Stage 4 - 7

Stage 4 Report
Nipika-Whiteswan Lake: 109.7km/2567m climbing

An incredibly long and scenic stage through one of the most remote areas in the Canadian Rockies, today's 109 kilometre ride pushed even the most seasoned athletes to the brink. Completing today means we were past the halfway mark, and this was a key factor in getting everyone through today's trek.
I was worried about this stage as soon as I saw the 110km set distance in the event guide at the start of the week. This would be my longest session yet on a mountain bike going offroad all the way. I have done a few sessions with the Dubai Roadsters club with my mountain bike trying to keep up with the roadies but this was gonna be a huge test! The day was going ok for me until just after Check Point 1, there was a long fast descent on Jeep track and my front wheel slided from underneath me as it hit a little rut in the road. Slam, bang and I went down big time on my right ankle, elbow and shoulder. I laid still for a while just to make sure everything still feels normal and then slowly got up. There was a motorbike marshall not far from me who was quick to ask if I needed any assistance.




Green was in front of me and a few guys that passed me shouted to him that his partner went down. Luckily I escaped with a few scrapes and bruises and off we went. I cant even remember all the hike-a-bike sections that we had to go through everyday but mark my words…..we had them each and every day!! My right knee started to hurt pretty bad from Check Point 3 onwards and we still had another 40km to go. It was getting worse with every pedal stroke and I knew I was in for some torture all the way to the end of the stage.



The last approx 20km was on well groomed fire road and Green was ready to be let loose with his offroad time trial skills. I was very disappointed as my knee hurt like hell and I also just had no fuel left in the body for the day! It was really the toughest 20km I ever had to do. Got frustrated with every little thing and just wanted to get off the freakin bike! I was seriously thinking what the hell am I doing out here in the mountains at this stage. We rode in eventually at 7hr23min. I could not wait to get some proper food in me and try and get some treatment for my knee. Well at least ‘hump’ day was done and we only had 3 days to go!! The campgrounds at Whiteswan was in a beautiful spot and I will never forget walking out of the dinner tent and seeing the bright moon show itself just above the ridge of the majestic rockies…what a sight!

Stage 5 Report
Whiteswan Lake--Elkford: 88.5km/2247m climbing

It was 6am again as soon as I shut my eyes. We were back in the tent last night after having heaven in Nipika Lodge for 2 nights. It was pretty cold again early morning and all I can think of is kickass coffee and 7 pancakes with maple syrup for breakfast. I was feeling a bit better this morning after taking some painkillers and icing my knee. The food also did a great job to get me recovered from yesterday. If you asked me last night if I will be able to get on the bike this morning..I probably would have said no and actually considered quitting for about 10min or so…….not good I know!!!



The race organisers set us off again in bright sunshine at 8am with ‘highway to hell’ blazing over the loud speakers!! The blood was pumping again and we had only one place to get to –Elkford. The stage started off with a fast fire road section with crazy Larry (Rockies luggage guy) directing us on the first bend. The 1st check point was after about 20km but we didn’t need it and went straight onto the first climb which started at the 20km mark. Did not feel too bad on the climb after my knee warmed up properly. A friend of mine helped me to strap my knee in the morning so that its well supported during the pedal action. It definitely helped but I needed to get through the first hour of everyday just to get it warmed up.
We reached some awesome technical downhill sections between the 75 and 80km mark just before we hit the fire road taking us into Elkford. It was more rocks then tree roots which suited me much better. As always the time machine Green was ready to pounce on the fast gravel sections and pulled a group of about 7 riders towards the finish. Green then dropped everybody in the group and I barely managed to get onto his wheel again to ride into the finish in a time of 6h30min. The local volunteers at the finish did a great job with the refreshments on offer, muffins, cookies, chocolates etc!! Unbelievable after Cliff energy bars for the whole day! It was our first day back in relative civilization with a shopping market etc close to the campground. We even had mobile phone reception…on & off though…

Stage 6 Report
Elkford - Crowsnest Pass: 102.4km/2998m climbing

There was no rest for the wicked today, as TransRockies traversed the Continental Divide in a grueling 103 kilometre stage punctuated by periods of long, steep climbing. The organisers weren’t kidding when they said we have a 7km climb starting 2km into the day! Man did my knee hurt, my left leg must have done 80% of the work all day long! We then faced really nice winding single track before hitting the first climb after Check Point 1. But the killer of the day was not the heat or the length of the course but the three…yes 3!! 200 odd meter hike-a-bike sections between 85 and 95km. We tried to ride some of it but I was just too tired and it seemed like everybody moved in slow-motion just fighting for every inch to get to the top of these inclines.




