Latest updates from the Alkimi-Matrix Trans-Rockies Team
Last updated 16th August, Trans-Rockies Finish!
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Day 1- August 9th 2009 Trans-Rockies Race begins at Panorama, Canada.
Having survived the first two days with a 27ft RV, driving the "wrong" side of the road and getting accustomed to the swarms of midges and mosquitos, the Alkimi-Matrix team prepared themselves for the first stage in this year's gruelling Trans-Rockies Challenge.
Panorama is where it all starts; Matt and James are faced with North America's third highest vertical rise at a ski resort that's 1267m of climbing in just 10 kilometres! Following this lung busting ride they will make a fast descent straight down to the Columbia valley and the shores of Lake Windemere, upon which they arrive at stage 2, the K2 ranch.
The Alkimi Matrix backup crew are poised to cook one almighty spaghetti bolognese for the boys, who will be burning in excess of 6000 calories in just 4 hours!
Day 1 the aftermath!
Matt and James rolled in to K2 following 4hrs 51 mins of hellish terrain. To put our altitude into perspective base camp is as high as Snowdon, so both Matt and James are climbing the equivalent of Snowdon and a half and down again in less than 5hours. It’s not surprising then when we learned that despite their good time, Matt suffered from terrible altitude sickness at around 2200 metres. Remarkably they made it in good time. They have headed off for yet more punishment today.
This morning over a large bowl of porridge James read out the course route...”OK so it’s single track, followed by mountain, followed by another mountain, followed by a really large mountain, and then forest track...yup it’s true the organisers want to kill us!”. With that we headed over to the start line, where “highway to hell” was blasting from the loudspeakers.
Day 2 Panorama- K2
Today’s route will see team Alkimi-Matrix travel 72km with over 2800 metres of climbing through the course of the day. They ease into the ride via Lake Windemere and Lake Columbia before they hit the vertical western face of the Rocky Mountain range. Today is the biggest day for vertical climbs so altitude is bound to become an issue as they feel the burn up Mount Goldie in increasingly thin air. The boys will take it slow today and we expect to see them finish in around 10 hours from now.
Despite what could be the hardest day ahead of them both managed a smile through the starting gates- well done boys!
As the minutes started to tick past the 9 hour mark we heard news that a number of racers couldn’t finish the course; some from injury, others from pure exhaustion. We began to wonder how Matt was holding up with his altitude sickness, considering it was a hot day and they were faced with some of the biggest climbs of the week. Then at 24 minutes past the 9 hour mark, Matt and James along with two South Africans crossed the line together. Both boys were shattered, and amazingly they held up well; others were crying!
Day 3 Nipika to Nipika
Today was home from home for Matt and James, after a solid 9 hours of rain the course started to get a rather Welsh feel to it! They started at 11.54 am and today the racers had a staggered time trial start, rather than the mass starts of the previous days.
The course took the boys deep into the Canadian backcountry along the Kootenay River gorge and Mitchell ridge. Unlike the other two days they only had to complete around 1129m of climbing in 45 km .
Day 3 ..they came in muddy!
Unfortunately there was a technical hitch with the camera so no photo finishes for the day. Suffice to say they weren’t smiling and were head to toe in mud. It turns out that despite a good ride, reminiscent of their Trans-Wales mud bath last year, they took a wrong turn which led them to receive a 1 hour time penalty. Despite the time penalty both had a fast race today and finished well in the open mens class. Roll on White Swan tomorrow...
Day 4 Nipika to WhiteSwan Lake
Today’s trek to White Swan Lake is the longest day with over 110km’s of rough mountain backcountry riding. Yesterday they got muddy, but today the boys will brave all the elements the Rockies throw at them. The day will start with showers, followed by 27 degree heat, followed by snowfall; let’s hope they have a good tail-wind as compensation!
Matt is still suffering his altitude sickness and has had medical advice following his heart rate readings from yesterday. On average his heart was working at 170 bpm and peaked to 189 bpm. Bearing in mind Matt’s peak average during races on lower altidude is around 100 bpm, his body is now well into unsustainable exercise. James is doing a grand job of managing Matt’s pace, so we are expecting them in today at around 6pm, that’s 10 solid hours of racing.
Day 4 Altitude sickness over!
Today the boys made it into White Swan Lake in very good time and Matt at last had a smile rather than a grimace as they rolled over the finish line. The altitude sickness appears to be wearing off, which is a relief to us all.
