TRANSROCKIES 2008 : Stage Report 1 to 3

Stage 1 Report
Panorama to K2 Ranch: 52.3km/2478m climbing


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The Mountain Goats arrived in Calgary on 6 August and travelled to Panorama with this huge rental truck (Dodge Ram), wonder how many chickens/cows/buffaloes some Africans would load onto this buggy! Took Green a while to get use to the very high driving position and being on the wrong side of the road from the UK, but soon we were flying on the beautiful Canada 1 West Highway towards Panorama. The sun was out and spirits high!! We spent a few days in Panorama just chilling out and visiting with my brother and his family who came up from Austin, TX to see us off. He was on holiday and we were forced to have the odd beer and glass of wine with him which wasn’t really in our pre-race planning!!





TransRockies VII kicked off in true mountain fashion on Sunday 10 August with temperamental weather and spectacular scenery as we wound our way from host start community Panorama Mountain Village down to the historic K2 Ranch on the shores of Lake Windermere. Wind, rain sleet and snow – in addition to spots of blue sky – introduced all riders early in the week to classic TransRockies conditions. Could not believe the snow at the top of the mountain! So glad I put that base layer on just before starting the day. We also got lost for about 45min at about the 23km mark and had to backtrack to find the marked route again. We were in a group of about 40 riders which missed one of the blue left turn ribbons. Must say we looked the part today with our sponsored POSIT shirts and socks, just a shame we could not get anywhere close to the Italian stage winners, only place we saw them was at the start and then again on the video that evening….Bravo Italia!!!





Following an introductory parade lap through Panorama, we ascended to the literal high point of the week, at nearly 2,500 metres, after tackling a steep vertical wall of approx 10km in distance that no doubt had everyone wondering early on what else TR could possibly throw at us this week. There was a control/feeding station at the top of the first climb where everybody could fill up the tanks and thereafter a singletrack section all along the ridge of the mountain for about 5km. I started cramping about 2hrs into the ride which was not a good sign as we had probably another 3hrs to go. Just took it very easy and kept eating and drinking but the cramps just wouldn’t go away, it was agonising!!. Must be the change in temperature as well as the stop-start nature of mountain biking which my legs are just not used to. Managed to pull it together and the 2nd half of the day was much faster and went by like lightning. From the top, the route descended via a mix of scenic sub-alpine singletrack and jeep track into the Columbia Valley.
We had a sprint to the finish line with a team from Poland wearing ‘Transcarpatia’ shirts. However silly me relaxed a couple of meters before the finish line and the 2nd member of their team just pipped me. What can I say…Green was not impressed!! We rode in at a time of 5hr48min.
At day’s end, the skies are clearer but the temperature remains on the chilly side.

Stage 2 Report
K2 Ranch to Nipika Mountain Resort: 73.7km/3813m climbing

Had our first taste of the local Kicking Horse ‘Kick Ass’ coffee brew this morning and it was great after waking up at 3am this morning checking whether I picked up frostbite!! Damn this place cools down in the early mornings!. Breakfast starts at 6am and race kicks off at 8am. Lots to do in 2 hrs which includes packing up your kit bag and getting it back to the transport truck so that it is in time at the next stage camp when you arrive….well I must say we gave the truck an average of 6hrs a day to get there…so no rush!! The Mountain Goats were very nervous about the day laying ahead as neither of us ever climbed almost 4000m(over 12000 feet) in a single day!!





It was a long day for everyone on, as an already gruelling stage got longer when the front pack went off course and everyone played "follow the lemming," as today's 1st Place Open Men's finishers, Sobe Cannondale riders Mike Garrigan and Jesse Jakomait explained at the finish.



The riders went awry when some of the top teams missed the flagging tape on course indicating a right-hand turn. Instead, the group marched up a steep avalanche gulley shouldering their bikes all the way to the top, missing the turn and finding out, upon summiting the chute, that the trail had gone cold.

