Trans BC Enduro: Day Three, Golden - Day of Steeps
Day Three of the Trans BC Enduro presented by Stages Cycling defined “steep” in unfathomable ways when racers were confronted with the decision to commit and grip, slide and ride, or scamper down Mount 7, host of the legendary Psychosis race, 1998-2008.
 | That was some of the hardest, steepest shit I have ever ridden. I was super nervous at the start, and once I let go of the idea of riding all of it, I let myself have fun and it was a blast. I have never smelled burning brake pads from mountain biking before. That was a first. |
What goes down, must go up first. Racers were greeted with a steep access climb from the shuttle drop-off to pedal, push, and pull their bike up a festival of roots. From the summit, endless views showcased paragliders floating in the distant haze from recent wildfires.
Fire haze made for some interesting lighting
Riders approaching stage one on day three of the Trans BC Enduro in Golden B.C.
| We had a long hike n’ bike to the top of Stage 1, but after a 10-minute fresh descent to the start line that obviously not many people have ridden, I didn’t mind the climb. |
Racers descended steep chutes to the start line, providing the opportunity to enjoy the views along a very exposed ridgeline before clipping in for fresh tracks down the “real” stage one. Nothing but hooting and hollering off the start line, chirping brakes in the middle of more steep and loose chutes, and sounds of elated relief at the bottom, echoed in the hillsides.
| This morning was one of the scariest things I have ever done on my bike. I would like to ride that trail fresh and not in a race pace. I tried riding the steep chute that never ends. When you arrive at the chute, your arms are pumping, you can’t feel your hands, and I thought I should just let go of the brakes. But that didn’t really work out. |
Stage 1 on Day 3 of the Trans BC Enduro in Golden B.C.
Little did racers know, but Stage 1 was merely the warm-up to Stage 3.
Day 3 of the Trans BC Enduro in Golden B.C.
The connector to stage two was a quick jaunt across the lower Mountain Shadow trail system to connect with an amalgamation of Magic Dragon, Huff and Puff, and Chute the Duck back to the aid station. Keep your head up, and you’ll find spicy double and bonus features amidst the punchy ups and fast corners.
After a quick refuel at the aid station, racers were back on the pedals for six kilometers, before being treated with a shuttle bump almost to the top of stage three. Originally, the top of stage three was routed around Summit, a long flowy traverse contouring from a paragliding launch point. But in true fashion of the Trans BC Enduro, the double black diamond line down Dead Dog was opened for those who dared to enter the “A” line.
The launch pad for paragliders as the rain comes in hot
Cool to see these memorials. Not your typical quotes...
| I definitely took a few chances on Stage 3. I was stoked to get down Dead Dog, a super steep chute with scree at the top, and then the steepest thing you could ever imagine straight into a catch berm. And then repeated four more times. We linked back to the main track, before entering another mega chute [on Bris]. I came in a bit hot and my life flashed before my eyes. Trees everywhere. But I made it through and gave a big ol’ ‘yeow’ at the bottom. |
Approximately one-third of the racers dropped into Dead Dog, including the top three Open Women— Casey Brown (Revelstoke, B.C.), Emily Slaco (Pemberton, B.C.) and ALN (Quebec City, QUE), after a discussion concluded with Slaco pretending like she was scoping out the entrance, and then dropping in unannounced.
| It was everything you would dream about riding in British Columbia. It’s not every day that you get to ride part of Psychosis. |
Although the Psychosis Race is long gone, it will always be remembered as “the most demented downhill mountain bike race” and where Mark Haimes and Reg Mullett set the world record for “Greatest Vertical Descent on a Mountain Bike in 24 Hours” by completing 27 laps of the Mount 7 Psychosis race course for a total of 107,604 vertical feet.
“It was pretty gnarly today, and there were definitely a few spots that were way over my head,” said Mical Dyck (Cumberland, B.C.) Open Women, who took third place in the 2016 Trans BC Enduro. “Coming from cross country, I don’t know to ride a lot of that stuff. It’s definitely a steep learning curve in a race format, but you learn how to ride above your level in the moment.”
