Two soloists and 15 team riders from the Coast set off for the 24 Hours of Adrenaline in Whistler last weekend and returned with medals, prizes and pain.
Soloists Bruce Gordon and Bob Stanhope competed at previous adrenaline races in a team together with two other riders, but this year they wanted more of a challenge.
Team riders take turns pedaling around a 17 km track during a 24-hour period. In the past, Stanhope and Gordon put in an average of five laps each during the races, but this year, as soloists, each put in 13 laps. Sleep was also greatly diminished for them this year, each getting about two hours of rest time during the 24-hour race.
"I think it was the hardest to go out for a lap after my rest," said Gordon. "It was about 4 a.m. and I was stiff and sore and cold and I knew I would have trouble with my lights because they were not fully charged. I didn't want to go out on that cold, dark ride."
But his pit crew helped him warm up, eat and get back on the track before losing too much time.
At about the same time Stanhope was trying to regain the feeling in his toes and continue on his lap.
"At 4 a.m. I almost wanted to quit. It was so cold and my feet were numb. I actually thought about sitting down and quitting right there in the middle of the course," said Stanhope.
Both riders said the event was more difficult mentally than physically.
"It's a very repetitive race and there are parts that are tough that sort of form a barrier in your mind," said Gordon.
Stanhope said it was hard to stay focused and keep himself pumped up during the cold twilight hours.
Temperatures dipped to about 5 degrees Celsius on Whistler Mountain during the night, and team riders from the Coast were having their own motivation problems.
"It was hard to manage with little sleep throughout the night and trying to eat food to keep yourself going. It's a little awkward to try to eat a bowl of pasta at 1 a.m.," said Laurie Short, team captain for the Sprockids five-man team.
Short, Raun Desharnais, Keith Reynolds, Chris Allan and Michael Davidson made up team Sprockids. It was the first time this group competed at the 24 Hours of Adrenaline.
"It just looked like so much fun and we didn't want to miss out," said Short.
His team had only one big crash to report - Davidson's crash on a bridge that tore open the front quarter panel of his favourite lycra shorts. "He turned them around so the tear was in the back and finished the race," said Short. Once back at camp his wife bought him some new shorts to wear on his next lap.
Another Coast team, the Daisy Chain Chicks, had no major crashes to report.
The all female team of Lorna Bates, Tanya Camposano, Jessica Huntington, Marilyn Downey and last-minute substitute Sue Brown were an eye-catching sight in their decorated helmets on flower power bikes.
But they weren't all show. The girls came in second place in their category and Camposano won an award for the fastest female lap time at 56 minutes. The Daisy Chain Chicks logged 19 laps in 24 hours.
Team Sprockids barely missed a podium finish in their category with 20 laps in 24 hours. They placed fourth in the end.
A final team from the Coast, team Cramping On The Edge with captain Jim Brown, Brian Fournier, Rod Camposano, Glen Illingworth and Brad Proctor, managed a podium finish.
This group, who were in the same category as Team Sprockids, narrowly missed a first place finish, coming in second place.They achieved 23 laps in 24 hours.
Soloists Stanhope and Gordon finished the race together, riding the last lap side by side, reliving highlights and lowlights of the previous 24 hours.
"The biggest high for me was the finish. It was emotional, coming in side-by-side with Bruce and thinking about what we'd accomplished," said Stanhope, who placed sixth in the solo category. Gordon came in milli-seconds behind him for a seventh place finish.
All the racers plan to go back to Whistler next year to defend their titles and up their placings.
