Rain Can’t Wash Away the Epic
Monday, September 14, 2009
Riders Give Overwhelmingly Positive Response to TRVIII
There were surely times during the 2009 TransRockies when the theme song at the start line should have been changed from Highway to Hell to Who’ll Stop the Rain? After four straight years of generally dry and sometimes baking weather, 2009 went against statistics and history with four consecutive days of challenging cold and rain.
Despite a slightly reduced distance and total climbing from the 2008 route and even more fun singletrack, the conditions through the middle of the race made TRVIII perhaps the most epic edition yet of North America’s toughest mountain bike race. Despite the conditions, at each day’s finish, the riders were greeted with a camp setup that included ample hot showers, unlimited gourmet food and dry areas where riders could get out of the weather and get comfortable. The numerous mechanics on-site worked deep into the night installing new cables, cleaning drivetrains and making sure that the bikes were always ready and waiting for their riders each day. In extreme cases this year, mechanics found loaner and rental bikes for more than one rider whose frame had broken, no small feat when you’re often an hour from the nearest bike shop.
It’s testament to the experience, dedication and development of the organization and the improved preparation of the athletes that every aspect of the event ran smoothly regardless of the conditions. Riders maintained an incredibly high level of morale and low drop out rate throughout the tough seven days in the high and remote Canadian Rockies. In post event surveys, rider satisfaction is again tracking above 90 percent for the event.
Each year, riders must overcome challenges– physical, mental and mechanical– to get to the finish line and earn their finishers’ medals and t-shirts. Some years it’s baking heat and dust, other years the course is the main obstacle but in 2009, for the first time in a long time, the unpredictable Rocky Mountains tested the riders with cold, rain and mud. As they always do, hundreds of riders from around the World dug deep to overcome every challenge and earned the right to call themselves “finishers” in North America’s most remote, epic and spectacular mountain bike stage race.