The shoot gobbling up riders
The fourth and final stage of the day calmed the adrenal glands with a fast, fun and relatively flowy mixed with tech descent down 5 km and True Value/3 km.
Stage 4 on Day 3 of the Trans BC Enduro in Golden B.C.
“Stage 4 was just bliss and pure easy mountain biking. Little drops and a bunch of lines. It ended my day with a smile on my face. Megan knows how to make us smile even when we want to hate her up steep hike-a-bike sections,” Baril said. Both the Open Men’s and Open Women’s fields have remained highly competitive. Brown has stretched her lead over two and half minutes to ALN, and Slaco less than two minutes behind. Remi Gauvin sunk another 21 seconds into Clementz, keeping JC’s lead at a mere six seconds after 1 hr 22 minutes 10 seconds of racing. Pete Ostroski bridged back into third place after a strong third place on day three.
| Today was not my style of riding because we don’t have terrain like this in France. It was steep. Really steep. It’s hard to know what pace you need to go because sometimes you want to go faster, but then you cannot slow down and make the turn. It was hard to find the balance between pushing and just staying on your bike. After three days, we have ridden nothing by good trail, and I’m still leading. But with Remi so close behind, I am going to have to push to go faster to stay ahead. |
For Day Four, the Trans BC Enduro continues its streak in Golden, B.C. for another day of upping the ante at Kicking Horse Resort. Stay tuned to Pinkbike for updates all week long from the Trans BC Enduro. Hashtag your photos #transbcenduro to make their way onto the live stream of the Trans BC’s Media HQ.
Volunteer Shuttle. Day 3 of the Trans BC Enduro in Golden B.C.
Day 3 of the Trans BC Enduro in Golden B.C.
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.
Full results can be found HERE. Check out footage from Trans BC Enduro, Day Two in Panorama.
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 raced 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.
Jose assuming his position
Day 3 of the Trans BC Enduro in Golden B.C.
MENTIONS: @TransBCEnduro
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I realize that sounds a bit harsh and I want to be clear that I mean this in the most respectful way possible. I know Megan, Ted and all the other organizers have only the best intentions in mind, but maybe this is a discussion we need to be having? At some point, I think we do risk loving these beautiful places to death.
I don't know what the solution is and yes, having ridden these trails I am responsible for the damage as much as anyone else, but the world has solved other more difficult problems. Such bike regions, races and communities should be involved developing a strategic concept for maintaining and protecting trails that go beyond the immediate race.
It would be interesting to, in non-subjective terms study the impact an event like yours has on the trails and what factors actually do or don't contribute to the rapid change and damage perceived by regular riders. I look forward to a continued discussion on the topic.
When I heard plans of your race hitting our remote and iconic (and sensitive) trails I shuddered. You seek out the nicest, remotest trails for your race but in doing so make them less remote and accelerate erosion. Still more interesting conversations there. I do appreciate you not naming the trail on stage one, very classy move. Although the 140 riders was equivalent to 2 years worth of riding in one day. Is there a maintenance tax for unsanctioned trails?
To be fair, your athletes are of much higher calibre than the Transrockies G24 and are not skidding off the trail and fumbling in new lines. I rode LSD hours after your race and it still rode fantastic.
You run a bad ass race and it gets awesome reviews. Bike networks (volunteer driven and (largely) built) being used by companies for profit (I assume you are paying yourself) will always bring up issues. It is a conversation clubs need to have and in the end decide, how is this beneficial to our paying members for whom these trails are for?
Beautiful Terrain!
And the end reminded me of a Red Fang video... prehistoric dog anyone?
#GoldenSucksTellYourFriends
My initials are also BC = 23 = Illuminati Trilogy, etc.......just noticed Casey's are the reverse.....the endless Mandelbrot rolls on