by admin | Jul 30, 2013 | Fernie TransRockies
One thing you can count on at the TransRockies Challenge is that, at some point, it will rain. The riders woke this morning to ominous skies and, with the 9 AM start looming, a light rain began to fall. After two hot days on the trail the consensus seemed to be that a little rain would help to improve trail conditions and keep the dust clouds down. Rain had not fallen in Fernie since late June so it was well received by everyone.
Ten minutes from start time organizers were informed that a moose and her two calf’s were on the Project 9 trail and had been pepper sprayed in self defense by our photographer. To maintain rider safety, a route change was enacted quickly by the Fernie Trails Alliance course crew. Riders would skip the Project 9 descent and, instead, climb Stove Trail and descend Dem Bones before continuing on the previously planned route.
Fernie’s Jesse Moog had a very strong performance with a 3nd place finish in men’s TR7 40+ solo. Just last week Jesse rode to a 2nd place finish in the 24hr solo category in Canmore—this is some of the best riding we have seen from him!
TR3 Recap:
Today would be the final ride for the TR3 competitors and they set out to enjoy one last day on the trail or, for the elite riders, solidify their place on the podium. Melanie McQuaid, in the Women’s Open, and Tony Routley, in the Men’s 50+, each scored a hat trick with their third straight victories. McQuaid would do so in 2:07:46, wrapping up her Open Women’s crown by a margin of 2 minutes and 17 seconds. Routley dominated his category today with a 6 minute victory in a time of 2:13:47 and claimed the overall title by over 24 minutes.
At the conclusion of stage two, the top two men in the Open division were separated by only 1 minute and 34 seconds. After a third place finish yesterday, Matt Hadley regained the top spot on the stage podium clocking a time of 1:49:41 and capturing the overall title ahead of Michiel Van Aelbroeck and Mike Vine. The 40+ Men saw Cameron York pick up his first stage win. However, Jeff Neilson would retain his overall lead and add the TR3 title to his resume after winning the TR4 in 2012.
TR7 Solo Recap:
Over the first two days, the TR7 Solo category has provided some interesting racing. Today would be no exception. On the second to last climb, Calle Friberg made a move and dropped the field. Unfortunately, a missed turn would send him down the incorrect trail and back to the finish line. In an amazing effort, Friberg retraced his tracks and rejoined the race, going on to finish the stage in an amazing 8th place but dropping back almost 17 minutes in the general classification. Cory Wallace would notch his first stage win, and the fastest time of the day, in 1:44:58 with Oliver Zurbruegg who maintains his overall lead.
Three days of racing have taken place and three separate ladies have stood atop the Women’s Open podium. Jean Ann Berkenpas would take her turn today with a 2 second win over Mical Dyck in a time of 2:08:32. Leighton Poidevin continued his winning ways with a third victory in the 40+ Men’s division while building his overall classification lead to 5 minutes and 49 seconds over Pat Doyle. Beat Zumstein claimed his 2nd victory of the event with a 50+ Men’s leading time of 2:19:03.
TR7 Team Recap:
If anything, the racing across the divisions has been consistent. Over the first two stages the duo of Sebestian Cadieux Duval and Marc-Andre Daigle of team Louis Garneau – Quebec have posted victories and each day they have been followed by the same two teams in the same order. Today would be no different with a win in a time of 1:56:13 over Martin Moeberg Hansen and Morten Abel Jensen of team Racing 29 and Sam Barger and Adam Engell of team Republic Wireless. The story was the same on the Open Mixed side and in the 80+ Men’s division. Lutz Baumgaertel and Daniela Storch (team Scott Generation) took their third win along with Geoff Clark and Juancito Garcia Casatti. Cathryn Zeglinski and Jodie Willet kept the pattern going with their 3rd trip to the top of the podium in the Open Women.
The Sram XX1 team of Michael Tobin and Mike Kloser continue to impress. Never in TransRockies history has there been a team in the Men’s 100+ compete so closely with the Open Men’s leaders. Tobin and Kloser posted their third straight 100+ win in a time of 1:58:23 and are a total of one minute and 43 seconds behind team Louis Garneau-Quebec after three stages. Truly amazing considering the combined 48 year age difference between the two teams.
