and being one of the top finishers every day.

Even though the GC gaps were often very big, riders did not treat this as a ceremonial ride to the finish. Pushing for a podium finish on the last day, the Bow Cycles/Specialized duo of Ryan Correy and Brian Bain overcame a broken chain in singletrack. Correy used his elite running skills to get to the bottom then Bain took over towing his chainless teammate to the line to hold onto third place on the day as Team visitPA.com breathed down their necks.

In the Mixed 80+ category, Pat Doyle and Trish Grajczyk of Team Deadgoat took the suspense out of things early with a dominant ride and a sweep of all seven stages. Doyle was one of two competitors who was completing their fifth TransRockies and was honoured with a commemorative belt buckle that will go nicely with the pile of leaders’ jerseys he’s got. The other 5 TransRockies finisher was Dean Irvine of North Vancouver who finished third in the Open Mixed division. 

Team Cox of Norway held on to their gap to win the 100+ division while the Czechmasters in 80+ and Team Terrascape/Trek Toronto Open Mixed, both of whom had diced with the leading teams all week, won their respective categories. Finally, event host Nipika Mountain Resort also put their name on top of the standings as their Open Women’s team of Magi and Kate Scallion held off a hard challenge from the Velobella/Vanderkitten team to win the gold. 

In every category and from front to back, riders made heroic and repeated efforts to get to the end of each stage. The TransRockies is considered to be the most difficult and epic mountain bike stage race and this was the most difficult edition of the TransRockies yet. The machined aluminum finisher medals will be only the smallest part of the reward that the competitors take home after overcoming the worst that the Rockies could throw at them over seven days, 532km and 14300 metres of climbing.

Across the Continental Divide and into the Storm

by admin | Aug 15, 2009 | Fernie TransRockies

Stage 6 Race Report:  Elkford – Crowsnest Pass, AB
101km/ 2467m climbing/ 2419m descending

There are days in endurance racing when many riders would turn back if it weren’t for the responsibility to their teammates and the support from other riders in the midst of the same test. Stage 6 of the 2009 TransRockies was one such day. An already long day turned crushingly hard with another day of rain and trails that had turned soft and rutted over the previous 48 hours. Despite the test, teams continued to press forward to the finish, most with smiles and good cheer in the face of the struggle.

Instead of the estimated finish time of 4 ½ hours, the winning Czechmasters duo of Martin Horak and Milan Spolc rolled into Crowsnest Pass, Alberta with a finishing time of 5:38:48. They were followed closely by Team Amarante BikeZone-Onbike (Joao Marinho and Jose Silva), who finally got the better of Stefan Widmer and Marty Lazarski from the Rocky Mountain Factory Team in the Open Men’s category. The first three teams who had agreed to ride most of the day together as a measure of safety in the cold conditions and the Czech duo were able to maintain enough energy to burst free for the win near the end. Behind, teams drifted in one at a time looking spent but glad to know that just one day remained in perhaps the hardest mountain bike stage race ever held.

It was a huge effort for all at the front of the field and Team Amarante in particular dug impossibly deep to snag their first category win. Joao Marinho was holding onto his partner Jose Silva down the last metres of the finish chute as Silva was too spent to even lift his head up. This was the rare day when many slower teams looked better at the finish than the winners-they were probably better prepared for the cold conditions at the top of the climbs with extra clothes and jackets than the winners went out with the bare minimum of cover.

The day had started in Elkford with hope of improving weather. There was low-lying fog but the patches of blue indicated that there might be a break in the rain that had soaked riders during the previous stages. The residents of Elkford had demonstrated the kind of hospitality and warmth that has made it a favourite stop at the TransRockies, spontaneously billeting riders in spare rooms and taking loads of dirty laundry home to be returned in the morning to riders emerging from another great breakfast-this morning breakfast burritos and pancakes were on the menu.

Hopes of a brighter day soon ended in chilling rain and thunder that hit the field before checkpoint 1 at the base of the climb up and over Deadman’s Pass and the Continental Divide. With 70km of riding still left, conservation of energy was the order of the day for most riders rather than straight competition. As riders rode down Main Street in Crowsnest Pass, the locals looked at the riders as though they were aliens, soaking wet and coated head to toe in mud.

Despite the day’s drama, there was little GC movement in the field as the Rocky Mountain Factory Team held their overall lead. The Scallion sisters, racing for stage host Nipika Mountain Resort, won their fourth stage and holding onto the overall lead in the Open Women’s category. National team rider Mical Dyck and her partner Craig Neilson continued their clean sweep of the Open Mixed division with a top-5 overall ride and another dominant performance.

