On a
highway to Hell
The story of the 2007 TransRockies Mountain
Bike Race
by
 First
of all I would like to thank Ash Scott for giving me the opportunity
to be his riding partner for the TransRockies race from Panorama
to Fernie, British Columbia, Canada and for my fiancée
Clare for letting me go on this epic adventure.
For those of you who are unaware of this epic race; it is a seven
day mountain bike race, over mountain and through river, with
a distance of roughly 600km and 11000 metres of vertical climbing,
and this year held from the 12th August to the 18th August; each
day consists of one stage, which usually starts at 8am. This year’s
race consisted of
Day 1: Panorama to Invermere
Day 2: Invermere to Nipika
Day 3: Nipika to Nipika via Millers pass
Day 4: Nipika to Whiteswan
Day 5: Whiteswan to Elkford
Day 6: Elkford to Sparwood
Day 7: Sparwood to Fernie
Pre-event
Ash and his partner Helen had already spent a week in Canada,
when we met up in Calgary. It took 4 hours to drive to the TransRockies
start venue in the mountain village of Panorama, in the plush
RV that was to be our home for the next week or so. Ash had decided
that staying in an RV was the only way to do this event, and upon
seeing the tent accommodation that was on offer for some of our
fellow riders, I would tend to agree with this option.
Signing on in the ski lodge at the Panorama resort was a tedious
affair, with long cues, and Ash constantly looking for a Starbucks
coffee; however for me it was the excitement of actually being
at the TransRockies, a race that I had been inspired to do from
seeing it on the Extreme Sports Channel. At signing on we got
our identification passes, starters T shirts, route book, and
race numbers which were dutifully attached to our iron horses
(or in Ashes case carbon horse). The route books gave us information
on each days race route distance, metres climbing, descending
and the route via tulip diagrams, not that this was going to be
a problem as we were not likely to be leading the race!
Day 1: Panorama to Invermere – Predicted ascent 1139m
(actual 1310m), distance 33km, (paved roads 2.7km, gravel roads
5.2km, double/single track 25.1km).
The start of the TransRockies was at 11am in the centre of Panorama.
However firstly all riders had to attend a meeting about bear
safety (yep, brown bears, black bears and grizzly bears) and what
to do if we came across bears. Personally I was not going to carry
bear spray as I didn’t intend on being that close to them;
I also knew that I was defiantly fitter and faster and had more
sprint power than Ash, so hey survival of the fittest. Plus on
the forum Ash said he’d be running away from the bears,
I on the other hand intended to be biking away from them!
The start on every day was a mass start so when 11am came round
all 370 teams (that’s 740 riders) set off to the tune of
AC/DC’S Highway to Hell. This tune was played at all seven
stage starts, and will now forever be associated with the TransRockies.
Ash and I were mid pack and going well. Each stage had several
check points, where each team member could not be any more that
two minutes away from each other (this was for safety reasons),
so finding your team mate amongst all the chaos was difficult.
The ride up and out of Panorama was tough but going well, however
Ash seemed to be struggling in the thinner air, so we backed the
pace off. After the fire road climb, came the mother of all hike-a-bike
sections, from 6.5 to 8.8km we gained 1100m, none of which was
ride able. Many riders including Ash and I struggled with this
section in the thin air, and several stops were needed so that
we could catch our breath, however this was again taken away by
the stunning scenery. The descent from Taynton pass down to Invermere
was on technical single track, switchback trails; fun to ride,
however race ending if you got it wrong due to the steep drops
on your right hand side (this was like riding the singletrack
down to blackling hole in Hamsterley, only with a ten fold steeper
drop). On this descent I lead in front of Ash, when I suddenly
realised it was rather quite behind me. Pulling to the side of
the trail, I waited for Ash; his arrival greeted with the statement
‘The front wheel washed away from me and I fell off’,
with no broken bones, and only a little skin removed from his
left elbow, we continued our descent down to the fire road, and
onto the finish in Invermere recreation centre. Day one survived!
Time 4h 56mins and in 74th place in the 80+ category.
Day 2: Invermere to Nipika – Predicted ascent 1302m (actual
1495m), distance 60km, (paved roads 5.3km, gravel roads 27.4km,
double/singletrack, 27.4km).
