TransRockies 10 – 16^th August 2008

Trans Rockies started for me back in November 2007 when a friend told me he had entered. After 3 years of expedition racing, a catered stage race seemed like a pleasant change. By the end of November I was entered with another ChesterTri member Dan, bringing our loosely associated group up to five pairs. The plan was nearly derailed when Dan fell off his bike with two weeks to go and was put in plaster. A second opinion decided his hand wasn’t broken, although his ribs and shoulder were heavily bruised.

We arrived in the ski resort of Panorama for registration. This was a relaxed affair, with none of the AR pre race tests and kit checks to contend with, so we started to cycle the first part of the course. There was mutiny after 400m as it was straight up the side of mountain in full sun, we returned for a cold beer instead. Next morning, after the race welcome and bear talk, we were back on the hill going up for 9.5km with 1300m of ascent. Dan and I pushed hard to get through the traffic, which worked well but had alarming effects on our heart rates. By the top we were both well outside our zones, but the ‘sweet single track’ should give us time to recover… This proved more challenging than we had anticipated, with the heavy rain of the previous days combining with snow showers to make the going slow. We found ourselves in some space, which was nice after being stuck in traffic for an hour but 20 minutes later we came into a clearing a realised we where in the wrong valley. We turned back (with the 15 pairs who’d followed us – sorry guys!) and regained the tapes, sadly now well and truly in the traffic. As we came down the 20km descent, I scared myself, nearly losing it on a cross ditch (drainage ditches cut across old forest roads of varying depth and steepness to catch out unwary cyclists) and then realised Dan wasn’t behind. As I cycled back up the hill, increasingly concerned (cross ditches and weak shoulders are not a good combination), I was relieved to find him fixing a puncture. K2 ranch was a welcome sight after 52 km and 2478m of ascent.

Day2

A chilly morning start from K2 ranch on took us along 20km of fast road and track, which we managed to cover well in a strong peloton, to the Fairmount resort. Here we started climbing another service road, when this ran out we carried on climbing until it was hike a bike time. Dan was suffering with his shoulder and ribs from his predeparture crash, plus a high sensitivity to altitude making the going slow. Thankfully this played into our hands as the entire field had gone the wrong way and as we trudged up an ever steeper avalanche gully, word came down ‘have you seen any tape?’, as we could still see tape we backtracked and picked up the single track quite quickly. The faster riders gridlocked with the slower riders causing chaos in the rankings. The day was eventually discounted from the final results, this frustrated us as there were markings, albeit a bit unclear, and we had worked hard all day to make up for our mistake on day one. Having said that, my singletrack skills developed rapidly on some insane descents, as the faster riders came through and showed how it should be ridden, we followed suit. A cruel little hill to finish brought us into Nipika after 74km and 3800m of ascent.

Day3

Today was rest day, with just 1500m of ascent and 44km, on the TransRockies time trial. The singletrack and scenery were stunning and the 30 sec start interval meant there was no traffic, which was a relief after the first two days. We pushed hard for the first loop then, after Dan took an inverted look at a tree trunk, we relaxed and enjoyed the scenery for the second half. The afternoon consisted of chilling by (and in) the pond and hot tub, eating the best tasting burgers we’ve ever had and listening to the one man band, who caught the mood perfectly. I’m sure the time trail will be here to stay as broke up the journey and gave a chance to enjoy one area fully.

Day4

Leaving Nipika to the daily strains of ‘Highway to Hell’ we set off for the 109km, 2500m climbing, big day of the race. We made a good start and got into the singletrack with some quality riders, only to succumb to a puncture and get caught up again. The next section took us through some truly stunning backcountry, then it was hike a bike at altitude again before dropping onto the ‘30 km downhill’ on forest road to finish. This proved to be more ‘undulating’ and we were lucky to team up with another team and chain gang it to the finish, otherwise I think that road would have been utterly soul destroying. Whiteswan Lake was beautifully flat and soft grass which made camping a pleasure. After the nightly gluttony and route briefing for the next day, it was time to watch the sunset and count shooting stars.

