The Freewheel Skinnys team isn’t taking this weekend’s 24 Hours of Adrenalin too seriously, but they certainly have stepped up their preparation in hopes of moving into a podium finish.

“We never really trained before, we just ride our bikes, we go into these races and we do one lap and feel like we’re done,” says Wendy Hall of the Freewheel Cycle’s team. “That’s a nice bike ride for the day,” she thinks, then “Oh, we need to do it three more times, oh god.”

This year Hall has actually hired a personal trainer to get into biking shape, while her teammates are pulling their weight, with Jose Hull training for several races, including the Trans Rockies Challenge, which she has raced before.

Hall says the rest of the team, which consists of Alana McGrath, Anna Declerqc, and Kara Hagedorn, are also all strong riders.

Kara Hagedorn has competed in hill climb races and Anna Declerq has been in the 24 Hours race before as well.

“Jose’s been training quite a bit because she’s training for other races, and she’s very strong. Kara is a trainer as well, she’s just one of those types that knows about training. Anna is as well, we’re all pretty strong riders, so that’s why we’re hoping for third.

But Hall says it’s not about winning the race, and even says she thinks it shouldn’t be called a race, but an event.

“Mostly it’s for fun, once you get there it’s all about your team,” she said. With loud music, people everywhere, a race for kids, food, and people camping in tents, the event as a whole is just as important as their finishing place.

Hall jokes that the only way they might make the top three is if the top teams all break down, then they might have a chance.

“A couple teams from Canmore, I’m pretty sure they are full-on racers, I don’t think we’ll ever catch them. There were a couple Canmore teams that always kind of get us.”

Hall says last year the girls were doing one lap in about an hour and 10 minutes. “If we can all shave off two minutes a lap, that would be good.”

The Freewheel Skinnys will take to the course Friday with a test lap at the Canmore Nordic Centre, taking their time to learn the course. “We won’t go hard though, we don’t want to hurt our legs.”

Certainly, they will need all of them on Saturday if they want to catch the Canmore leaders.