Stage 6: Coming Around the Mountain

Another one bites the dust.

It's 7:11 – Time to catch up on my last TR post as I head North through Wyoming. Only 15hrs of driving to go...Ouch. I didn’t have much time, or energy to bother writing after yesterday’s finish in Beaver Creek. The 21 miles (~34km) from Vail to BC was covered in around 3.5 hrs and even through it featured some of the best single track of the week, it was hard to enjoy the scenery knowing that we would not be on the podium that evening (A few RBVs made my woes go away very quickly!).

As I look back at the week, I realize that my desire to compete is still very much alive – Although I can easily turn my competitive ‘switch’ on/off in an instant, when it’s on, I’ll do everything in my power to win. That said, I can look back at a week like this past one and realize how much fun I actually had and how I can’t wait to come back next year for another kick at the can.

A quick ticker recap…Aerobic Power’s Fewster/Masters, who held 3rd overall before starting the last stage had a tough day at the office and could not hold the Heathens at bay, losing the 9min gap they had on the duo from UK. The Heathens pulled the performance of the day, coming back from behind (5th overall) after almost pulling out on Stage 5, to finish 3rd on the day and moved all the way back up to 3rd overall!

We (Salomon Flight Crew) faired a little better than Stage 5, limiting our loses and holding on to 5th overall – Not bad considering that Dennis almost didn’t start the last stage!

Beaver Hunters held on for a top 10 finish – a great result for the Canmore/Banff duo. Bruce (who is catching a ride back to Canmore with us) was quite happy about their performance and is looking forward to working on his training for next year!

Team Jeta (Forrest/Donoghue) finished 3rd overall in the Open Women’s. The Jeta’s moral was almost broken on Stage 5 when they missed a turn and took a 30-45min detour that could have cost them the podium! Their consistent performances all week allowed them to gain a good cushion over the 4th place team and a strong run on Stage 6 put them on the podium in the overall. Good job girls!

Leslie Gerrein (Team Banff/Yellowstone Trail Trash) had a great week of running, and decided to put the pedal to the metal on Stage 5 and were rewarded with a 2nd place on the stage! Great job girls!

Track West's Manktelow and Jackson finished the week in good spirits, despite Jackson losing a bit of steam by the end of the week. His injured Achilles held up during the tough week but I'm sure sure it sapped some energy from the tank - Either way, they were both stocked on the event and look forward to coming back for another crack at the can...(If they can get their permission slips! ha). Good job boys!

So what now…I’ll probably take a bit of a day off tomorrow – then it’s back at work for this guy. I’ve still got some TR-Bike wrap-up work to do and then it’s time to finalize the plan for winter 08/09…I heard it snowed in Canmore last night...that should help put me back in ski mode!

Thanks for everyone's encouragement throughout the week - Looking forward to catching up with everyone very soon!