June 28, 2011 (Uxbridge, ON) – Over 1,600 riders and many more spectators descended on Albion Hills Conservation Area, near Bolton, Ontario this past weekend for the 14th annual 24 Hours of Summer Solstice. A dry spell followed by a rainy week, made for ideal course conditions – with some riders pulling sub 40 minute laps over the 15km lap. With three new singletrack sections featured this year, riders were raving about the awesome flow the course had.

Some of the new features at Albion included many “pump-track” like features great for riders of all ability levels. “The Mecca of mountain biking in Ontario” explains Andrew Watson, Norco Performance Bikes, and Canadian National MTB member.

Race highlights from this past weekend include the U40 Solo Male Division. Robert Pilato had an incredible performance, with 24 laps in just under 24 hours in a time of 23:43:08. The 40+ Solo Male Division had an unbelievable battle, between Erick Auger, and David Stowe. Auger took the win by a mere 2-miuntes, an incredibly close margin for a 24-hour race! Sarah Caylor successfully defended her 24 Hours of Summer Solstice Title by claiming victory in the Solo Female division. Caylor completed 20 laps in a time of 23:17:45.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better outcome for this event – the course was amazing, riders were awesome, the bands and DJ rocked, the kid zone was jammed with hundreds of smiling faces, our awards ceremony had over a thousand people at it, and we even had a successful wedding proposal live on-stage. The Solstice was so much fun this year, I can’t wait for Hot August Nights! ” says Chico Racing’s founder, Adam Ruppel.

Other event highlights included an amazingly popular Shimano Youth Race co-sponsored by the Ontario Cycling Association. Over 200 kids under 12 took to the 1.5 km course, with hundreds of parents cheering on their young hammer-heads on Saturday afternoon. Participants this year also got to enjoy even more festivities than ever before. Friday night now includes live entertainment as Tres Hombre’s rocked the house to kick off the 24-hour mountain bike festival.  10-Speed kept things rocking Saturday night from the main stage, as the sun set on Saturday from Albion. The entertainment didn’t end there as DJ Mac Attack – Andrew McMillin did some scribbling Saturday night in the centre of the Joyride150 finish area.

“As always, an incredible job on the event this weekend. Every time I think your events can’t get any better, you go and out-do yourselves again! Incredible course lay-out, the best food, awesome vendor support, great music, hilarious kids’ race (which Marcus LOVED, as did we) and the best vibe of any event (MTB and otherwise) we’ve ever been to. This weekend is turning out to be not just our highlight of the summer, but of the entire YEAR!” says long-time Chico participant Dan Gaudenzi.

Chico Racing would also like to thank all our supporters including our volunteers, staff, and our sponsors, Kijiji.ca, Sporting Life, Shimano, eLoad, Louis Garneau, Pedal Magazine, Light & Motion, Sigma, Topeak, Kicking Horse Coffee, Joyride150, Opus Bikes, Norco Bikes, Scott Bikes, Hammer Nutrition, Wellington Brewery, Camelbak, OCA, Blackburn, Defeet, Preparing the Trail, Albion Hills Conservation Area, and the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority

For complete results visit HERE and the 24 Hours at Albion: Hot August Nights is taking place August 27-28.