In every professional athlete鈥檚 career there is a moment where everything seems to come together at just the right time, pushing them to the next level.
That moment happened for Jasper鈥檚 Cory Wallace during the World 24 Hour Solo Mountain Bike Championships in New Zealand late last month.
Despite coming just short of winning, Wallace pulled off the race of his life.
鈥淓very other 24-hour race that I鈥檝e done I鈥檝e had a pretty good meltdown at some point, but my pit crew had it dialled in and I had no excuse to stop,鈥� said Wallace, who鈥檚 sponsored by Kona Bikes and Freewheel Cycle.
鈥淭he whole race I felt strong.鈥�
Going into the race he knew his body needed to be firing on all cylinders to defeat Australia鈥檚 six-time world champion Jason English.
Feeling fresh on the first lap he pushed the pace a bit to test out the field, but the pack managed to stay with him.
鈥淚 tried to split the pack up, so I took the lead, but by the end of the lap there were eight guys right with me so right then I realized it was going to take a lot of patience to win the race,鈥� said Wallace.
Recognizing this, he backed off the throttle and settled into what he describes as 鈥渄iesel mode.鈥�
鈥淚 knew I鈥檇 have to wait for guys to tire out and then attack them later on.鈥�
For the next 10 hours, Wallace cruised through the course moving between fourth and sixth position.
Just after midnight the time splits between him the two leaders were starting to creep up to 15 minutes, forcing Wallace to either pick up the pace or watch the race slip away.
鈥淎t that point I knew it was time to go because if it got any bigger it鈥檚 a big gap to close,鈥� said Wallace.
In previous 24-hour races, Wallace said he usually experienced a meltdown between 1 a.m. and 4 a.m. as his body starts to tire and his mind begins to wander into a sleep deprived daze after 13 hours of racing.
Knowing this about himself he decided to crank the throttle in an attempt to catch up to the leaders and try to build some momentum through the night.
As it turned out, his strategy paid off and he completed the fastest night laps of the race. He also got a fortunate break when Tobias Lestrell, one of the race leaders, crashed.
鈥淭obias rode off a bridge and broke his handle bar so he lost 15 minutes going back to the pit getting a new bike,鈥� said Wallace.
With things going his way, the gap narrowed to 11 minutes between Wallace and English.
Not wanting to spook the world champion, Wallace decided to back off, stopping to take a quick bathroom break and refuel his body before trying to attack English at the base of the only climb on the course, a three minute burner.
Again his strategy paid off and he managed to gain a small gap on English, only to watch it erode as English caught up to him.
Unable to drop English on the course, Wallace decided to try a new tact.
As he rolled through the pit late at night, he told his pit crew on the next lap he wasn鈥檛 going to stop in order to try and get ahead of English.
The plan worked out and Wallace was able to gain a 10 second lead.
Pushing himself on the next lap he added a few more seconds, but English somehow managed to claw his way back by the end of the lap.
With three laps to go it looked like Wallace鈥檚 race might end prematurely after his front wheel snagged a root, launching him 10 feet down a steep hill into an entanglement of ferns and plants.
鈥淚 was lucky I landed in those bushes because it would have probably hurt otherwise,鈥� he said.听
The crash cost Wallace about 45 seconds to a minute, but he was able to eventually make up the lost time and once again caught up to his fast-paced competitor.
With the end of the race quickly approaching, Wallace had about 3.5 minutes to make up heading into the final lap.
Yelling and dumping water down his back, he tried everything he could to find every ounce of adrenaline and听 energy left in his body and pretty soon found himself with some new found momentum.
At this point he thought if he could keep it up, he could catch up with English, or at the very least, force an overtime lap.
As fate would have it Wallace came up 40 seconds short of noon鈥攖he cut off time鈥攖hereby ending his bid for his first world title.
鈥淚 was surprised with how much he had left in the tank,鈥� Wallace said of English. 鈥淚 just came up a little short.鈥�
Wallace鈥檚 next race is a seven-day stage race on the North Island of New Zealand. He will return to North America in May.
Paul Clarke [email protected]