I awoke to day two with the announcement that Ash was pulling
out of the race. He said that he couldn’t continue anymore,
citing a possible return of the virus that had struck him post
cairngorm trip, and a lack of sleep the night before. Ash gave
me an option of stopping or continuing; needless to say my only
option after coming all this way was to continue.
In the interests of safety, I was paired with another team (Team
Holland 1), who finished 30 seconds in front of us on day one.
Day two’s start was on paved roads, down through the town
of Invermere, before climbing up to an open cast mine 17km away;
from there it was a steep climb on rough, rocky double and singletrack
trails. It was soon apparent that I was much faster and fitter
that my new team mates, and after 24km I had pulled out over 20
minutes on them. After waiting for them outside control station
(as I was unsure about time penalties) all three of us entered
the control station. Here I asked a marshal if I could swap to
a faster team. I was advised as long as I was with a group of
mountain bikers and not on my own I was ok. This allowed me too
essentially to ride by myself, now I was free to fly, I could
compete!
28 to 33km was a descent down the mountain and was very primitive
and mostly unrideable, so more hike-a-bike. Here my skills as
a fell runner came to hand allowing me to make up several places.
Eventually this trail led to a more rideable section through a
moose meadow! (but not a moose insight), and then onto more glorious
technical singletrack, before descending to our first river crossing.
The river crossings are stunning to see, riders with their bikes
on their backs, fording fast flowing, crystal clear, rivers, anything
up to waist deep in cold water, which was a welcome relief as
the weather was getting hot, with temperatures in the high twenties.
Next it was on to a steep double track trail climb, before descending
into a dusty singletrack with the most beautiful views across
the Cross River, before entering the Nipika resort and the finish
of day 2 via a short dusty fire road section. Day 2 Done! Time
5hrs 13mins, 57th in 80+ category and now lying 67th in 80+ category
overall.
Day 3 Nipika to Nipika via Millers Pass – Predicted ascent
1522m (actual 1890m), distance 90.1km (paved roads 0km, gravel
roads 51.5km, double/singletrack 38.6km)
 Day
3 due to forest fires was a circular route on dusty tracks and
trails around Nipika. It was so dusty that for the rest of the
event to keep the dust out of my lungs (as due to the altitude
I needed every square nanometre for gaseous exchange) that I use
a Buff that I had in my camelback as a mask. Other riders, the
TV crews and the commentator at the finish of each stage started
to make a joke out of this idea, and I was soon given the nickname
‘’The Masked Rider’’.
Nipika was an 8am start the trails were fast and
undulating with several river crossings. This was my first day
that I was free to race from the word go, yet I had to tamper
my enthusiasm with the knowledge that this as going to be a long,
hot day on the trails. There was a steady 900m climb into millers
pass on rideable gravel roads and double track, some of which
had 20 to 30 metres washed out due to flooding from snow melts,
so caution was needed when riding these sections that punctures
weren’t picked up, or even a fall due to the rough, rocky
boulder strewn sections, which several of my fellow TransRockies
riders sustained, with two riders needing medical attention for
twisted ankles, and one for a broken wrist sustained from a fall.
Next in Millers pass there was a sharp, steep climb on double
track that tested the fittest of riders, until the sweetest of
undulating single tracks that emulated the rabbit run in Hamsterley
that went on for around 10km. This trail was worth all the pain
sustained from the climb up. The singletrack section descended
to control station two on a flood plain next to the Albert River.
After my number was checked off, I continued to make time on other
riders who stopped for drinks and snacks, which were provided
by the organisers at each control station. The trail opened out
and crossed the river several times, as it meandered it’s
was through the rockies. The route then ascended for 800m vertical
on a fire road, and to summit at 1700m above sea level, before
descending on double track and fire roads. These fire roads were
steep, quick and fun to descend; yet full of dangers. Anyone who
has rider in the Rockies or in the Alps will know about waterbars.
These waterbars are essentially ditches that transverse the road.
They are about two to three feet deep, about six to eight feet
wide, with steeply sloped sides upon entry and exit. They are
difficult to spot when your blasting down the trail/fire road
and very easy to get wrong (as several riders found out to their
cost), if you got them wrong, things went wrong big style, as
you were hitting these things at speeds from 45km per hour to
60km per hour. Get them right and there is a knack to them (pop
the front wheel and drop into them, then use the sloped side to
jump out of them, all needing little or no braking) and the result?