Day5

Leaving Whiteswan we had a fast start on forest road, before climbing to the Bull River drainage. As we came down into the drainage, the road improved and the cross ditches became less treacherous, we picked up a strong peloton when suddenly Dan dropped back with a catastrophically bent chain link. Breaking the chain and putting in a speed link initially didn’t solve the problem as we hadn’t twigged the chain still had a full twist in it, so a second attempt was required before we were back on our way.

The next 30km continuous climb was long and ended with the obligatory hike a bike, this time with heat added to the altitude equation to make it even more fun for Dan. The descent was through the infamous rock garden, which appears to be getting slowly tamed. There was a clearish line for the first kilometre, and then the rocks just got bigger and bigger, after a brief stop to allow blood back into the fingers we rode out and headed down the rolling, bouncy track to Elkford. Everyone in the town appeared to be involved in the welcome, which was a great change after the last few days in the backcountry.

Day6

For once our timing was impeccable and we moved to the front of the peloton just in time to drop into the single track unhindered. We rode all the way through, with no traffic, and worked well with a number of other teams to get us up the following 28km climb in relatively good shape. This was good because the last section was steep hike a bike in the baking heat and at altitude (Dan’s three favourite things!) we got over the top and crossed the continent divide to start the blistering descent, only to suffer two punctures in 200m, thankfully both rears or the results could have been disastrous (the daily increase in large white patches on elbows and knees indicated many were not so lucky). As we had only carried two spare tubes we took is easy into Blairmore. The second half of the day seemed to be never ending hike a bike, every time the track flattened out enough to ride we’d get on, go round a corner and find the trail steepened yet again. For a sting in the tail there were three 200m ascents which may have been rideable on fresh legs, but in blistering heat and at the end of a 105 km day with 3000m of ascent they were slow hike a bikes.

Day7

The end was in sight, but everyone was quick to say its nearer 80km if you said only 70km to go. We left Blairmore from the front of pen 2 again, we had climbed to 41^st in the Open Mens bit needed to be 40^th to get in the front pen. This has be our target all week, so we set off up a long gravel road a bit deflated. Yet more hike a bike over the top and we were into man eating crossditches which had been dug in the last few weeks ruining what had been a flying descent. The course seemed to be taking its toll and I was employing every mind game I could think of to keep us moving, an early puncture hadn’t helped. Dodging logs being thrown around by an active logger woke us up a bit and it was onto the last climb of the day. In full sun with no breeze it felt like one of the hardest of the week. Once over the top it was into a couple of sweet sections of Fernie single track and home. This didn’t quite go to plan as we got another puncture and the singletrack wasn’t all downhill. I’d given everything getting up the last climb and struggled with the constant steep inclines, which would have been great fun on another day. Finally we were into the town and the finishing straight to a rapturous welcome from another highly supportive town. We got our 40^th spot, but a day too late for that elusive front pen.

We picked up our vehicle and moved all the kit to our condo before going back to welcome everyone else in. All our pairs made it safely across the finish line and it was onto the end of race banquet to pick up the all important finishers Tee shirt.

This is a well organised race through some fantastic scenery. The food was spot on and, as an adventure racer, the route had everything you could wish for: minimal tarmac, loads of fast gravel roads, both up and down, far more single track than I was expecting and straightforward, if steep, hike a bike to reach it (my MTB and tri friends are at odds with me on the last point – they see bikes as things to be ridden and never carried!). It was surprising so few MTBers had cottoned onto the efficiency of pelotons, often one rider would drop out of the line and then work hard trying to gain a small advantage, only to be overhauled shortly afterwards.

I found the no towing rule made it very tiring to support each other, holding onto camel back straps worked OK but was nowhere near as comfortable as a bit of elastic. I can see why the sheer number of riders could make it dangerous though, this also caused some problems with single track. Fit riders could get up the climbs first but then constantly stop and block the single track. It was worth pushing hard in the early part of the day to be able to enjoy it properly. Apart from the chain, we had no mechanicals and my (slightly pimped!) Whyte E5 worked beautifully, as did the tubeless Racing Ralphs which, although peppered with over 30 slime balls didn’t lose any pressure all week.

I probably won’t be doing the race again anytime soon as there are far too many other races on the list, but I’d highly recommend it.

Slideshow of all my photo's, click to open album: