When Cory Wallace was forced to drop out of last year’s 24 Hours of Adrenalin race, his mind was already made up for the 2010 race: just win. 

“It gutted me to see other people still biking and I was on the sidelines,” Wallace said. “I’ve wanted this since last year.”

Wallace dominated the 2010 race, clocking 20 laps in 24 hours around the challenging 16-kilometre track, leading from the first lap. Including pit stops, his average lap time hovered around one hour, ten minutes.

Wallace was followed by born and raised Jasperite Luke Way, who completed 19 laps. About 50 Jasper cyclists competed in the 1,500 person event.

The Jasperite set a blistering pace after the first lap

“I knew I was the fastest guy going in, so I thought get out ahead and make them chase me,” Wallace said, noting those who win the endurance race often set a fast pace from the start.

Wallace had a 20 minute lead on Canmore’s Leighton Poidevin, who has won the race multiple times. However Poidevin was forced to pull out at 1:30 a.m., leaving Wallace with a two-lap advantage over Way, who moved into second place.

“I knew at that time I just had to keep it steady and stay out of trouble,” Wallace said.

Coming off of a seventh place finish at the National Mountain Bike Championships, Wallace has now earned a chance to compete in Australia in October for the 24 Hours of Adrenalin World Championship.

“I’m pretty excited,” said an exhausted Wallace immediately after the race. “(Australia) was in the back of my mind during the end.”

He credits his pit crew for keeping him going through the night.

“They did an awesome job.”

The Jasper Source for Sports team was stoked with their repeat performance, capturing first place yet again in the five-man category. The team finished 25 laps, squeezing in their final lap with less than two minutes to spare on the clock, however they had already clinched the win with their previous lap. Matt Staneland, Victor Vassallo, Sean Smith, Jason Backman and Manu Loir Mongazon beat out two Rundle Mountain Sports teams from Canmore to claim victory.

The Freewheel Skinnys finally managed a podium finish after three straight years of fourth place results. Wendy Hall, Alana McGrath, Cynthia Routhier, Stacey Smith, and Angie Blake clocked 18 laps, while Smith posted the two fastest laps of all women in the competition with a 1:04.25.

“When you have the fastest rider, it helps,” Hall said.

Preparation was key for the team this year, which invited Coco’s Cafe to cook for them.

“We were way more prepared. We knew what to expect and I stacked the team,” Hall said, who completed her laps on a single speed bike.

Dave MacDowell finished sixth in the solo competition,

“It was a great track, a lot of fun,” MacDowell said.

Andrew Bovard and Chris Peel finished 10th and 11th in the solo competition, doing so on single gear bikes. Bovard competed on a team last year. 

“It’s a lot faster on a team. On a team, it’s a race. This is survival,” Bovard said.

Pam Roy, Vidal and Beau Michaud also posted strong finishes in the solo competition. Roy finished fourth in the women’s category, while Vidal and Beau finished 14th and 20th respectively. Beau set a strong pace to start, while Vidal posted his fastest lap of the race at the 19th hour mark.

Jasper sent eight of the 69 solo competitors in this year’s race. Brian Rode and Derek Anderson were forced to pull out.