Everybody were so focused on putting one foot in front of the other that we ended up just playing follow the lemming. A group of about 20 riders at the front of the race, realizing their mistake, turned and began backtracking, eventually finding the route and getting back into race mode. The avalanche gulley was so steep and the lower calf muscles were taking a beating! We must have had the bikes on the shoulders for close to an hour and a half! Should have done much more ‘bike on shoulder and climb’ training! Would seriously have made the day easier. The gulley was however not the first of the hike-a-bike sections as throughout the day we were faced with basically un-ridable sections, going up and down! It was a long tough day and we rode in at a time of 8hr07min. Good thing was that we knew tonight we were sleeping in a cabin and not the freezing tent…I basically thought about that for the last 3hrs of the day whilst on the bike!!

Steed Cycles rider and recently retired NHL hockey player Trevor Linden also commented on the degree of difficulty for Stage 2, saying "It wouldn't have been bad had we not gone off course (uphilll) on that scree. It was a big day without that, but that made it massive," he said. Linden said he was looking forward to the Stage 3 time trial as a much needed rest from Stages 1 and 2. Nipika Mountain Resort promises to deliver that with some exceptional private singletrack along the Kootenay River, bordering Canada's Kootenay National Park.

Stage 3 Report
Nipika-Nipika: 44.2km/1514m climbing

Two days of climbing may have taken their toll, but today we were treated to a few extra hours of sleep, well some of us... Those at the top of the standings received start times throughout the afternoon, meaning teams had time for a leisurely breakfast, a photography session in the scenic Nipika meadow and a chance to cheer on new friends as they made their way out of the chutes and onto the incredible trail system at Nipika Mountain Resort. The Mountain Goats had a starting time of 09:20am which is 1hr20min later than the normal 8am start….the extra sleep and recovery time was great!! Today was an out and back loop and meant we had one more night in the cabin before going back to basics on stage 4.

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We were all dressed out in our white goats shirts and felt good at the start. Green pulled away like a rally KTM and I was fighting for air to try and keep up! The trail started with a fast gradual downhill double track and we caught the team in front of us within the first 2km. The legs took a while to get going and I was feeling strong in the middle section of the race with Green again coming through strong towards the end. The sun was out and the scenery was just awesome! Riding along singletrack with a cliff drop of about 50m or so right next to you were pretty impressive! We finished the route in 3hr48min and was by far the easiest day of the week. I actually enjoyed today…I think…!!
Optional massages can be booked at the end of each stage and by day 3 my legs were begging for it. I started to get into the routine of getting to the finish, take a shower, clean/fix the bike, get a massage, eat like crazy….eat again….and once more, see the stage presentations with next day 3D google earth briefing and finally watch the photos and video of the day prior to hitting the hugely annoying blow-up camping mattress somewhere around 10:30pm.

Designed by landowner Lyle Wilson, today's trail was a big hit with weary riders and the spectacular singletrack was a much-needed reward after two grueling days coming down from the Purcell mountain range and up and over the formidable western slopes of the Rocky Mountain range.






Highlights of today's stage included incredible remote Rocky Mountain singletrack and the return of summer temperatures after two wet days and an equal number of cold nights. The stage was also lauded for the best scenery of the past three days, as the trail had us cruising singletrack high on the sandy ridge above the aquamarine Kootenay River.

Much of today's trail was cut especially for TransRockies by Nipika Mountain Resort owner/operator Lyle Wilson, and the pride of workmanship and desire to create something both scenic and challenging paid off, as many riders were overheard expressing a desire to return in the future with friends and family.

Let's hope teams enjoyed their leisurely Nipika stay - leisurely, that is, when compared with Stage 4, which features 109 kilometres of some of the Kootenay Rockies most remote terrain. This part of the Kootenays is a well-kept secret for many local riders, and the long day will pay off in spades as the journey through this spectacular mountain oasis will give newcomers an authentic Canadian Rockies epic mountain bike experience.