In early October, a small town in the mountains of Northern California was ground zero for endurance mountain bike racing, so it was no surprise that three Jasperites found themselves there to compete in the 2015 World Solo 24 Hour Mountain Bike Championships.
Known for its network of single-track trails in the hills just above town, 160 athletes from around the world descended on Weaverville, Calif., to race from 12 noon to 12 noon.
One of those competitors was Jasper's acting Sgt. Ryan Gardiner who finished first in his age category for men 35-39 years of age.
Gardiner finished 18 laps in 24 hours, 30 minutes and 42 seconds, about 50 minutes ahead of his closest competitor.
鈥淚t was my first crack at a world championship event so it was a pretty neat experience to see all the guys from other countries. The level of competition was significantly higher than what it would be at any other 24-hour event,鈥� said Gardiner, who was the only Canadian racing in his category.
鈥淚t's kind of cheesy, but when someone standing on the side of the course yells 'Go Canada' and you look down at your number plate and you see the Canadian flag there, you kind of clue in a little bit and think I'm representing Canada here and not just Canada, but Jasper as well.鈥�
The 20.9 km loop started at the town's high school and took riders on a climb up a gravel road at about a nine per cent grade, explained Gardiner.
From there, riders were funnelled onto a single track course that descended back toward the pit area at the high school football field.
鈥淭he bulk of the elevation gain was gained in the first four miles of the lap,鈥� said Gardiner.
鈥淧er lap we were doing approximately 2,000 feet of elevation gain, so quite a bit of climbing, which, compared to the other 24s I did, was a little bit more difficult.鈥�
He said the key to his success was establishing a steady pace and keeping that pace throughout the race in order to remain in contention.
鈥淚t was pretty close throughout most of the race between myself and Michael Novack from Weaverville and another guy from Ecuador, who ended up dropping out of the race 10 laps in.鈥�
At about 10 p.m., Gardiner said he knew he had a chance to win the race.
鈥淭he guys that were pitting for me told me I was in first place and that I just needed to keep doing what I was doing. They didn't tell me my time splits or time gap at all because I didn't want to have any sort of mental change in my game plan, I just wanted to keep doing my consistent lap times.鈥�
To keep his legs moving, he had to consume about 300 calories an hour, all in liquid form.
Cory Wallace and Andrew Bovard were the other two Jasperites to compete in the race. Wallace, a professional rider for Kona, placed fourth in the elite category and Bovard placed fourth in the single speed male category.
鈥淚t would be nice to get all of us on the podium and put Jasper on the map as far as endurance cycling,鈥� said Gardiner, adding he intends to take some time off to relax, but hasn't ruled out racing in New Zealand this February.
鈥淚'd like to make a push into the pro category. With my results at this one it put me at about 11th place in the pro category, so I think with some tweaks to my training, and if I build a little bit more fitness, I might be able to push into that category and compete at that level.鈥�
Paul Clarke
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