Matty has checked in with his thoughts on the event after the forth race…

Contributed by: Matty Blayney

Another freezing morning, another race. today takes us from Nipika to Whiteswan Lake. Nipaka, though I moaned a lot, is actually a very interesting place. It is built using 100% natural materials from within its own forest! That includes the milling etc. They pride themselves on being self-sustainable. A great ski holiday point.
 
The race today was 113km with an altitude gain of 1342m. The 1st climb came early after 12.5km up Cochrane creek and down little elk creek. It’s amazing what the body can do to recover overnight as I felt physically fine again. Mentally I am still really finding it tough. It was a surprise as I felt I would have struggled big-time after yesterday. I flew up the climb again and caught loads of people. No one came past me. It felt great. I don’t think I’m doing the climbs justice in these emails though. They are the longest and hardest hills I’ve ever been up and the terrain is rough. Add to that the heat and you have real seriously hard sessions getting up.
 
I’ve got to know and meet so many people out here and I know I should be near certain people at certain times etc or who is good for a tow until I recuperate enough to go again. A Colombian guy, Armando, and his teammate are always a target and I’ve got to know them. They can’t half climb but like most people here they are a bit pedestrian on the descents. The Brits and Irish are defiantly a bit more fearless when it comes to the technical stuff, especially the fully ridged nutter. He sliced his rim in two yesterday.

The descent was fast but let you refuel for once. After CS1 though began a steady drag that would last around 30km to the foot of the next tough climb. The bodies were all over the place and again I managed to pick them off. I have great fun up the climbs seeing which and how many people I can catch. It keeps me sane. With a bit of hike-a-bike at the top to finish off there was no resting on the decent. Very rough fire tracks with boulders all over them.

One of the big problems out here is the dust. And on descents like these it is a nightmare. Absolutely flying down these hills all of a sudden your blinded by the dust being kicked up by some guy you’ve caught. It’s terrifying stuff. Gasping for breath after the slog all your getting is a mouthful of gravel and dust. The only thing you can see is the very back of the guy in fronts wheel!  You cling to every move it makes and hope he doesn’t make any mistakes or else your both in the helicopter. That’s why we pass ASAP much to their horror. Its hilarious hearing them cursing you for passing in their time of terror.  They grip the bars and throw the brakes on!!!
 
The last 40km was shown to be a gradual downhill in the official route book but was anything but. The rolling tracks really ripped the legs out of some people and they weren’t amused when they got in. The ride along the cliffs over the White river was spectacular. Again I can’t do the scenery justice and photos will never get across the unbelievable sights I am seeing.
 
Now that the race is over the depression sets in. 4 things have to be done.  Food, wash bike, shower and food. Easier said than done when you’re in a field in the middle of nowhere. You seem to spend your time on the 1st thing, FOOD.  We had a girl handing out pasta in the finish area. There was the fruit and usual stuff but I needed the pasta. I was exhausted and the heat was killing me. She handed me a plate with 6 bits of pasta. After asking for more and being turned down I was far from happy. I stood in the shade of a tree beside her and stole the plates of pasta as she changed trays. That’s how desperate the situation is.
 
I am really finding it tough to cope with. The race im fine with but the rest of this is awful. Its probably one of those things I’ll look back on and say i enjoyed but really im not. Weird. The thing that brightened me up a bit is knowing we are going to Elkford tomorrow. Elkford sounds like an amazing place as it has a shop and even electricity! Just got to do the 93km and the two hardest hills yet to get there.

Matty

Category: Mountainbike » Canada, Matthew Blayney, Matty's Trans Rockies Diary, Trans Rockies |

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