Mical and Jeff Visit the TransRockies
Baby Blue-Very nice!!!
What a great breakfast. A hot line- pancakes, eggs, bacon and a cold line- oatmeal, granola, and yogurt. Hello all other races all we want is good food and sleep, a kick ass course is good too.
Day 2 took us from K2 Ranch to Nipika. It had the most climbing of the race, 2835m and was only 72.2 km long. 3 big climbs in the day and the infamous hike a bike. Mical and I rocked the dh and had Jon Firth for company for the first 1/2 of the race. The hike a bike was not all that bad and the newly cut French Connection DH was a blast. Before heading down Bear Creek we were in a narrow valley and you could tell you were way back in the back country.
Nipika Time Trial- 44 km 11oo m vertical
Cold, Wet, and Hungry. Mical with Brain, Dax and Thane ( our Colorado buddies)
Day minus 1
Rest Well!! didn't and felt it. I should know better than that. Gosh!!!!
Rest Well!! didn't and felt it. I should know better than that. Gosh!!!!
Day Zero
Mical and her parents, Brenda and Dave, picked me up Saturday morning for our ride out to Panorama. The minivan was loaded down. Great job of packing Dave! We got there with lots of time and could watch the registration line from our hotel room. I tired to catch up on rest but was busy laughing with my crazy partner.
The registration was pretty slick. Only took 20 minutes or so. Far better than the BCBR 3 hours!!!! but not as fast as the blazing Cape Epic 5 minutes.
Mical-Hey let's go for a small ride to move the legs
Jeff-sounds good
Mical-you know I have not gone on a ride in 2 months without being rained on
Jeff-look at the sky we will be fine
20 minutes later
Jeff-F*&# it's cold when you get rained on (trust me lots of foreshadowing here)
Mical-it's okay I am used to it
Dining tips at Pano-go to the buffet. It was $30 but the restaurant we went was slow, expensive and poor with a capital P!
Day 1
After doing well in the BCBR Mical and I knew we should start near the front and get good positioning. It was supposed to be a "neutral start" but there ain't nothing neutral about Day 1 and the Rocky boys. After the first uphill there was a a spilt and Mical and I were in the lead group. I am glad we had 7 days of fast start practice for this.
recipe for Day 1:
-start with 1 hour uphill
-add moderate single track with great views
-mix in scree slope down hill-best accomplished by running down
-lots of yahooing and yipping for effect
-bake it along gravel road with healthy sprinkle of sharp rocks
-settle in for 10 minutes of tire repairs
-Crank to finish
Your end results should be big smiles, good challenge and your first ever stage victory!!!! Ewwww I can't wait to see what colour jersey we get.
Baby Blue-Very nice!!!
Day 2-
What a great breakfast. A hot line- pancakes, eggs, bacon and a cold line- oatmeal, granola, and yogurt. Hello all other races all we want is good food and sleep, a kick ass course is good too.
Before the start of Day 2 with our friends the Sergio and Ettori, the Italians. Pretty excited to be wearing a leaders jersey and in the front row.
Day 2 took us from K2 Ranch to Nipika. It had the most climbing of the race, 2835m and was only 72.2 km long. 3 big climbs in the day and the infamous hike a bike. Mical and I rocked the dh and had Jon Firth for company for the first 1/2 of the race. The hike a bike was not all that bad and the newly cut French Connection DH was a blast. Before heading down Bear Creek we were in a narrow valley and you could tell you were way back in the back country.
The DH was very technical and crazy in spots. Mical chicked 3 teams on the way down and only one caught us on the road into Nipika. There was one deep bog that claimed more than one cyclist near the end. I stepped into it and sank to mid thigh!
As it was really wet and there was a fair share of hiking i developed chafe high on my butt. At the finish line all I could think about was getting out of my chamois. I had my first real interview and had to stand very still so as not to grimace on film. Once I got my towel I was good and proceeded to change my seat, a fancy white one-thanks Dave.
Day 3
Nipika Time Trial- 44 km 11oo m vertical
It rained in the morning, cleared for a bit, then RAINED for our start and most of the rest our race. The course was slick and slow. We started good and fast but had to reel it back in when we realised how much energy we were putting out and the risk of injury or mechanical. The course was good and had neat challenges, like the almost vertical, slick, hike a bike. Crazy Larry set up his balloon alley and the views were incredible. We extended our lead and now had 3 leaders jerseys.
