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Aussies Reign in Canmore, Alberta

Andy Fellows and SleepMonsters Aus / 07.08.2008

The course was super hard, brutal climbs, technical descents, but did have some good cruising fire trail where we would be able eat/drink. It shared no similarities to any Australian 24hr course! The descents were rough, rooty and off-camber, if it rained the level of technical difficulty would increase. The best way to ride it is fast and don\'t brake, fly over the top of all the wet roots. It\'s around 20km loop, with a feed zone at 10km. Get this the total elevation gain per lap is 2100ft (around 700m). The winner will be lucky to hit 400km.

The clocking was ticking down, heart rates where rising, as the sound of a helicopter was heard overhead signaling the start of the 2008 24hr world solo championships. A quick dash saw competitors run 400metres to their bikes before a 7km prologue down into the town of Canmore.

As to be expected the top guys went off like firecrackers, lapping in incredible times just over an hour, (these times would eventually blowout to 2hrs). My plan was to take it easy and hopefully pick up a few places as the race progressed due to other riders burning out! For me the biggest thing about riding race like this is finding a sustainable rhythm, one which you will be able to keep for the duration of the race and sticking to it. Some laps would feel great and others will be shockers, but overall consistency is the key.

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