Day 5 White Swan Lake to Elkford
This is the longest drive for us as the support crew as we wind our way from White Swan Lake (35km of gravel single track road with sheer drop-offs and no barriers, not much fun in a 27ft RV!). Then on to Elkford looping round the mountain range past Fernie and Sparwood. Matt and James thankfully have a more direct route, albeit directly over the mountain range we skirt! Today’s route takes them 87.5km with over 2250 metres of climbing. The route has two major climbs and the descent into Elkford is known as the “Rock Garden”; and you’ve guessed it it’s rocky!!
Day 5 Great finish!
Matt and James pulled through the finish line in under 8 hours, head to toe in mud, smiling and happy. The weather has been atrocious with heavy rain all day, but for these two it’s just like Wales and whilst other racers suffered, our two just took it in their stride. Matt’s altitude sickness seems to be well and truly over and you can tell just from their race times and the smiles.
This evening we were hosted by the town of Elkford, and they opened their swimming pools to competitors and their crews. Once the boys washed off the caked on mud we headed over for a hot Jacuzzi and sauna...much needed after the long cold day we all had.
Day 6 Elkford to Blairmore
Slightly worrying today when you hear the boys will be passing through Grave Creek and Dead Man’s Pass, but hey I’m sure they will do fine. Yet more rain is expected, so another muddy one today! The course is a long one; 101km’s with over 2460 metres of climbing. They start with a calf burning morning climb followed by a long descent through forest tracks. The highest peak of the day comes around the midpoint and they will climb for almost 20km’s continuously. The real sting in the tail is at the end...just when they are descending into Crowsnest Pass. On the stage map you see 3 small peaks, apparently these will sap every last bit of strength the boys can muster. Going by yesterday’s performance we hope to see them in around 8 hours time.
Day 6 ...they came flying through the finish!
Matt and James arrived in at Blairmore before we had a chance to photo them. They had solid rain all day and came in muddy but despite this they finished in just over 8 hours, 23rd position for the day. They’ve managed to catch up over 2 places overall, which is equivalent to 1 hour 45 mins in front of the two teams placed ahead of them.
Day 7 Blairmore to Fernie
When Matt and James decided to do the Trans-Rockies this year it followed a horrendous time they had at Trans-Wales 08 where it rained all week and most of the competitors went down with Campylobacter. They imagined that Trans-Rockies would give them a refreshing change to all the rain, they imagined mountain sunshine, pine scented forests and glistening mountain streams. Despite putting on sun-cream in hope every day, the boys have instead had Trans-Wales mark II without the Campylobacter (and that’s thanks to the support crew- big pat on back to us!). In fact this year’s Trans-Rockies has had the worst weather on record. We have had thunderstorms, mud, mud and more mud. Last night Crowsnest Pass even issued a severe weather warning, with thunderstorms yielding vast amounts of rain overnight.
So with that in mind James and Matt got ready for their last push, the 75 km ride to Fernie. The route will take the boys through historic coal-mining territory. There aren’t as many climbs today, just 1290 metres and as James put it “that’s just a long ride in the Surrey Hills for us!”. Matt has come in cheery saying “it’s a lovely day”; we like the positivity (in reality it’s still raining and cold!).
After this post we are on to Fernie, Matt and James are pushing for a quick finish today, to go up another two places they need to make up another 1 hour 45mins- good luck boys!!!
Day 7 Trans-Rockies Finish!
As Matt had hoped the sun was shining and the streets of Fernie were lined with people cheering on the finishers. Some of the ladies of Fernie even got dressed up for the occasion donning Ascot style hats and frocks! We sat and waited for Matt and James, and at 5 hrs and 28 mins after the 9am start, we saw the distinctive light blue sleeves of Matt and James, powering in to the finish line. Hugs, medals and congratulations later it turned out Matt had dislocated his shoulder just 10km into the race. Despite this they were within the top 10 riders of the pack until the very last stage which was too rocky and muddy for Matt to ride down safely with his unstable shoulder. Amazingly he rode the whole race and they still came in 23rd place well ahead of the majority of the pack.
Matt and James finished 33rd overall out of 41 finishers and 47 total participating teams in their Open Men's category. This really was no mean feat; they battled with altitude sickness, mechanical failures and finally a dislocated shoulder.
This however is only the beginning, there is unfinished business here and the boys really feel that next time, with the right acclimatization before they start (maybe even a shoulder operation later) they could push for a top 15 place well amongst the semi professional and professional riders. So it begs the question will it be Trans-Rockies 2010? |
