“If you’re a rider who’s been training for months please move up to the start, and if you started training a few weeks, days, hours or minutes ago, please start 10 meters behind,” was the announcement to kick off the 25th Kluane Chilkat International Bike Relay on Saturday morning.
The announcement could barely be heard over the headwind that ripped through Haines Junction, Yukon Territory, and didn’t cease through the almost 150-mile course to Haines. Racers also faced overcast skies and rain after about 10:30 a.m., making for a chilly ride. The start didn’t include as many costumes as previous years, with most riders opting for spandex and sweatshirts.
About 50 of the 300 teams didn’t finish the race and the winning time of 8 hours, 17 minutes, 9 seconds by Matthias Purdon, 28, of Whitehorse, was almost an hour longer than the 2016 winner. The 2017 race was canceled due to snow, making this year the 25th anniversary that required 26 years.
The key to success was teamwork between cyclists, Purdon said. Riders typically group together to work against the wind, rotating the leader every 30 seconds or so.
Racing as a team instead of solo made the race easier too. “I was supposed to do it solo last year and I was happy it was canceled,” said Simon LaPointe, whose two-person team, ‘We Registered on Time,” placed fifth this year. “It’s amazing that others did it solo. I think I would have died.”
The other key to the race is sustenance. Felix Mercure, 27, of Ottawa, Canada’s capital city in Ontario, made eight pastrami and two peanut butter sandwiches for the race, after not eating during a past Klondike Road Relay from Skagway to Whitehorse and almost passing out.
“I should be good this year,” Mercure said. “I’ll probably save the peanut butter for an ending push, and the pastrami is salty. That’s electrolytes, right?”
Pat and Mary Egan rode again this year, as they have since the race’s founding in 1993. Pat’s four-person men’s team, the “Single Malt Sprocket Rockets,” rode in a battle of the sexes against their wives’ team, “Wine, Women, and Wheels.” Rob and Wendy Fendrick of Whitehorse, who race with the Egans, said the women’s team usually wins. This year was the opposite, and the Sprocket Rockets placed sixth in their category, beating out the Women and Wheels eighth-place finish.
Many racers finished after the official 9 p.m. ending, and several volunteers stayed behind to take their times.
Purdon said his post-race plan was to eat salmon at the fishermen’s community barbecue, drink beer, and maybe take a nap. “I think I’ll put off going in the ocean till tomorrow.”