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Surviving the TransRockies

Gretchen Reeves / 18.08.2010

On Wednesday we began our two day journey in and out of Alberta beef country. The singletrack was rugged with big views of rolling green hills and lots of cows. Apparently the cows dig the trails as much as we do which was evidenced by the amounts of droppings along the way. The combination of cattle trails mixed with rain made for some epic cyclo-cross training. Attempting to ride this section was pure comedy but we kept trying as that seemed a better option to running through muck that was almost knee deep in spots. The jewel at the end of these two days was finishing at Little Elbow Camp with huge hail-capped peaks surrounding us.

After a great night of sleep by the river, we were stoked for day six and what appeared to be the toughest stage of the race. Coming from CO, I felt we were ready for whatever the high country had to throw at us. It had rained most of the night and the starting area was empty until just before the ACDC (our daily start music) kicked in. I checked out everyone’s gear choice for the day and was second guessing my light and fast setup.

All was good up and down the first climb of the day. We made it through CP1 and were one of twenty teams that were allowed over the high pass. We were soaked to the core when we finally donned our rain coats and we didn’t warm up at all on the climb. The top of the pass hit us with harsh winds and rain blowing sideways. We were hanging in there until we had to stop at the top to fix my flat tire at which time I realized I’d ripped the cleat out of my shoe. From there it was survival mode getting to CP2 where there was warmth and shelter.

At CP2 the staff had a warming tent and hot drinks for the weathered riders. I was shaking rather violently and was sent to the front of a U-Haul truck with the heater blasting. This went on for over an hour. In the meantime, Cannon scored a shoe for me from another racer that was dropping out of the stage and our bodies warmed up enough to get back on course. So, we lost an hour and a half but it was one of those days I was thankful we were able to finish. The trails we rode that day were spectacular nonetheless and I hope to ride them again in fairer weather.

The last day was a parade lap for many teams that were pretty set with their overall positions in the race. It was a rolling singletrack ride into the Nordic center in Canmore. This was familiar territory as it was a world cup venue in the late nineties and one of my favorites on the circuit. We arrived at the finish soon after, greeted by our support guy and a couple of Kokanees.

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