FINAL Adrenalin24_2016-Pre-Race_v5

20TH CELEBRATION ISSUE
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V1 2016
NEWS, TIPS & STORIES FROM THE 24 HOURS OF ADRENALIN
WE’RE TWENTY!
FRIDAY CELEBRATION
BIKE ONCE-OVER
RYAN LEECH TRIALS
THE LAST LAP
JULY 16 + 17 | 2016
CANMORE | ALBERTA
www.24hoursofadrenalin.com
>> The 2015 24 HOA running start.
YOU ONLY TURN 20 ONCE.
Welcome back to 24 Hours of Adrenalin!
article on page 12 for more on keeping the environment as
pristine as possible.
This year, we are extremely excited to bring our 20th anniversary
celebration to you in Canmore. Many of our new riders were
still using training wheels during our first few years, while
others still have fond memories of the early years. This year is
our celebration of all that has come before, and it is our way of
thanking you for the memories.
For a mountain bike event that lasts 24 hours, you want to be
sure that your bike is in top shape. We’ve given you some tips
on how to check over your bike before and during the event
to keep it up and running. While it is important to maintain
your bike, maintaining your body is important too.We spoke to
Made Foods and Honey Stinger on how to keep your body up
and running for a 24-hour endurance race.
We have a lot to look forward to this year. We are starting
off with some amazing music and food, there are exciting
new sponsors, there will be even more exciting events and
demonstrations and there will be the ride itself.
We start off this issue with some quick reminders of what
needs to be done before the event. We want to make sure that
everyone is completely prepared for the 24 Hours of Adrenalin,
and there might be some things that slip the mind.
Secondly, we are excited to bring you some amazing musical
talent to help celebrate our 20th edition. WiL is an extremely
talented musician whose live show is astounding. He is also
a very talented cyclist and bike mechanic. Another of our
guests returning this year is Ryan Leech. Ryan is a professional
mountain biker, yoga instructor and coach who will be showing
off his trials skills as well as leading a yoga class. Also, we
talked to Bill Cameron, who used to work for 24 Hours of
Adrenalin in the first few years. For Bill, this year will be a kind
of reunion and a chance to look back over the years.
For some, it will be the first time experiencing anything like this.
For others, it will be a reunion with old friends and colleagues.
Some people will be in it for the win while some will be in it for
the good times riding with buddies. That is what it really is all
about. This is your event, make it the best event ever.
Thank you for coming out to celebrate 20 years with us. You
only turn 20 once, let’s make it worth remembering.
Happy Trails,
Stuart Dorland & the Adrenalin Crew
EDITORS: Maria Deotto, Stuart Dorland, Marc Kitteringham
CONTRIBUTORS: Marc Kitteringham
DESIGN: DarkHorseCompany.com
PHOTOGRAPHER: John Gibson – GibsonPictures.com
Copyright 2016, 24 Hours of Adrenalin
We are lucky to be hosting our event in one of the most pristine
wildlife corridors in North America. As beautiful as the Rockies
are, they are also a fragile ecosystem that needs our protection.
We want to make sure that our event is makes the least impact
as possible. Check out our In Support of the Great Outdoors
What would we do
without trails?
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ISSUE ONE 2016
CONTENTS
6 ADRENALIN GRIT – The Latest 24 HOA News
7 SPOTLIGHT – Bill Cameron
8 ZOOM
10 WiL & THE FRIDAY NIGHT CELEBRATION
12 IN SUPPORT OF THE GREAT OUTDOORS
13 PIVOTAL PHYSIOTHERAPY
14 FOOD MADE FOR YOU with Made Foods
15 BIKE ONCE-OVER with Velofix
17 STRONG & HEALTHY with Planet Foods
18 RYAN LEECH TRIALS
20 ILLUSTRATING THE RIDE: MICHAEL VALENTI
21 THE LAST LAP
Cover Photo: Tagging high five in the exchange zone.
>> Loving the mountain panorama
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ADRENALIN GRIT NEWS FROM 24HOA
As we come up to the start of our event, there are a lot of things to remember. This is
just a reminder of a few things that are important for the smooth running of the event.
