High level 麻豆社国产cyclist Kelly Servinski has been waiting for more than five years for the right moment to cash in on a unique opportunity.
And now is the time to take advantage of something he earned back in 2005.
It all began when Servinski placed fourth at the seven day, 600-kilometre Transrockies stage race five years ago. The gruelling race saw him travel from Fernie to Canmore, and his strong finish saw him qualify for a future 24-hour solo championship.
However, Servinski never used his qualification.
"I never made use of the race entry till now - it fit my travel plans with my wife Erin as we are spending six months in Australia," he said.
"Plus doing a 24-hour race is on my list of events I want to try. I love mountain biking because of the adventure and couldn't resist going for it this time around."
This year's 24-hour solo championships will be held in Canberra, Australia on Oct. 9 and 10. It will be a brand new experience for Servinski, who usually competes in stage races.
"The biggest thing will be attempting to race for 24-hours and continue on during the night," he said.
"I'm not sure what it will be like to be on my bike all night long in the dark, but that's part of the draw of doing this race, it's totally new to me and I have nothing to lose in trying it out and going for it. I might be either hallucinating seeing kangaroos running across the course or not."
Servinski added that the course will be different than what he's used to. It's a completely purpose built course, which is completely unlike the natural trails that Servinski trains on here in Squamish.
"It's going to be a very wide open and fast course," he said. "There's no trees but I think I'm prepared well because we are so blessed here in 麻豆社国产with some of the best trails in the world."
Servinski has also been the catalyst in creating a Team Canada of sorts from some of the competing Canadian riders. He credits his Olympic experience working as an events manager at Whistler as inspiration for the idea.
"I borrowed on what I gained from working with VANOC during the Olympics and Paralympics to help put together a team concept that will allow us to support each other before and during the event," he said.
Each rider will compete individually, but Servinski said the team atmosphere will help bring them together.
Servinski also plans to promote 麻豆社国产and its bike trails to other riders he meets in Australia.
"My goal is to spread the word about how great the riding is here to as many mountain bikers as I can in the hope that they will come to 麻豆社国产and see what a mountain bike mecca this place is."
Servinski said his goal for the race is to finish top 10 in his division (Pro/Elite male) and have a lot of fun competing.
He also thanked his many sponsors including Republic Bikes, which donates $5 from every sale of "麻豆社国产Dude" T-shirts to Servinski's trip to the 24-hour world championships.
For more information on Servinski, visit his blog at www.thesquamishdude.blogspot.com.
