Stage 7
Rafter 6 Ranch to Canmore
45km 1,300m Climbing
Once again we woke to a startling sunny day. The last day! We had only a short sharp day with long celebrations to come. Rich and I were very happy with the way we had raced on stage 6 and while we expected to loose a place to the storming boys from Munich we felt that we could hold onto 7th if we avoided disasters.
It was great to start again in the front group but it was short lived. The top riders sprinted out of the start in order to the first section of fire trail first. I am not a fast starter and they had disappeared before I blinked.
The first 5km of mountain biking was critical as we then rode onto the Trans Canada Freeway for 5km. We faced a stiff head wind and small groups formed. Trying to get mountain bikers to form a pace line is like herding cats.
The bulk of the day’s riding was in technical single track with lots of short sharp climbs (including a lot of stairs) and short sharp descents. Despite getting lost once we were travelling well and counting down the miles to the finish line.
We have been riding a lot in the second half of the race with from South Africa. On Stage 6 we rode with them for the second half of the day but they dusted us on the last descent and piped us to the post. We had not seen them all day but with 10km to go they appeared on our tails. With all the tri nations rivalry, a rush of blood ensured and we put the hammer down.
We rode the last 10km like it was a sprint race. Pretty stupid but pretty exhilarating all the same. After 7 days mostly spent on single track I have never descended better than the final downhill into Canmore.
What can I say? Today was our day and we came home ahead of the South Africans. We then retired to the pub for a bison burger and a beer. The rugby was on the TV and we had the pleasure of watching the Wallabies snatch a win.
We have had a fantastic week. The professionalism of the organisers combined with the friendliness of the Canadians has made this a great race. I have ridden more single track this week than I would normally ride in 6 months and the quality of the single track is right up there with the best.
The event walks the fine line between providing great single track and the convenience of staying in one location and the epic stages and difficulty that make you feel like you have really achieved something in completing the race.
In the most, we had fantastic weather but the 2 days with rain, hail and snow made me realise how tough it would be if the weather was bad. I prepared for bad weather and the cold but if it had kept raining I would have run out of dry gear.
The race was very hard on the bikes, we had a mechanic clean, strip and rebuild the bikes every night (thanks Richard) and they needed a lot of work. We went through a set of pads every second day and the drive train that I put on before the race is trashed, particularly the granny gear.
If you love ripping steep technical descents and don’t mind suffering on the climbs and want to see the wilderness of the Canadian Rockies then this is the race for you.