The 7-day version of the TransRockies is a 2-person race.
And every team will only be as fast as its slowest member. If you want to ride
as fast as possible and hate waiting for anyone, then perhaps the TR3 and/or
the TR4 is the right choice for you. But if you are prepared to work together
and encourage your partner when they are down then, with the right choice of
team member, you should have a great time on the full 7-day TR.
Finding the right partner is one of the most critical elements
in having a good TR. The forum is a
great place to start your search, but even if your e-mails indicate that you’ll
be a great match you’ll need to get some details ironed out.
These are a few of the things that you should agree on
before you team up. (And while most of this you’ve probably already thought of,
there are some things to consider.)
1) What
are you looking for? A podium finish? A great ride with a friend? A 7-day
anaerobic lactic acid fest?
2) What
sort of bikes will you ride? It will be challenging for a singlespeed rider and
a 3x9 (or 3x10 or 2x10) rider to maintain the same speed, especially on the
road sections. (Although the lighter bike weight will give the singlespeed
rider will have a big advantage on the hike-a-bikes.) The 26” vs. 29” divide is
less critical, but does have an effect to your decision about carrying spare
tubes and possibly a spare tire.
3) Do
you have similar or at least compatible personalities? If you’re old enough,
think of The Odd Couple. Are you an
Oscar and is your prospective partner a Felix? If your partner is happy to have
the tent look like a Lycra® bomb went off and you are a bit of a neat freak
there may be trouble in paradise.
4) Can
you play nicely together? What are your problem solving styles? Do you just
yell louder and louder until the other side gives in? I’ve seem too many people
who were abandoned by their partners after a big blow up. Apart from being
unfriendly, it is against the TR rules and potentially very unsafe.
5) Can
you put up with each other’s speed? Everyone has different strengths and
weaknesses when riding. In eight years of riding the TR I never had a partner
who matched my speed up, down and on the flat. Some years I was the faster
climber, other years I was slower. Some years I took long pulls on the road
sections, others it was all I could do to hang on as my partner barrelled down
the pavement like a freight train. In 2009, riding as an Ambassador, I had the
opportunity to see how lots of teams worked together. There were quite a few
teams who discovered that by the end of the week their speeds were not as
closely matched as they were at the start of the week. (And as I learned in 2007,
an injury for one team member can completely change your relative speeds.)
6) Can
you both live with the “ground rules”? Will the race be 7 days of musical
heaven or an iPod-free zone? How “close to the bone” are you prepared to go?
Just two water bottles, or will you carry a hydration pack? Will one spare
inner tube each be enough?
Some may disagree, but on the TR I think the most important
factors in picking a partner are personality and climbing speed. In the seven
years that I’ve raced (Plus one year riding as an Ambassador) in the TR, I’ve had
four partners and we were never the same speed. Even if you spend a lot of time
riding with your TR partner beforehand you need to recognize that over the
course of 7 days your relative speeds will change. You need to think about who
is faster on what type of terrain. Ideally you should both climb at about the
same speed. That is where teams can make or lose hours. If your climbing speeds
are very different you will have a harder time sticking together. On the road
sections the slower rider can draft and on the downhill/technical sections the
difference between the slow and fast riders is usually never more that a couple
of minutes.
For 7 days you will both be pushing yourselves well beyond
your comfort zones. You’ll be tired, sore, hungry and thirsty. You’ll snap at each
other, or be tempted to. You have to remember that when you are doing the TR
“it is what it is”. Anything that can break will break; anything that can go
wrong will go wrong. The strongest rider can have a horrible day and the
winners are the people who can maintain their pace all day long for 7 days.
Burning out your partner on the day 1 time trial does not make for a happy
experience.
So, if you go in to the TR with a pretty clear idea about
what the two of you want to achieve and an understanding about how you’ll try
to achieve your goals, then you should have a great time.
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