I think that it’s safe to say that almost everyone managed to get all the adrenaline out of their systems on the 95km first stage from Fernie to Blairmore. Just about every team that I spoke to had stories of going much too hard, and paying in suffering later.

The second day greeted the riders with low, threatening skies and cold temperatures and the mood of the teams was one of setting in for the long haul, ready to plug on regardless of the course or conditions. At 85km, the second stage was 10km shorter than the first, but with a profile that included more climbing than the day before and a route which included only 500 metres of paved road. With that in mind, just about everyone started the race expecting to be on course for a half-hour to a full hour longer than the first day.

The strongest teams were seeded at the front of the grid, and set a blistering pace from the start. Like most of the field, my teammate and I started out with the clear goal of riding at a pace that would allow us to finish in one piece. The first part of the course was a perfect warm-up for tired legs with a long gradual climb along gravel roads and wet singletrack gaining roughly 500 metres.

By day two, we had realized that the one area in which the very detailed route books were deficient was accurate numbers on total elevation gain. The first day’s true number was 1,800 metres of climbing, roughly 500 more than the guidebook said, while the second day’s elevation total was reached before the race had even taken a big chunk of the third and final climb of the day. In the end, the second day took in over 2,000 metres of climbing including crossing the Continental Divide twice.

By halfway through the second day, the cold understanding that you are going to be riding for a whole week sets in, and everything starts to fade into a blur of waking, eating, riding, pushing up hill, riding a little more, then waiting for dinner.

The TransRockies Challenge is an amazing logistical feat, as essentially an entire bike shop (run by The Bike Shop of Calgary), along with a food tent for over 250 riders and volunteers, portable showers, power bike wash and a tent city are moved from wilderness campsite to site while the riders sweat and slog through the day. All the riders need do, and it is no small feat, is get dressed each day and ride their bikes through the best riding that the Rocky Mountains has to offer.

Not a bad deal, eh?