79km will sound short to the lads after the last three days but it was still a push and there was still places to be made up. In the end they saved their best performance to the end, coming in 24th on the day and improving, as always, in the overall standings. The impressive finish to the 7 day stage race highlighted Matty & Sams endurance during the event as they picked off those ahead of them in the overall. Their 24th place finish — 3rd among British/Irish teams — moved them up to 33rd in the final standings as the sneaked into 3rd place finish by just 39 seconds in British/Irish finishers.

106 started the Open Mens race at the Trans-Rockies and 92 finished of which 21 were British & Irish riders. Well done men.

Click Below for full Results and Final Overall Standings. . . .

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A savage day but the end is in sight. With this nightmare behind them it means just one more race before the finish line and the end of the ‘08 Trans-Rockies. The stage was won by Italians Deho and Cattaneo who look to have confirmed their victory in the event. Matty & Sam slipped back on their race best finish yesterday to finish a still impressive 30th, good enough to move them up in the overall yet again to 36th and 5th best placed Brit pairing. Each day the boys have improved on their overall position. MORE »

It took a while for results to become available between stage four and five but like busses they all came along at once so I shall back date them and post stage 5, 6 and 7 results now. Stage 5 was a tad shorter than 4 but still no rest day. 88km of tough climbs seen no change at the top of the overall but a race best 25th place finish for Matty & Sam placed them 2nd out of the British/Irish teams improving them to 38th overall. Click below for Results and Standings.

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It’s all downhill from here, right? Well not quite, but yesterday’s stage marked the halfway point in the Trans Rockies and also marked the end of the longest stage of the race. A 110km slog through the mountains was won by the Italian pair who have been in charge of this event from the start and so they retain their lead. Further down the pack Matty and Sam continued to improve on their finishing position by the day, coming in 33rd on this stage under 2 hours back on the winners. It was good enough for 4th best Brit/Irish team and so boosts their overall standings yet again to 40th place and 6th Brit/Irish team. No word out of the camp so far today so we’ll assume all is well. MORE »

So it turns out Tuesday was a bigger disaster than at first thought. It wasn’t just a few riders going the wrong way, it was a huge number. Reports coming out of the Blayney/Craig camp suggest the boys hiked their bikes up a climb that went on longer than Slieve Donard only to find out it was taking them the wrong way. Apparantely the times were neutralized from that stage meaning today’s time-trial carried even more importance for those going for the overall win. Matty and Sam wern’t going to be doing that but they were looking to improve day by day and that they did. It was only a 44km ride, mainly on excellent single-track terrain and nobody complained about that considering tomorrow is the first stage that is +100km in length. The boys came in an excellent 35th place out of the 97 left in their category good enough for 5th place out of the British/Irish riders. They finished with a time of 3:33:02 and that moves them up further in the overall standings to 45th overall and 7th in the Brit/Irish cagegory that I am keeping an eye on. MORE »

With the first stage over and everyone into the swing of things the distance in the Rockies has started to go up. Monday’s stage was a 74km run across the mountains with a course savage enough to send the big favourites for the event off in the wrong direction. It apparantely brought them into the finish well behind schedule but still at the front of the pack. Matty and Sam completed the course in a time of 7hrs 56 mins 03secs in a very impressive 44th place. The position was good enough to make them 7th best British/Irish riders out of the 21 left in the race and moved them up in the overall to 58th place. Although well down on overall they sit 12th out of British riders but interestingly with 5 British riders just 7 minutes ahead of them.

Also taking part in the event this year in the +80 category is recently retired NHL star Trevor Linden. He came in with his team-mate on a time of 7.45.12 just 11 minutes up on Matty and Sam.

