We met some great people along the way racing in Transrockies 2008.
Scroll down the side and check out the other pictures.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Crazy Larry & The Italian Mafioso
We met some great people along the way racing in Transrockies 2008.
Scroll down the side and check out the other pictures.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Top 10 things to remember for the next endurance mtb race
10. Ingest HEED instead of Cytomax
9. Carry a rain jacket
8. Ride a sub-25 lb mountain bike
7. 8+ hour weekend training rides
6. Learn bike maintenance
5. Race and drink with Kiwis & Brits
4. Add serious hike-a-bike training to your schedule
3. A Camelback can only slow you down
2. Ride UST Tubeless w/Stans
1. Have Sam from InCycle as your lead mechanic
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Re: Stage 6
CRAP!!! Dude, you are so gnarly. You will be forever changed by this event, if they allow you to survive!! I'm buying you the biggest beer I can find the next time I see you.
thanks for the update and keep kickin' arse!
comment
10,000 + feet of climbing
10,000 + feet of descent
95 degrees
The route organizer described todays stage as very challenging. Come to find out 40 teams decide not to start today. Athletes are breaking down and nerves are on edge.
Most of us felt sick just listening and watching the course being described on google earth the night prior. Stuart from team ireland said he walked out of the room as it was being described.
We decide to ride with Laurie and Chris the entire stage as its survival mode...
Critical points in the stage are 8 climbs, one being a 45 minute hike-a-bike and 3 more major hike a bikes at 90k (just when u think u r finished.
The day wore on and it was a very dusty and dry day. The start was a 10% climb for 4 miles and right into beautiful single track. I did not feel good on the 30k ascent of High Rock Range and someone crashed in front of me and almost took me with him thru a 1 foot deep dust bowl section. I ascended at 4 mph and just kept plugging. Vert was having a good day and had to wait at the top.
We peaked out a few more times, at checkpoint 3 with 30k remaining, I was over heating. Luckily I started dumping ice water on me to cool down.
We recovered and powered the last 30k, Chris and Laurie were climbing like mountain goats and Vert and I took 15 seconds back from team Chantry Fats today on the sprint at the line.
The stage went well for us - though it was beyond hard and almost ridiculous. The athletes were in agreement that they just tried to crush everyone today. We finish in 8 hours.
Stage 4
Nipika to Whiteswan Lake
110 kilometers (longest stage)
8,500 feet of climbing.
8,300 feet of descent.
In prep for a long brutal stage. 6am breakfast of 3 pancakes, eggs, ham slices, fruit, coffee, oj and coffee.
Race starts at 8am with an expected 8 hour day on the bike. Sammy dialed in the bikes last night and says I need a new headset.
The profile shows two mtn ranges we need to fly over with 3 checkpoints - the rules state that u have to checkin as a team at each checkpoint or get penalized. The weather is ideal today at 30 degrees celcius..
At the first descent a pro crashed head first and received 10 stitches. The start was fast on dirt roads - we rode well and finished in 8 hours -- the descents and scenery was amazing - with lots of rivers, 8,000 feet of descent. Today water bars in the trails were dangerous and one guy hit one at full speed and launched while breaking his clavical. We passed him and he was laying on the ground with an emergency blanket waiting to get air lifted out via helicopter while his teammate finished the day with a broken crankset. We hit major water crossings and a fast finish into Whiteswan Lake.
Finished in 7 hours 55 minutes exhausted. Very tough day.
110 kilometers (longest stage)
8,500 feet of climbing.
8,300 feet of descent.
In prep for a long brutal stage. 6am breakfast of 3 pancakes, eggs, ham slices, fruit, coffee, oj and coffee.
Race starts at 8am with an expected 8 hour day on the bike. Sammy dialed in the bikes last night and says I need a new headset.
The profile shows two mtn ranges we need to fly over with 3 checkpoints - the rules state that u have to checkin as a team at each checkpoint or get penalized. The weather is ideal today at 30 degrees celcius..
At the first descent a pro crashed head first and received 10 stitches. The start was fast on dirt roads - we rode well and finished in 8 hours -- the descents and scenery was amazing - with lots of rivers, 8,000 feet of descent. Today water bars in the trails were dangerous and one guy hit one at full speed and launched while breaking his clavical. We passed him and he was laying on the ground with an emergency blanket waiting to get air lifted out via helicopter while his teammate finished the day with a broken crankset. We hit major water crossings and a fast finish into Whiteswan Lake.
Finished in 7 hours 55 minutes exhausted. Very tough day.
Stage 2 : detail
Stage 2 - August 11: Invermere to Nipika Resort, 74km
13,000 feet of climbing.
