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Sparwood-Fernie 48km/660m climbing

Riders were treated to a little extra sleep last night after a Day 6 which will go down as one of the most brutal days in TransRockies history.  To give you an idea of how difficult this was, check out the latest from Velonews, a riders perspective www.velonews.com/race/mtn/articles/13138.0.html.  Stage 7 was a relatively short and quick 48km's into the picturesque mountain town of  Fernie, where the finish line celebrations with friends and family had already begun.

Stage 7 of the 2007 TransRockies once again saw the dominant team,  the United Cycle / Trek  duo of Roddi Lega and Tim Heemskerk confirm their overall victory with their sixth stage win in seven days. They were successful in separating themselves from the second and third placed Team La Ruta/Pizza Hut and Team Rocky Mountain EA Sports in the closing singletrack section, allowing them to roll up to and walk across the line with an 18 second victory on the day and a 26-minute win in the overall standings.  www.cyclingnews.com/mtbphotos.php?id=/photos/2007/aug07/transrockies07/transrockies077/trday7teamunitedcyclescrossthefinishlinefirst

The stage began with a small select group of teams forming during the first 20km of the race, averaging close to 35km/h on a series of rolling forestry roads and doubletrack trails.  Since most of the technical singletrack was packed into the last half of the stage, this played right in to the strengths of Tim and Roddi as riders worked together knowing that the race would be won later.

As they had throughout the race, the team from Edmonton, Alberta was able to use their superior technical skills to distance themselves from the  Costa Ricans on the rocky, rooty trails which make the TransRockies Challenge unique among the grand epic races in the world.  Once the race hit the single track and a winning gap was in place, the question became could the young guns from Rocky Mountain EA Sports use their prowess in the singletrack to overcome the advantage that Team La Ruta/Pizza Hut had opened earlier in the race. In the end they came up a few seconds short and the podium on day 7 exactly mirrored the final overall standing with Team United Cycle / Trek in 1st, La Ruta in 2nd and Rocky Mountain EA Sports rounding out the top 3.  www.cyclingnews.com/mtbphotos.php?id=/photos/2007/aug07/transrockies07/transrockies077/trday7theoverallpodium

Congratulations Tim and Roddi, 2008 TransRockies Champions.  Read more from an indepth Velonews inerview, www.velonews.com/race/mtn/articles/13126.0.html.

Open Men Final Results 

1. United Cycle / Trek    Heemskerk / Lega          24.39.23

2. La Ruta                       Ramirez / AMador            +26.17

3. Rocky Mountain / EAsports Hadley/Greene            +1.26.29

70 Adrien Regimbald / Dan Mccarthy United Cycle      +13.01.06

Adrien and Dan had another amazing day finishing 66th. 

96 Jim Seethram / Marcelo Lafuente United Cycle     +17.52.31

They did it, after an epic 9hr day yesterday, Jim and Marcelo rode home today, another successful TransRockies under Jim's belt.

80+ Men

16 Trevor Pombert / Roger Clemens United Cycle        4.24.45

Finishing 15th today, it's clear that these two excel on any stage over 100km in length!  Maniacs, that's what they are.

Stage 6 : Elkford-Sparwood 116km/2300m climbing

This stage proved to be the longest and toughest stage of the race.  Smoke from forest fires rolling into the area resulted in a relentless and punishing course that was responsible for the suffering which each of the athletes endured.

At the summit of the Fording Creek Mine road, a 4-km asphalt climb at 7 per cent, the race was in pieces due to the fatigue from five days of tough racing.  The sweet but challenging single-track along Josephine Creek greeted the main group of roughly 20 riders who reached the top first.  The race for the General Classification remained together until the third feed station with roughly 33km to go.  Team United Cycle / Trek, Team La Ruta and the ad-hoc Rocky Mountain/Opus team of Andreas Hestler and Brian Cooke who had both lost their original partners earlier in the race were all that remained in the lead group. A couple of minutes behind Matt Hadley and Matt Green of Team EA Sports were being remorselessly hunted down by a group of five teams which had come together on the long transition between the two major passes of the day.

Though Team La Ruta had the legs on the day, luck was not to be on their side. They had established a small lead on Tim and Roddi by attacking on the single-track descent from the Alexander Creek summit but a wildlife encounter brought them to a dead stop on the trail.  Later a misdirection in the last 5km once again allowed Tim and Roddi to close a potentially winning gap. Lastly, they misunderstood the rule which gives the win to the team whose second rider crosses the finish line first.  Fortunately for the two boys from Edmonton,  who finished in 5:04:58, earned their  fifth stage win in six stages.  See the look on their faces as they crossed the finish line at www.cyclingnews.com/mtbphotos.php?id=/photos/2007/aug07/transrockies07/transrockies076/trday6finishfirstandsecond

Behind them, Hestler and Cooke crossed the line the line in 5:17:38 after being dropped on the final climb for their second unofficial third place in a row. Cooke, a Bike Shop owner in Canmore and father of two had put in one of the performances of the week hanging in bravely with the crew of full time racers. The boys from 100% Per Cent New Zealand surged away from Rocky Mountain EA Sports with enough of a gap to survive a flat tire in the last 5km to snatch the last official podium spot in 5:24:37. The top 5 in the overall standings were unchanged.