With only two days left of competition, teams saddled up under a blue sky already knowing the day would be technically punishing, but unaware what the toll would be for a picture-perfect morning. Temperatures climbing above 30 C, combined with the length and difficulty of the route, saw several teams drop out of competition throughout the day and those that made it to the finish line were feeling a little worse for wear. Still, the theme of the day was definitely “No Pain, No Gain” and those that pushed through were rewarded with the realization that the most difficult days of TransRockies VII are behind them. Though difficult, the course had something for everyone and offered riders a chance to cruise some epic trails that TransRockies was forced to bypass in 2007 due to wildfires.
Big crash! – We were heading down a loose gravel descent at quite some pace and passed a team on the left feeling pretty chuffed with ourselves. The next thing we knew the road turned sharply to the right and at the speed we were going there was just no getting around that corner!! We slammed on the brakes, it slowed us down but the inevitable fall was getting closer and closer! These huge natural rainwater chutes lined the side of the road and I managed to traverse 2 little ones and then I saw the big mamma which I was heading for! The next moment my front wheel was down into this ditch about 1m deep and the rest is history. When I eventually got up, helped out the ditch by fellow competitor, I looked back and Green was also licking his wounds. I laughed afterwards as he said he thought that corner was ‘The End’ just before he went down bigtime!
The race was really turning into a huge mental struggle more than anything else. Just trying to convince the body to get back on the bike for yet another days punishment proved to get more and more difficult. I started to set myself loads of goals/milestones in order to break up the massive day that lay ahead. The goals started with getting out of the tent in the morning, then breakfast, then get the wet chammy cream bib onto your warm skin, then get on the bike and start at 8am, then just reach CP1, then CP2, then CP3 and finally onto the finish. I could not think about the finish first thing in the morning at all! It just seemed like something insurmountable, but by breaking it up in small sections I managed to tick them off as I go and next thing I knew we were riding across the finish line at a time of 8hr29min. This was our longest day on the bikes but the thought of getting to Fernie tomorrow pushed us on! Once again the Green-Train pulled us to a sprint finish victory, boy that guy got some legs on the drags!!
With Stage 7 on the horizon it was quiet in Tent City tonight, as thoughts and dreams turn to tomorrow’s celebratory finish in Fernie – but only after 80 kms of riding up and over 2101 metres of elevation.



Stage 7 Report
Crowsnest Pass -Fernie: 78.8km/2101m climbing

No ceremonial Stage 7 cakewalk, the final leg of this year’s TransRockies was the toughest in the event’s history and took place on another blistering day above 30-degrees Celsius.

We spent last night in the town of Blairmore in the Crowsnest Pass area. As could be expected the organisers sent us straight up the Blairmore ski hill for a good warm-up first thing in the morning. Then we had a few scary steep descents before hitting 3 steep hike-a-bike sections…our favourite!! NOT!!! Today’s stage was the only stage where we had about 3km of tarmac to cut across to the Fernie singletrack jungle, was sweet being on a flat surface for once! We passed a mixed team on this section and one of their bikes front wheels had all the spokes completely ripped off from the hub! The guy was running with the bike and we were surprised to see they still managed to finish 3rd in their category that evening…amazing as he probably had to run for a good 5 to 10km to get a new wheel from somewhere.
Soon we were onto the infamous clean flowing Fernie singletrack we were told about last night during the briefing but had to wait 3hrs before we had any sign of the luxury as well as conquer the last notable climb between 70 to 75km. After that it was downhill all the way into Fernie. There was a few nasty sections of track where some guys lost it a bit and went for a tumble. I past one rider who dislocated his shoulder but some local Fernie downhill guys was on hand to pop it right back. Man the guy didn’t even flinch and I got that funny feeling on my stomach!!
I can not explain how I felt when I reached the ‘1km to go’ marker!! The emotions just started boiling and I just couldn’t wait to get into Fernie and cross that line. It was a hot day and the main street was full of supporters lining the temporary hoarding watching their riders finish the toughest mountain bike race in the world (I definitely think it is and don’t ask why…it just is and if you don’t believe me then go bloody do it!!) We had friends waiting for us at the finish line and the local Fernie lager went down extremely well!!














The Mountain Goats also managed to raise over £1500 for our nominated charity – SOS Childrens Villages. We know the money will be spent well on their child soldier rehabilitation centres in North Africa and will definitely go a long way to support these kids. We would like to thank everybody for their sponsorship and also all our friends and family for the well wishes prior and during the race.