The day started with us hitchhiking to the base camp (no sign of the shuttle). A nice lady, who happened to be the sister of one of the racers, gave us a lift in her pickup on the way to work. Breakfast in the arena then into the gates.
We literally stood on the side of the street in out bike gear and with duffle bags, with our thumbs out.
No problem, arrived with time to spare.
As previously mentioned, a neat aspect of this race is that it has everyday weekend warriors alongside some of the world's top racers. This morning I had a good chat with Shamus McGrath, on the race, the past TR, his plans for the Olympics, competitors and riding in general. Yesterday Andreas Hestler and I chatted about a variety of topics, then tonight Chris Eatough and I had a good conversation in the hotel laundry room. Funny because Wally lent me a video of Chris' training for his 4 world solo 24 hour championships which I watching while doing some indoor riding this Winter. Then when I arrived back in the room and opened an mtb magazine, there was a full page of him holding a Bobtrager wheelset. I mentioned the video and Wally to him and suggested an introduction in Whistler.
The race. Stew wasn't feeling well this morning, but that quickly burnt off as we rolled out of town. traffic is stopped at intersections, cones set up, cars pulled over and other people are on the street cheering you on. Most towns are very warm in this regard and recognize the economic benefits of hosting/supporting these types of events.
While it was only today, so much has been covered that it's actually hard to remember what we rode, other than the highlights. Distinguishing one day from the other is also hard.
Some pavement, gravel rodes, then up and down the doubletrack under powerlines.
More very long doubletrack and Fsr (fire service road) riding with pieces od technical thrown in the sonnect them. I felt fine, but the legs were feeling tired. Then some trails in the woods including a long climbs with switchbacks and a few bridges.
We finished, showered, washed and loaded the bikes, then awaiting the ferry crossing to Horseshoe Bay
More later. Falling asleep.
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sent by Blackberry
3 comments:
Gents, ... sounds like you had a really great day!
Remember, "rubber side down" on the tricky single track!
Keep smile'n
Assume Stuff Stew and Mike.
Stew's fan club
Excellent! Looks like the condition and trails were just perfect. Pay attention to the front wheel in the single track as you approach Whisler. I am looking forward to meet Chris and the others. HANG ON!!!
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