Canmorite uses GPS to map 'TransRockies' route
Seven-stage mountain bike event to draw many Europeans, Read says
Ward Cameron, who describes his mountain biking abilities as "a combination of a tortoise and the Energizer bunny," spent much of this past summer out on lonely trails and logging roads between Canmore and Fernie, B.C.
The Canmore naturalist, author and storyteller last Friday (Nov. 2) said he expects those same byways to be inhabited by bikers traveling with a considerably greater sense of urgency next August for the first running of the
TransRockies Challenge, which is being billed as "the toughest mountain bike race in the world."
Cameron, who was in charge of route selection for the organizers of the event - upsolutMV of Munich, Germany, and Calgary-based Read and Co. Event Management Inc. - said he's excited to see the reactions of the 350, two-person teams of bikers expected to enter the 600-kilometre, seven-day stage race.
The route crosses the Continental Divide three times and includes almost 30,000 vertical metres of up and down. Cameron's efforts to come up with an acceptable route involved the use of a global positioning satellite (GPS) device, a tape recorder and camera and, of course, his trusty mountain bike.
"I turned 40 this summer and it's not as easy as it used to be to do something like this. I'm certainly glad I'm not competing in it," Cameron said.
Cameron isn't the only person excited about next summer's inaugural TransRockies race, scheduled to begin Aug. 11 in Fernie and finish on Main Street in Canmore on Aug. 17.
Ken Read, president of the Canadian-based end of the organizing team, on Friday said he expects approximately half of the competitors participating in the first-of-its-kind-in-North America event to come from Europe.
That, he said, should excite those in communities all along the route, particularly in Canmore.
"I think, No. 1, there's going to be the injection from the event itself - the setup and breakdown from each day's racing," said the former "Crazy Canuck" of downhill skiing fame.
"Then there's the profile from international satellite feeds, media coverage that will be coming in. We've had inquiries locally from people that want to cover the event as well. Internationally, there's the awareness factor of pictures around the world - and there's the tourism spin-off from people coming over. We anticipate that people will come over, some with families, and maybe stay a week or more afterwards."
Read said the TransRockies concept is the result of a longtime relationship between himself and Michael Veith, a former German World Cup downhiller who, like Read, runs a company that organizes and promotes mountain-oriented sporting events.
Read said that during a meeting in 1999, Veith mentioned to Read that the TransAlp Challenge - which was then two years old - had become immensely popular in Europe and suggested that they explore the possibility of starting something similar in Canada.
Read said the difference is that while the TransAlp Challenge - which begins in Germany and goes through Austria before finishing in Italy - goes over the Alps, the TransRockies route more or less follows the spine of the Rockies.
"The contrast is going to be going along vs. across, and it's (TransRockies) got a much more of an environmental, no-impact focus," Read said. "In the TransAlp they're going through communities that have been there for 1,000 years."
Read said the race was originally planned near the end of June. In fact, the final day was to be June 28 - now scheduled as the final day of the G-8 summit in Kananaskis Country. When Prime Minister Jean Chretien announced that K-Country would host the G-8, it sent organizers back to the drawing board in an attempt to find a new date for their event.
They settled on mid-August, he said, because the weather is normally good and it doesn't conflict with most major Alberta events such as the Calgary Stampede.
Those interested in volunteering to help with the event may phone Andrea Thiessen at Read & Co. at (403) 299-0355 or e-mail her office at info@readcoevents.com
Organizers emphasize ecosystem protection
The organizers of next summer's inaugural TransRockies Challenge mountain bike race chose Ward Cameron to map out the race course primarily because of his knowledge of, and appreciation for, the Rocky Mountain ecosystem.
Andrea Thiessen, an event manager with Read & Co. Event Management Ltd., last Friday (Nov. 2) said she knew Cameron from having worked with on previous projects.
The race's organizers, Ken Read and Michael Veith liked the fact that Cameron - a Canmorite who runs a web site called MountainNature.com - has a strong environmental focus.
"We approached Ward because of his knowledge of the area and him being an environmentalist who knew a lot about sensitive areas, and he know a lot about bike mapping," Thiessen said.
"As soon as that happened we went back to (provincial government agencies such as Alberta Environment and the Alberta Forest Service) and ever since then we've been working extremely closely with them to make sure that we're going through the appropriate areas."
Cameron, the author of several guidebooks about the Rockies, said he set out trying to find a course that linked communities along the route without going through national or provincial parks.
"With a race like this you're trying to balance ecological considerations with finding the best route, so I spent most of this summer in the bush with my GPS and a compass and tap recorders and camera gear," he said.
"This race is tough. This course is something far more difficult than anything I would personally undertake. The racers are going to be pushed to the limit. That's what makes it exciting."
Read said organizers are aware of the fact that August is when bears normally gorge themselves on berries in the Rockies. He said the current route was selected to minimize the racers' travel through berry-rich areas, and that race organizers will change plans on the fly to ensure the safety of both bears and riders.
"One thing that will be part of the event is monitoring those situations, similar to how the Jasper-Banff Relay operated," he said. "If you have a potential conflict in an area where there are grizzlies and it requires you to go around it, then that's what you have to do."
by David Bourke
as published in the Canmore Leader, October 30, 2001