Tomorrow is the home stretch to the finish line in Fernie and the party which the town has lined up for the riders. Fernie has been a part of the TransRockies since it began in 2002, and the town understands well the sacrifices that are made to get to finish the hardest mountain bike stage race in the World. The wild and unseasonable weather has made 2009 perhaps been the most challenging edition of the TransRockies in half a decade so the celebrations will be that much more intense for the teams who reach Fernie and earn the toughest t-shirt in mountain biking.

Riders Complete the Longest Day of TransRockies 2009

by admin | Aug 13, 2009 | Fernie TransRockies

Stage 4 Nipika to White Swan Lake 108km

With the competitors from the TR3 leaving camp for home this morning, it was down to business for the TransRockies teams who had a huge 107km day ahead of them on the middle day of this year’s seven-day epic. This stage, which started under low cloud at Nipika Mountain Resort, was going to be a long haul through some high and remote Rocky Mountain backcountry to the wilderness campground at Whiteswan Lake. 

The new stage 5 routing omitted a major climb and instead took the field through roughly 30km of reclaimed singletrack to the base of the day’s major climb, Lodgepole Pass. By the time the riders reached the base of the climb, the morning cloud had turned into pounding rain and the visibility dropped down to mere metres as riders slogged through the ruts at the top of the climb. While they might not have enjoyed the pass, they probably came out of it in better shape than the TransRockies race partner whose brand new pickup truck lost both bumpers in the deep mud.

A change of tempo from the singletrack to more open riding meant that new teams surged to the front of the pack. First-placed Masters Men (80+) the Czechmasters Milan Spolic and Martin Horak made an early bid for glory with an attack after the first feed zone that dropped the second-placed overall Team Amarante but not the overall leaders, Rocky Mountain Factory Team who responded in kind and left the Czechmasters behind on the way to their fourth straight stage victory.

The Czechmasters finished a superb second overall on the day and first in their class to extend their already impressive lead over second-placed 80+ Men Thane Wright and Dax Massey who race for Breck Epic and who always seem to find the beer at the end of every stage. They are going to be a force at the closing party on Saturday night.

An equally impressive showing was put in by the Open Mixed leaders Team Terrascape/Trek Toronto (Mical Dyck and Jeff Neilson), who surged to a fourth-place overall finish and a 20-plus minute gap over the super-strong Belgian Duo of Team Detrog-Granville (Xavier Vermeeren & Mieke Deroo) and a nearly insurmountable gap in the overall classification.

The big movers on the day were Ryan Correy and Brian Bain of Team Bow Cycles, who surged onto the podium for the first time taking back nearly half an hour on the third-placed Team visitPA.com. The boys from PA still hold their overall third place standing, but with two long stages in the next two days, Bow Cycles will have a chance to over come the remaining gap before the finish in Fernie. 

By the time most riders crossed the finish line, the sun had come out again over the finish line at Whiteswan Lake giving them a chance to warm up and dry their shoes and gear on the numerous improvised clothes drying lines that staff strung up between the trees dotting the wilderness meadow. With feta and spinach stuffed chicken breast on the dinner menu and hot showers flowing from the 40-foot trailer which accompanies the event, recovery from the two rainy days could begin in preparation for the next days 87.5 km ride over two major passes into Elkford and civilization once more. 

2009 TransRockies Route Details

by admin | Aug 6, 2009 | Fernie TransRockies

For the 8th TransRockies seven days of riding, 532km, and 14,300 meters of climbing awaits 120 teams.  Here are the stage descriptions:

Stage 1: Panorama-K2 Ranch

45.3km/2267m climbing/2513m descending

With North America’s third-highest ski resort vertical rise, Panorama Mountain Village is poised to its annual part in the epic send-off. Maybe that should read “send up” as riders climb straight up and over a vertical mountain wall into some spectacular scenic alpine singletrack at the literal high point of the week at nearly 2,500 metres.

While there’s no easy way to get 450 riders up from 1100 to 2500 metres in the precipitous Purcell Mountain Range, this year’s route has been modified to create a more rideable ascent. From the top, it’s a fast and fun descent straight down to the Columbia Valley where riders will finish at historic K2 Ranch, the first stopover of the 2009 route.

While weather in the Rockies is wild and upredictable at any time of year, this area is particularly wild in its patterns. If riders are going to encounter any snow, wind or hail, it will likely be at the upper elevations of Stage 1.

All in all, a suitably epic way to kick off the eighth edition of the TransRockies.

Stage 2: K2 Ranch – Nipika Resort
72.2km/ 2835m climbing/ 2650m descending

From an elevated vantage point on the bench above, riders start Stage 2 soaking up views of beautiful Lake Windermere and Lake Columbia. Those with sharp eyes might even pick out a bald eagle riding the lakeside thermals nearby in search of fish on the crystal water below.