The TransRockies Challenge said goodbye to Fernie one final time after a very long history, one that has placed Fernie at the top of Western Canadian riding destinations. Fernie was the only community to host all 12 TransRockies Challenges and was saddened to see the international field of riders depart for the final time. A part of the event however will live on with the launch of the Fernie TR3 in 2014. On June 28th, 29th and 30th riders will be welcomed back to ride some of the epic Fernie trails in a premiere all mountain cross country mountain bike event. More information and registration to follow at www.transrockies.com in the coming weeks.
Detailed race results can be found here.
by admin | Jul 28, 2013 | Fernie TransRockies
The 12th, and final edition, of the TransRockies Challenge kicked off this morning in fantastic Fernie! 300 mountain bikers lined up for the start of the TR3 and TR7 events on what would be an exceptionally fast stage covering 33km and 1600m of elevation gain.
The format of Stage One has traditionally been a time trial. This year organizers decided to ‘mix things up’ by redesigning this stage and moving to a mass start format. The ride would begin with a road climb before leading the riders onto their first stretch of singletrack, and first of two climbs, up the legendary Hyperventilation trail.
In years past, Stage One often served as an opportunity for the elite in the field to stretch out their legs and size up the competition. The dry and dusty trails set up nicely for a very fast stage and it became apparent early on that there would be no warm-up stage this year. From the starting gun, a strong Euro contingent demonstrated they came to Canada to compete. In the TR7 Solo Men’s category, Oliver Zurbruegg of Switzerland set the pace with a time of 1:52:17 followed by Swede Calle Friberg and Paul Remy of France. 2012 TR3 champion Mical Dyck came through as the ladies TR7 Solo leader with a time of 2:16:03. Leighton Poidevin was first across the line in the 40+ Men with Pedro Vieira of Portugal taking the 50+ Men’s Stage One win.
As the morning wore on the temperature began to rise and the field was sweating hard as they ground their way up Hyperventilation for a second time. This time, however, they would be bound for a rewarding descent down Southern Comfort and a quick spin back to town. In what may be a first in TransRockies history, a 100+ duo posted the fastest time of the day in the TR7 team event. It should come as no surprise that a team composed of a former world Mountain Bike Champion and a former Xterra World Champion would be quick. Mike Kloser and Michael Tobin posted a time of 2:04:24, one minute in front of the TR7 Open Men’s duo of Sebestien Cadieux Duval and Marc-Andre Daigle. The TR7 80+ men were lead by Geoff Clarke and Juancito Garcia Casatti with a dominating 17 minute win in 2:32:11.
The duo of Jodie Willet and Cathryn Zeglinksi, who met at the Cape Epic and reside in Australia and Canada respectively, put in a solid Stage One effort by clocking 2:37:56 for the win in the Open Women’s division of the TR7. Open mixed team of Daniela Storch and Lutz Baumgaertel from Germany recorded a time of 2:21:41 to open up a 9 minute lead over Trish Grajczyk and Steve Walsh of Canmore, Alberta’s Deadgoat Racing.
The TR3 solo side of the event is broken down into 4 categories this year: Open Men, Open Women, 40+ Men and 40+ Women. Matt Hadley of Canmore, Alberta took top spot on the Open Men’s podium in a time of 1:56:28. Xterra World Champion Melanie McQuaid opened up a one minute and 18 second lead over 2012 TR7 Champion Sandra Walter in the Women’s Open category clocking 2 hours, 13 minutes and 13 seconds. The 50+ Men were lead by Tony Routley of Team Whistler in 2:19:14.
In 2012 Jeff Neilson of Calgary placed 2nd behind Ian Auld in the 40+ Men’s division. Auld had a challenging day on the trail with a whopping 5 flats. Neilson took the stage by 4 minutes and 49 seconds ahead of Dan Peters with a time of 2:11:43. Time will tell if Auld can make up a 20 minute deficit over the final two stages.
Stage Two will again see the riders start and finish on historic Victoria Ave in Fernie. They’ll stick to the east side of Fernie with a 44.5km route featuring 1700m of elevation gain on the Porky Blue Loop.
Detailed race results can be found here.
by admin | Aug 10, 2011 | Fernie TransRockies
There’s an old saying that goes “be careful what you ask for, you just might get it”. After three beautiful days in Fernie, riders finally got a break from the dry conditions, but it probably wasn’t the one they wanted. While the fastest riders got through the 47km stage in less than two and a half hours beating the onrushing black clouds, the rest of the field found themselves high and exposed in pounding hail, thunder and rain. Or, as they call it in the Rockies, “Summer”.
