Riders on leg six of Saturday’s 18th annual Kluane to Chilkat International Bike Relay might want to pack long johns.

Swaths of snow along that stretch of the Haines Highway this week were down to the edge of the road, said Judy Ewald, board member and volunteer. “The summit crew better dress warm. It’s going to be chilly.”

A record 257 teams were registered at midweek for the 148-mile ride that crosses Chilkat Pass on its way from Haines Junction, Y.T. to Fort Seward. That’s more than 1,250 riders and about 250 more than last year, according to Ewald.

Increased interest from Fairbanks and Whitehorse, Y.T. is responsible for some of the jump, but there also appear to be more teams from Haines and Juneau this year, Ewald said.

Registration includes 99 eight-person teams, 80 teams of four, 22 duos and 44 solo riders. Jordan Piper, 18, is among the lone riders, whose numbers are down a bit from last year’s record high of 49.

Piper and younger brother Corey Piper rode as a two-person squad last year. Corey, 15, will be manning a checkpoint on the race this year. Corey, a high school cross-country runner, said riding 80 miles hurt, despite daily workouts up to 20 miles and an 80-mile training ride.

“After a while, the pain starts going away, but it takes about halfway through it before it does,” Piper said. He said the only advice he’d give his sister was to try to go the whole way. “I’m pretty sure she can make it.”

Other solo riders are coming from as far away as Wisconsin and Florida, Ewald said. Organizers don’t promote the relay outside of the region, but word leaks out, she said, including recently in publications like Alaska magazine and a AAA publication. “There are some serious riders but we’re still trying to keep it as a fun event.”

About two-thirds of participants come from the Whitehorse area. The mixed, four-person Tour da Haines, perennially the town’s top squad, this year is a parent-child combo with Chip Lende and daughter Eliza and Sean Asquith and son Quinn.

They could face a challenge Saturday from Gina and the Jets, a mixed-fours squad including Gina St. Clair, Darcy Culbeck, and former competitive mountain bike racers Andy Hedden and Greg Schlachter. “They’ll definitely face some competition,” said relay veteran St. Clair, who started training in April. “My goal is to stay right up there with Chip (Lende).”

St. Clair said she culled the team from ones she’s ridden on previously. “This is my dream team. I’ve always wanted to have a competitive mixed-four team. This is my year.”

A team captains’ meeting will be held 9 p.m. Friday at the community center in Haines Junction. The race start there is 8:30 a.m. Yukon time (7:30 a.m. Alaska time) for solo and duo teams, 8:45 a.m. for teams of four and 9 a.m. for eight-person squads.

Changes this year include that the awards ceremony will be held 9 p.m. Saturday, instead of Sunday morning. “With the (electronic) timing, the results are almost instant. We may not have the red lantern in, but everybody else will be in,” Ewald said. Also, leg 7 riders should bring their bicycles around the outside of the large, yellow radiation portals at the U.S. border.

More than 200 volunteers help out during the event, including U.S. and Canada police and ambulance services. Planning starts in October.

Ewald said the organizers are aiming to reduce the event’s carbon footprint, this year switching to compostable bowls and cups during the post-race feed at the Fort Seward Parade Grounds. They’re open to other suggestions as well, she said.

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