Racer Pat Norwil's Phone Dispatch
Canmore, Alberta, Canada: July 17-19, 1999
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Hey, this is Pat Norwil calling from Canmore, Alberta, at the World Solo 24-Hour Championships. Just off the course: brutal, brutal and brutal. Sunny and rain, making the course incredibly muddy. It was 10 pounds of mud every lap on the bike.

Rishi Grewal totally dominated the race, putting in 19 laps and finishing as the World 24 Hour Champion. Chris Scott came in second. John Stamstad, Matt Ohran, and myself to round off the top five. Chloe Lanthier was first in the women's, Kathy Lindquist second, and Monica Nelson third.

"We just put our heads down and endured and the bike mechanics just worked feverishly to keep us rolling. New bikes every lap, brake pads, cables..."

It was just an insane mud-fest. We started out under blue skies just totally rockin' the course. It was just an awesome venue: great singletrack, just relentless power climbs, and then the clouds rolled in and the rain came down. About 7pm, 'til about midnight or 1am, it was non-stop rain. We just put our heads down and endured and the bike mechanics just worked feverishly to keep us rolling. New bikes every lap, brake pads, cables—it was almost the World Champion of Bicycle Mechanicking happening in the pits and behind the scenes.

The course just turned into a complete mud-fest — caked bikes, hiking up all the power climbs. The majority of the singletrack just became a trials event of roots and bogs and just totally brutal. Fortunately, we didn't have any snow, which was great 'cause snow would have just punished us.

So there you have it — 24 Hours of Adrenalin once again. It was a great race. Great media coverage. Trilife put on an awesome event, and the best endurance athletes in the world were there to take part — 30 men and six women gave it all their go, and it was a great race. Full story and photos to come.

—Pat Norwil, MountainZone.com correspondent