A cycling coach was edged out of a Kluane Chilkat International Bike Relay win by two of his athletes during last Saturday’s race.
The three joined just under 1,000 cyclists who rode all or segments of the annual 150-mile relay from Haines Junction to Haines.
Hudson Lucier completed the race solo with a final time of 6:43:53 and blazing 22 mile-per-hour average speed, while The Bonk Bros team – Heron Land-Gillis and Nicolas Giangrande – finished just one second ahead at 6:43:52. All three are from Whitehorse.
Lucier was facing long odds to finish so close to Gillis and Giangrande, who had built up a 4-minute lead by the latter half of the race.
“I didn’t think I was able to do it,” Lucier said. “But … it went from 4 minutes at the top of Three Guardsmen, to 3:15 at the border, then stayed at 3 minutes for the next [12.5 miles].”
Then Lucier got a 2 hour and 15 minute split on one leg of the race, and a 1 hour and 15 minute split on another – slowly closing that gap.
“Then I saw [Giangrande] and I was like ‘Ok. Ok. Let’s do this,” Lucier said. “I was able to catch up and we started playing games kind of [5 miles] out. But, yeah, I didn’t have the sprint and he beat me into the last corner and it was all she wrote after that. [Giangrande’s] sprint is something else.”
Lucier is the head coach of Yukon Cycling and said he enjoyed watching the group of athletes who train with him do well. While his athletes are headed to Quebec next week for road bike junior nationals, he said the Kluane Chilkat International Bike Relay is his primary race for the season.
“This is the second time I’ve done a solo,” he said. “I’ve done the four-person [relay team] countless times. It’s the highlight of my road calendar for sure.”
Relay board member Rob Welton said the race went relatively smoothly this year, though there were a few accidents.
“One person sustained a concussion, but there were no other major injuries,” Welton said.
That was despite the heat and road construction which saw gravel and dust kicked up for about a mile of the Haines Highway portion of the race.
“One of the riders on my team did not put on new tires before doing [that leg] and got a double flat,” Welton said. “You ride through construction, it’s best to have beefier tires on.”
Welton said he rode the first two legs of the race with a team and, along with Haines local Chip Lende, ended up riding in a pack with a group of guys who were new to that type of cycling.
“They had an older guy coaching them. So then we were all coaching them,” he said. “So we had to kind of coach them to take shorter pulls, don’t accelerate when you go to the front … which was really fun, fun to watch.”
Race registration was down this year and a number of cyclists and teams chose not to finish the whole race – instead stopping at a point near the border and turning around, prompting race officials to issue formal guidance on how to do so safely. “I haven’t heard that there were any incidents in that regard,” Welton said. “I heard secondhand that some of the rhetoric around the U.S./Canada relationship strained feelings and people just didn’t want to come over. Even some of our volunteers felt the same and were reluctant to come to the U.S.”
Race coordinator Monika Kozlerova did not have a firm number for how many people chose not to cross, but said five teams — 20 people — formally handed in their timing sticks before checkpoint six in the Yukon Territory
At least five other teams did not finish the last few legs, but handed in their timing sticks at the finish line. Those teams may have had a few riders who didn’t want to cross the border.
Welton said he was relieved at how the race turned out.
“I was worried we’d have more strife or a big drop in racers,” he said. “Sure there were a few less riders, but overall we all got along and we had a good time. Compared to my worries a few months ago, we all came off well.”
One new addition to this year’s race was the awards ceremony starting earlier in the day and at the Fishermen’s Barbecue at the fairgrounds, rather than a late-night ceremony at the finish line which is how it had previously been done. Haines Mayor Tom Morphet handed out ribbons and hosted the ceremony at the Southeast Alaska State Fairgrounds.
