A Rossland mountain bike rider and his partner peddled to the top of the podium at the grueling TransRockies Golden Rush race series in Golden June 14 to June 16.
Rossland rider Sean Murray and racing partner Kylee Ohler, from Cochrane, endured an eight-hour, 105-km mountain bike race in the Golden alpine, and prevailed on a dramatic seventh and final lap.
“We were going back and forth for the first six laps, but on the seventh lap, I passed the person less than a kilometre into it, and I think that we just had a little bit more left in the tank,” said Murray.
Twelve teams entered into the mixed category, racing through gnarly forested terrain and elevation gain over 500-metres to see who could do the most laps of a 15-km circuit in under eight hours.
The race started with a unique Indy style green light, where all the competitors wait for the go-signal then run 700-m to their bikes to kickoff the race.
“It was really weird,” said Murray. “I didn’t want to ruin my cleats so I ran in shoes and I had to change the shoe over, which was a total time loss.”
Murray and Ohler alternated every lap and complimented each other well with similar times each circuit.
“It was go as hard as you can for an hour and then change off with your partner,” said Murray. “The laps were just over an hour and you go for eight hours … so it was pretty challenging.”
In the end, only three of 12 teams completed seven laps of the 15k endurance course with Murray and Ohler clocking in at 7:39:42.6, Team “I guess if I have to” at 7:44:48.8, and “Free bag Free Friends” at 7:56:52.3.
“We were pretty pumped,” said Murray.
“On the last lap, I wasn’t sure of the exact rule on how we go out, so I was absolutely hammering it. I had a crash at some point and when I crashed both my legs completely cramped up.”
The Rossland rider got up, and sprinted to the finish line, yelling at Kylee to ‘Go! Go! Go!’ as the eight hours had not expired.
“She was like ‘No, we won!’” realizing there was no time for another lap.
“So we were really happy with the result.”
Ohler is not only a mountain bike racer, but a former national team speedskater, who is now a world class skimo (ski mountaineer) racer and coach, and a Skimo Canadian and North American champion.
Murray, meanwhile, is Alberta born and played professional basketball in Germany before moving to Rossland and joining the mountain biking madness on the extensive West Kootenay trails.
Murray completed the Golden Rush race on his 170-mm travel bike, and credits Rossland’s Revolution Cycles for a “fantastic job” getting his bike primed for the race.
He looks forward to teaming up with Ohler for another TransRockies tilt.
“It was definitely a good team,” added Murray. “I think if there is another mixed cross-country race, we will definitely want to do it.”
Murray’s next challenge is the Crowsnest Pass 100 near Fernie on Aug. 10 and Aug. 11.
The course is a dedicated mix of severe mountain bike terrain dubbed “one of the most breathtaking and brutal mountain bike races anywhere.”
For the full 100 km, racers ride a 30 per cent mix of fire road, 30 per cent double-track and 40 per cent single track from green to black diamond, and a gut-wrenching elevation gain of 3,300 metres (11,000 ft).