A detour to heaven. It was a long day for everyone on the TransRockies trail today, as an already gruelling stage got longer when the front pack went off course and everyone played "follow the leader," The riders went awry when some of the top teams missed the flagging tape on course indicating a right-hand turn. Instead, the group marched up a steep avalanche gulley shouldering their bikes all the way to the top, missing the turn and finding out, upon summiting the chute, that the trail had gone cold.". Everyone was so focused on putting one foot in front of the other that we ended up just following riders at the front of the race, realizing their mistake, turned and began backtracking, eventually finding the route the leaders completed the course with a time of 5h50'37. There was a lot of climbing today even without adding an extra hour and a half of uphill with my bike," said Frederic at the finish line, still sporting a smile but showing signs of fatigue after two straight days of steep vertical.
The degree of difficulty was high and the wrong route created an extra hour of hike-a-bike. The descent was so difficult with roots, mud, water falls, stream crossings. Today I question my tire choice of Michellin Pythons as I slide down shoots of mud and scree at high speeds, though no major crashes - maybe they will be ok.
The 3 climbs today were absolutely brutal at well over 15% for 20k each. It took us 7 hours and 56 minutes to complete todays stage.
The next stage is at Nipika Mountain Resort and promises to deliver that with some exceptional private singletrack along the Kootenay River, bordering Canada's Kootenay National Park. The weather is clearing now as the clouds cracked open to reveal blue skies today.
There was plenty of snoring in Tent City last night. Perhaps this collective deep sleep, after only Stage 2, it is concrete evidence that TransRockies VII is indeed the most challenging edition yet?
strong Kicking Horse Coffee is on the menu in the morning.
13,000 feet of climbing.
A detour to heaven. It was a long day for everyone on the TransRockies trail today, as an already gruelling stage got longer when the front pack went off course and everyone played "follow the leader," The riders went awry when some of the top teams missed the flagging tape on course indicating a right-hand turn. Instead, the group marched up a steep avalanche gulley shouldering their bikes all the way to the top, missing the turn and finding out, upon summiting the chute, that the trail had gone cold.". Everyone was so focused on putting one foot in front of the other that we ended up just following riders at the front of the race, realizing their mistake, turned and began backtracking, eventually finding the route the leaders completed the course with a time of 5h50'37. There was a lot of climbing today even without adding an extra hour and a half of uphill with my bike," said Frederic at the finish line, still sporting a smile but showing signs of fatigue after two straight days of steep vertical.
The degree of difficulty was high and the wrong route created an extra hour of hike-a-bike. The descent was so difficult with roots, mud, water falls, stream crossings. Today I question my tire choice of Michellin Pythons as I slide down shoots of mud and scree at high speeds, though no major crashes - maybe they will be ok.
The 3 climbs today were absolutely brutal at well over 15% for 20k each. It took us 7 hours and 56 minutes to complete todays stage.
The next stage is at Nipika Mountain Resort and promises to deliver that with some exceptional private singletrack along the Kootenay River, bordering Canada's Kootenay National Park. The weather is clearing now as the clouds cracked open to reveal blue skies today.
There was plenty of snoring in Tent City last night. Perhaps this collective deep sleep, after only Stage 2, it is concrete evidence that TransRockies VII is indeed the most challenging edition yet?
strong Kicking Horse Coffee is on the menu in the morning.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Stage 7: Last Stage
80 kilometers
7,000 feet of climbing
8,000 feet of descent
Todays highlights are a 10% climb out of the valley at the start! We thought the last stage would be easy? Not the case - it was set as a tough day to the finish with hike a bikes, singletrack, and a fast rip descent thru famous Fernie singletrack. Technical descents and fast fire roads with a paceline were also on the menu. We were on a good day. We held with a great group for the first 50k. The group was made up of 2 leader jersey teams (100+ mens, mixed open).
We passed team KHS in 26th place and were on track to catch team chantry fats when Vert lost control on a nasty descent and body slammed on the steep rutted descent. Luckily he didn't crack his helmet, but he was seeing stars. For 30k after the crash he recovered.
At checkpoint 3 we regrouped, had some coca cola, water, the medic offered Vert a ride on a quad to the finish. Luckily he turned it down we bombed down the final sections to finish on main street in Fernie!
We immediately went to the beer garden and celebrated the finish with the pasadena team Chantry Fats and the mayor of Fernie.
Stage 5 update - the Rock Garden
Stage 5 is Whiteswan Lake to Elkford
88 kilometers, 6,500 feet of climbing.
6,000 feet of descent
Todays climbs are steep, 2 big range to ride over today as we ascend over the front range of the rocky mountains and lots of ground to cover to get into Elkford.
