Jasper bikers battled dehydration, exhaustion and delirium during Canmore鈥檚 24 Hours of Adrenalin July 20 and 21, yet they proved tough enough to finish in some of the event鈥檚 top spots.
Some of the race highlights include Andrew Bovard and Ryan Gardiner, placing second and fourth, respectively, in the solo male under-40 category, both while riding single speeds鈥攂ikes with only one gear.
This is Bovard鈥檚 third time competing solo. His previous best finish was 10th place.
鈥淚鈥檓 so impressed with those guys and what they did on their single speed bikes,鈥� said Greg Van Tighem, who placed 13th in the solo male 40-plus category. 鈥淚f they had have been on my bike, they would have come in first and second, for sure.
鈥淲hen it comes to an uphill, they just had to grunt up.鈥�
Other impressive finishes were the Jasper Source for Sports team, which placed second in the five-person co-ed category, and the 5 Jasper Dads team, which placed fifth in the five-person 190鈥�219 category.
The 18th annual race saw more than 1,600 participants, all tasked with completing as many bike laps as physically possible in 24 hours. The course was rooty and rocky, with steep hills throughout.
There were new parts to the course this year and overall conditions were awesome, said Bovard. 鈥淚t didn鈥檛 rain, so it didn鈥檛 get messy and scary.鈥� Before race day, the course was slightly damaged from the flooding that wreaked havoc on southern Alberta last month, but it was repaired in time for the event.
Patricia Street Deli owner Glen Leitch was at the race supplying Jasper competitors with soup and wraps. Gardiner said that 鈥渢he Deli Man鈥檚鈥� chicken noodle soup kept him going and at one point, it was all his body could handle.
24 Hours of Adrenalin supports numerous charities, and many competitors ride for their own charities. The kids race, 24 Minutes of Adrenalin, raised almost $10,000 for the Right to Play Foundation.
Locally, businesses and individuals sponsored Van Tighem and donated money for every lap he completed. Two larger donations were from Freewheel Cycle, who donated $50 per lap, and Tekarra Color Lab, who sponsored $5 for the first lap and then doubled the amount each lap after that.
Despite a fall after his seventh lap, Van Tighem completed two more laps and ultimately raised about $5,000 toward his $93,000 fundraising goal for his End to End to End MS campaign.
Sarah Makowsky
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