Trans BC Enduro: Day Five, Revelstoke - the Soul Crusher

Day five of the Trans BC Enduro presented by Stages Cycling brought riders to grips with their limits—hot temperatures, long, grinding transitions, and physically demanding stages left many riders looking to their hands as the culprit of today’s pitfalls.




This has always been a part of Megan Rose’s master plan on her multi-day events. “I always like to make the eve of the finale the hardest day. It gives riders a peak to accomplish, and makes the last day of racing even more satisfying,” Rose said.


Racers were taken on a scenic tour through the Selkirk Mountains and the heart of Glacier National Park via Rogers Pass to arrive in Revelstoke by 9 a.m. Changing time zones added an extra hour to the day which gave racers additional time to climb the 1,784m as promised.



“Coming from Australia, the mountains are not as big. This race has been a game changer for me,” said Sarsha Huntington (Brisbane, AUS) Open Women. “I have gotten a whole lot fitter and more technically savvy. After this week, I have definitely improved.”


Mount MacPherson was the launch point for the first two stages of the day, both blue groove warm-ups to get the legs pumping. “Stage 1 down TNT was a good warm-up for what will be the biggest day of the whole race— fast, flowy, short and lots of pedaling,” said Drew MacKenzie (Victoria, B.C.) Open Men.



Tight Rope into Berm Donor were paired together for Stage 2, spitting racers out of the MacPherson trail network for a quick stop by the pub to fill up on water before heading across town on trails and back roads, thanks to Rose’s local knowledge.


Temperatures spiked around 32 degrees Celsius as racers trudged along the longest transition of the day. A creek flowing across the unsheltered access road provided splashing grounds for racers to cool off in, before cranking out the rest of the climb.

“I look forward to sharing reviews and tips on how to best prepare for this race,” said Alex Chamberlain (San Francisco, Calif.) best known for running a YouTube channel that covers mountain biking reviews, POV’s, bike hacks, and how-to’s. “I was running a 34-42 today, way too steep of a gear for all of the climbing that we do and definitely not needed on the sheer descents.

Chamberlain claims that Stage 3 down Boondocker was the best stage he had ever ridden in his life. “It was super rough, long, steep, with a bunch of line choices— but didn’t scare you.”



Remi Gauvin (Squamish, B.C.), who was chasing Jerome Clementz all week, took a big spill on Stage 3. “My back and head are a little sore from the jump line on Hotdog Hallway,” Gauvin said. “I have ridden those jumps off the bigger lips, but since they were taped, I hit the smaller lips, got bucked and landed flat and crashed. I went and bought a new bar, installed it, drove back out and shuttled back up to Stage 4 to finish out the day.”


Although Gauvin is now out of the running for the overall, he'll be coming into the final day full gas. “The least I can do is win the final day,” Gauvin said.


The mid-way point of the day landed riders a shuttle bump into the Frisby neck of the woods for the longest descent of the day down Ultimate Frisby. Consistently downhill, with small tech to keep your attention, this off-shoot of the infamous Frisby trail network is like your favorite t-shirt – nothing outrageous, but you go back to it again and again for its pure quality.


“Instead of racing this year, I have been volunteering as a course marshal, and it has been fun to ride everything at the pace I want to ride, enjoy the scenery and other people,” said Alex Petitdemange (Sedona, Ariz.) course sweep. “Also, seeing everything from the organizational perspective has been quite phenomenal.”


Another hot and sweaty transfer up a steep access road to the fifth and final stage threw some unexpected pushing into the day for some. Despite the heat, Day Five welcomed two guest riders to see where they lined up against the highly competitive fields.


“Revelstoke is the shit. I came to shred some of my favorite trails,” said Ted Morton (Kamloops, B.C.) Guest Rider. “I’m also out here to maintain my Strava times. I put all the starts and finishes in awkward spots to ensure that I kept my KOM’s.”

According to Morton, Stage 5 down Rednecks into Cash Advanced was “full noise” with steep, gnarly sections down the fall-line and across rock slabs.



“I had low expectations going into it, because we were very hot and tired,” said Phil Grove (Whitefish, Mont.) Open Men.


“But it was sweet because there were lots of catch-berms to slow your speed. It was a touch less steep than Golden, but a lot more rideable with great roots sections that you could bounce off. It ended up being my favourite stage of the day since I overestimated the caliber to begin with and enjoyed my time down it.”


Full results can be found HERE. Check out video action from Day 4 — Golden.



The Trans BC Enduro concludes the epic week and it’s time Revelstoke in and around Revelstoke Mountain Resort, beginning with a gondola ride to retrieve breakfast from the top of the mountain.


Casey Brown (Revelstoke, CAN) stretched her lead to nearly four minutes, and Jerome Clementz now has 2 ½ minutes over Pete Ostrokski (USA). Joe Nation (NZL) bumped up into third. Race strategy may come into effect for our lead riders to maintain their position, but with enduro anything can happen at the flick of a tire.



Stay tuned to Pinkbike to see what happens on the final day the Trans BC Enduro. Hashtag your photos #transbcenduro to make their way onto the live stream of the Trans BC’s Media HQ.


A special thanks to Kazoom, Dissent, Tourism Revelstoke, Revelstoke Mountain Resort, Fernie Alpine Resort, Panorama Ski Resort, Whitetooth Brewing and Monashee Distillery for additional support. The Trans BC operates under BC Singletrack Society, a non-profit society donating over $8000 to the trails and clubs from the 2017 Trans BC Enduro. For more information email megan@ridingbc.com or visit www.transbcenduro.com.


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.