2006 TransRockies Challenge

Pics: Dan Hudson

With three teams separated by barely two minutes after the first day of racing, this year’s TransRockies Challenge promised to be the most closely fought ever. Wednesday’s 4th Stage from Elkford to Whiteswan Lake kept the fierce competition alive with the third different winning team in four days and another change in the overall race lead.

Back to back epic stages contested in crushing heat had pushed many riders to the breaking point, and Stage 4’s flatter profile and less technical course looked like the recipe for a much needed shorter day on the bike. Finish times were roughly 25 per cent quicker than the day before and there were lots of relieved smiles coming across the line in spectacular Whiteswan Lake knowing that the majority of the Challenge has already been ridden.

The major test of the day came right off the bat as riders hit the Crossing Creek Pass trail after only 6 km. They would climb 800 metres in less than 12km including two long boulder fields which were hike-a-bikes for the cyclists and nearly unrideable for the course and medic motos.

Having only lost a second of their overall lead the day before, it was a surprise when Troy Misseghers and Eric Batty of Mountain Bike City couldn’t follow the first attack of the day at the base of Crossing Creek Pass. Team United Cycles (Evan Sherman/ Tim Heemskerk) and Rocky Mountain/Felt Racing (Andreas Hestler/ Seamus McGrath) opened a gap on the climb which grew quickly when the race became a four against two team time trial on the ensuing Forestry road section.

With 20km to go, Mountain Bike City’s nine minute overall lead had disappeared and Hestler and McGrath then struck out looking for their third stage win but a puncture took them out of the both the stage lead. McGrath put his World Cup fitness to use though as he got on the front for much of the last 20km and pulled he and Hestler into the Overall lead by a mere 8 seconds. United Cycles took the stage win by 40 seconds and closed the gap their first stage win of the event. McGrath and Hestler’s final push got them back into the overall lead by a scant 8 seconds which they will try to defend during tomorrow’s 108km leg to Nipika Resort.

Everyone who is involved with the TransRockies Challenge does their own seven-day epic, perhaps none more than the moto drivers who ride the same course as the cyclists but carrying camera, medical or course marking equipment depending upon their task. They are also subject to the same dangers as the racers: James McDonald, one of the lead moto riders, crashed hard today hitting a deep rut at speed and breaking his femur in the process.

The first people on the scene were three of the top ten teams in the race: Team Opus (Steve Gaffney & Shane Besler), the Soul Bros (Heath McCroy & Leighton Poidevin) and Forerunners (Norm Thibeault & Stefan Jakobsen). In a display of the sportsmanship which is so often seen in endurance racing, the teams stopped racing to aid and marshal while waiting for the evacuation helicopter to arrive. The race officials and organizers conferred at the end of the stage and restored the lost time to all three teams.

Tomorrow’s stage covers 108 km, with not a single metre of pavement, through the Kootenay Rockies from the wilderness campsite at Whiteswan Lake to Nipika Mountain Bike and XC Resort. With the top three teams so closely matched, everything is up for grabs.

The Brits

Team Numplumz (Gary Hill and Jack Peterson) had their first stage finish outside the top five, rolling in to Whiteswan Lake in eighth place but only a short time behind several other teams – they’re still 5th overall in 80+ Men. Eden Wheelers (Jane Meeks and Gary Baum) in 80+ Mixed are looking pretty much settled – another 4th in the stage, still 4th overall and with over an hour to the next team in either direction. After a bit of a blip on Day 3, Lunar Power (Mark Spratt and Sebastian Huckson) was once again the highest-finishing British team in Open Men, in 13th. They’re hanging on to 11th in the overall standings. In Open Mixed, Fancier Ride (Melanie Alexander and Richard Holmes) came in 6th – they’re still 6th overall, but they’ve lost a little time to the teams ahead. Still within striking distance, though…