Hardwood Hills, 24 Hours of Adrenalin, and Us
A Chronology

Update 1998

Back in the day, Netcom Canada and some friends had a team at the Hardwood Hills 24 Hours of Adrenalin mountain bike race, north of Barrie Ontario.

Our results? From http://www.24hoursofadrenalin.com/results/results_hardwood1998pg1.htm

Victorinox-Switzerland Corporate Category
Position Bib# Team name Hometown km laps time
1 764 HARDWOOD HILLS ORO STATION 470 25 24:39
71 768 NETCOM KNIGHT RIDERS ANCASTER 282 15 24:26
83 721 OUTDOOR LIFE NETWORK SCARBOROUGH 225.6 12 24:12
Clif Bar Solo Category
1 1 JOHN STAMSTAD CINCINATTI, OHIO 357.2 19 24:01

Victorinox-Switzerland Corporate Category
Position	Bib#	Team name	Hometown	km	laps	time
1	764	HARDWOOD HILLS	ORO STATION	470	25	24:39
71	768	NETCOM KNIGHT RIDERS	ANCASTER	282	15	24:26
83	721	OUTDOOR LIFE NETWORK	SCARBOROUGH	225.6	12	24:12
Clif Bar Solo Category
1	1	JOHN STAMSTAD	CINCINATTI, OHIO	357.2	19	24:01

The Netcom Knight Riders were Captain Dave, Glenn, Jay, Stephanie, Kerri from out west, Ty, Grant, and Tai.

We placed 71st out of 85 corporate teams. We were quite pleased, considering only a couple of us had raced before and many of us don't regularly trailride. In fact, Grant and I have no suspension at all on our bikes. Me, I was pretty happy with my around-2-hour laps. (19 km.) I don't do much night riding, and I have to admit I was a little scared a few times, but no serious head injuries were sustained. And in daylight, the course was beatiful, challenging, and fast!

We were also deeply impressed with the solo riders, especially the male winner, John Stamstad.

John writes a bit about the race here: http://www.trilife.com/solo-tips.htm. This guy is impressive - he was almost 40 km ahead of his nearest competitor.

Update 1999

In 1999 we hope to race at Kelso and Hardwood. Unfortunately there's no Mount Tremblant race in '99.

Doh, we didn't get to race in 1999!

We trained, we got some snazzy jerseys, and we were placed on a waiting list! So let that be a lesson to you: Register early for this race! You can check out the fine results of our friends who did manage to race at http://www.24hoursofadrenalin.com/results/results05.html. It looks like our new friends from AT&T Canada kicked some ass.

Update 2000

We raced in 2000 as the Dirty Bastards. A great time, team captained by Tyler Allen. This was the first year we built the Dirty Shantytown, and in keeping with the name, they gave us some marginal land by the outhouses and the settling pond. Main pix site by John Ross is at Fenks.org .

RANK BIB TEAM NAME CITY CATEGORY SUB CAT TOT TIME
hr:min:sec LAPS
1 444 KHS/Jet Lites #1 Aurora Corporate . 24:2:14 30
84 401 Dirty Bastards Toronto Corporate . 24:18:22 17
99 413 The Crashalottis Toronto Corporate . 23:52:25 8

Our laps were 17 km or so each. I did two, averaging about 2 h each. Our fastest riders on the team (guys like Mark O, Mark M, Tim) made some sub-1h laps.

RANK	BIB	TEAM NAME	CITY	CATEGORY	SUB CAT	TOT TIME hr:min:sec	LAPS
1	444	KHS/Jet Lites #1	Aurora	Corporate	.	24:2:14	30
84	401	Dirty Bastards	Toronto	Corporate	.	24:18:22	17
99	413	The Crashalottis	Toronto	Corporate	.	23:52:25	8

Insane. John Ross was faster than me, on my bike, but I am suspicious of how sane John is, having seen him ride his hybrid off-road at Algonquin. I have no excuses for being slower than Grant and Tyler, though. :) I'll just have to train harder next year.

Here I am, after my wobbly-kneed second lap, and Mark after his like, 6th lap. Both of us are still on the prowl, it appears.

Update 2001

We raced as the Dirty Bastards in 2001. It was a good time. Jules and Evon came to visit the site, bringing husbands, dogs, etc. We enjoyed the camper that Ty arranged for, because its fridge was the ideal storage location for a lot of pepperoni sticks. Anyone have any info about it at all? I recall we had no damn photos. If you saw some, on someone else's web site or wherever, let me know!

Rank Bib Team City Category Time Laps 1 439 Pipeline Pro's Ajax Corporate 24:29:40 31 98 475 Dirty Bastards Toronto Corporate 23:45:27 17 115 490 Forrest Fossils Oshawa Corporate 23:03:05 12

Lap Rider Time

1 Mark 1:08
2 xxxx 2:07
3 John? 1:33
4 Tai? 1:45
5 xxxx 1:08
6 xxxx 1:10
7 xxxx 1:45
8 xxxx 1:05
9 xxxx 1:20
10 xxxx 1:01
11 xxxx 1:10
12 xxxx 2:01
13 Tai? 1:55
14 xxxx 1:14
15 xxxx 1:10
16 xxxx 1:01
17 xxxx 1:05

Lap	Rider	Time
1	Mark	1:08
2	xxxx	2:07
3	John?	1:33
4	Tai?	1:45
5	xxxx	1:08
6	xxxx	1:10
7	xxxx	1:45
8	xxxx	1:05
9	xxxx	1:20
10	xxxx	1:01
11	xxxx	1:10
12	xxxx	2:01
13	Tai?	1:55
14	xxxx	1:14
15	xxxx	1:10
16	xxxx	1:01
17	xxxx	1:05

And now it's time to step on some neck!
That's Mr. Bastard to you.

