Transrockies Challenge 2006
Stage 5: Whiteswan Lake to Nipika Resort, 107.5km, 1285m climbing.
 2006 TransRockies Results »
After a relatively easier Day 4, the roughly 400 remaining riders in the 2006 TransRockies Challenge were faced with another 100km plus ride between the two backcountry stops at Whiteswan Lake and Nipika Resort. Even though the profile had less climbing than the epic stage 3, riders were nonetheless on the trails for an average of over six hours each as they worked through the last long day of the 2006 event.
Having grabbed the leaders’ jerseys back by the slimmest of margins yesterday, the resurgent Seamus McGrath and Andreas Hestler of Rocky Mountain Business Objects/Felt Racing attacked the front group after only 15km of the long grind up the White River and made an escape that they would sustain until the finish line. Behind them, yesterday’s stage winners from United Cycles managed to do the best job of limiting the damage and finished only three minutes down, taking over second place in the overall standings from Mountain Bike City who suffered through their second off day in a row losing ten minutes in the process.
“We’re both feeling really good right now,” said Seamus McGrath, “and we attacked early to test the other riders. Once we had a gap we went for it for the next 90km and tried to build a gap which will allow us to defend the jerseys until Panorama.”
One team which has ridden with amazing consistency throughout the race is Rich Dillen and Josh Neely of Team Bad Idea Racing, one of the winners of Race Face’s Ultimate XC Challenge. As the first team to ever try and complete the TransRockies on singlespeeds (fully rigid no less), they have managed to finish in the top third of the field day after day as fully-suspended, many-geared competitors have fallen to the side. You can question their sanity, but you can’t doubt their toughness.
For the second straight year, Syncros sponsored a special section of the race called the naked mile and found 41 riders willing to pedal naked for a full mile of the course with the promise of prizes and video reel fame . . . that’s a lot of bad tan lines in one place.
Day Six of the 2006 TransRockies Challenge will see the riders emerge from two days in the deep wilderness to finish on the shores of Lake Windermere in the town of Invermere. Though the ride is a relatively short 64km, the course contains a lot of technical singletrack through Nipika Resort and up and over the gruelling Bear Creek pass approach. This riding will only get more challenging with the rain which was dumped this afternoon during the torrential downpour which marked the first rain of TR 2006.
'Team Toyota Never Quit' lives up to their name.
Single Speeders.
What would the TransRockies be without a little mud.
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