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Slip, Sliding Away

Cory Wallace / 09.08.2010

Day 1 of this years Tran Rockies was a great day for a Saskatchewan farmer during a drought. For a bike racer it was not really the card everyone wanted to be playing to start off a 7 day bike race. With solid rain showers throughout the morning the course which was as dry as a Mexican tortilla yesterday all of a sudden resembled a sloppy Nicaraguan stew.

The first wave of riders got the greasiest of the 31 km single-track loop surrounding the mountain town of Fernie. Those crossing the finish line looked like they had been doing mud angels face down for 3 + hrs, not riding their bikes

The first 6km of the day climbed up a steep single track climb to a viewpoint over the Elk Valley before sending the riders down a slick, rooty decent. The second half of the stage was on some of the areas best single track which challenged the riders with its many quick punchy climbs. With the amount of single-track in the day, many riders opted for beefier tires to keep themselves upright, which seemed to work for most but for a lot of the course it didn’t matter what was on your bike as you were more less doing controlled slides down the mountain. In the end a lot of riders were quite surprised with just how quickly the course dried out in the afternoon once the rain stopped and it seemed the riders with semi slicks on were almost better off then their counterparts with knobbier tires

Stage 1 of this years race went off without a hitch and the 450 riders crossing the finish line all had their own unique stories from the day. 20 different nations are represented in this years race and a lot of them were pretty surprised to see just how technical Canadian single-track can be. Nonetheless they all seem more then willing to step up to the challenge in what looks like a great week of single-track ahead.

Tonight we all gathered in the Fernie Community Center for the TransRockies famous meals and awards ceremony followed by a daily recap of the photos and videos from the day behind us. After the ceremonies the riders were reminded by the local Ranger that they are in Bear Country and that over the next 6 days the race will be taking them through some of the world’s prime Grizzly bear habitat. Race leaders, Adam Craig (Giant) and Max Plaxton (Sho-Air Specialized) were especially attentive to the Rangers warnings as who ever is leading the charge over the mountains will be responsible for clearing the path for the other 449 racer behind them

Tomorrow’s stage starts with a 25 km climb up to 2135m before a 1000 m vertical decent back into the Elk Valley. This will be a lung buster for everyone. Time to kick the legs up and enjoy the fresh mountain air.

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