Whitehorse Daily Star

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Photo by Vince Fedoroff

BRIDGING THE GAP – Meghan Molnar rides during the 24 Hours of Light bike festival on Grey Mountain last weekend. More than 200 riders took part in the festivities at the biathlon range, where there were courses for riders of all ages. No lights are allowed on bikes as riders utilize the midnight sun with the race taking place a few days after summer solstice.

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Photo by Vince Fedoroff

LAST ON COURSE – Stian and Brent Langbakk are the last official riders on course.

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Photo by Vince Fedoroff

ACCOLADES – Trophies for division winners sit on a railing overlooking the start/finish line and camping during the 24 Hours of Light bike festival.

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Photo by Vince Fedoroff

HOT SHOT – Riders take off from the start of the 24 Hours of Light bike festival at the biathlon range on Grey Mountain last Saturday. Riders attempted to log as many laps as they could over a period of 24 hours.

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Photo by Vince Fedoroff

SALUD – Solo division winners Eric Penel and Ashley Ryniak cheers after finishing their last laps.

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Photo by Vince Fedoroff

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Photo by Vince Fedoroff

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Photo by Vince Fedoroff

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Photo by Vince Fedoroff

24 Hours of Light a family affair

For the first time in race history, organizer Sierra Van der Meer

By Marissa Tiel on June 26, 2017

For the first time in race history, organizer Sierra Van der Meer believes that the trails for the 24 Hours of Light bike festival didn’t change from the previous year.

“We found a course that has a good mix of singletrack and doubletrack,” she said, which is an important mix to allow for traffic flow and passing on the course.

A few new builds were completed last year, which helped with the singletrack sections of the course. The full course was about 12.5K long with 277 metres of elevation. The youth course was 6K, the mini-bike course was 1.5K and the run-bike course was 150 metres.

Since switching venues to the Grey Mountain biathlon range, the bike festival has been able to promote a family and fun camping atmosphere thanks to the support of Biathlon Yukon, which lets them camp in the penalty loop area.

“It’s been just amazing,” said Van der Meer of the support.

Families were out on the courses ripping hard and amassing stickers next to their team name. One team had 127 stickers thanks to their laps on all of the courses.

Another family had riders aged four to 70 on their team.

Van der Meer said that shows how mountain biking is accessible to everyone.

Wildlife was spotted once again this year.

“As always the bears came out to say hello,” she said.

One bear did make its way onto the course around midnight, but continued on down the mountain.

No lights are allowed during the bike race, with riders utilizing the midnight sun to guide their laps during a 24-hour period.

This year’s top riders included:

Overall winner – Richard Gear and the Pretty Women

8-person team – Team Family Van Go

4-person team –Sockeye Sallies

2-person team – Sid Vicious and the Singlespeed Sweetness

Youth – School’s Out

Solo male – 1st: Eric Penel, 2nd: Scott McGrath, 3rd: Tyler Hollema

Solo female – 1st: Ashley Ryniak, 2nd: Monika Mannke, 3rd: Erika Joubert.

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