The ride looks short at 88k, but the climbs are steep and and the second climb is 30k with a steep pitch at the end. The descent is wicked fast at the end covering 4,500 feet in 15k with the famous rock garden. The descent was thru a 5k garden of boulders, we rode the whole thing, just banging the bikes. Our friend stuart from team ireland's bike came apart at the end - his linkage bolts started popping off....
The italians had a mechanical and lost the stage to team rocky mountain in 3.5 hours and we finish in 7 hours.
Finishing in Elkford was awesome. The city opened up the sports center and we had a cool place to rest, shower and eat, I napped on the floor of the curling rink and rested - very tough stage and tomorrow is over 100k and the temp is going to be over 90 degrees.
In 28th place
Mike Mascott
P: 949.794.2053
Cell: 626-390-8712
--------------------------
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Stage 3 update - Time Trial
44 kilometers
5,000 feet of climbing
The first mtb time trial in the Transrockies. We start 6th in 30 second blocks. Yesterday we were in survival mode and today we feel good and can race. The director says its a recovery day - unlikely.
The day is fast and we avg 10 mph thru lots of singletrack and Vert's first nature break in the bushes. The trails criss cross and follow the Kokanee River. Wood bridges, rooty, trails and we finish in 5 hours.
We finish without any major issues and still 15 seconds behind Laurie and Chris in 27th place.
End the race with burgers and Kokanee beers with live acoustic music at Nipika. Recovery massage with tara scheduled for 7pm.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Race Day - Sunday
250 teams of riders. First day race plan from the debriefing is sunny and 50k distance up and over the 9,000 foot summit of the panorama ski resort and down to K2 Ranch.
The ride up was steep from the start - no warm up. It takes us 2 hours to reach the Col. Though now we have get up and to the top of the ridge. The trail now is unridable - everyone throws their bike on our shoulders and "hike a bike" the rest of the way up. We hike for over an hour and it starts to SNOW. We ride and hike the ridge line at 9k feet. When rideable the single track is lush, rooty and it's cold - we are under dressed - no jacket, no extra gloves - luckily have arm warmers.
Riders are skattered across the ridge except for the pros are already descending. We asking our new euro pals about epo connections.
We finally descend thru the wettest - root filled single track - we know now that we're in BC.
We get down and ride fast dirt roads to K2 Ranch. My brakes are torched and I crash running over a water diversion plank as we descend into K2.
We finish in 5 hours & 30 minutes, 27th place out of 100 in the 80 + open mens division.
Bike wash immediately, we connect with our mechanic, Sam, on loan from Lori - Team Chantry Fats from Pasadena. Lori is here with the family.
We meet a bunch of people from all over the world - gavin & adrian Team Canada, ben, jackson, rodney, sally etc...
The winners for the day - The Italian team aka 'the mtn goats' at 3 hours total time. Unbelievable........
The ride up was steep from the start - no warm up. It takes us 2 hours to reach the Col. Though now we have get up and to the top of the ridge. The trail now is unridable - everyone throws their bike on our shoulders and "hike a bike" the rest of the way up. We hike for over an hour and it starts to SNOW. We ride and hike the ridge line at 9k feet. When rideable the single track is lush, rooty and it's cold - we are under dressed - no jacket, no extra gloves - luckily have arm warmers.
Riders are skattered across the ridge except for the pros are already descending. We asking our new euro pals about epo connections.
We finally descend thru the wettest - root filled single track - we know now that we're in BC.
We get down and ride fast dirt roads to K2 Ranch. My brakes are torched and I crash running over a water diversion plank as we descend into K2.
We finish in 5 hours & 30 minutes, 27th place out of 100 in the 80 + open mens division.
Bike wash immediately, we connect with our mechanic, Sam, on loan from Lori - Team Chantry Fats from Pasadena. Lori is here with the family.
We meet a bunch of people from all over the world - gavin & adrian Team Canada, ben, jackson, rodney, sally etc...
The winners for the day - The Italian team aka 'the mtn goats' at 3 hours total time. Unbelievable........
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Here' the picture
P: 949.794.2053
Cell: 626-390-8712
--------------------------
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FAT TIRE BREWERY
Mike Vert riding the stationary during a layover in Denver Intl Airport after a skinny dip ale.
Next flight united to calgary flight # 6587. L8
Mike Mascott
Google
P: 949.794.2053
Cell: 626-390-8712
--------------------------
Sent from my BlackBerry Wireless Handheld
Next flight united to calgary flight # 6587. L8
Mike Mascott
P: 949.794.2053
Cell: 626-390-8712
--------------------------
Sent from my BlackBerry Wireless Handheld
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