Update 2002

Sites G11 and G12, with a nice big tree, and a very fine tarp-job by Ty.
Tom The Mechanic arrived early with Ted and held down our site as hordes of attractive young women tried to swindle him out of his land.
Brian the Photographer arrived on Saturday morning in time to make conversation with the Toronto Star woman and also make a bunch of wicked photos, which he is hosting at risc.org.

There's a section of the trail called Coffee Run. It might be 'cause you're almost home at that point, or it might be because the thing makes you quiver like a double espresso (Quinn's idea.) In any case, it's a bit of a test. There were some significant spills on it, and also a lot of riders dismounting to walk down it, or halfway down it (me included.)

I watched a bunch of people and learned a little theory, anyway. Next time I'm up there I'll ride up the logging road and try it without much at stake.
It's not a long hill at all. Here's the approach:

Note the seductive little downslope, the moderate roots, the forgiving soil. Unfortunately for you, the foreground of the picture is actually a dirty section of poured asphalt, placed on this corner to curb erosion. Everything around the asphalt has eroded, making it a nasty bump in the middle of the trail, and this hard right corner at the top is not banked. If you come into this corner really fast, you'll hit the wooden fence. If you come into it just a little fast, you'll make the corner and find yourself in the worst of the rooty stair-steps on your way down to the next turn. Nasty!

And here's the sharp left halfway down. This guy is taking the outside line, missing the worst of the roots. Smart. Also fast; that's why he's a blur.

If you don't make it out to that outside line, you're in the deepest of the root steps, and that means you are going to have trouble making the left here. You'll brake, and it's possible to go head-over-heels if you lean on the brakes too hard. We saw it happen.

That's all there is to it. Don't fall, eh? Too rocky to be a happy fall.

Jay came in as a last minute sub for Tash, who was out with some nasty lung infection deal. He proved to be the fastest lap, the first of the mechanicals, and the first to flee the scene of destruction. Thanks Jay! Nice Kona!

Jay in action, about 1 minute from the finish. Nice focus!
T-shirts were dirty scientist | rocket bastard
Damn, well, I like them anyway!


Rank 	Bib	Team		City	  Category	Time 		Laps
1 	606 	Louis Garneau 	Pickering Corporate   	24:09:31 	27
90 	564 	Dirty Bastards 	Toronto   Corporate	24:36:41 	16
109 	575 	Mud Honeys I 	Toronto   Corporate 	23:00:53 	9

lap rider time bike

1 Mark 1:31
2 Ty 1:17 Yeti
3 Andrew 1:58 Klein
4 Jay 1:00 Kona Caldera
5 Ted 1:27
6 Quinn 1:29 Rocky Mountain Whistler
7 Will 1:31
8 Tai 1:42 Rocky Mountain Blizzard
9 James 1:13 Brodie
10 Mark 1:21
11 Ty 1:25 Yeti
12 (Jay Mechanical) Ted completing 2:23¹
13 Quinn 1:30 Rocky Mountain Whistler
14 Will 1:15
15 (Tai Mechanical) 2:18² Rocky Mountain Blizzard
16 James 1:07³ Brodie
¹ Ted, how long did you actually ride here? Man, I hate mechanical failures. :)
² I spent 30 minutes on my mechanical before restarting the lap, so this one was actually 1:48 on the trail.
³ Ty told ya it was a fast one!

lap	rider	time	bike
1	Mark	1:31
2	Ty	1:17	Yeti
3	Andrew	1:58	Klein
4	Jay	1:00	Kona Caldera
5	Ted	1:27
6	Quinn	1:29	Rocky Mountain Whistler
7	Will	1:31
8	Tai	1:42	Rocky Mountain Blizzard
9	James	1:13	Brodie
10	Mark	1:21
11	Ty	1:25	Yeti
12	(Jay Mechanical) Ted completing	2:23¹
13	Quinn	1:30	Rocky Mountain Whistler
14	Will	1:15
15	(Tai Mechanical)	2:18²	Rocky Mountain Blizzard
16	James	1:07³	Brodie

Here is James after that fast last lap. He looks happy, probably just pleased with the lap. Whereas I am happy that it's over and I can go home and sleeeeeeep!

On the left, Andrew, Will, Ted, in the middle with the radio is Captain Ty, saluting is the Wizard Tom, Quinn is hiding and presenting his left buttock to the photographer is Mark. :) A good crew to ride with. Thanks, guys!

More people should ride and ski at Hardwood Hills - it's a wicked facility. Check them out at: Hardwoodhills.on.ca .
Here's the organization that does all the 12 and 24 Hours of Adrenalin races: http://www.24hoursofadrenalin.com .