Some rather big air for a hang of a long distance!!! These waterbars
as I say claimed several riders, many of which needed a medivac
via helicopter of the mountain. At one waterbar I was slowed down
by a camera crew who warned me of a rider in front, who had crashed
and was to be helicoptered out. When I saw this rider, medical
attention was on hand, he had a canula in the back of his hand,
his shoulder looked broken, and he had clearly face planted into
the road, as the left half of his face had extreme road rash (it
looked like half of his face was missing!) and his left eye was
half out! Once clear of the scene you just put the danger to the
back of your mind and carried on riding the stage.
The final part of the stage again descended into singletrack
above the Cross river, before descending down to it, then a steep
boggy hike-a-bike climb back up to more sweet single track into
Nipika, and to the finish. Day 3 Done! Time 6hrs 0mins 8secs.
Position 3 in unclassified, Overall 2nd in Unclassified.
Unclassified was the class for all riders who were solo riders,
or had teamed up with other riders, when their original riding
partner had retired/dropped out.
Now that I was riding on my own, Ash had become my support crew.
Ash became my bike mechanic, washing and preparing the bike for
the next stage, and as the food on the TransRockies left a lot
to be desired, Ash also became the chef, and an excellent chef
he was too, preparing some top notch nosh.
Day 4 Nipika to Whiteswan – Predicted ascent 1342 (actual
1940m) distance 113km (paved roads 0km, gravel roads 62km, double/singletrack
51km)
Day 4 was the longest day so far, and if the weather forecast
was right, the hottest (30c+). The cumulative effect of this race
was now starting to have an effect upon me, I was tired and the
thought of 113km in 30 degrees, did not enthral me; Ash to the
rescue! After a swift discussion, I was put on my bike and despatched
to the start line. Day 4 left Nipika via the same route that started
day 3, on dry, dusty gravel roads, then climbing steeply on double
track, before descending down to several shallow-ish river crossings.
It was then back onto gravel fire roads to gain altitude. It was
on these gravel roads that several riders and me decided to relieve
the monotony by playing games, which consisted of guessing which
mountain (as there was several in front of us) we were going to
climb next. Day 4 was an uninspiring day, the descents were fast
downhill gravel roads, with the odd waterbar to stop you going
to sleep, and the singletrack was uneventful and mainly on the
climbs, so no mint singletrack descents. The weather however was
hot and sunny, and the scenery was stunning with great views at
the top of the climbs. 70km came round quite quickly and with
43km to go I found myself riding by myself. Following a sustained
effort to catch riders in front of me, I soon found myself riding
with a team of singlespeeders! (Yep, people do this event on singlespeeds.
NUTTERS!!!!). Talking to these riders, they said that because
these bikes were lighter, they could climb at the same speed as
everyone else, and on the steeper sections descend as quick as
other riders, however it was on the flat or slight downhill fire
road sections where they lost out; and as we approached one of
these sections at 79km I left them and rode on. At 90km I was
longing for this stage to finish, biking along fire roads, with
little prospect of any singletrack it not my idea of fun, and
the finish at Whiteswan was a welcome relief. The afternoon was
hot, with no escaping the sun; Ash had spied a cool fast flowing
river near the bike wash, so upon meeting up with him, and washing
the bike off, it was time to lie down in this river; Ahh the relief;
and as it had been an extremely dry, dusty day, it was nice to
wash all the thick dust off me. Day 4, Done! Time 6hrs 33mins
39secs, position 4th in unclassified, Overall 3rd in Unclassified.
