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24-hour championships off and running in Whistler

by VeloNews.com

• September 03, 2005
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By Vic Armijo, Special to VeloNews

Sarah Kaufman is racing her first 24-hour event

Photo: Vic Armijo

Say what you will about the kind of lunatics who ride their bikes nearly non-stop from noon to noon. And gripe all you want about the 24 Hours of Adrenaline Solo World Championships lacking an official rainbow-striped blessing from the UCI. For the 150-plus riders vying for glory in Whistler, British Columbia, this is their world and their world’s.

Most racers awakened to the sound of rain on Saturday. Fingers crossed in hope when the rain subsided by 8 a.m., but that hope was short-lived. By the noon start all riders had at least donned rain jackets, and many had mounted fenders.

After the traditional LeMans-start footrace, UK rider Rob Lee was first to his bike with five-time 24 Hours of Adrenaline solo champ Chris Eatough second and Nat Ross of Team Gary Fisher close behind in third.

With the weather, pundits had predicted lap times of just over an hour. But despite the slippery conditions Eatough completed his first lap in just 49 minutes and 56 seconds. Ross came in 20 seconds later with Canada’s Galen Kehler in third, one minute behind Ross. The first woman in was Monique Sawicki, some 11 minutes behind Eatough.

After the early laps many racers opted to shed their outer layers. “Thankfully it hasn’t been a freezing rain,” explained one racer as he peeled off his tights and vest. “Actually I’m a bit overheated. You make your own heat out there.”

After just over four hours of racing Eatough had completed five laps and held a lead of nearly 50 minutes over Kehler, with Ernesto Marenchin of Kent, Washington, less than a minute back. Nat Ross was a few seconds further back in fourth with Thomas Hodlemoser of Austria in fifth, some seven minutes behind Ross.

There’s a battle brewing between two single-speeders. While Jake Kirkpatrick of Phoenix, Arizona, may not be the most experienced wet-weather rider, he hasn’t let that slow him down. He’s held the lead since lap one.

Fellow Arizonan Dejay Birtch of Tucson held second in the early laps, but has since dropped back a position with Dale Plant of Bellingham, Washington, moving up to second, just 2.5 minutes behind Kirkpatrick.

Marg Fedyna, one of Canada’s top adventure racers and endurance mountain bikers, is leading the women. Three minutes back in second is Louise Kobin of San Jose, California. Kobin, a long-time fixture in the endurance-racing scene, is fresh off of a strong ride in the TransRockies where she teamed up with 24 Hours of Adrenaline U.S. solo champion Eric Warkentin.

Sawicki is in third, just 45 seconds behind Kobin. She, too, is on form, having recently won the NORBA Marathon Series for the second consecutive year. Her consistent season sewed up the series before the sixth race was even held.

Come the dawn …

It’s often said that a 24 Hours of Adrenaline race really begins at midnight. This event holds true to that credo as several position changes occurred between that halfway mark and dawn. There’s been no change in the name of the rider leading the men’s field, though. It’s still Chris Eatough.

Behind him, meanwhile, Ernesto Marenchin has moved into second at 25 minutes back, relegating Nat Ross to third. Mark Hendershot of Santa Cruz Cycles holds fourth, and Australian 24-hour champion Josh Street has moved up from 20th to fifth.

A bit of shuffling has occurred in the women’s’ elite category as well, with Marg Fedyna first, Louise Kobin second, and former leader Monique Sawicki in third.

Saturday night’s weather had much to do with the reshuffling and with the departure of several other riders. The light mist that had fallen throughout the race increased to a full-scale, wind-driven deluge before dawn Sunday, and racers wore shell-shocked expressions, lots of mud, and soaking-wet clothes.

Even the usually unruffled Eatough wore a pained expression coming into the pits, where his crew cleaned his face and eyes, stripped him of his wet clothes, toweled him dry, dressed him in a fresh set of gear and even duct-taped the cuffs of his rain pants. Eatough sat entirely passive as a mannequin through the entire operation, saving every iota of energy for one thing – riding his bike.