Nadine Mueller of Spruce Grove is the 2011 24 Hours of Adrenalin women’s champion.
Mueller finished 12 laps in 24 hours, defeating previous winner Cyd Fraser.
“I’m surprised,” Mueller said. “I’ve known Cyd, she’s who I’ve looked up to.”
The race was Mueller’s fourth, however, it was not her first trip to the podium. She previously attended the 24 Hours of Adrenalin world championships in Australia as a member of Team Canada.
It was, however, her first encounter with rain on a course, but it didn’t seem to bother her.
“The course was actually almost perfect. They took out some of the steep climbs that are harder for solo riders,” she said.
Mueller’s fastest lap was her second, which clocked in at 1:29:20.
Fraser finished second with nine laps and Sabrina Colangelo was third, finishing eight laps. Liz Birch was fourth with four laps, as only four women completed the entire 24-hour solo event.
The two-person event saw some of the fastest lap times of the event thanks to Jasper’s Cory Wallace and Steve Gaffney, who completed 21 laps.
Wallace, who won the solo event last year, scaled back his riding this year and partnered up with friend Steve Gaffney. Gaffney had only competed in one other 24 Hours of Adrenalin race, riding as a member of a 10-person corporate team.
“Cory called Wednesday and asked if I wanted to do it,” Gaffney said.
Wallace said the two-person team was a nice change from the solo grind.
“You’re not just biking for yourself. You’re also racing for your buddy,” Wallace said. “You have the option to pull out on your next lap.”
“If it was just me, I would have stopped at 3 a.m.,” Gaffney said.
Both riders said the challenge is the greatest at 2 a.m.
“That was my dark moment. But when the sun came up, it was game on again,” Gaffney said.
Course conditions helped them through.
“It was one of the best courses we’ve done. The first couple of laps was quite muddy, but by lap four and five, it was fast,” Wallace said.
Wallace rode the first six laps for the duo, recording four of them under an hour. Gaffney’s first was the fastest of the day, coming in at 55:02.
Second place went to Peter Tondl and Simon Dove. They finished 19 laps. Keith Bayly and Emmanuel Gionet finished third with 16 laps.
The four-person event was won by David Asselstine, Daymon Miller, Jonathan Hogg and Kory Fawcett, who finished 19 laps.
Wallace, a sponsored rider with Kona, will now travel to Mongolia for a 10-day stage race. After finishing in the top 10 at Mountain Bike Nationals last week in Canmore, he balked at racing in 24 Hours of Adrenalin, then flying around the globe for a 10 day race.
“It was a good weekend. I wouldn’t want to pass it up,” Wallace said.
