MTB News & racing round-up for August 18, 2005, part 2
Edited by Steve Medcroft
Welcome to our regular round-up of what's happening in the dirt. Feel
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TransRockies Challenge wrap-up
By Steve Medcroft
Eric and James Crowe
Photo ©: Dan Hudson
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The Highwood stage
Photo ©: Dan Hudson
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Eric and James Crowe
Photo ©: Spectrum Imaging
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The seven-day epic mountain-bike race, the TransRockies Challenge, wrapped
up Saturday in Canmore, Alberta. After more than 600 kilometers of racing,
Rocky Mountain Business Objects teammates Andreas Hestler and Marty Lazarski
won six of the seven stages to claim the overall win in the open category.
“I have ridden this race three times now and it is a different experience
every time,” said Hestler after the finish. “This is honestly the best,
most fun thing I have ever done on a bike. Endless singletrack, great
people and the experience of working with a partner are so different from
regular one-day racing. Right now, I am not sure if I can commit to the
suffering needed to come back and try for a third win, but I’ll be back
whether I am riding a course motorbike or just supporting other riders.
This race rocks.”
Second-time participant Keith Bontrager agrees that the race is an ideal
challenge and thinks serious cross-country endurance pros should give
it a shot. “Pros from North America and Europe should adopt this race
as part of their calendar,” he wrote in the diary he contributed daily
to CyclingNews during the race. “Ten elite-level pro teams, men
and women, duking it out in a situation that is as wide open as this would
be a great race… They've got the support and resources to do it as long
as there are no big scheduling conflicts, and there is enough prize money
at the end to make the payday worth their effort if they are successful.”
But TransRockies is not purely a professional racers' opportunity to
score a decent purse. Most of the participants were there for personal
challenge and for the rewards that epic mountain-bike rides can give all
of us: companionship of other riders, the pleasure of pushing the body
to and beyond its limits and the chance to be in the spectacular outdoors.
In the case of one team though, the rewards go even further than that.
British Columbian father and son team Eric and James Crowe finished sixth
in the open category.
”We won an entry from Race Face,” explained Eric by telephone two days
after the event. “We submitted a video and people from the cycling community
voted online for who they wanted to win the trip. Race Face paid our fees,
provided transportation and fitted our bikes with a bunch of components;
the even sent a mechanic on the trip with us”
Nineteen year old James was Canadian Junior Champion at 15 and forty-five
year old Eric is a strong masters expert racer - both have B.C. Cup Championships
to their credit - but the 2005 TransRockies was the first time father
and son had raced together. “I’ve been racing since 85 - doing BC races
and one world cup,” says the elder Crowe. “My son was doing races when
he was nine years old.”
One dynamic to TransRockies racing is the team concept; the two riders
must stay within two minutes of each other throughout the entire race
or be penalized. Which usually means the stronger rider at the moment
is helping the weaker rider. In the beginning of the race, Eric seemed
better prepared. “That race is so unique in that it’s seven long days,”
he says. “You can’t duplicate that in training. I made sure we put some
long four to five hour rides on weekends and backed them up with intense
rides during the week. But my son had a lot of things going at the time;
graduation (high-school), jobs, girlfriends and so on – he didn’t get
as much riding as he could have and only had a month of intense training
in before the race.”
Eric carried his concern into the opening of the race. “For the first
three days, he held on for dear life. After that, I faded and he got stronger.
He has youth on his side, which was what we needed after that.”
Eric says he and his son worked well together throughout the tough seven
days race. “I think we communicated well. Every once in a while he’d say
‘come on come on’ and I’d have to say ‘shut up’ - but we really were good
together.”
The only true challenge for the Crowes, besides the grueling physical
work of the race itself of course, was the occasional mechanical. “We
had breakdowns - spokes, shocks, components - but we were pretty efficient
about putting things back together. And my son was great; we were in a
long section where it was important to stay in the pack and use the draft
and I broke a spoke. We had to stop and wind it up. He gave me his bike,
would the spoke himself, then caught us both back onto the group.”
So what was the highlight of the race for Eric? “Finishing. I busted
my chain two kilometers from the finish. The motorcycle guy told us we
were only two kilometers out and it was mostly downhill so I held on to
James’ Camelback and rode chainless. It was the easiest two kilometers
I’ve ever done.”
