In a small town filled with avid cyclists, it鈥檚 no surprise that a handful of Jasperites recently took part in what is being called one of the most challenging mountain bike rides in the Rockies.
The inaugural Alberta Rockies 700, which kicked off June 19, had about 40 riders pedal a grueling 700 km across a mostly gravel route from Hinton to Coleman. Adding to the struggle, the ride was completely self-supported, meaning no outside help was permitted along the way.
The first Jasperite to finish the race was Chris Peel, who crossed the finish line in an impressive time of two days and 18 hours.
鈥淢y goals going in were to finish and to stop very little. I think over the three days I only got about two to three hours of sleep. It got a little lonely, but I just kept pushing it,鈥� said Peel.
Aside from some long stretches of solitude, Peel said he had some challenges with his sense of direction.
鈥淭here was a few times where I was just lost in the middle of the night,鈥� Peel said. 鈥淚 never felt like I was in danger, but I鈥檒l probably use a GPS next time.鈥�
Rather than aiming for a record-breaking time, Jasper Park Cycling Association president Matt Staneland said he took his time finishing the 700 km race.
鈥淚 got a good friend from Ontario to come out and we weren鈥檛 really racing we just went for huge rides every day and camped out and hung out,鈥� Staneland said. 鈥淭hat was the cool thing about that event you could do whatever speed you wanted.鈥�
Staneland completed the route in about four days.
鈥淚t was still extremely challenging but I thought it was a great ride for all different abilities,鈥� Staneland said.
The race was organized by Hinton鈥檚 Jonathan Hayward, who dreamed up the race after participating in a similar event in Oregon.
鈥淚 started looking for something that would provide a similar challenge, but was closer to home,鈥� Hayward said. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 really find anything so a couple of friends started telling me I should organize my own event.鈥�
Over the course of two years, Hayward mapped out the 700 km route鈥攆inally deciding that the combination of logging roads, secondary highways and gravel parkways that stretch from his hometown to Coleman was the perfect setting.
When he first announced the race Hayward said he wasn鈥檛 sure how many people would participate.
鈥淥riginally when I put together the idea I said I鈥檇 be happy if it was just myself and about five others so I was really surprised when that many people signed up,鈥� Hayward said. 鈥淥verall everything went really well. I had a lot of riders telling me it was one of the most challenging routes they鈥檝e ever experienced.鈥�
Out of the 40 or so cyclists who participated, 14 were unable to complete the 700 km route.
Calgary鈥檚 Dallas Morris was the first to cross the finish line with a time of about 38 hours.
鈥淭hat guy is a superhuman or something,鈥� Hayward said.
While Hayward doesn鈥檛 know if he鈥檒l be the one organizing next year鈥檚 Alberta Rockies 700, he said after this year鈥檚 successful debut he believes the event is here to stay.
鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 really take that much to organize,鈥� Hayward said. 鈥淎s long as there鈥檚 a date out there then I think people will come.鈥�
Kayla Byrne [email protected]