The day started off well enough with riders gathered under humid sunny skies at North Fork Recreation Area. The route ahead promised to be one of the shortest rides of the week, a fast 47km over Volcano Ridge and through Black Rock Canyon to the finish line at Little Elbow Campground situated in one of the most spectacular valleys of the Front Range. The views of rugged Powderface Ridge which welcomed the support crew and early finishers quickly covered as dark clouds rolled in and the skies opened dropping hail and pouring rain on the 200 plus riders who were still on course when the weather arrived.
This is biking not baseball, though, and the game goes on regardless of the weather. Stage 4 brought a new winner to the front of the Open Men’s Division as Team Honey Stinger finally reached the top step of the podium after two years of trying. The top four teams raced closely most of the day but Team Fernie continued their run of bad luck with a flat tire and hunger knock to drop out of the group and eventually finish 4th on the day. Overall leaders Team Zaboo of Switzerland held to their jerseys with a third place finish on the day. It was down to the teams from Bicycle Café/Gericks and Honey Stinger to fight for top honours and a very happy Nate Bird and Dax Massey took the win.
It’s become a familiar story but not even a change of Province could slow down the leading Fernie Fix Open Women’s team who grabbed their fourth straight stage win and solidified an overall lead which is starting to look insurmountable. One team which has been putting on a dominant performance is the Open 100+ Combined age team of Stan Magee from Canmore and Jon Gould from Tamarack, Idaho. This cross-border partnership has been stomping since Stage 1 riding with the fastest teams in the race and looks set to grow their lead all the way to the finish. In the Open Mixed Division, Ryan Schellenberg and Trish Gracyzk seem to have completely recovered from their near-disastrous Stage 2 crash and powered to another stage win. Two-time Olympic biathlon medallist Anna Carin Zidek seems to have adapted well to her first mountain bike race and holds down second place overall with her husband Tom Zidek who’s competing in his 5th TransRockies.
The TR4 is a newly created solo event which includes the last four stages of the full TR7 route and its creation for the 10th Anniversary Event allows solo riders to officially complete the full seven days for the first time. While a large number of riders arrived fresh at the start line at North Fork, they were joined by a large group of solo riders taking on all seven days. Despite the three extra days of riding in their legs, Team Kona’s Barry Wicks and Kris Sneddon took the top two places on Stage 1 of the TR4 and were followed by another TR3 racer David Gonda who rounded out the podium. The 40+ Men’s division saw new arrival Simon Pulfrey beat Jeff Neilson who grabbed his 4th straight solo race second place. Kira McLellan signed up for the full 7-day solo effort and she was rewarded with her first stage victory on the ride to Little Elbow Campground.
One of TR4 rider who put in a great showing on the first day was retired World Cup Slalom skier Thomas Grandi who placed 9th in the Open Men’s division showing that it takes a good set of lungs to compete at the international level in Alpine skiing.
No TransRockies would be complete without some challenge from the weather and 2011 has now joined the list of epic TransRockies. The storm dumped a deep coating of hail onto the route for Stage 5 but rain which fell all afternoon had washed most of it away by dinnertime. Stage 5 promises to be a slippery ride through some of epic riding in K-Country.
For a decade, the TransRockies has been an international destination for adventure-seeking athletes and the 2011 edition is no different. The multinational flavour of the 10th TransRockies can be seen on each day’s podiums where there are teams from the Netherlands, Switzerland, Australia, the Czech Republic and Austria grabbing daily prizes. The Austrian pair of René Reidinger and Axel Strauss (Team Integraglobal.com) made their first podium visit a good one, snatching 1st place in the Men 80+ division moving closer to the overall podium which is still led by the Czech Masters.
As the TR3 riders wrap up their ride in the Rockies, TR7 riders look forward to moving from the trails of Fernie to the rugged wilderness of Kananaskis Country where they spend four days moving North through some of the best mountain bike riding in the Rockies.
by admin | Apr 27, 2011 | Fernie TransRockies
Each year the TransRockies improves rider experience and major changes to the 2011 route offer more spectacular riding. However, one big route announcement has been saved until the end. We’re excited to announce that we’re spending three days on Fernie’s world-class singletrack!
