24 Overload

Coming in 5th at last yr World 24 hr Solo’s I had been waiting patiently to get back to cause some suffering this yr but things unfolded quickly and I was the one suffering like a pot of overcooked soggy pasta starting to fry along the edges. Coming into the event pretty exausted from the previous two weeks of racing in Colorado and bike touring on the island I knew things were on the edge of a wholesale explosion but being hopeful I figured things would work out. Arriving in Canmore on friday the system overload signs were popping up as I tried pre-riding the course but had ot cut it short as WW3 was occuring in my stomach along with a system overheat due to the heat and some internal combustion. No pre-race meal and a sleepless, feverish night later I got out of bed at 8 am on saturday, ate some seeds, napped for an hour and at 10 got up and made the way to the start line. Being on sight boosted the system into adrenaline mode and at 11:45 we were off with the Kiwi’s and Aussies setting the early tone. Things rolled along all right for a couple laps before I peeled over on the side of the course and tride giving birth to whatever was hurling javelin poles into the side of my guts. After a couple dry heeves and a few self inflicted punches to the stomach I made it around the lap and back into the pit area and figured the day was done after just 4 hrs. A little rest and a zantac pill later things were going again and all of a sudden I felt like a bike racer and raced around for 8 hrs getting up to 6th spot before everything went into the blender of distruction and after a lap of being bent over the bike I crawled back into the pit area and slept off the rest of the race.
Not quite the 24 hrs I was hoping for but gongshows happen. What was cool on the night was 2 Canadians made the top 5 this yr. Leighton Poidevin from Canmore had a wicked race, finishing 4th overall and Dallas Morris came in a solid 5th proving he is probablly the steadiest biker out there and pretty much unfaisable.

Huge thanks to everyone who came out and supported me in the event:
-Freewheel Cycle and all the boys and girls cheering out there.
– Dave Mcdowell and his pit crew who came by and made sure things were online
-Doug Eastcott, for his support in the pit
and Mom and Dad for everything you did to help in what is in no way a Solo race as I believe the Solo’s is more of a team effort than the team event itself due to the fact that after 10 hrs of racing us solo bikers begin functioning like overgrown 3yr olds on adrenaline rushes.

After a week of rest and some time out at my buddies cabin 60 km in the middle of the woods the body’s system failure lights have switched off and the Road bike is getting dusted off for the Tour of Bowness in Calgary this weekend. Not really a road racer or a sprinter I’m not sure how a 4 minute hill climb or a 50 minute criterium are going to go after the last race lasted 15hr but theres only one way to figure that out.