550km and 15 thousand meters elevation.  The Trans Rockies Classic (TRC) is a gruelling, 7 day, cross-country mountain bike stage race from Fernie to Panorama, BC.  This race is no joke.  It has been proclaimed one of the toughest mountain biking races anywhere, and is in the ranks with the TransAlp and La Ruta as the world’s most iconic stage races.

Sound amazing? I agree.

Oh, and incase you were wondering what a BHAG is: Big Hairy Audacious Goal

That’s why I am gunning to complete the TRC. 

There are many disciplines I aim to become proficient in, just to have a chance of completing this race:

- Mountain biking skills, technical climbs, gnarly descends

- Bike legs for endurance riding (these are going to be 8 hour days)

- Endurance fitness for multiple stages (for 7 consecutive days!)

- Nutrition for single day and multi day events

- Bike maintenance (on and off the trail)

- Strength and power output

- Oxygen depravation training (V02 Max – or oxygen carrying capacity-  will be affected at altitudes greater than 5000 feet, we will be climbing to 7000+ feet)

- Sports psychology and mental strength

- Training data interpretation (learning what to do with the heart rate and power data I am gathering while training)

I will be training for this race over a couple of years, and since I will obviously be gaining a wealth of knowledge during the process, I have decided to keep a blog, and share this knowledge with the world. 

In future posts I will be covering what the race is, my riding partner, my training teams, details of my fitness regimen, and information I gather on the knowledge, skills, and tactics I am covering to complete this race.

Next TRC blog, why I choose my TRC partner, Kevin Fahlman.