Day 5 Whiteswan to Elkford – Predicted ascent 1528m (actual
1960m), Distance 93.28km (paved roads 1.6km, gravel roads 48.9km,
double/singletrack 43.6km)
Day 5 and only a mere 93km! Day 5 left scenic Whiteswan, departing
on the same fire roads that had brought us to the finish the day
previous. After 3km we turned left onto another fire road that
took us on a steady climb to control station 1, 14km in. The day
was starting to get hot and sunny again and the roads were extremely
dusty. I was grateful for the mask that I was wearing as it stopped
the dust; several riders were now coughing and hacking up dust
from their lungs (not pretty!). Also it was fortunate that the
weather was dry (not typical TransRockies weather, it usually
rains – a lot) rain would send all the dust into six inches
of unrideable mud, and probably wear parts out on the bike quicker
and make this a harder slog than it was already. 14 to 27km was
all up hill (sorry mountain) on double/singletrack. The uphill
sections in Canada are endless, you think you can’t go any
higher, you round a corner and the trail just keeps on going up;
then it starts to descend, only round the next corner it goes
up again. 800m vertical climbing later and we summit the climb;
the descent to control station 2 was all switchback double/singletrack
with numerous waterbars to be aware of. Control station 2 to control
station 3 (49 to 71km) was an ascent up the east river drainage
valley, this was a scenic area and much of the riding was on double/singletrack
with small sections of fire road connecting them. A short stop
at control station 3 at 71km to fill my camelback with water was
needed as a steep tough hike-a-bike now faced us all. This section
was unbelievable it was so steep people were sliding back down
when the ground gave way. We had all strapped our bikes to our
backs so that our hands were free to grab at anything free to
haul ourselves up. This was a climb of 550m in about 7km! and
it hurt!!! The descent down the other side wasn’t much fun
either. The descent consisted of a rock garden descent; the rocks
were loose, sharp, and the descent was 4km long and steep. If
you fell off it would be easy to break wrists and shoulders and
you would cut yourself to ribbons on the sharp rocks; we had been
warned of this section as in previous years it had been the site
of many injuries; so, yep you guessed it, I decided to ride the
whole section – and I cleaned it!!!!! passing many riders
in the process, and not one puncture!.
The section after the rock garden was a fast, technical and sometime
rough descent. This was MINT to ride; bravery was the order of
the day; blind corners, rock drops and a section that resembled
Glentress’s spook wood; this is what make mountain biking
and all the hard climbing worth it all 10km of it!! However the
fun was soon all over as we descended onto fire road at 87km,
there was then a 6km blast on smooth fire roads and paved roads
to the finish at Elkford; where Ash was waiting with the RV. Day
5 Done! Time 6hrs 18mins 36 secs, position 9th in unclassified
and 7th overall in unclassified class.
The unclassified class was now getting bigger as the TransRockies
was now starting to take its toll. I was now racing against Andreas
Hestler (ex world mountain bike champ!)
Day 6 Elkford to Sparwood – Predicted ascent 2300m (actual
2425m), Distance 116km (paved roads 18km, gravel roads 66km, double/singletrack
32km)
 The
penultimate day and this was going to be a toughie. TransRockies
had never put a tougher stage into the race, and this late in
the race it was really going to sort the men from the boys. Many
of us not were totally knackered, yet we still had this monster
stage to complete; get through this stage and the finish was in
sight. The 6th day was overcast with an orange sun just peeping
out from behind the clouds. The clouds looked very different,
not rain clouds, these clouds were smoke clouds. A forest fire
was filling the sky with smoke; at least this would give us some
relief from the hot sun.
This moster staged started with a blast down the paved roads
of Elkford; with all the roads closed off by the local police
we had the right of way, and with the whole area turning out to
see the race we were cheered on from the roadside by spectators,
which may for an awesome sight. The ride down through Elkford
was then followed by a road climb up the fording mine road; after
5km we entered the Josephine falls singletrack trail. This trail
was an undulating trail which lead us past the spectacular sight
of the waterfalls; however we had no time to stop and admire the
views, pushing on down the trail to some north shore skinnies,
and then to north shore walkways over some rough ground, past
lost lake and onto some fire roads past sulphur creek. Then it
was a 23km killer climb on dry dusty fire roads and double track.
It was here that I caught up with another solo rider; we rode
together each helping each other on the torturous climb, before
descending down a 6km rocky descent to a paved road. On this 11km
section we each would take it in turn to draft each other, which
made short work of this section, soon arriving at control point
3.
