24 Hours of Fun

I saw my first 24 Hours of Adrenaline race last year on my way back from my Arctic/Pacific expedition. Erik's firm had entered a corporate team and the two of us knew a number of other people out there.

It rained almost the entire time and I was left wondering why people would subject themselves to such an ordeal. Mountain biking at night? In the rain? In the cold?


Not to be discouraged by the elements, Erik's firm (FirstEnergy) signed up a corporate team again this year. Since it was my second last weekend here, I elected to spend the weekend in Canmore hanging out with him. Unfortunately, work prevented Erik from making it out in the end. But, by that time I was committed to be there and it turned out to be a pretty fine way to spend a weekend.

Each team is required to have someone 'volunteer' for a few hours of the race (is it still volunteering if it's involuntary?). I agreed to put in a shift for FirstEnergy and for one of the Deadgoat teams. As a tribute to the riders that have to struggle through a restless 24 hours, I put in my 'volunteer' shifts during the dark hours (11:30am-8:00am). Turned out to be a good choice - there's a lot of action at night.

The FirstEnergy crew put in a solid performance among the corporate competition. Looked like they had some fun doing it too. Deadgoats rocked the race in several categories. Gerry, Trish, Gary, Steve and Geoff took first in the mixed field, while Tim, Pat, Gabor, Tom and Ed took second in the 200+ category...on singlespeeds! Josh, Lyndon, Linda, John and Steve flew the Deadgoat colours on their respective teams. Kelly Matheson represented us well in the solo female category. Carena Dean took 3rd in the solo female. And then there was Dallas, who took 5th in the men's solo. Shameless name dropping, I know. I'm just so proud to know all of these awesome cyclists!