A very different prologue

August 7, 2005

Hi from the Canadian wilderness and the TransRockies Challenge.

The novelty of this event and events like it is that it is open to pros and amateurs. If you have ever wondered what it feels like to race hard, day after day in some very beautiful and often severe terrain, this is the way to do it. Then, if you are successful, or insane, you can do it again and again, in Europe (Transalp), South Africa (Cape Epic) or a shorter but no less severe version in Costa Rica (La Ruta de los Conquistadors).

As you probably guessed, the reports will be written from the perspective of an amateur. I'll be the first to warn you that this is not going to be as dramatic as the diaries that the pros submit to Cyclingnews. I'll also warn you that I have never tried to do this sort of thing after very long stages in the heat. It is not certain that I am going to be very well connected with anything resembling wit, or intellect, the English language, or my fingers for that matter, so this may get even more spotty than normal as the week progresses.

The first day is done. It was a prologue of sorts - 50 km, all but a few KM singletrack, and 1500 meters or so vertical to make things interesting. It was a treat really. These races often do not have this much singletrack in the week, let alone in a day. That is one of the distinguishing features of this event, and one I think is very cool. The course wasn't supposed to be very technical, and, by BC standards, I suppose it was fairly tame. Keep in mind that BC standards are on the edgy side for riders who don't live here, so there was some fun stuff out there, and plenty of abraded skin in the finishing area.

That gives you an idea of the way these races go. The guys racing at the front will stay fairly close, go very fast, use lots of tactics that you (as racing fans) would admire, and generally haul ass all week long. Behind them things get pretty spread out. MTB races are often like time trials, with little drafting, no peloton, nothing to keep things together like a road race. Big things can happen along the way too, since crashes are more likely riding in this sort of terrain, and since amateur physiology is not quite as finely tuned as pros. That makes it likely that there will be big time gaps.

My guess is that it will be a fast middle ring climb, but not fast enough to make drafting too beneficial. Should be entertaining from a fitness, fuel and hydration POV. We carry a lot of food and water on these - there are no domestiques and no bottles handed up along the way. There is food and water supplied at stations along the way every 20 to 30 km, and in heat, and a fast pace, that can make the load you need to get between them pretty big. Take as little as you need to lighten the load, but you will really regret taking too little.

Keith Bontrager is best known as the bike and component design guru behind his eponymous road and mountain bike components, but behind the scenes the man universally known as KB is an enthusiastic and well-respected endurance mountain bike racer. KB has taken part in a over 50 24-hour races in the last few years, and in his diary takes us inside the mental, physical and technical challenges of long-distance mountain bike racing, starting with one of the sport's greatest tests, the seven-day TransRockies Challenge.