July 30, 2012 – Fernie, B.C. Canada – Day two at the 2012 TransRockies Challenge was a carbon copy of the first with neverending blue skies and warm temperatures. Riders were keen for a mass start and ready to traverse the 30km and 1700 metres of climbing from downtown Fernie to Fernie Alpine Resort.  The course designers worked hard to create a stage that challenged the riders with climbs and rewarded them with spectacular descents. The feedback at the finish line seemed to indicate that the TransRockies Crew was successful in their quest. As one racer put it, ‘Yesterday I worked as hard on the down hills as the up hills. Today I could just relax and enjoy the ride down’.

Early on it was evident the adrenaline was pumping as the leaders jockeyed for position on the singletrack. As riders pushed the pace several were claimed by the course, sustaining injuries that would lead to an unexpected end to the day. Ultimately, the lead group made quick work of the route and, once again, TR3 leader Neal Kindree claimed the stage win to retain his overall Open Men’s lead. On this day, Kindree paired up with fellow Specialized rider Evan McNeely and worked together to conquer the climbs.  Alternating the lead allowed these two to save valuable energy resulting in a tandem finish, and times of 2:06:41 and 2:06:45 respectively, in the plaza at Fernie Alpine Resort.

The status in the Ladies TR3 remained unchanged as Mic

al Dyck took her second stage win and widened her overall lead to a whopping 14 minutes and 42 seconds. Ian Auld, TR3 40+ leader, was able to hold off Jeff Neilson and managed to increase his lead in the overall with a victory under the ‘Legendary Fernie’ arch.

The storyline for the TR7 wasn’t quite so cut and dry. While 3 of the 5 category leaders remained  unchanged there was a shakeup in two of the standings possibly due, in part, to injury. The team of Harry Johnson and Andrew Seessel rode strong to improve on a 4th place stage one finish to take the TR7 100+ lead with a victory in 3:23:55. Pat Doyle and Craig Bartlett, 2nd in yesterday’s stage by a mere 21 seconds, took top honors today and moved into the overall lead in the Men’s 80+.

Open Men’s leaders Jon Firth and Stefan Wid

mer added a second consecutive stage win on the, according to Firth, ‘sweet, sweet  singletrack’ and lengthened their overall lead over Greg Day and Colin Kerr of Rocky Mountain Bicycles Factory Team. Normon Thibault and Wendy Simms continued to lead the Open Mixed with a stage 2 victory and displayed a touch of class stopping for an injured rider until  medics were able to respond. The duo of Sandra Walter and Jean Ann Berkenpas continued their domination of the Open Women extending their overall lead to over one hour.

Tomorrow the TransRockies Challenge re-starts on the Plaza at Fernie Alpine Resort and will test the riders with 1800km of riding over 31km before descending into beautiful Island Lake Lodge.

The 2012 TransRockies Challenge kicked off year 11 under glorious blue skies, warm temperatures and crisp clean mountain air. Stage 1 featured the start of two separate events under the TransRockies Challenge banner: the TR3, 3 days of Fernie solo riding, and the TR7 teams.

Complete results available HERE.

www.transrockies.com