Jasperites cleaned up at the 24 Hours of Adrenalin bike race in Canmore July 19-20, snatching several podium finishes in a slew of different categories.
Ryan 鈥淐orporal Punishment鈥� Gardiner was the town鈥檚 star this year, winning in the solo male under-40 category. On his way to nabbing the yellow jersey, Gardiner pounded out 17 laps, nearly 15 minutes faster than the second place finisher.
Recalling the race July 21, Gardiner said by his last lap he felt fairly confident he was going to win, but that it鈥檚 never safe to let up, which makes that last push the most painful of the race.
鈥淭he last lap is always the hardest: you鈥檙e so sore and your body is just shutting down. You鈥檙e just trying everything you can do to keep going.鈥�
Gardiner, who trained 鈥減retty much six days a week since last September,鈥� said it felt great to take home the win, but it was even sweeter because of how well other Jasperites performed.
Teams from Jasper Source for Sports and Freewheel Cycle both landed on the podium, placing second and third respectively in the five person 150鈥�189 category (the numbers represent the combined ages of all team members).
Freewheels鈥� Wendy Hall completed 10 laps to place fourth in the solo female category, while Andrew Bouvard rode 17 to place fourth in the solo male under-40.
And Simone Heinrich competed on a team that took first place in the female five-person category, completing a combined 20 laps. Many other Jasperites also competed in the race on several different teams.
24 Hours of Adrenalin is a day-long mountain bike race that challenges competitors to complete as many laps around a 17-kilometre course as they can in 24 hours.
The race is a yearly spectacle in Canmore, where more than 5,000 people show up to cheer on the 1,650 competitors. Cyclists can compete in teams or by themselves, and depending on how hardcore they are they can choose to only make occasional 鈥減it stops鈥� to refuel or check their gear.
Hall, who competed in the solo event for the first time this year, said during the race she often questioned her sanity, but now that it鈥檚 over she is thrilled to have done it.
She remembered falling asleep on the car ride home, after being awake for about two days straight, and seeing nothing but trails in her dreams.
鈥淭hat was the first time I鈥檇 closed my eyes since Saturday morning at 7, and all I saw was trail,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 can walk you through the entire trail, every rock, every root and every bend.鈥�
Her goal was to ride the whole race without sleeping or stopping, which鈥攁side from the occasional pause for a selfie鈥攕he accomplished. She said it鈥檚 easy for soloists to slip into 鈥渁 dark place鈥� while they鈥檙e riding, especially in the middle of the night when you鈥檙e alone on the course. And while that didn鈥檛 happen to her, she did have her moments of weakness.
At one point, one of her support volunteers asked her what she thought about while she was on the course.
鈥淚 think about what lies I can come up with to convince you guys to let me stop鈥攖hat鈥檚 honestly all I think about,鈥� Hall told her.
But that kind of torture is what attracts most cyclists to 24-hour endurance races.
As Gardiner said a few days after his win: 鈥淚 like the fact that you learn a lot about yourself, and how deep you can really dig. You can鈥檛 experience the pain or suffering that goes on in any other race. You鈥檝e got to really dig deep.鈥�
Jasper鈥檚 24 Hours of Adrenalin standouts
Male solo under 40
- Ryan Gardiner: 1st place - 17 laps, 24:07:33
- Andrew Bovard: 4th place - 17 laps, 24:29:58
Female solo
- Wendy Hall: 4th place - 10 laps 23:05:12
5 Person 150 to 189
- Jasper Source for Sports: 2nd place - 24 laps, 24:27:30
- Freewheel Fatties: 3rd place, 24 laps, 24:42:40
5 Person Female
- Team Vigilante: 1st place, 20 laps, 24:21:29
Trevor Nichols
[email protected]
