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Chris Matthews's Journal
Epilogue
posted by RoubaixRider at 11:14 PM on August 18, 2008
"So, that happened."
-State & Main
I'm flying home from Calgary, the Transrockies now a checkmark in my "did it" column. The epilogue of this story is rather simple: I'm now going back to normal life. I don't have a next thing planned. I am looking forward to spending a few less hours in the saddle in the coming weeks though.
All in all, we spent over 40 hours riding during the 7 day race, and despite my perhaps slow-feeling pace that got slower as the fatigue of 7 days of racing got closer to the final finish line in Fernie, we still maybe even did okay.
The final day was almost comical, mostly because I felt like I could actually watch myself in a disembodied kinda way, fully detached from any sensations my body might have. The last two climbs, a long gradual ascent and then a sharp 2.5km spike about 10km from the finish, were agonizing. My oh-so-awesome, super light, high-performance bike, literally a bike from the future, was sighing at me as I shifted into its easiest gear. I spun my legs in slow circles that were (lucky for me) the exact minimum effort required to maintain forward momentum. I doubt I could have powered a small lightbulb. But, after 70km and about 5 hours on that 7th day, the summit was reached and all that remained was a stretch of about 10km of gladtastic singletrack that pinballed us through the trees of Fernie forest as we approached the downtown core of this tiny mining community, a town of just 4,000 people, and yet it has 3 bike shops.
Crossing the finish line was certainly a memorable moment: the whole town showed up to literally line the streets and cheer us in. Compared to previous days finish lines, hidden far from cities and their modern electrical and mechanical conveniences, this really felt like a finish line. And as we crossed the line, each of us was handed our finisher medal, and a pound of Kicking Horse coffee - the same blend we'd been drinking each morning, all week. I'm looking forward to french pressing the hell outta some of these beans.
So, glad I did it? Hell yes. Would I do it again? Probably. But I'd need some more time to consider it - at least long enough to heal the hike-induced blisters on my heels, and at least a week of just maybe riding a halfway normal amount. Also, I need to do laundry, as everything I own is in dire need of a wash. I've heard the BC Bike Race is the next one to knock off. And no, I don't want to do La Ruta in Costa Rica. That sounds crazy.
Peace.
categories: General
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Comments (1)
06:35 PM on August 27, 2008 UTC T Andrew Hatcher wrote:
Congradulations! Thanks for the daily reports.