Day 4 of the
Trans BC Enduro powered by
Stages Cycling merged two distinct styles of trail into a high speed, flowy, steep, off-camber, freeride mashup that took riders on the Tour de Rossland over 40km and 2333m of descending. Fatigue has started to set in, but the trails continue to demand everyone’s attention and energy to navigate racing blind.
“I am definitely a little more tired today. Racing the Trans Provence two weeks ago is catching up with me,” said Alex Petitdemange, Open Men (Sedona, Ariz.) “Comparatively, the Trans BC is more flow, roots and dirt, and less rock. But both deliver big days. Today, my favorite stages were one and four. Fast versus gnarly, steep with a few awkward moments. But still fun to try and go hard on both.”
Stage 1 dropped 680m straight out of the gate after a long shuttle to the top of Dewdney Trail with little to no warm-up. A fast sprint through a minefield of logging debris did not claim any victims by mechanicals, but the high speeds later on caught a few pedal strokes on rocks, sending some people down early on in their 8 hour day on the bike.
The transition to the top of Stage 2 was an arduous climb through singletrack with an unrelenting pitch at times for nearly two hours through the
Malde Creek trail network. However, the short and sweet run down Whiskey Trail afforded racers the opportunity to flow through a variance of machine cut trail that tied together rocky rolls. The finale was a perfectly pitched 1.5m drop to a swift finish.
“I was the last one down Stage 2, but it was still super tacky. The rock rolls were a bit awkward, but it was one of those trails that you’d want to ride over and over again, and you’d still be wearing a grin the whole time, ” said Ben Ferrante, Open Men (Breckenridge, Colo.) “Having to process that much information on the spot is such a cool and unique sensation.”
Stage 3 foreshadowed what was to come in Stage 4. Wood became introduced into the mix of sideways roots, muddy ravines, and skinnies that attempted to suck wheels off their preferred line. The second hefty transfer remained between the two, which allowed racers to clear the slate, refuel with sandwiches and sugar, and march up to the top of one of the hardest stages of the week. In the previous evening’s riders meeting, race director Megan Rose mentioned that if it rained too much, this stage would be skipped.
At the top of Stage 4, riders were greeted with a few sprinkles, however not enough to cancel the stage. Little did they know that the description at the top was switched with Stage 5, which read “Have fun!” for 4-7 minutes. This was the description that they were supposed to receive:
“This is the old school DH classic thrown in for good measure! There are some big boy lines for sure, but nothing you would want to hit blind - so follow the course tape for the ‘keep your wheels on the ground’ flow. Most tech stage of the day, with a spectatorship start. There is some pedal at the bottom, and when you think you are close to the bottom, it just keeps going out past the woods back into the open where it becomes rockier and looser. 13-20 minutes.”
Little did they know, but racers were dropping into one of the most rowdy stages of the week— an old school freeride ride trail that had never been raced on. As one racer described, it was as if North Vancouver and Pemberton had a baby, and the Flume trail was it.
“I think most people would agree that Stage 4 was the rowdiest of all the stages,” said Aaron Bradford, Open Men who won Day 4 overall. “As I went into it first turn, it was real from the get-go. It was definitely playing it live and taking it as it comes.”
Maggie Bichard's dominant presence has been felt every stage, every day with a winning streak all week. “I chose to do multi-day enduros this year. It’s really what I do enjoy, and I prefer it to the EWS. It’s just as gnarly, maybe more, since you’re riding it blind,” Bichard said. “Stage 4 was almost like an EWS stage. It started with rock chunder for the entrance, and then straight into steep chutes. It was awesome!” With a string of enduro stage races coming up, Bichard’s strong performance at the Trans BC bodes well for the Trans-Savoie and Trans-Cascadia.
The final two stages back at
Red Mountain Resort were mellow compared to Stage 4. Stage 5 was a fast “fun” run down Redhead, followed by a seemingly shorter transition to the top of Stage 6 for the most bikeparkesque run of the week down Paydirt, ending with jumps, doubles and endless berms all the way back to the base area where beer and more hot tubbing commenced.
Stu Dickson (Revelstoke, CAN) has been volunteering at the event in lieu of racing, but for the stages he has clocked in for, he has held a strong lead ahead of Open Men approximately 10 seconds for every stage. “I usually race full time, but didn’t have the funds for registration, so I figured I’d volunteer. This has been good training for upcoming EWS races.”
Racers head to
Nelson, B.C., a place of legend to conclude their week for Days 5 and 6. Showcased in many mountain bike films, Nelson offers a variety of trails in the shadows of the Selkirk Mountains. A special thanks to
Tourism Rossland,
Kootenay Columbia Trails Society (KCTS) and Ryan Kuhn for supporting the Trans BC Enduro in
Rossland, B.C. Stay tuned to regular updates on
Facebook and
Instagram and core online media outlets throughout the week. Hashtag your photos
#transbcenduro to make their way onto the live stream of the Trans BC’s Media HQ. For more information email megan@ridingbc.com or visit
www.transbcenduro.com.
DAY 4 RESULTS
OPEN MEN
1. Aaron Bradford (USA) (USA) 39:45
2. Adam Craig (USA) 40:01
3. Jamie Nicoll (NZ) 40:08
OPEN WOMEN
1. Meggie Bichard (NZ) 47:02
2. Mical Dyck (CAN) 49:48
3. Karey Watanabe (CAN) 51:08
MASTER MEN 40+
1. Rene Damseaux (ZAF) 43:25
2. Matt Patterson (NZ) 44:12
3. Zach White (USA) 44:59
DAY 1-4 OVERALL RESULTS
OPEN MEN
1. Jamie Nicoll (NZ) 2:08:51
2. Aaron Bradford (USA) 2:10:04
3. Adam Craig (USA) 2:11:02
OPEN WOMEN
1. Meggie Bichard (NZ) 2:31:10
2. Mical Dick (CAN) 2:40:54
3. Sonya Looney (CAN) 2:46:10
MASTER MEN 40+
1. Rene Damseaux (ZAF) 2:21:31
2. Matt Patterson (NZ) 2:22:29
3. Zach White (CAN) 2:25:56
About Megan Rose— Megan has been riding and racing bikes all over the world for 13 years and organizing bike events for the past six years. She splits her time between British Columbia, Canada and New Zealand, running the BC Enduro Series and the new Trans BC for 2016, and running the Trans NZ race. Over the past two years Megan has personally races in over 24 enduro races, timed over 58 days worth of enduro races, and personally organized 22 enduro races. Megan and her team look forward to bringing you the best of the best from all of these perspectives.
About Stages Cycling— Stages Cycling LLC, based in Boulder, CO, launched the Stages Power meter at Interbike in September 2012. The new Stages Power meter immediately made waves for the power measurement category in all disciplines of cycling, including enduro, where the sport's top pros collect and trust its data for training and racing. Since the brand has expanded into the commercial and home fitness category with the SC3 commercial indoor cycling bike, with groundbreaking features including: CarbonGlyde featuring Gates CarbonDrive, SprintShift, FitLoc, RoadBar and, of course, the Stages Power meter. More information at
stagescycling.com.
MENTIONS: @bcenduroseries
1/ Damn, you guys and gals rock! Those are truly epic days as stand-alone rides for anyone, anywhere. On daily repeat the hurt factor is way up there yet every racer had a smile when we spoke to them.
2/ To anyone on the fence over tackling this race next year, just do it. This region definitely delivers the goods.