Day 4
107 km long and 1980m vertical
We had another good start and were riding with the leading men for some time. We dangled for a bit then were on our own. We had a great pace going and were 4th overall at the top of the first climb. Down to the road were we picked up Peter the Englishman and were trying to set a good tempo. It was 40 km to the finish on road and help appeared to be on the way. Brain and Ryan from Bow were close behind us and trying to close the gap. Now for the famous Schmoo race motto " It's not wether you win our lose, it if you beat your friends". I saw them coming but made them work to catch us. When they finally did we tried to organise a pace line but the rain, puddles, and tire ruts made it too hard to keep it together. There were 8 of us but after teh first sustained climb it was back to Mical, myself and Peter. We knew we were riding good when we saw the 2nd place team, the Portuguese. I stepped up the pace and helped Mical over the top of the hills to maintain our momentum. The course ended with a drag race down the last 2km and if it wasn't for the corner into the finish Mical and I probably would have got 3rd overall on the day. As it was we beat most of the support there and ate big at the food table.
Cold, Wet, and Hungry. Mical with Brain, Dax and Thane ( our Colorado buddies)
Day 5
Whiteswan to Elkford
Mical's rain dance continues in earnest. WTF! As i was not cold enuf yesterday riding the road. I started in 2 tops arm warmers and knee warmers. Still cold all day.
We had another good start but broke a chain early into the climb. Mical's Dura-race chain was really hard to break and was almost the teams first "conflict". I was trying to break the chain without damaging it when the the Belgians, Xavier and Mieke, came up and passed us.
Mical-just break the chain
Jeff- I'm trying
Mical- come on
Jeff gives blank look and more zest=chain breaks.
A quick link on and we were back riding. We made a good effort to catch them and sit on their wheels for a minute. the plans was to stay there until the down hill but Mical gave me "the Lance look" and attacked. I followed and assisted around the next switch back. Mical's motto is out of sight out of mind. We settled in and put some good time into them. Unfortunately, the middle section was so flat, boring and lonely that we saw the Belgians at add 3 before the last big climb. It spurred us on to the top and there were lots of very steep hiking sections that worked in our favour. The steepest was 28.7%. We made 14 minutes in 90 minutes of racing. Coming into Elkford was so cold and I was shivering on the bike. We crossed the finish line and I made straight for the hot showers a hair away from being hypothermic.
What A Good Support Team Does-
Food at finish
Washes bikes
Keeps things light
What an Exceptional Support Team Does-
As above
Washes clothes
Wrenches bikes
Dries clothes in car
Allows you to nap in their nice dry tent.
Day 6
Elkford to Crownest Pass
101km, 2647 m Vertical
Check out the profile and pay attention to the last 3 "bumps"
How to describe this day???? The one thought that got me thru the day was "they must be shortening the day cause this is just nasty". They didn't but by the time I figured this out I was too close to stop and Mical was all jazzed and positive about the last section.
Mical and I saw more then one team have troubles. The days are long and hard and with no
Here is the start:
The day was long, cold, and hard!! That is about it. It was raining so hard at one time I could not see. I just kept riding on the grey parts and avoided the green parts. Mical could barely see me and I was right in front of her. The down pour was so much greater than the mud coming up that I was riding a clean bike. Merino wool undershirt, jersey, vest, plastic rain jacket, leggings=still cold.
Mical's bike at aid staton #3-
Us at the Finish
I believe it is not the problem but how a someone handles it that shows their true colours. The rec center's hot water tank was too small for the race=they contacted the local poola nd provided a shuttle to take racers back and forth. The weather was the worst in the races history=they bought loads of blankets to have at the finish to keept he racers warm. They made sure there was extra to eat and allowed people to sleep on the floor of the rec center. Nice work TR!!
Start of the last day
Crownest to Fernie.
Wet but no rain!!!!!!!!