Home Page
Remember to complete your team home page. For captains,
this means inviting all of your teammates, your volunteer,
picking your campsite and your volunteer shift. For teammates,
make sure you’ve accepted the invite and signed the online
waiver that the captain has sent you.
Event Guide
Read through the Event Guide that was sent out June 15th,
2016, thoroughly. The Event Guide is the place to find
everything you need to know about the 24 Hours of Adrenalin
event. This will make sure our event runs as smoothly as
possible and will ensure that everybody is on the same page.
Profiles
Remember to update your rider profiles. This includes
selecting your jersey size. This year every participant will
receive a commemorative custom jersey. Since these are
very specific in size, it is important to pick the correct size on
your personal profile.
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Celebration
Every participant is invited to come to our 20th anniversary
celebration on Friday night. There will be live music by WiL,
barbecue and a Saloon. Come in your cowboy best and dance
with us.
Please remember to have everything set up before coming to
the event. There will be a fee charged for any change that is
made onsite at the event. Having everything organized for your
team and yourshelf is important to a smooth event kit pick up
and overall running of the event.
If you have any questions, check out our website at
www.24hoursofadrenalin.com
Thanks,
24 Hours of Adrenalin Crew
SPOTLIGHT
The Bill Cameron Story
More then twenty years ago, the mountain bike world was just
picking up steam. That was the era of long stems, narrow bars,
rigid frames and rad colours. It was also the time of the first few
editions of the 24 Hours of Adrenalin race. Back then, the race
was held in Ontario, it was run using a manual timing system
and marketed through word-of-mouth in and around Ontario. In
1996, Bill Cameron was a chiropractic student looking for work.
He started working for the race in the summer and helped make
an event that would later become known as the “Woodstock of
Mountain Biking.” There was no blueprint for the event and the
organizers were literally making things up as they went along
for that first year. But it was clear that there was real interest
in the event and it was enormously successful, leading to the
event we have today.
bikers. According to Bill, almost everyone
in the Ontario mountain bike scene had
done a 24 hour race at some point.
It was an interesting time to be in mountain biking. The idea
of a 24 hour race was almost unheard of. Even Bill, an avid
mountain biker and experienced rider thought that it just
seemed crazy. However, through a DIY marketing campaign
and some seat-of-the-pants planning a crew of 6 volunteers
managed to pull the event off.
This year, Bill will be participating with a team of some of the
original crew members of 24 Hours of Adrenalin. After twenty
years of running an event like this, you tend to form longterm friendships. “I’m looking forward to it being a reunion of
sorts,” says Bill. “It really was fun to work with those people. It
is the closest you can come to being a roadie for a rock show.”
Bill worked with Stuart Dorland, the founder of the event, as
a summer job through his years in chiropractic school. At that
time, they were working mainly in Stuart’s house and doing
everything from event planning (nothing like this had been
done before) to marketing to different bike shops around the
area. “We literally would go to a shop everyday, if we could,”
says Bill. At almost every shop, they got one more team to join
in the race. The first race was extremely successful. It went
on to become almost a rite of passage for Ontario mountain
This year, Bill’s team won’t be riding at a competitive level,
because for Bill that is not what it is about. This event is about
the good times, the weekend away with your mountain biking
buddies and the chance to have a few beers, go camping and
ride a bike in the woods all day. There is nothing better than
that, and nothing Bill would rather do. “We’re putting a team
in, but it’ll be super chill and super relaxed,” he says. “It’ll be
nice to sort of relax and to enjoy some recreation time instead
of worrying about doing a night lap.”
>> Bill Cameron, original poster boy on the 1996 24 HOA poster
“It was almost like those mud race events
these days,” says Bill, referring to things
like “Tough Mudder” and the “Spartan
Races”. But unlike mud racing events, the
early 24 hour mountain biking races did not
have modern set up and marketing. “It still
took off exponentially with no social media
or anything of that nature,” says Bill. “It got
into the mountain bike community and spread
through word of mouth.”
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Zoom
>> Rider on the boardwalk.
24 Hours of Adrenalin Celebration
PERFORMING FRIDAY JULY 15, 8:00PM
IBREAKSTRINGS.COM
PRESENTED BY
Friday Night Celebration
Headliner WiL
WiL is a storyteller. From when he picked up the guitar at 13 to learning that he had a voice
and a talent for telling stories to now, making a living through his music, he has always
been a storyteller. “I can smell the air and touch the land, get hit by a cannonball, dive into
some water, whatever it is that just helps convey the words that I intend,” he says.