Results & Race Report after the jump.  MORE »

I’m not sure the two North Down boys realised they would be riding in the snow come mid-August when the Trans-Rockies challenge 2008 got underway, but yesterday that is exactly what happened. Matthew Blayney and Sam Craig make up the North Down team and although it was a short stage in the context of the event, it still proved a huge challenge for the lads as they came in 63rd in the mens senior event out of 106. No doubt the stage will be seen as a race to get them into the swing of things as tomorrow the race goes longer and harder. Yesterday’s stage had a climb that peaked at 2400 meters above sea level. The climb in itself on the bike was a 1,000 metre climb that took the boys into the snow of the Rockies. They came in 2 hours, 42 minutes down on the days winners and placed 10th our of 22 Briitsh and Irish riders.

Results & Race Report after the jump. MORE »

Race 7 - August 18: Sparwood, BC to Fernie, BC

Duane and Matty finally bring their rocky challenge to an end coming in 67th in the final short race to finish an impressive 79th overall. Tim Heemskerk and Roddi Lega from Canada were the winners in the end with a total time of 24 hours, 39 minutes and 23 seconds. They won nearly all the stages as well. In the end only 108 made it to the finish line in the open mens category. MORE »

Here it is then. The last day of one of the hardest things I will ever do. I was starting to feel proud of myself already.

With a later start everyone was well energised and raring to get it over with. The race got off to a fast pace again and with a few drags early on I realised I still had to do this stage and had to concentrate as my mind began to wonder.

With nothing too difficult the race finished with a lovely piece of downhill single track. It summed up the week in the Rockies - the best mountain biking you will do. As we came down the main street in Fernie it was amazing. Their street was lined with loads of people and the cheers were great. The congratulations and handshakes at the end last for a long time as we waited for a few of the guys we had became friends with to come in. One of our friends, Ian, from Wexford came across the line on his ass. It was probably one of the funniest things anyone there had ever seen. MORE »

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

Contributed by: Matty Blayney

Well it’s nearing an end and I’m starting to come out of the dumps. I can see a light at the end of the tunnel. Today however was one of the hardest if not the hardest. The Altitude gain or elevation gain was over 2000m. I’m not sure of the exact number but it was far bigger than any other stage. I’ll put up the graphs of each stage when I’m home. (check cycleseen.com for that)

The mood among the riders was good. Everyone knew if they could make today they were more or less home as tomorrow is an easier day. I felt weird; in one hand I was glad to be doing the last big stage and in another hand I was annoyed at myself for not enjoying it more. The more I talked to people the more I realised lots of people were on the same boat. MORE »

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

Contributed by: Matty Blayney

Today we reached Elkford. Happy days. 1528m of altitude gain today and it was tough as expected.

It was a relaxed start for 15km then our 1st climb. It last 15km and almost at the bottom the heat hit after another cold morning. I had little in my head today other than getting to Elkford to make contact with the outside world. The river crossings woke me up though. The water is very cold and the current is surprisingly strong. I was sitting behind an Australian guy heading into one and he decided to ride it. He went off a sudden underwater drop and went straight over the bars into the water. Anyone who knows me knows I’m easily amused and couldn’t stop laughing at him. He didn’t see the funny side. The climb winded again and again but it meant some shade and other views.

The descent was great as usual. Some of them last longer than a lot of races I’ve done. Ur wrists get very painful and my left hand has gone numb a few times. MORE »

The Trans-Rockies challenge will be shown on the Extreme Sports channel tomorrow night at 8pm (Sky Channel 419). It’s a one hour highlight show of the event but should give a good insight into what it was all about and what the racers got up to. I would doubt you’re going to see Duane or Matty in action but you never know!!

Although Matty’s reports have only reached race four in reality the boys are now through six stages with only one to go later today. Through that and it’ll be all done for them. Today they slipped back to 82nd overall out of the 121 left from the 131 that started in their category. The following report is the report from cycling news… MORE »

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. MORE »

The race has been going on and while Matty and Duanes position has been consistent it has been gradually improving.

Race 3: Aug 14: Nipika Resort to Nipika Resort: 89th @ +2′12′01
Race 4: Aug 15: Nipika Resort to White Swan: 74th @ +2′00′07
Race 5: Aug 16: Whiteswan to Elkford: 68th @ +2′05′27

OVERALL: 78th @ +9′55′20