What’s it like to compete in a self-supported, cross-continent bike race?

as told by Tara Nolan

Ever wonder what it’s like to ride thousands of kilometres, start a bike brand or nail a new technical mountain biking skill? Here are a handful of bike enthusiasts who have accomplished large, and some not so large, goals related to the sport. Their great tales may inspire you to take on new bike-related challenges.

What’s it like to start a bike company?

Russell Slater, Toronto

The first time I learned about the bikepacking style of racing was by watching Ride the Divide , which was produced by Mike Dion. I’d never seen anything like it before. I was intrigued and inspired. Two years later, I entered the Trans Am Bike Race, a self-supported bike race (which is officially 6,827 km).

I’ve been cycling for four years and have had some fairly big seasons on the road and was confident I could last the distance. I wasn’t in it to win, just to finish. Most of the prep I did was around gear. I had to source a lot of it because I had never done anything like this before. I did a lot of geeking out, a lot of research. The most useful resources were blog posts from other racers who had competed in this or other races.

I had three really bad days in a row. It started in Wyoming after I’d passed through Yellowstone and Grand Teton. I entered into one of the Wyoming basins. I had never experienced winds like that. I was being blown sideways and at times wasn’t able to ride my bike. It was very hard to make progress. I had to use both lanes in the road to tack across it like a sailboat. That went on for about two days.

Another day, I made the decision to push on after dinner to try and get over a mountain pass in Colorado. I ended up wearing all of my layers and climbing in the dark.

I had one of the heavier bikes – a Specialized Sequoia Expert – but it had a lot of carrying capacity and made for a really comfortable race. I probably had the widest tires. They say you pack your fears and I definitely overpacked.

My goal to finish was 30 days, which seemed pretty respectable, but I did it in just over 28 days and two hours. That day was busy for arrivals. I arrived on my own, but there were others who were 100 km ahead and back. It was nice to roll in on a busy day when there were other people finishing.

I would love to do something else like this while the experience is still fresh. The next time I would love to go with a faster bike and see what I can do.