As the musical act playing the celebration night of 24 Hours
of Adrenalin in Canmore, WiL will be bringing together his
love of music and storytelling with his love of getting out on a
bike. To him, riding is another form of expressing himself and
taking time to explore. The fact that a simple machine made
out of a frame, two wheels and a chain can be therapeutic and
meditative while at the same time creating a vast community
is what keeps WiL returning to the saddle. To him, 24 Hours
of Adrenalin is a way to mesh his two passions and share his
stories with the mountain biking community. WiL’s musical upbringing started with his father. His father is
still WiL’s main musical influence. “He played guitar on the
weekends and always sang. When he wasn’t working, to let off
steam on the weekends, my mom and him would sing in the
kitchen. They’d play records. That’s sort of the main influence,”
he says. “It hasn’t changed because how can it change?”
Besides his family, WiL is influenced by a wide variety of
genres and musical styles. “I think the last ten years I have
probably listened to whatever it is I’ve been pulled towards,
without listening to a specific genre or style of music,” he
says. “There are two types of music on the planet when it
comes to your opinion and those are ‘good’ or ‘bad’.” This
openness to musical variety has allowed him to explore and
expand his own sound.
Saloon
BBQ
Life in the studio can be stressful, and getting out of his own
head is important to WiL. This is where riding his bike comes in.
“I’m in a studio 15 hours and I’ve got to pull my head out of my
own ass a bit so I jump on a bike here and off I go. I love riding.
I can’t imagine not doing it.” Hitting a new trail by yourself and
going into autopilot mode is therapeutic. You can shut off the
outside world and focus on only what’s in front of you. The only
thing that matters is the berm coming up, or the rooty section
of trail after that. Everything else disappears. It doesn’t matter
what kind of bike he’s on, or what kind of ride he’s doing, to
WiL, just getting out is important. “I ride anywhere. I kind of
just pedal and see where it goes. I’m a big fan of both getting
on the highway and doing 20 or 30 km or going tossing around
on some singletrack and crushing a few beers.”
WiL is a storyteller. Whether it is through his music or through
his riding, letting go and finding the soul of things has driven
him for his whole life. Like his music and his riding style, WiL is
hard to tie down to any one definition. WiL is a storyteller and
he’ll ride the story out ‘til the end.
As part of the 20th anniversary celebration on Friday night, WiL
will be performing. There will also be a barbecue, saloon and
we invite you to come dressed in your cowboy best.
In support of the
GREAT OUTDOORS
In Canmore, we are privileged to be nestled right in the middle of an amazing wilderness area.
As with everything to do with the outdoors, it is all of our responsibility to keep the wilderness in
pristine condition. Just as much as ensuring that your event is fun, safe and challenging, we feel
obligated to ensure that the beautiful environment is respected. We are lucky to be able to live in
such a wonderful part of the world, and preserving it is part of our duty as outdoor enthusiasts.
DIG – Do It Green
Since Canmore is in the middle of one of the
most beautiful locations on the planet, it is
important to leave the area in better condition than we found
it. It is not enough to simply throw our garbage out, that is why
we have partnered again this year with Do It Green (DIG) to
help us with recycling and the diversion of garbage from our
landfills. “One of the great things about working with 24 Hours
of Adrenalin is that environmental responsibility is very clearly
deep in the DNA of this event,” said Leor Rotchild, President
and Co-Founder of DIG. “Running this event in very pristine
wilderness and in the middle of a beautiful park. I think they’ve
always been very aware of the impacts and have tried to do
that responsibly. They brought
us on last year partly to build
on what’s already been done,
and to formalize a little bit more
and to track progress using new
metrics and to try and take it to
the next level.”
Last year, thanks to DIG we
were able to divert over 1000kg
of waste from the landfill.
That means that 68% of our waste from the event was either
recycled or composted. Thanks to DIG, we will hopefully be
able to surpass last year’s 68% and even further reduce our
environmental impact.
