Trans BC Day 4 Rossland: Old School Meets New School

Jul 8, 2016 at 7:11
by Megan Rose  
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.

Trans BC Day 4 Rossland Old School Meets New School

Trans BC Day 4 Rossland Old School Meets New School

“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.”

Trans BC Day 4 Rossland Old School Meets New School

Stage one.
  Stage one.

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.

Trans BC Day 4 Rossland Old School Meets New School

J. Saps breakin hearts.

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.

Trans BC Day 4 Rossland Old School Meets New School

Trans BC Day 4 Rossland Old School Meets New School

“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.”

Trans BC Day 4 Rossland Old School Meets New School

Trans BC Day 4 Rossland Old School Meets New School

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.”

Trans BC Day 4 Rossland Old School Meets New School

Barry Wicks making his way to the start of Stage 4

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.

START- Some Things Are Really Tough

“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.”

Trans BC Day 4 Rossland Old School Meets New School

Trans BC Day 4 Rossland Old School Meets New School

Jason First on stage 4.
  Jason First on stage 4.

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.

Trans BC Day 4 Rossland Old School Meets New School

Gina Jane on stage 4. Not so bad for her fourth race ever.
  Gina Jane on stage 4. Not so bad for her fourth race ever.

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.

Craig Harvey channeling his third eye after a long day in the saddle.
  Craig Harvey channeling his third eye after a long day in the saddle.

Trans BC Day 4 Rossland Old School Meets New School

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.”

Trans BC Day 4 Rossland Old School Meets New School

Trans BC Day 4 Rossland Old School Meets New School

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

Trans BC Day 4 Rossland Old School Meets New School

The tale of the tape.
  The tale of the tape.

After you climb 6000 feet and race your ass off beer is a recovery drink.
  After you climb 6000 feet and race your ass off, beer is a recovery drink.



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



Author Info:
TransBCEnduro avatar

Member since Jun 8, 2016
31 articles

13 Comments
  • 6 0
 Seriously hardcore, every racer! Living in Rossland, knowing most of the trail network in detail (OK, no Flume for me!), and having done a few 7-day stage or 1-day 100-miler XC races I have two take-aways from seeing the action here live.

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.
  • 1 0
 Bought my bike off of a guy who raced it and send he had a blast he told me if I ever thought about doing the BC race to just registrar and go
  • 2 0
 If I had known they were running Flume I would have ridden up to watch that first section raced. The first hundred meters or so leaves very little room for error and takes some solid courage and skills to roll through rubber side up. Well done riders! Hope you all enjoyed Rosslandia. It's a fantastic place to live and ride.
  • 3 1
 I hope that dude with the cut on his third eye picks the hell outta that scab to create the most awesome scar ever!!
  • 1 0
 lol
  • 2 0
 Great effort everyone...hope you enjoyed the Tour de Rossland and we'll see you in Nelson!
  • 3 0
 Looks like a good time
  • 1 0
 Doing great Baron Radford!! Love you! Amazing photography too of beautiful Canada!
  • 2 0
 Sounds like a blast!
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