Day 7: Crowsnest Pass to Fernie 78.8km 2101m of climbing
This is it. The end. The big finale. One last ride. Amazingly, no trains come by after 10pm last night. I figured for sure we'd be woken up 2 or 3 times. I still don't feel great, but at least I slept. I can barely sit, and the day is gonna be hotter than yesterday even.
We get the National Anthem sung before the start today. A nice touch I thought. We get to climb another ski hill today, thankfully it is small. And it gets most of the climb out of the way early. There is the prerequisite long, shitty hike a bike. The mood was good today. We all knew how close we were. But we still want to beat the shit out of the people who whined that the last stage wasn't tough enough in previous years (they pretty much doubled the length this year).
We sweat buckets right off the start, it's damn hot. And it's barely 9am. I am not riding well today. Niall helps me along as best he can. I can't say enough about his patience. Control station one doesn't have the usual variety of food, being the last day and all. I can't eat another Clif bar. Watermelon does nothing for me. I still love bananas, surprisingly. My peanut butter and honey sandwiches in my bag will have to do.
I get a flat, first one since day 2. On a fireroad no less. Again. It's just that kind of day. I get another almost exactly an hour later. Oh well. We get rolling, some tough, hot climbs and we are finally rewarded with sweet Fernie singletrack. Great way to finish. I crash once for good measure. We hit the streets of Fernie to the sounds of cheering. I hear my family but don't see them. A final high five to Niall and we've done it! Someone shakes my hand and puts a medal around my neck. We set our bikes against a bench and I look for my wife and son who I haven't seen in 8 days. I hear David yell "Daddy!" and I collapse into a dirty, sweaty crying mess. Group family hug on the sidewalk in the middle of a huge crowd of people. I don't care. I am so happy to see them.
I see Mom next and then Dad. It would have been impossible to have completed this without him. He cooked, cleaned, gave pep talks. thanks for believing, Dad! Not to mention letting us use the most stylish lodgings of the entire race.
Thanks to a ton of people I talked to afterward. Deadgoats Gerry, Tim, Tracey, Pat, Trish and Geoff all told me what a great thing I had just accomplished. Dallas Morris had kind words. These things mean a ton coming from racers like yourselves. I'll never forget James and Simon in their impossibly warm looking Tiger costumes. The brave couple on the tandem Ellsworth. Jim Seethram and his wonderful family. Dan the bike mechanic. The Belgian contingent I always seemed to run across going uphill. Met so many people.
The fine lady who sponsored us asked me if I was ready for next year. I didn't say no...
This is it. The end. The big finale. One last ride. Amazingly, no trains come by after 10pm last night. I figured for sure we'd be woken up 2 or 3 times. I still don't feel great, but at least I slept. I can barely sit, and the day is gonna be hotter than yesterday even.
We get the National Anthem sung before the start today. A nice touch I thought. We get to climb another ski hill today, thankfully it is small. And it gets most of the climb out of the way early. There is the prerequisite long, shitty hike a bike. The mood was good today. We all knew how close we were. But we still want to beat the shit out of the people who whined that the last stage wasn't tough enough in previous years (they pretty much doubled the length this year).
We sweat buckets right off the start, it's damn hot. And it's barely 9am. I am not riding well today. Niall helps me along as best he can. I can't say enough about his patience. Control station one doesn't have the usual variety of food, being the last day and all. I can't eat another Clif bar. Watermelon does nothing for me. I still love bananas, surprisingly. My peanut butter and honey sandwiches in my bag will have to do.
I get a flat, first one since day 2. On a fireroad no less. Again. It's just that kind of day. I get another almost exactly an hour later. Oh well. We get rolling, some tough, hot climbs and we are finally rewarded with sweet Fernie singletrack. Great way to finish. I crash once for good measure. We hit the streets of Fernie to the sounds of cheering. I hear my family but don't see them. A final high five to Niall and we've done it! Someone shakes my hand and puts a medal around my neck. We set our bikes against a bench and I look for my wife and son who I haven't seen in 8 days. I hear David yell "Daddy!" and I collapse into a dirty, sweaty crying mess. Group family hug on the sidewalk in the middle of a huge crowd of people. I don't care. I am so happy to see them.
I see Mom next and then Dad. It would have been impossible to have completed this without him. He cooked, cleaned, gave pep talks. thanks for believing, Dad! Not to mention letting us use the most stylish lodgings of the entire race.
Thanks to a ton of people I talked to afterward. Deadgoats Gerry, Tim, Tracey, Pat, Trish and Geoff all told me what a great thing I had just accomplished. Dallas Morris had kind words. These things mean a ton coming from racers like yourselves. I'll never forget James and Simon in their impossibly warm looking Tiger costumes. The brave couple on the tandem Ellsworth. Jim Seethram and his wonderful family. Dan the bike mechanic. The Belgian contingent I always seemed to run across going uphill. Met so many people.
The fine lady who sponsored us asked me if I was ready for next year. I didn't say no...
2 comments:
w00t! Nice photos. David is big! He looks happy to see you.
Congrats Steve :) You did awesome. Super great to meet you at the TR.
Post a Comment