“There is a lot that the participants that are coming to 24
Hours of Adrenalin can do to make sure that there’s as much
waste that’s being diverted as possible and that the overall
environmental impact is a very light touch. Some of those
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things have to do with the relationship with garbage. I think
so often the habit is that we just put everything into one bag,
we tie it up and throw it into one bin,” said Rotchild. “We’re
asking people to get used to actually separate their waste into
compost, recylable material and landfill waste.”
Respecting those who share the park with us
Canmore and the Alberta Rockies are
a very important wildlife corridor.
Since there is so much wilderness
and untamed backcountry, it is more
home to the animals than it is to us. WildSmart is a locally run
community program that aims to educate visitors to Canmore
about living with animals. Established in 2005, WildSmart has
become a permanent part of the Canmore and Bow Valley area.
Since we are in the middle of a wildlife corridor, there are
certain precautions that we need to take. “We should work to
give wildlife the space they need, but also prepare ourselves
for chance encounters at close range by learning to use our
bear spray and carrying it with us when riding,” says Tyler
McLure from WildSmart. “Letting animals know we’re coming
gives them time to react calmly; usually by walking away from
us. But if wildlife is startled, especially at close range, they can
react quickly and unpredictably. Making noise keeps us from
making a big mistake: surprising a mama grizzly bear or elk!”
Remember that the 24 Hours of Adrenalin adheres to the
mandatory bear spray policy – you must carry bear spray with
you while out on course.
WildSmart will be onsite during the event and they’d be happy
to help out or answer any questions.
Pivotal Physiotherapy
During endurance events like the 24 Hours of Adrenalin, keeping your body
fit and able to sustain itself over 24 hours is of the utmost importance.
This year we have partnered with Pivotal Physiotherapy from
Edmonton. They offer a wide range of services to their patients,
these include massage therapy, acupuncture, dry needling,
IMS and many other therapies.
This is not the first 24 Hours of Adrenalin for the Pivotal team.
Pivotal’s director of rehabilitation, Lindsay Thompson, first
heard of the event when visiting Canmore with his family.
“Lindsay and his family are in Canmore often, which is where
he discovered 24 Hours of Adrenalin. He proposed the idea to
Craig Wilson, the co-owner and to our staff, and was able to
gather enough interest to enter a team,” they say. “We entered
a team for the first time in 2013, and have been participating in
the event ever since. This year will be our 4th time at the event.”
The Pivotal team is more interested in the recreational side
of the event, preferring to push each other’s limits than
attempt for the win. The team last year consisted of three
members. Nicolas Pahud, a physiotherapist, did the Le Mans
start, Lindsay did well in the night laps, and Raj Dhillon -- a
newcomer to the sport who purchased a mountain bike just for
the event, has been improving year after year. “I couldn’t paint
a better picture – beautiful mountains, athletic people, a great
vibe, fresh air, and physiotherapy,” Raj said about working at
the event this year. “This is my ideal treatment environment!”
After participating in the event for a few years, they decided it
was time to have a more sustainable partnership with 24 Hours
of Adrenalin. “We decided that we wanted to formally offer
our services to 24 Hours of Adrenalin. Stuart and Maria were
more than happy to welcome us and we are excited to be more
involved!” Pivotal will be offering services like manual therapy,
therapist assisted stretching, acupuncture, IMS, athletic
taping and more. These will be in 30-minute recovery sessions
at the Pivotal tent.
For the Pivotal team, 24 Hours of Adrenalin is more than just
a bike race. It is a chance to enjoy the between-lap times.
“We’ve had the opportunity to meet other riders, socialize with
the community and give back in our unique way by providing
treatment to those in need,” says Pivotal. “It’s an added bonus
that we get to spend a weekend in the mountains together
away from our stuffy offices. In a way, we are working, but it
never feels like work.”
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FOOD made FOR YOU
Made Foods is a new Calgary-based meal
company. They provide fresh meals made from
local, organic ingredients for busy healthconscious people. It was started when the
three founding partners of the company from
three different backgrounds – restaurant,
hospitality and capital investments, realized
that they were all living busy, hectic lives
and weren’t able to get the quality food that
they valued.
