After three days in the remote Rocky Mountain backcountry, the riders of the 2007 TransRockies Challenge were very pleased to return to civilization as they rolled into Elkford, British Columbia to finish Stage 5 in what has been an exceptionally hot, dusty and wearing edition of this epic race.
Again, the hot high sun beat down without mercy on the 560 riders who rolled out of Whiteswan Lake knew that Stage 5 would be another long one in the saddle with two major passes including the monster 2100 metre Crossing Creek Pass and legendary gnarlfest 3km-long rock field which has claimed several riders in the history of the TransRockies Challenge.
After being beaten at the line yesterday by Team La Ruta, Roddi Lega and Tim Heemskerk of Team United Cycles were extra-determined to take first place today on the 90km leg from Whiteswan Lake to Elkford, BC. Three teams formed an early group, La Ruta, United Cycles and the composite Rocky Mountain Haywood/Opus team of Andreas Hestler and Brian Cooke, both of whom had lost a partner on the previous day. Though they were not eligible for the prizes, Hestler and Cooke heated up the competition with a furious pace through the middle of the race.
Having survived the wicked tempo, Team United Cycles were able to establish a small gap on a singletrack section and held the lead to the top of the last 14km descent when the fast-charging Costa Ricans almost managed to catch them. Lega and Heemskerk used some local knowledge on the beyond-technical rocky opening section of the descent and kept the hammer down to roll across the line in a finishing time of 4:02:18, 4 ½ minutes faster than Team La Ruta. The Costa Ricans pushed themselves to the limit on the unfamiliar technical sections trying to live up their promise to win the stage as a birthday present for their team manager Luis Rueda Fonseca.
Hestler and Cooke crossed the line third on the day in 4:13, though Hestler’s teammates Matt Green and Matt Hadley will get credit for third place with a time of 4:16:06. First and second place in the overall are unchanged though Team Rocky Mountain EA Sports moves back into third with the retirement of Team Opus.
While the leaders in some categories have started to build leads which seem insurmountable, others are tightening as the race progresses. For example, in the Open 100+ Combined ages category, the French-Canadian duo of Francois Amyot and Daniel Auclair (Team Zootallures) has seen their 25 minutes lead drop to 11 seconds with two stages to go as the Sygenta Prairie Boys, Don Sissons and Bill Benson have surged to three stages in a row.
This year's TransRockies Challenge saves the toughest day for for Day 6 with a huge stage which covers 116km and includes over 2300m of climbing over three passes. Opening with a leg-busting 5km climb up the Fording Mine road the racers then head into the trails for 20km of great single and doubletrack before starting the climbing the top of the 2000m Alexander Creek Summit.
After another fire road transfer, the riders face another tough climb to the top of the Sparwood Ridge before plummeting nearly 1000 metres on single and doubletrack into Sparwood. This should be the longest day in the saddle for the riders this year.
Postcard from the TransRockies Challenge
The riders of la Ruta were forced to wait around for their Team Manager Luis Rueda Fonseca, who, like a large portion of the TransRockies caravan, was trapped behind a logging truck which lost its load on the narrow logging road exiting from Whiteswan Lake. After being held for an hour while the truck reloaded, he made a wrong turn and while trying to make up time on the long road transfer to Elkford, was pulled over by an RCMP officer for speeding. A passing member of the TransRockies caravan stopped to intercede and Luis was let off with a stern warning to “drive like a Canadian.”
Of course, his team ended up wandering around the finish for an hour or so after they crossed the line waiting for Luis to arrive with their clean clothes . . .