Fernie is the only community to have hosted all ten TransRockies events. Each year Fernie has either been a Start or Finish stage and for the first time Fernie will host three stages. No other community has hosted more than one stage. Our hosting record clearly communicates our hospitality, community support, and great mountain biking.
Stage 1 will be the same as last year: start and finish on Victoria Avenue, with the route on Castle Mountain and Ridgemont. Stage 2 starts and finishes on Victoria Avenue, with the route on Porky Blue and the Coal Discovery trail. The brand new Stage 3 will start on Victoria Avenue and finish at Island Lake Lodge. This stage will be the longest stage as riders cross Mt. Proctor and Mt. Fernie, finishing with a ride around Island Lake with the finish line at the lodge.
The TR3, a three day solo event, will be exclusive to Fernie. UCI Olympic points are being offered again so expect a solid showing of professional riders. And the TR7, a seven day team event, will enjoy Fernie’s warmer weather before heading to the colder Alberta route finishing in Canmore.
One of the bonuses of hosting three stages is that the TransRockies will be in Fernie for at least five nights. This could be Fernie’s busiest week of the summer and local businesses will enjoy the increased traffic. Last year a Chamber of Commerce survey showed overwhelming support and increases in business.
The annual Kids’ Bike Rally will be returning for the fifth year. Kids’ aged 3 – 8 will be facing a fun and educational bike rally around Fernie’s downtown. It has been a great success in past years and will add to the festivities surrounding the TransRockies. The event is FREE and is limited to the first 100 kids to register at Straightline. Other festivities include food and beverage tents in the Downtown for Stages 1 & 2. The public is welcome to attend the Stage 3 finish at Island Lake Lodge by taking a free shuttle from the lower parking lot.
Without our sponsors and Partners this event would not be possible, we offer them a huge thanks for their ongoing support.
Blackstone is an environmentally sensitive master plan mountain community that is currently completing its planning and approvals stage. It will feature an 18-hole championship golf course designed by David McLay Kidd.
Other official sponsors of the Blackstone Fernie TransRockies include Fernie Real Estate, Tinhorn Creek Vineyards, 901 Fernie, Straightline Skis & Bikes, Fernie Brewing Co., Overwaitea Foods, Fernie Fix, Fernie Getaways, Lizard Creek Lodge, Stanford Hotels & Resorts, Best Western Fernie Mountain Lodge, Red Tree Lodge, The Fernie Lodging Company, and The Raging Elk.
Our official partners are The City of Fernie, Island Lake Lodge and TransRockies Inc.
For more information contact Dan Savage at 250-531-0230 or transrockies@fernie.com
by admin | Feb 27, 2011 | Fernie TransRockies
There’s a reason so many of us make resolutions each New Year: we understand that goals help us to be more successful and achieve more than we would without the incentive of a goal to drive us. There’s no better way to find the motivation and drive to get the most out of your mountain biking than signing up for an epic ride.
With the days getting longer and the end of winter in sight, now’s the time to set riding goals for the summer. The 2011 TransRockies offers a wide range of solo and team riding options from 3-7 days in length along with the best rider services in mountain biking, the most epic riding in North America and the unprecedented opportunity to be part of the 10th anniversary edition of the event. That’s why it comes time to make a choice and set your 2011 goals, there is no other choice than the TransRockies.
There are five months to go between now and the start of the 2011 TransRockies from Fernie, BC. That’s ample time to put in the training to take on one of the TransRockies three different event options. With a new routing which stays further west for more fantastic Kananaskis Country riding and options for riders to ride 3, 4 or 7 days solo or a two-person team in the TR7 Original Epic.
The TR4 Classic Kananaskis route is new for 2011 and gives riders the chance to spend four days riding the incredible singletrack of K-Country and the stopover locations even make it possible to have the most comfortable epic experience ever by staying in Calgary and making the less than 90 minute drive each day. The TR4 also allows riders to ride all 7 days of the TransRockies solo by combining TR4 with TR3 “Cross the Divide” solo rides which includes the first three stages from Fernie to Alberta across the Continental Divide.
Sign up for your race now and get started on the riding that will help you have your best summer of riding ever. For full package and registration information including details of our new “a la carte” pricing, click HERE.
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