It seems that the population of Fernie has swelled quite a bit over the past few days as riders, their families, and spectators have descended on Fernie for the start of the 2010 TransRockies Mountain Bike Race. There are a lot of amazing athletes competing, including three that I know very well; Kevan, his brother Matt, and his brother-in-law (and one of my best friends) Aaron. For those of you who don’t know, Kevan and Matt did the seven-day version of the TransRockies race last year right after Angie & Stu’s wedding but opted to do the three-day one this year.
Day 1 was a time trial along some of Fernie’s spectacular single-track, climbing up and winding down Castle Mountain, riding through the Ridgemont Trails, and connecting into the Coal Discovery Trail back into town. It was the shortest day of the race with ONLY 31km of riding and a MERE 1,300 meters (4,265 feet) of climbing – a nice warmup for the rest of the race! While the forecast was looking good leading into the start of the race, things took a bit of a turn for the worse last night with a torrential downpour and steady rain all morning for the start of the race. It made for some extremely muddy trails and slick roots.
We did a final training ride together earlier this week and I scouted a few spots in the forest that I wanted to use to get some shots of them as well as some of the other riders in the race. It was a very different experience biking with 30lbs of camera gear on my back instead of my usual 2L of water and bike repair kit. Kevan’s brother Dan came along with me to help carry some gear, hold some lights, and grab some shots of his own. Here’s a bit of what we came up with. For any of the other riders that passed us throughout the day, you can check to see if there are shots of you by clicking here.
One of Dan’s shots from the start of the race. Kevan has his game-face on just prior to leaving the gate.
Aaron just after leaving the gate and riding through town.
These next two shots are a couple of racers on the boardwalks of Eco-Terrorist in the Ridgemont trail system. I set up a few lights and didn’t warn the first rider to go by me about them. I think the flashes startled him and he ended up wiping out about 20 feet down the trail. I felt really bad and made sure that everyone else knew what was coming!
Kevan cruising down Kids Stuff in the Ridgemont Trail system – about 1/2 way through the first stage in the race.
Aaron cruising through the forest – he even managed to catch some air for me.
A quick shot of Matt rocking it down the same trail. Unfortunately he took a nasty spill early in the day that put him back a bit but still managed to push on and only finish a few minutes behind Kevan and Aaron.
This rider was one of the few whose face wasn’t covered in mud at this stage in the race. I’m sure that changed by the time they crossed the finish line though!
Kevan about 1.5km from the finish line on the Coal Discovery Trail.
…and just for fun I tried a few panning shots at the end of the day. This one was my favourite.
Unfortunately our final location for shots was really close to the finish line and Dan and I weren’t able to pack up and ride to catch the guys at the end of the day. Luckily my wife Karyn was there with her camera to grab a quick shot. They were all in good spirits, a little dirty, and pretty cold!
Congratulations on completing Day 1 of the race guys and good luck on the next two stages!
