Not just "A Biking Story"

Thanks Rob Kowal for your story…

A Biking Story

This past weekend (July 23/24, 2011) I was participating in the 24 Hours of Adrenaline mountain bike relay race in Canmore, Alberta, held at the Canmore Nordic center. This race is an extreme mountain bike race where each individual of a team ride an approximately 18 KM loop one after the other for as many times as they can in a 24 hour period. There are different categories with team sizes of 10, 5, 4, 2, and solo. This was not the first time I participated in it but it was the first time to witness an incredibly dramatic end to it.

The start of the race is a lemans start, which is where the starting member of the team begins with a short run, maybe 500 meters or so, and then gets on their bike to do the first loop. Typically the fastest, professional teams and solos want to be far ahead of the other starters so not to be caught up in the initial bottlenecks that happen on the mountain. As I was watching the start, one guy seemed to stick out to me because he wasn’t your typical mountain bike rider – he was rather larger than usual. He started near the end of the pack and ran a little ways and then walked the rest. He was quite a few minutes behind everyone else and I was interested to note that by the time he was half way all the spectators were already walking away from the route not really noticing that he was still completing the running portion. I, myself, did not notice him finish the run or get on his bike to start riding.

I also do not recall seeing him throughout the rest of the 24 hour and 57 minute period. One thing to note is that the 24 Hours of Adrenaline is actually a 25 hour race. The rule is that you are allowed to start your last lap up to 23 hours 59 minutes and 59 seconds and you must complete that lap within the next hour for it to count, hence 25 hours.

Now, there are always people there to cheer on team mates, friends, and family members. The biggest supporter of the riders is a guy called Crazy Larry. He dresses up in crazy outfits and stays up all night with his megaphone in the timing tent to encourage every rider that passes. As usual, the biggest crowd of people is around for the last few minutes to see who will finish in that last hour. 10 minutes before the last hour is up you really see some people struggling up that last hill before the finish line, some look like they have enough energy to keep going, but most are ready to lie down and fall asleep for the next couple of days. The rider’s people are most interested in seeing are the solo ones because they are probably the most respected. The Canmore race holds the national solo competition so the top riders ride 24 hours straight and I’ve seen some in previous years finish 20 or more loops in that time. The solo rider to win this race completed 17 loops in 24 hours, 30 minutes.

So now it’s getting down to the wire with less than 5 minutes left. This is when people start noticing the rather large rider coming towards the last hill at a very tired pace. I was at the other end of the hill near the finish line and really started hearing the crowd cheering him on and then everyone realizes he’s a solo rider. That’s when it starts to get interesting.

He makes it to the bottom of the last hill and gets off his bike to walk up it – at most 3 minutes left. More and more people start cheering – “come on solo, you can do it!” He’s walking his bike up the hill – struggling. 2 people start walking beside him to encourage him up, pouring water on his head to keep him going – 1 minute 10 seconds left and he is half way up the hill. People are screaming, willing him up the hill. The 2 guys with him are almost pushing him up the hill.  People are clapping, yelling, and encouraging him to keep going. 30 seconds left and he’s at the top – another rider passes him. He stands there, exhausted. “Come on, get on the bike!” – “Go! Go!” – “Come on solo!”

He starts to lift his leg with what looked like the greatest of effort and sits on his bike. “Come on buddy push off” I’m thinking to myself and looking at the clock – only about 20 seconds left. Finally, he pushes himself down the hill.  You can hear the crowd going frantic – Crazy Larry jumping up and down with his megaphone going… crazy – the MC going wild over the loud speaker. The rider comes barreling down the hill towards the finish line with 12 seconds left, crosses with one hand in the air with, I’m sure, the most exuberant, fulfilled feeling of accomplishment that any athlete, professional or otherwise, could have.

The people were just clapping and cheering for him, the MC just stunned saying that this was the most dramatic finish he has ever witnessed.

I don’t know what happened to him after that or what his reasons were for doing a solo race, with pretty much everyone there at first not noticing him or even realizing he was a solo rider, and I’m sure some thinking no way he’ll be able to do it. But I hope he came away with what he wanted to accomplish and went home with the feeling that everyone there was with him at the end to keep him going and not to give up. One result he may not have intended was to inspire at least a few of us with his finish.

When it was over I was looking around for movie cameras with Disney logos on them because it was one of those surreal moments that you would only expect to see from a movie. The finish was one of those moments in time that remind me that we can do something that we don’t expect to be able to do – especially when you have people at the end seeing and believing that in themselves.

I looked at the results from the weekend and believe the rider I speak of is Kevin Squires, finishing his 5th lap with an official time of 24:59:49.

Way to go Kevin!

Rob Kowal

Calgary