Asked if he thought he and James would repeat the race next year, Eric
said, “My son’s off to school so it’s out. But it’s a totally awesome
event, and I’d like to do it again.”
Results, race reports and photos:
Day
1 - August 7: Fernie - Sparwood
Day
2 - August 8: Sparwood - Elkford
Day
3 - August 9: Elkford - Etherington
Day
4 - August 10: Etherington - Sandy McNabb
Day
5 - August 11: Sandy McNabb - Bragg Creek
Day
6 - August 12: Bragg Creek - Rafter Six Resort
Day
7 - August 13: Rafter Six Resort - Canmore
Keith Bontrager's diaries
Marathon World Championships preview
The second UCI Marathon World Championships is being held in Lillehammer,
Norway August 20 in conjunction with the world’s largest mountain-bike
race; Birkebeinerrittet.
12,500 racers have signed up for 89-kilometer Birkebeinerrittet. There
are almost 300 World Championship participants. The courses for the two
races are essentially the same with the exception that the 116-kilometer
point-to-point World Championships course includes a longer and more technical
section off the start to Skramstadsætra, site of the course’s first major
climbing prize, and an extra more technical course in the Lillehammer
finishing area.
Gunn Rita Dahle (Norway), Paola Pezzo (Italy), Daniela Louis (Switzerland),
Anna Enocsson (Sweden), Esther Suss (Switzerland) are the favorites in
the Women’s World Championship class. In the men’s class there are a number
of favorites – but race organizers expect Bart Brentjens (Netherlands),
Thomas Diestch (France), Thomas Frischknecht (Switzerland), Ralf Näuf
(Switzerland) and a number of Italian riders (Massimo DeBertolis, Dario
Acquaroli and Mauro Bettin) to be among the best. Massimo DeBertolis won
the UCI World Marathon Series at Birkebeinerrittet. Roel Paulissen is
on top of the 2005 UCI Mountain Bike Rankings pr. August 9th.
National Teams are limited to 7 riders in the Men and Women category.
The Marathon outgoing World Champions and Continental Champions may take
part in addition to the number of 7 starters. Technical assistance during
the race will only be permitted in designated zones although riders from
the same team may assist each other on the open course.
The race offers cash prizes from €2,400 for first to €125
for sixth in the men’s race and €2,400 to €700 first though third in the
women’s race for the winners and a series of three climbing prizes worth
€300 each.
Falun World Cup Marathon wrap up
Swedes Fredrik Kessiakoff (Siemens Cannondale) and Anna Enocsson (Ghost
Team) took the honors in last weekend’s World Cup marathon in Falun, Sweden.
Kessiakoff won a five-way sprint to take his win while Enocsson put a
comfortable nine–minute gap on second place for hers. Enocsson pulls herself
within 85 points of Marathon World Cup Series leader and countrywoman
Daniela Louis with only the marathons in Saint-Wendel (Germany) and Roc
d'Azur (France) left in the season.
Kessiakoff has only contested two World Cup marathons so far in 2005
so his win does nothing to affect the overall standings in the men’s series.
Italians Mauro Bettin and Dario Acquaroli sit at the top of the standings
separated by almost ninety points.
Click here for full
results.
Michael Prokop and Jill Kintner win Jeep KOM
By Steve Medcroft
Michael Prokop
Photo ©: Steve Medcroft
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Michael Prokop of the Czech Republic and Jill Kintner of Seattle, Wash.
won the final Jeep King of the Mountains race at Jack Frost Resort in
Pennsylvania's Poconos Mountains on Sunday. Entering the race as points
leaders in the series, both Kintner and Prokop sealed their overall victories
by winning the day's race and took home a rich prize package which included
a $5,000 cash bonus from Paul Mitchell Systems and a matching 2006 Jeep
Commander Sports Utility Vehicles.
Click here for the
full report, photos and results
Global MTB racing round-up
Even with World Cup and NORBA cross-country on a weekend break, there
were plenty of interesting competitions around the world. Take a look
at other MTB reports, results and photos from this week.
Jeep King of the Mountain, USA(NE), August 14: Results,
report & photos
Norwegian Marathon Championships, Nor (NE), August 14: Full
results, report & photos
TransRockies Challenge, Can (NE), August 7-13: Main
Marathon World Cup #6, Swe (B), August 13: Full
results
Leadville 100 (NE), August 13: Full
results
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