They started the company for people with a busy lifestyle to get
the kinds of food that they valued. They offer a wide choice of
gluten friendly, dairy friendly, vegetarian, vegan and low calorie
food for their customers. “Being able to create something that
was price conscious and accessible for everybody was really
important to them,” says Zak Miller, executive corporate sales
and partnerships at Made Foods. The meals are prepared by a
central chef and sent to various locations in the city for pickup.
Made offers breakfast, lunch and dinner. Their menu has over
70 items ranging from snacks to full meals. They also make
everything that they put into their meals from scratch at their
central kitchen. This includes cultivating their own yogurt and
baking their own granola. Instead of having meals sold from
fast food joints with frozen meat and processed everything
else, the idea of busy people being able to feed themselves
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in a healthy and sustainable
way is important to them. The
meals are also all nutritionist
inspired. This means that the meals are designed by both the
executive chef and the nutritionist to be as healthy as possible.
For an all-day mountain biking event, fuelling and nutrition
is key. “At the performance level that some of these athletes
are training and competing at, it is important to make sure
that you’re hitting all of those nutritional values throughout
the day,” says Miller. At an endurance event, having enough
energy to continue riding long into the night is difficult. The
body needs nutrients to turn into the energy to keep going.
That is where companies like Made Foods are important; they
provide solutions to keep the body running at a sustainable
and healthy level throughout both daily life and for events like
ours. “We want to be there to provide healthy alternatives. To
get those nutrients into their systems when their bodies need
it and not crash.”
The Made Foods team is excited to be a part of our event in
Canmore. “It is right up our alley,” says Miller. “We are able to
get out to those people who take a little bit more pride in what
they are putting in their bodies. We want to show people that
going into an event where it is 24 hours and you don’t have
time to prepare meals or anything… Made is just a convenient
and applicable option for this event.”
Visit Made Foods in the expo area and learn more about their
delicious food.
Brought to you by Velofix
How to check over your bike
to make sure it is good to go.
Checking over your bike is easy. You’ll want
to do what is called an “M Check”. Imagine
drawing an M shaped line on your bike from the front wheel to
the headset, then down to the cranks, back up to the seat and
down again to the rear wheel.
Front Wheel
Axle
• If it is a thru axle, use Allen key or tighten by hand
• If it is a quick release, tighten by hand
Tire
• Check tire pressure, make sure it is to your preferred PSI
•Check tire wear, should have plenty of tread left, with no
tears or splits in sidewalls. If your knobs are starting to
get rounded, it’s time for some new tires.
Spokes
•Squeeze spokes, there should be little movement.
•If loose there may be some flat spots in the rim
Headset
Brake check
•Grab front brake and wobble bike back and forth
•Should be no motion in the headset
•If you need, hold the bearing and feel for any play in the
headset
Brakes front and rear
•Make sure brakes provide enough stopping power for
your ride
•Check to be sure there is no squealing in your discs
•Check your brake pads. If they are less than the thickness
of a dime, it’s time to replace them.
Cranks
Check for wobble in crank arms
•Should be no wobble or play in the crank arms
•Play indicates a bottom bracket that is wearing out
Check pedals
• Make sure that your pedals are tight and rolling smoothly
•Loose pedals can damage your cranks beyond repair
Front derailleur
•Make sure shifting is smooth and that there is no binding
in your front derailleur
Seat
Check seat for any play
• Seat should be tight on the seatpost
•Tighten any seat bolts to make sure the seat will not come
loose on your ride
Check post for twist/play
•The post should be tight in the frame, there should be no
play either up or down or left and right in the seat post
• Make sure bolts are tightened to manufacturer’s spec
Suspension
Check that the suspension rides smoothly through its travel
•There should be no play in the bushings or bearings of the
suspension
Air Pressure
• Check the pressure in front and rear shocks
• Should be approx 25% to 30% sag in both
• This depends on your personal preferences
DIALED IN
BIKE ONCE-OVER
Rear Wheel
Axle
• Check that the axle is tight (same as front wheel)
Tire
• Check tire pressure, make sure it is to your preferred PSI
•Check tire wear.
Spokes
•Squeeze spokes, there should be little movement.
Rear Derailleur
•Make sure the Derailleur is straight. Do NOT try to bend
back into place by hand – get a trained mechanic to
straighten your derailleur using the proper tool.
