24 Hours of Mountain biking

Chico Racing held its first 24 hour event of the season, 24 Hours of Summer Solstice on June 24/25 at Albion Hills Conservation Area in Bolton. This event is pegged as ?North America?s most popular 24 hour mountain bike festival.? Over 2000 mountain bike riders come together either as solo riders, two people, five people or 10 person teams to ride lap after lap for 24 hours. The person or team that rides the most in that 24 hour period in each category is declared the winner.
It may sound simple but this is done on a mountain bike, on a trail, with hazards thrown in and then add darkness. The lap at this particular event was 16.7k in length which took riders anywhere from 54 minutes to nearly two hours to ride, in the daylight. Members of the five and 10 person teams therefore had the advantage of four plus hours of recovery between each lap. This also meant that they may only have to ride two laps during the darkest hours. Solo and tag team members choose from no or little rest to approximately an hour between laps.
The interesting thing about the 24 hour format whether it is done biking or running is there is no real sense of urgency like there is in a race with a specific distance. If a racer chooses to they can sleep through the night and the only thing at risk is fewer laps, no stigma of not finishing. The down side of this is it is very easy in the middle of the night when you are tired, cold and well, tired to say ?that?s good enough.? When you are well rested, you may not be happy with your choice.
To ensure you have a positive experience, set a specific distance or lap goal and stick to. Bring a crew that can help with race nutrition from between lap meals to water intake during each lap, prepare and/or fix your equipment and remind you of your goals when the going gets tough and the night gets dark and cold.
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On June 25th Gregory Gamalski completed the 29th Annual International Bridge Race 10k in 1:01:44.
There were 257 racers at the Smith?s Falls Tri (500/20/5) also held on Sunday June 25th, five of them from Quinte. They were Andrew Speedy (1:07:57), Rich Van Der Woude (1:11:52), Cuthbert Cheung (1:13:11), Cathy Speedy (1:22:38), and Pat Broekema (1:25:01).
At 24 hours the two man team of Keon Bernier and Jeff Musson finished 11 out of 16 teams with 16 laps and a total of 272k, ridden in 23:58:25. Local five man teams Jagermeister and Tragically Fit Racing Team both rode a total of 16 laps each putting them 24th (22:04:35) and 25th (23:43:39) out of 28 teams. Team member?s were- Jagermeister: Mark Keller, Nancy Coakley, Dave Denison, Andy Gaudreau and Heintz Markmeyer and for Tragically Fit: Jim Forbes, Lynda Steers, Bob Reynolds, Calvin Newman and Jim Gibb.