Just as all this scenery threatens to turn the ride into a postcard, the field comes face to face with the sheer western face of the Rocky Mountains. This near-impenetrable fortress has very few paths over or around, so they face the biggest day of vertical served this week with three major climbs of at least 700 metres each and a total of nearly 3000 metres on the day.

From the break-through on the third pass, point they descend via the technical Bear Creek trails into the Kootenay Valley where a rolling 10km push gets them to the finish line at Nipika Mountain Resort where they’ll spend the next two nights in a pristine remote setting at the intersection of the Kootenary and Cross Rivers. The ice cold swim pond will be relief to weary legs after what will no doubt be a long day in the saddle.

Stage 3: Nipika Resort – Nipika Resort
44.1km/ 1129m climbing/ 1129m descending

Last year’s debut time trial was a popular first for the TransRockies and it will again offer riders a great opportunity to recover from the big elevation of Stages 1 and 2 with a tour around the sweet singletrack system of Nipika Mountain Resort.

With start times throughout the day and no move to be made, riders get to unwind a little and cheer for their fellow riders. The teams at the front of the field get no chance to be comfortable as the close on-course proximity of their closest overall rivals will keep the intensity high during the ride around the trails.

The ride throught the Rockies backcountry includes scenic highlights like trails along the rim of the Kootenay River gorge, and though a surreal forest fire burn area on Mitchell Ridge above Nipika Mountain Resort–which underwent a prescribed burn last year as a measure of protection against the destructive Mountain Pine Beetle ravaging the area’s forests.

A day like no other during the TransRockies and a perfect set-up for the three massive days to follow.

Stage 4: Nipika Resort – Whiteswan Lake

107km/ 1980m climbing/ 1951m descending

Upon leaving Nipika Mountain Resort, the riders are faced with the longest ride of the 2009, a 107km epic through the deep wilderness of the BC Rockies. The route follows along the base of the Royal Group, with the highest peak in the Range, Mt. King George looking down on their epic ride. At just under 2000m, Lodgepole Pass is the major obstacle of the day falling just past the midway point of the stage. Though riders will lose hundreds of metres of elevation on their way to the finish line, the route is relentless in its undulation through creek and river valleys. Riders also get their feet wet with a major river crossing early in the day. This will be an epic and remote test on the hump day of the 2009.

Stage 5: Whiteswan Lake – Elkford

87.5km/ 2254m climbing/ 2115m descending

After three days deep in the Rocky Mountain wilderness with no internet or cellphone coverage, Day 5 sees the TransRockies field ride from the shores of Whiteswan Lake over two major passes into the outdoor sport destination of Elkford. Much of the route travels through the remote Bull River Drainage area before a leg-breaking final climb to 2100 metres on the Crossing Creek route. Though the course points straight down at this point, it’s no cakewalk to the finish. The top section of the 800m vertical descent into Elkford is notoriously named the Rock Garden and consists of a largely unbroken steep field of boulders that require momentum, commitment and real MTB skills to negotiate without crashing or walking.

Even with gourmet feasts every night, the normal routine in Elkford is for hundreds of riders to attack the grocery store in search of the basics of cravings like beer, pizza and chips. The reappearance of signal bars on phones offers the chance to check in with family and friends again.

Stage 6: Elkford – Crowsnest Pass, AB

101km/ 2467m climbing/ 2419m descending

There’s no easy way into stage 6 as riders, head straight up from Elkford to the rim of the Fording River Canyon and past Josephine Falls along some sweet singletrack. This is a long day in the saddle and the 1,000m vertical climb up rugged Grave Creek Canyon is gradual and unrelenting ride. From the top, the route drops steeply into Alexander Creek, but don’t get too excited by the descent – you’ll soon be climbing to the summit of Deadman’s Pass and crossing the Continental Divide into the province of Alberta. The finish rolls through some steep drainages across the face of Crowsnest Mountain and into the finish line.

Stage 7: Crowsnest Pass – Fernie, BC

74.8km/ 1293m climbing/ 1633m descending

The final stage of 2009 rolls out of the historic coal mining community of Crowsnest Pass with a full menu of Rocky Mountain singletrack fun ahead. The advantage of a high elevation start is that the climb to the Continental Divide at Tent Mountain Pass is relatively gentle. Once back in BC the course rips through former coal-mining territory ending with a rewarding descent into Fernie via a speedway of famous singletrack. You will finish on Fernie’s historic Victoria Avenue to the cheers of thousands of fans.