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Bike Washes Canadian Style

Cory Wallace / 13.08.2010

Holy Cow, there is no question the TransRockies is in the middle of cattle country. Last night’s camp was situated just outside the fully operational Anchor D Ranch in the middle of the foothills. With smooth rolling grassy hills and wide open meadows all around the camp it was spectacular and many racers were seen out with the cameras to capture the pink sky as the sun went down over the distant Rockies

This morning at 9am the racers were sent off to tackle small steep climbs up seismic lines, ridge top riding and some muddier cowboy trails. The foothills may be very scenic but they are also in the middle of one of the quickest changing weather systems in Canada. When it is dry and sunny the riding is super fast and pretty tough to beat. When it is wet the trails tend to muck up a little bit and this is the scene for this years TR. Riders are finding their lines through these puddles and after the first feed station at 20 km we were treated to some fast rolling trails high up on the hills.

Between ripping up small creek valleys and over small foothills the riding was a blast for the last 35 km of the day. The creek crossings,which are often despised,were instead a plus as they were used as automatic bike washes to help keep our gears running clean.

The last crossing of the day was through the knee deep Elbow River. There have been a few of these bigger crossings throughout the race and the cameramen have discovered these are often the locations to get the best footage of the day. Creek crossings are always treacherous as it is easy to loose your footing on the uneven rocky bottoms. When the water levels get higher and the currents swifter it doesn’t take much to push over a tired bike racer. At least 3 racers are claiming to have completed a triathlon during the TransRockies this year. According to these multi-sport athletes it isn’t all that easy to swim around a cold mountain stream with a bike on one arm.

After skirting the edge of the Rockies the last few days the race is set to head back into the bigger mountains tomorrow. There are two major climbs in the day, one over Jumping Pound Ridge and the other over Cox Hill. There is a local Alberta race called the Bow 80 which goes over these two climbs and last year it was snowing and only 30 of the 180 racers made it over the finish line.

I’m not sure what tomorrow’s weather is looking like but I’m sure hoping it is a little warmer than the Bow 80 last September. The trails we are going to be riding are some of the best in western Canada and with a little help from Mother Nature I suspect it will be the highlight stage for most of the riders this week!

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