TransRockies Bike Race
One Eye on the Weather
Cory Wallace / 14.08.2010
The first 20 teams to hit checkpoint 1 were sent over the mountains in the rain. Once word got out of the gong show’s occurring up top the race organizers quickly re-routed the other 95 teams around the big climb. Racers still had the option of heading over the initial route but word has it nobody took that choice.
Heading up the climb with my partner John Firth we were well back in around 10 th position. One by one we would pass teams on the side of the trail all facing a different type of catastrophe. First it was the Czech’s who had broken a chain near the top and were unable to fix it as their hands had been disabled by the cold. Next up we rolled by the Belgium’s who had opted not to pack rain jackets on the day. Questionable decision.
They were huddled in the woods trying to keep warm.
A little after we passed Team Timex from the States, they were off their bikes but still trudging along pushing them. We tried to initiate communication but they were pretty un-responsive. Over on the backside decent we crossed paths with the Honey Stinger boys from Colorado. They were rolling well in 3rd place on the day before a broken chain, flat tires and the cold reached them. The other teams we rolled by were pretty much in survival mode and didn’t seem too concerned about the race results on the day.
Coming into checkpoint 2 the trail started to get packed with all the riders who had been re-routed around the climb. At the checkpoint the organizers had set up a very popular warming tent. It was overflowing with racers who were all pretty giddy and tipping back hot chocolates. We were doing alright all things considering and decided to push on to the finish.
Our biggest problem on the day was the mud splash off the trails. We were both wearing contact lenses and they felt like sandpaper each time we blinked. Not sure what was in them but they were clogged up pretty good and my left eye was out of commission. This made the last few descents interesting but by this time we weren’t overly concerned with ripping down them. By the time we crossed the finish line we were both squinty eyed and worked over royally. A quick high five and we split ways to find warm showers and clean clothes.
SleepMonsters