Leaving control point 3 was the beginning of hell. Tired, exhausted
and now saddle sore, we had a 700m vertical climb in 11km to summit
the mountain and the final big climb! This climb was like entering
hell; parts of the trail were so steep it was a hike-a-bike; the
sun had come out, and so had the heat. At the summit we were greeted
by the medical crews who cheered everyone’s arrival on the
final big climb of the 2007 TransRockies; now it was time for
the mother of all descents down to Sparwood. This descent was
on double track and singletrack immense fun, scary at times, with
some huge jumps, and some serious speed, man was this fast (this
was like dangerous decent in Hamsterley but for some 9km loosing
900m vertical). It was then onto paved roads, before entering
more sweet rollercoaster singletrack for the last 10km. however
the organisers had a small surprise in store; Sparwood was at
the otherside of a busy highway, which we were not allowed to
cross. This meant we had to go past Sparwood riding the trails
for another 2km, before descending to a bridge over a river; we
had to ford the river under the bridge surfacing at the other
side of the highway, only to ride 2km back to Sparwood. Many riders
including me were not impressed with this decision; we were tired,
sore and grouchy; but hey this is the TransRockies, so expect
the unexpected. The finish in Sparwood next to Titan, the world’s
biggest truck was a welcome sight. Day 6 Done! Time 7hrs 25mins
29secs. Position 9th in unclassified and 8th overall in unclassified
class.
Day 7 Sparwood to Fernie – Predicted ascent 655m (actual
820m), Distance 48km (paved roads 6km, gravel roads 30km, double/singletrack
12km)
The final day; and a short 48km blast to the finish. However,
first I had to find a way of actually sitting on the bike! Six
harsh days riding had taken its toll and I was rather saddle sore.
The solution was to wear two pairs of padded cycling shorts, this
made sitting on the bike now bearable.
Ash dropped me and the bike off at the start line, as we had
been staying about 1km away from Sparwood at a camp ground, and
I needed all the energy I had just to get to the finish line.
On the start line TV crews were interviewing some of the riders
who were left in the race. Most of the questions revolved around
‘what are you going to do when you cross the finish line.
Answers varied, but mostly revolved around either downing a pint,
finding a soft cushion to sit on or throwing the bike away!
As the start time of 10am came round (final day was a later start,
as we were all knackered) and the motor bikes led us away from
the start line, it wasn’t long before it was a free for
all. The pace on the last day was brutally fast, where had everybody
got the energy from? On the start line everyone could hardly stand
up, now the pace was like a sprint pace. The first 28 km was on
fast undulating fire roads, before descending onto paved roads.
After a river crossing there was a sharp fire road climb along
side a power line, before descending into some sweet singletrack.
This fast, flowing single track led us round the back of the town
of Fernie, then paved roads into the finish on the main street
of the town. The whole town had stopped for the race, and riding
solo the 1km through the town with all the spectators cheering
was one of the most emotional and rewarding moments of the whole
race. As I crossed the finish line, arms in the air, Ash and Helen
were the first people to congratulate me; my only regret is that
Ash was not riding with me. I stopped the stopwatch for stage
7 with a time of 2hrs 17mins 43secs, arriving home in 5th place
in the unclassified section. This gave me a finishing position
of 7th overall in the unclassified section, with a total ride
time of 38hrs 44mins 31.51seconds.
The TransRockies mountain bike is an awesome race to participate
in; you rub shoulders with some of the best bikers in the world.
The scenery is breath taking, the singletrack is amongst some
of the best I have ever ridden, and I have made friends with people
who I will never forget. This race is truly amongst the toughest
mountain bike races in the world, everyday just gets tougher and
tougher; there’s 563.3km, 11840 metres of ascending, and
on this event I burnt 24381 calories just racing each day. The
TransRockies food left a lot to be desired, and if it wasn’t
for Ash, I could well have starved.
Watching the TransRockies race on TV, I now have more appreciation
for what the riders go through. As I say I wish that Ash could
have completed the race with me; however I can now say that I
am now a TransRockies finisher, I have the medal and finishers
t shirt to prove it. Ash says he’s going back for 2008,
and I hope he does, and that he’s successful. I said that
I would never do this race again, I never want to experience that
sort of pain again; however upon reflection I’m slowly talking
myself round to the idea for 2008;
May be in the open category? May be Team Hamsterley Trailblazers?
Anyone fancy an epic adventure?
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