•Check that your shifting is smooth and fluid
Chain
•Check to see how much your chain has worn using a
chain checker. If it is at 75%, replace immediately. If it
is at 100% you may need to replace your cassette and
chainrings as well.
•Make sure your chain is clean of grime and grit
Lubricate
•Prior to your ride, lubricate the chain with a bicycle chain
lube (wet or dry depending on conditions)
•Pedal to allow lube to work into chain. Wipe off excess
with a rag.
•Get into the habit of cleaning and lubricating after a long
ride, this allows you to get out on your bike sooner, and
lets the lubricant soak into the links better
Velofix will be on site at the 24 Hours of Adrenalin for all your
bike maintenance and repair needs! Visit them in the expo area.
www.velofix.com
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Planet Foods
Everyone knows that organic, healthy fuelling is important to keeping athletes healthy and active. But
Planet Foods has dedicated their entire business focusing on providing organic, gluten free and healthy
alternatives to sports fuelling solutions, and bringing them to active Canadians. This year there are so
many great new products to look forward to which shows that innovation and focus on healthy organic
alternatives, is still of the utmost importance.
Honey Stinger
Honey Stinger was launched in 1954, by a beekeeper named
Ralph Gamber and his wife Luella, who realized honey’s
power to re-energize people in a healthy way. Honey is rich
in carbohydrates, which makes it an ideal fuel for muscles. It
helps muscles stay nourished for longer, and delays fatigue.
Honey keeps you going, and nourishes you without any added
ingredients. This brand has been extremely successful and is
now a staple in every athlete’s “go-to-fuel pantry”.
Honey Stinger is launching a new Mango Orange gel this year.
They will be showcasing them at our event this summer. And
innovating to meet the new requirements of the market, they
have just launched the industry’s first gluten free waffle.
Go Macro
Go Macro is committed to quality ingredients and a meaningful
connection to the land. They are an independent family owned
business, and that family spirit has stayed with them through
the years. Go Macro uses fresh, delicious, nutrient-rich and
mostly raw ingredients. They are soy, dairy and gluten-free,
sourced 100% from plant-based, non-GMO ingredients.
Always innovating and exploring great new flavour combinations,
they are launching a new flavor this year called “Ever Lasting
Almond Joy”, which should be in Canada for August 1st.
Little Big Shot
Little Big shot was a big part of the 24 Hours of Adrenalin last
year with its launch. It’s a healthy energy drink, designed to
meet active lifestyle challenges, while providing a healthy
alternative to other energy drinks. They are a blend of fruit juices
and ginseng and vitamin B. Little Big Shot is preservative-free
and is simply healthy energy.
Due to it’s overwhelmingly successful launch last year, this
year will see the introduction of another new and exciting
flavour; Apple Kiwi will be available in mid-August.
Kicking Horse Coffee
Arguably the leader in the Organic, Fair Trade Coffee market in
Canada, Kicking Horse Coffee continues to be one of the most
successful sustainable roasters in Canada. Their involvement
in many charitable causes, social responsibility and fair trade
for their coffee, are some of the reasons for their remarkable
success. The other is that they make exceptional coffee!
Look for the newest blend to come to the Kicking Horse Coffee
Family called Hola.
Stoked Oats
STRONG & HEALTHY
Exciting News From
Since it’s launch in 2011 by three oatmeal-loving athletes who
literally were unable to find a breakfast to support their busy and
active lifestyles, Stoked Oats has been a leader in the ‘superfood’ movement. In fact it has become the breakfast of choice
for health conscious individuals and families who want to put
the cleanest, and most nutritious ingredients into their bodies.
It remains a great natural source of energy that is glutenfree, contains no GMO and no added sugar. This year they’ve
launched new 500g packaging and will again be available
to our participants at the Strong and Healthy Breakfast on
Sunday morning.
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RYAN LEECH TRIALS
Ryan Leech is a professional trials rider and mountain biking coach who has been riding for over 25
years. He is well-known for his acrobatic and exciting show, his “Bunny Hop high jump” and being a
mentor and a certified mountain biking coach. Ryan will be at this year’s 24 Hours of Adrenalin event
showcasing his trials skills. Ryan’s show is one of the highlights of the event and is sure to draw a crowd.
Can you describe for me what it is that you do?
