When Gravel Gets Gruelling Surviving stage 1 of the TransRockies

Arriving at Nipika for the Trans Rockies Gravel Royale, I couldn't shake the feeling that I wasn't ready. Between sickness and work, training had taken a back seat. The excitement was real, but so was the doubt. Three stages lay ahead and I already felt behind before the race even began. Stage one was about to test whether I had what it took just to survive. This year's Trans Rockies Gravel Royale was staged entirely out of Nipika Mountain Resort. Each day started and ended in this beautiful setting in the midst of the Canadian Rockies. It's an incredible setting, remote, beautiful, and the perfect backdrop for three days of tough gravel racing. Hey Catherine, where's our tent? Catherine and I had been fortunate enough to secure one of the beautiful cabins at Nipika. The night before stage one we sat down for a beautiful catered dinner and a race weekend. Monica from New York. So there are vehicles on the road, so pay attention and ride on the right side of the road. Preparing for tomorrow, just putting my little medical kit. The Canadian Rockies are stunning, but on gravel they're unforgiving. Getting a coffee. What are we doing? We are doing the Trans Rockies Gravel Royale half-mine version. And this is stage one. I was saying our cabins are a little too comfortable. Stage one. We had signed up for the full distance, but life got in the way so we're just doing the half pint at the Trans Rockies Gravel Royale. So today's stage is just over 70 kilometers, about a thousand meters of climbing. The beautiful starts with a day, but as soon as you get out of the sun, it's chilly. We were originally going to start today at eight o'clock, but they pushed it back to nine because it's been so cold and it is chilly, but we'll warm up pretty quickly. So we were told yesterday at the race briefing that there had been a grizzly bear sighted in the area, so we debated whether or not to bring our bear spray, but we figured we'll be around enough people that we don't really have to worry too much. We're just over 13 kilometers in, about 34 minutes so far. I couldn't get it on video, but a deer just ran right in front of me. There were some big forest fires in this area last year or the year before, and you can see how much damage it's done. No, it was the jungle day. Yeah, the course here at the Trans Rockies Gravel Royale really is beautiful. Okay, we're about 28 kilometers in, an hour and 24 minutes. I'm assuming that guy was the first of the half pint racers as opposed to the full pint. Okay, I think we're almost at the turnaround. We met Ken this morning. Ken has been watching the channel for a little bit. Followed your lead, did all the KVR around awesome. We are at the turnaround point. Definitely feeling like we could have done more riding in preparation for this, but it is what it is. We're going to get some snacks and then head back. The jungle route. Yeah, we call it the jungle. That's tomorrow's, the Miller Pass, and it's more overgrown and more bumpy than it was. I'll be walking more of it. I'll be putting on my mountain biking shoes for tomorrow. I was just saying to Catherine, it really coming into an event, feeling prepared and like you're trained up for it is important. I don't think either one of us is really in the best cycling shape at this moment, and that's just because life got busy and other things gotten away. How are you doing? I'm okay. How are you? I'm okay. To be honest, at this point in the race, I was not really feeling all that great. I think I learned some valuable lessons during this event about hydration and refueling, and I'm going to talk a little bit more about that in the stage two video. Boy, did it kick up a lot of dust. Hey, we're just over 50 kilometers in, two and a half hours of riding on the home stretch. This is the first of the full riders going past us. We're at about kilometer 60. How are you doing? Yeah, got about 12 kilometers. 12 kilometers. Second and third place, man. I can really tell that I've lost a lot of fitness. This has been a really challenging ride. Yeah, I think we're both suffering today. 4K to go. Jeremy Sayers, what did we just finish today? We just finished stage one of the Trans Rockies Gravel Royale. And you're sitting here on this beautiful deck, looking out at the field with all the activity. We're about to go dip in the pond. So how are you feeling about it all? It was a tough 72 kilometers. I'm surprised at just how much that counted today. Catherine finished second in the women's 50 plus category on the day. How are you feeling about coming second? I'm glad I called out myself in advance to come to the award ceremony. I didn't think they were doing them for the half time. So stage one was a tough wake up call for me. I really struggled with the distance, with the climbs. I was just not myself. But the real takeaway was just how much I struggled with hydration and nutrition. And that made a huge difference on how I performed during the day. I think I learned a lot during the Trans Rockies Gravel Royale about my own nutrition and hydration. And I'm going to talk a little bit more about that during the stage two video that will be coming out shortly. So stay tuned. Anyway, thanks for watching. And until we ride again, take care.