TransRockies Bike Race
A Rocky Road
Gretchen Reeves / 12.08.2010
On stage two we rode to the start with blue skies to match our fresh blue leader’s jerseys. Our plan of coming here to ride and have fun has taken a competitive twist now that we have the lead. I expected we might have another good day after reading the course description. We started with a 30k climb to a super sweet single track descent that dropped 3,000 feet in under 4 miles. At one point a gentleman said “you might want to walk it from here� but we ignored his advice and continued the rip session.
Cannon set a nice pace on the rollers on the way back and all I had to do was hang onto his wheel. We met up with the Honey Stinger boys from CO and it was nice to chat with them between breaths to the finish. The second place team was within sight of us for most of this second day but we managed to put another almost two minutes on them by the end.
We have been making the most of our afternoons once we are done racing and cleaning bikes. Yesterday, we stopped along the Elk River for lunch, libations, a swim, and a siesta. The race itself has been a bit of work but the afternoons are relaxing and fun. We had a great turkey dinner from the locals in Elkford last night and the hospitality all around has been remarkable.
<b>Day Three: Gettin’ Served…</b>
Today we have discovered that it’s a lot easier to lose a 3 minute lead than to gain it. I figured it would be a tough day as we started with a 40km power line road ride. We were in a pack of at least 40 and it was stressful. As the pack whittled down, Cannon helped out by pushing me up the hills whenever I dropped from the pack. After the big ring session, we were on and off of our bikes, hiking up steep terrain overgrown with willows. This went on for probably two hours and was a bit demoralizing.
Our competitors were well up the road at this point. I was having a rough go of it today and we had to shift into damage control. Cannon helped as much as he could by taking some of the weight from me and pushing when he was able. We finally made it to the top of the pass and took in the view as best as we could through spinning heads and muddy glasses. We started into what we thought was a 15km downhill that was actually rolling with more hiking, polished off by a flat tire and a wrong turn. The finish line couldn’t have come any sooner today!
So, today wasn’t our day to shine, but that’s mountain bike racing. We are now at a camp spot in remote Etherington Creek , showered, recovering, and hoping for a grizzly sighting. We remain optimistic about the race and will enjoy the days ahead and the rest of our time in Canada.
SleepMonsters