A loose title might be a “Pro Mountain Biker and Coach.”
How do you incorporate your yoga practice into your riding?
The biggest way that it complements riding that I’ve
experienced is that yoga practice is just you and your body
moving, stretching and lengthening. It is just you and your
breath. There is nothing else to distract you. It allows you over
time to get really aware of how your body feels, how it moves
and how it doesn’t move. That body awareness gets translated
to riding especially in the area of self care and of respect for
the body.
Do you see riding as meditative or therapeutic in any way?
I would definitely tag both of those words with mountain biking,
however, there’s a big difference between an experience of
meditation while you’re riding and an experience of meditation
when you’re actually just sitting still. One can’t replace the
other. It is therapeutic to a point, and there is a point where it
becomes a cover up for therapy that you might need.
Breathing and being conscious of your breath is very
important in yoga and other eastern practices. How important
is consciousness of breath to mountain biking?
It’s not necessarily important for mountain biking. You don’t
need it for mountain biking, but in terms of developing over the
long term. The longer you ride I would say the more important
it becomes. That’s because the longer you ride the more
opportunity there is to enjoy even more, without needing to
take risks or put yourself in danger.
What are some habits that you’ve picked up since becoming
involved in yoga?
Yoga reminds me to move and get my body moving in a nice
range of motion during my rides. Like tilting my pelvis back
and forth to bring a bit of movement to my lumbar, rolling my
shoulders back and having an open front body on rides instead
of slumping, strategically using my breath to deal with a lot of
anaerobic effort or the emotions of rides.
Do you have any tips for our participants this year?
Listening to your body is so important. Honour your body, self
care, patience with your body and mind, being able to stop
when you need to. Stop on the side of the trail, stop and chill.
The other thing I would say is to have fun. Its an event, it’s a race,
you’re pushing hard, but to me mountain biking is all about fun.
You’ve got to do it for fun and for enjoyment. Don’t take it too
seriously and have some fun out there. Each moment on the
trail should be a new adventure and a fun challenge to you. Be
in nature, enjoy breathing, enjoy feeling the body, all of these
things. Just stop and listen to the quietness of the mountains and
the woods and the sound of other riders coming up, the tires,
their breath. Those kinds of things are a part of the experience
that are often totally missed and I definitely encourage that.
Illustrating the Ride: MICHAEL VALENTI
Artist Michael Valenti is known for his dynamic designs and illustrations. Inspired by old cycling posters
from the golden age of cycling, he puts his modern twist on the art form by incorporating new techniques
and his own signature to his art. Michael will be at our event, illustrating live from a booth in the expo.
You’ll be able to see him wandering around and finding inspiration for his drawings, or at his booth
working on illustrations.
What sort of things are you going to be drawing
at our event?
I think that’s wide open. I can only imagine all the great
landscape visuals, the cyclists during the event, the drama
of night riding with lights…this stuff will be crazy fun to work
with. Then of course there will be the rider teams that will be
inspirational. The pain, glory, shared fun and excitement of
participating in 24 HOA. I think I’ll have more to draw than my
hand will be able to take. I am desperately looking forward to
this event.
What inspires your work?
While cycling is the subject of my work the real inspiration are
the human emotions the sport embodies —the shared love,
glory, pain, suffering, fun, friendships, competition, joy and
exhaustion. The range of emotions are so wide, I think that’s
why so many people love cycling.
My goal is to find a way to connect to other bike riders like
myself through these shared emotions.
Why cycling?
That’s easy, I love it. I’ve been riding for over thirty years and
I still get excited every time I swing my leg over the saddle.
Every ride is new, every ride has the potential for something
exciting to happen, or some new found place—a sense of
freedom and discovery.
Anything else you’d like to add?
I’m very to grateful Stuart for this opportunity to be involved in
the 20th Annual 24 HOA, I know the event means so much to
so many of the riders. I look forward to giving it my best and
sharing my personal point of view with others through my art.
We’re excited to have Michael at the event. Be sure to look for
him and his art at the expo!
The last lap
SNAPSHOTS OF AN ADRENALIN-FILLED TWENTY YEARS.
PRESENTED BY
JULY 16 - 17•• 2016
ENTER www . 24HOURSOFADRENALIN . . COM