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Taking on the TransRockies

There are many ways to spend a week in August, but for 2005 John Blok and myself will be riding 600 km between Fernie and Canmore in the TransRockies Challenge.

There are many ways to spend a week in August, but for 2005 John Blok and myself will be riding 600 km between Fernie and Canmore in the TransRockies Challenge.

The race is a tough one, averaging over 88 km per day with more than 35,000 feet of climbing over seven days on a mix of fire roads, doubletrack and singletrack trails in the challenging terrain of the Canadian Rockies.

John and I have both been training since January to build the base that will hopefully allow us to finish feeling strong in Canmore after seven hard days in the saddle.

I've been looking forward to spending a week of hard riding with a partner who, like myself, enjoys nothing more than a solid challenge.

Both of us have competed in Ironman Canada a couple of times and are no strangers to pain and suffering. John, however is probably in the best shape of the two of us and hopefully I will be able to hold onto his wheel as he climbs like a 130 pound mountain goat up the major ascents that we face each day.

One of the nice things about the event is that each day they haul all of your camp gear to a new site each night with portable showers and an all-you-can-eat buffet where I know I will be getting my money's worth.

One thing I’m not looking forward to each day is checking my thirst, which is trained to swill back a six pack of cold gold after epic rides, as well as not having a trusty rum and Coke to replace my depleted demerara sugar reserves along the way.

The event starts in Fernie on Sunday, August 7 at 11 a.m. with 175 teams of two racing the first 50 km stage to Sparwood, home of the World’s Biggest Dump Truck and some of the longest coal trains on the planet. From there it’s another 550 km to Canmore over the next 6 days, where we will face the physical, mechanical and mental challenges that make an event like this so tough.

For those of you trying to put this challenge into perspective it is like doing three Test of Metals and four Cheakamus Challenges in one week, sleeping in a tent each night and beginning your race at 8 a.m. each day. No lounging around at Gone Bakery or Behind the Grind until the motivation hits you to start your ride – it’s up at 6 a.m., eat like a pig, knock down a couple of huge coffee’s, hit the outhouse and off you, go boys and girls. To complicate things even further, you and your partner can never be more than two minutes apart.

One of the major challenges is keeping your bike in good repair and not breaking any expensive and difficult to find parts along the way. If you do there is technical support and a parts wagon at the finish area each day but god help you if you end up busting something early and having to drag your sorry ass a long 60 km to the finish.

We are lucky to both have the luxury of having a couple of local TransRockies veterans to get advice from. Eric Crowe and John Ramsden have both been great sources of information as to what to do and more importantly what not to do while racing in this event. Eric will be racing this year with his son Crunch, (James) in this years’ edition and will have the support of both Mama Crowe, (Michelle) and daughter/sister Nadine. They also have the support of Race Face, after winning their $10,000 Ultimate XC Ride contest.

Rumour has it that Nikki Kassel, who has been spending her winters at school in Prince George, will also be joining the field this year.

The best thing about an event like this is hanging out with all the other racers and going over the days challenges and triumphs along the way. I am sure that we will all face some very difficult days along the route and having a group of over 350 like-minded competitors to talk to will just make the experience that much better.

I have always wondered what makes people want to sign up for this type of torture and pay big money for the opportunity to spend a week grinding up climbs, slogging through mud and battling swarms of insects going in your nose and mouth and trying to suck the last ounces of blood from your flesh. Maybe it is the simple goal that is so attractive in this world of constant interruptions and multi-tasking where you can’t ever seem to get a chance to think and dream. The TransRockies is a huge challenge, but it’s a challenge that is achievable and can’t be compromised by a bunch of number crunchers who would much rather stay safe and not try to push the envelope with anything in their lives.

For me, it is a chance to go ride in a beautiful part of the world and recharge batteries that are in need of some fresh energy for all the little challenges that face us these days.

For me it is a chance to ride, eat, laugh and share stories from the trail with others who have the energy, drive and desire to go beyond the safe and predictable grind that awaits us each day.

This is going to be a great experience for both of us and hopefully we can hold it together to the finish in Canmore where I will look forward to a nice stiff Appleton’s and Coke with a nice wedge of lime and one massive Alberta Rib Eye steak.

Thanks for reading I look forward to the next installment which will feature on the trail reports from the TransRockies.

For more information and updates, check on the race online at www.transrockies.com