Congratulations to Trevor Pombert and Roger Clemens as well, they finished 10th on the epic stage and again moved higher up in the overall general classification.  After a grueling and epic Stage 6, every rider who crossed the line will know that their finisher t-shirt was well earned. In multi-day racing, the hardest days are the ones which most often are the most rewarding and though the rewards may not come until the pain has stopped, today was the day which will define the 2007 TransRockies for most of the competitors.

Open Men Results

1. United Cycle / Trek    Heemskerk / Lega          22:58:44

2. La Ruta                       Ramirez / AMador            +25:59

3. Opus                           Gaffney / Cooke               + 1:26:02

74 Adrien Regimbald / Dan Mccarthy United Cycle      +12:30:54

Adrien and Dan had another amazing day finishing 64th overall, continuing to improve. 

98 Jim Seethram / Marcelo Lafuente United Cycle      16:39:59

Jim and Marcelo moved into the top 100 on the final GC after another consistent day on the bike, 9hrs of mountain bike heaven.

80+ Men

16 Trevor Pombert / Roger Clemens United Cycle       4:18:32

Trevor and Roger continue to improve each and every stage, finishing 10th on todays stage.  As the fatigue sets in to everyone elses legs, the secret seems to be clear, train with 30lbs on the back!

 

After three days in the remote Rocky Mountain backcountry, Stage 5 marked the first return to civilization, Elkford, British Columbia.  Again, the sun beat down without mercy on another long day on the bike covering two major passes.  The 2100 metre Crossing Creek Pass and the legendary 3km-long rock field which has claimed more than one rider over the course of the TransRockies Challenge.

After being edged out at the line yesterday, Roddi Lega and Tim Heemskerk of Team United Cycle / Trek were very motivated to get back to their winning ways.  Standing in their way was a short 90km leg from Whiteswan Lake to Elkford, BC.   The three teams that formed an early group, La Ruta, United Cycle / Trek and the composite Rocky Mountain Haywood/Opus team of Andreas Hestler and Brian Cooke, distanced themselves early in the stage from the remainder of the field.  Hestler and Cooke worked together to set a furious pace through the middle of the race.  Having survived their strong pace setting, the United Cycle / Trek tandem of Heemskerk and Lega were able counter their efforts and establish a small gap on a technical singletrack section.   From there, they were successful in holding the lead to the top of the last 14km descent when Team La Ruta almost managed to catch them.  Lega and Heemskerk were able to rely on their superior technical skills and fitness in the beyond-technical rocky opening section of the descent and roll across the line 4 ½ minutes faster than Team La Ruta.  In the end, Tim and Roddi won their 4th stage and extended their overall lead heading in to the final two stages. 

Photos of this epic stage are available at www.cyclingnews.com/mtbphotos.php?id=/photos/2007/aug07/transrockies07/transrockies075/gallery-transrockies075

Read what a day in the TransRockies is really like at www.velonews.com/race/mtn/articles/13116.0.html

Open Men Results

1. United Cycle / Trek    Heemskerk / Lega          17.53.45

2. La Ruta                       Ramirez / AMador            +25.59

3. Opus                           Gaffney / Cooke               + 1.05.39

79 Adrien Regimbald / Dan Mccarthy United Cycle      +9.58.35

Adrien and Dan had another amazing day finishing 56th overall to move into the top 80. 

98 Jim Seethram / Marcelo Lafuente United Cycle      12.32.09

Jim and Marcelo moved into the top 100 on the final GC after another consistent day on the bike, 7 hrs of mountain bike heaven.

80+ Men

20 Trevor Pombert / Roger Clemens United Cycle        3.36.05

Trevor and Roger had their best stage to date finishing an amazing 12th overall to move into 20th on the G.C.

Bowness Nationals - Cat 4 Strength

The long weekend saw the annual hill climb and criterium raced out of Calgary.  The hill climb featured the 8 turn switchback from the Bobsled practice hut to the top of Canada Olympic Park and the criterium, raced in Bowness around the organizer, Bow Cycle's bike store.  Shannon Hein, Corey Dickinson, Jon Benskin, and Peter Knight headed down to race together in the cat 4 festivities with visions of success in their minds.  The hill climb saw riders grouped in 4 race up together and fortunately Peter, Corey, and Shannon started together with Kirk Hamilton of RVC.  A fast and furious start to tackle the 4 min course saw Corey, Peter, and Shannon distance their Edmonton rival, and make their way to the top for some outstanding results.  Jon Benskin had the opportunity to repeat his hill climbing success after dominating in Devon, and put in an excellent ride to finish 5th overall in Cat. 4.  He was one upped by Peter Knight in 4th, and Corey Dickinson in 3rd and followed closely behind by Shannon in 16th.  These results bode well for the criterium the following day.

 

The significant prize money up for grabs in primes and for the podium finish meant that racing would be very fast from the start.   The cat. 5 crash didn't help settle anyone's nerves as they lined up.  Shannon found himself right at the front early in the race and was unable to contest the early prime, but Corey was and soon found himself up the road in an early break after finishing second in the prime sprint.  Unfortunately the pace of the group was just too high.  Throughout the race, Peter and Shannon held on to the back as rider after rider succumbed to the pressure and the technical course while Jon and Corey were able to remain in the middle of the group.  After an ill timed flat left Shannon on the sidelines, Jon unleashed his sprint with Corey hot on his heals to finish 4th and 10th respectively while Peter finished a strong 14th on the day. 

Congratulations on a great weekend, and good luck on the 26th in Provincials.