The 24 Hour Summer Solstice ~ High Heels and Wicked Wheels

Last weekend I raced the 24 Hour Summer Solstice. The 24 is a race where teammates take turns doing laps for 24 hours straight. This is a really tough race since you ride all day and all night.

The team I put together this year is a team I've been planning since last year's 24 when I decided that I wanted to start my own team with only teen girls. So I started to ask 15 and 16 year old girls I knew if they would want to join my team and I pulled together a team of five of some of the fastest young female mountain bikers in Ontario.

The white board before the race

Then, one month before the race Kaitlyn Shikaze broke her collar bone and had to drop off the team. I rushed to find someone to take her place and Amanda Kleinikkink, who was just coming back from a broken collar bone, agreed to join us. Then, one week before the race, Amanda rushed to the hospital to have her appendix removed. We worked tirelessly to find another rider with no luck until finally, Meagan Shikaze, came to our rescue. Meagan was nervous to race but she was always super positive and the rest of the team appreciated her willingness to ride a lap in order to give us a break :)

So after that chaos, team High Heels and Wicked Wheels was ready to race.

Every year we set up a white board for the team to help us organise our laps and communicate with the rest of the team. This year was no different. We title the columns: rider, estimated start, lap time, end time and comments. After every lap the rider must fill in the row beside their name and recalculate the estimated start times for everyone else.

So I started off with the first lap for the team which was slightly terrifying since I was starting with some of the fastest riders I know and since there were SO many people there.

Sierra tapping the timing chip at end of a lap

Lap 1: My first lap was really good. Although I struggled to keep up with the faster riders I pushed through and finished the lap putting the team in second place in the five person all female category.

Lap 2: After Kelly Lawson, Sierra MacDonald and Sarah Shikaze all rode their laps, I went out for my second lap. The girls had managed to pull our team into first place and we were fighting hard to keep that position. My second lap at races like this is often my strongest, and this year was no different - I felt awesome! I made sure not to go so hard that I wouldn't have energy left for later, but I also didn't hold back. I managed to pull off a 57 minute lap which was the fastest lap for our team.

Lap 3: Following my second lap, Kelly, Meagan, Sierra and Sarah all rode amazing laps! It was starting to get dark and we were once again in second by about 15 minutes. I rode the best I could in the dark and felt quite fast. I managed to lap in an hour and 2 minutes which, for riding in the dark, I was happy with. I also managed to close some of the gap to second, ending at only 4 minutes behind.

The tent in the dark

Lap 4: This was the rough 2 am lap that everyone hates because, after sleeping for less than 2 hours, you have to get up and ride for another hour in the dark. Though in some ways it's a bit of a magical time. Only the few people heading out for laps are out waiting by the tent for their rider. It's fairly quiet and the big white tent they have set up is all lit up. In other ways this lap sucks. Since we made the decision not to have Meagan race at night and to instead save her legs for the morning lap, the rest of us on the team got a bit less sleep. I got an hour and a half and then I was out there riding again. It was overcast with no moon and it had just started to rain. The main thing I remember from this lap was getting back to the campsite afterwards and going to wake up Sierra for her next lap. As she was getting ready to ride and I was getting ready for bed, all she said was, "Why did I sign up for this?" I laughed and felt somewhat guilty since I was the one who had roped her into it!

Once the morning came around we were all feeling much better and having a lot more fun after getting some sleep. The only problem was it was now raining steadily and only getting worse.

Sarah had pushed through three night laps which we didn't realise would happen when I planned out the laps. She was amazing though, and still managed to keep a fast pace for every single lap! But, after riding three night laps, she was also exhausted and wasn't sure she could do any more. She had given it everything she had. This meant I had to go back to the white board while Meagan was out on her very muddy lap, and plan out the order of riders for the morning. Meagan and Sarah's legs were both done. That left Kelly, Sierra and myself to finish the race and try to pull the team back into first place.

I was waiting for Meagan to finish her lap in the rain when they called the race off early at 8:30. The trails were way too dangerous to keep riding on. I was really disappointed with this as I had taken it easy through the night so I could use the rest of my energy to go fast in the morning. I was planning to do two more laps and hopefully bring the team into first. Meagan had pulled off an awesome last lap, though, and brought us from third to second! Super proud of her for sticking it out through the rain and for even agreeing to join our team in the first place.

Overall the girls did amazing! We had a lot of fun supporting each other and cheering each other on! I'm hoping to get the girls together again and do it all again next year...

The podium with team WildBettys 1 in first and Lewd Ladies in third

Huge thanks to Clif Bar who gave us the energy to be able to power through the race! Another huge thanks to all the Liv ladies who continue to support me at races like this!