We had a slow start and I kept getting a slow leak. We would send Mical up the trial and I would deal withe the tire and then cathc back on. Thanks to Jonny the englishman for his CO2!! We turned at one time and saw both Belgian teams right behind us. We gave it some gas and lucked into some Karma. I had pulled a couple of pace lines over the race and Mical's mom had gave out lots of snacks. We hit the road and oh look there are our Italian friends taking a "long drink of water". We catch up and set a furious pace down the road to the long climb of the day. We knew it we could hold them off until the top we would go 7 for 7 for stage wins. Mical said she was tired, Mical said she was not feeling "snappy". hmmm we passed 2 men's teams on the climb and stayed with our Italian friends. Could it be that we were crankin??????? Yep I think so. It doesn't get easier, you just get faster. Nice work Partner!
We got to the final climb of the day and Corey Wallace rode with us for a bit. He won the TR3 but continued on doing media coverage for a cycling website. It was nice to have his company and the climbe went fast. Near the top Craig Stappler and Ketih Bayley had set up shop and were cheering like mad. Jay and Dee had postioned themselves rith at the top of the climb and I could hear the calll of Leroy Jenkins.
Swift, smooth, satisfying single track all the way to down town.
And that was that. Our first Stage race victory. We had ridden number one for 7 days, fought the elements, competed high in the overall and realised victory.
When the dust settled we were first, the Belgian team of Xavier and Meike were second, and Alena and Dean Irvine held on for a hard fought battle for 3rd.
I took a week off the bike and went to the Heise cottage. I recovered as best I could and today I feel like gettin gback on the bike. The XC8 and the Bow 80 are left. i am not super excited jsut yet but the racers amnesia is kicking in and the emails are flying so soon I will be chomping at the bit to race again.
The day was long, cold, and hard!! That is about it. It was raining so hard at one time I could not see. I just kept riding on the grey parts and avoided the green parts. Mical could barely see me and I was right in front of her. The down pour was so much greater than the mud coming up that I was riding a clean bike. Merino wool undershirt, jersey, vest, plastic rain jacket, leggings=still cold.
Mical's bike at aid staton #3-
Us at the Finish
I believe it is not the problem but how a someone handles it that shows their true colours. The rec center's hot water tank was too small for the race=they contacted the local poola nd provided a shuttle to take racers back and forth. The weather was the worst in the races history=they bought loads of blankets to have at the finish to keept he racers warm. They made sure there was extra to eat and allowed people to sleep on the floor of the rec center. Nice work TR!!
Start of the last day
Crownest to Fernie.
Wet but no rain!!!!!!!!
We had a slow start and I kept getting a slow leak. We would send Mical up the trial and I would deal withe the tire and then cathc back on. Thanks to Jonny the englishman for his CO2!! We turned at one time and saw both Belgian teams right behind us. We gave it some gas and lucked into some Karma. I had pulled a couple of pace lines over the race and Mical's mom had gave out lots of snacks. We hit the road and oh look there are our Italian friends taking a "long drink of water". We catch up and set a furious pace down the road to the long climb of the day. We knew it we could hold them off until the top we would go 7 for 7 for stage wins. Mical said she was tired, Mical said she was not feeling "snappy". hmmm we passed 2 men's teams on the climb and stayed with our Italian friends. Could it be that we were crankin??????? Yep I think so. It doesn't get easier, you just get faster. Nice work Partner!
We got to the final climb of the day and Corey Wallace rode with us for a bit. He won the TR3 but continued on doing media coverage for a cycling website. It was nice to have his company and the climbe went fast. Near the top Craig Stappler and Ketih Bayley had set up shop and were cheering like mad. Jay and Dee had postioned themselves rith at the top of the climb and I could hear the calll of Leroy Jenkins.
Swift, smooth, satisfying single track all the way to down town.
And that was that. Our first Stage race victory. We had ridden number one for 7 days, fought the elements, competed high in the overall and realised victory.
When the dust settled we were first, the Belgian team of Xavier and Meike were second, and Alena and Dean Irvine held on for a hard fought battle for 3rd.
I took a week off the bike and went to the Heise cottage. I recovered as best I could and today I feel like gettin gback on the bike. The XC8 and the Bow 80 are left. i am not super excited jsut yet but the racers amnesia is kicking in and the emails are flying so soon I will be chomping at the bit to race again.
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