RESULTS:
Solo Men
1 – Hudson Lucier, Whitehorse, 6:43:53 averaging 22 miles an hour
2 – Still Fuzzy, Fairbanks, 6:49:15 averaging of 21.2 miles an hour
3 – Western Willie, Whitehorse, 6:59:24 averaging 21.2 miles an hour
Solo Women
1 – Instinct x Icycle: Heather Clark, Whitehorse, 8:00:14, averaging 18.5 miles an hour
2 – Reiser’s Edge, Victoria, B.C., 8:00:35 averaging 18.5 miles an hour
3 – Project Instinct Cycling Team x Mikayla, Victoria, B.c., 8:11:56, averaging 18.1 miles an hour
Two person team – Women
1-Couple of Cycle-paths: Jessica Edwards and Christina Bigrigg, Whitehorse, with a time of 9:00:53, averaging 16.4 miles an hour
2 Gears and Beers, Whitehorse, with a time of 9:10:06, averaging 16.2 miles an hour
3 – Wheelie cool Gorls, Whitehorse, with a time of 9:20:12, averaging 15.9 miles an hour
Two person team – Men
1 – The Bonk Bros: Heron Land-Gillis and Nicolas Giangrande ,Whitehorse, YT, with a time of 6:43:52 averaging 22 miles an hour
2 – Fast and Flurrious, Whitehorse, with a time of 6:59:19 averaging 21.2 miles an hour
3 – J&B, Juneau, with a time of 7:23:07 averaging 20 miles an hour
Two person team – mixed
1 – tWINning: Finegand and Aramintha Bradford, Whitehorse, with a time of 7:51:46, averaging 18.8 miles an hour
2 – D Team, Whitehorse, with a time of 8:12:13, averaging 18 miles an hour
3 – Crazy A’s, Douglas, AK., with a time of 8:12:49, averaging 18 miles an hour
Three or four person team – mixed
1- Nico and the Cyclepaths: Maude Molgat, Mia Sawatsky, Nicholas Connell and Noah Connell, Whitehorse, with a time of 8:07:50 averaging 18.2 miles an hour
2 – TOUR DA HAINES, Haines, with a time of 8:14:12, averaging 18 miles an hour
3 – Pedal Princesses, Whitehorse, with a time of 8:41:38 averaging 17 miles an hour
Three or four person team – women
1- Girls group: Leah Gasparovic, Emilie Stewart-Jones, Mary Kelly, and Cecily Dawson, Whitehorse, with a time of 9:12:55, averaging 16.1 miles an hour
2 – Epic lady rider, Whitehorse, with a time of 9:20:02, averaging 15.9 miles an hour
3 – Pedal to the medal, Fairbanks, with a time of 9:38:41, averaging 15.4 miles an hour
Three or four person team – men
1 – Rick Angeli: Marshall Gellatly, Trevor Matthews and Rick Angeli, Kamloops, B.c., with a time of 7:47:06, averaging 19 miles an hour
2 – JJJR, Whitehorse with a time of 7:54:44, averaging 18.7 miles an hour
3 -The Road Not Taken, Haines Junction, with a time of 8:07:45, averaging 18.2 miles an hour
Three or four person team Open
1 – Smash or Crash, Whitehorse with a time of 9:20:16, averaging 15.9 miles an hour
2 – Training Wheels, Whitehorse with a time of 11:05:44, averaging 13.3 miles an hour
5-8 person teams mixed
1 Yukon Dream Team: Roger Luxemburger, Oskar Luxemburger, Charly Melin, Sam Boucher, Jack Belanger, Alice Belanger, and Max Labelle, Whitehorse, with a time of 8:55:38 and averaging of 16.6 miles an hour
2 – Wheelin and Dealin, Whitehorse, with a time of 9:14:18 averaging 16 miles an hour
3 – front wind all the Way, Whitehorse, with a time of 9:16:00 and averaging 16 miles an hour
5-8 person teams men
1 – WFHD: Ryan Miller, Ammon Hoefs, Tyler Hamm, Ian Weir, Alex Cusson, Jack Blisner, Ocean Stimson, and Chris Bridgeman, Marsh Lake, with a time of 9:01:57 averaging 16.4 miles an hour
2 – Faster than a McLaren, Whitehorse with a time of 9:19:35 and averaging 15.9 miles an hour
3 – Banana seats, Seneca Falls, NY., with a time of 9:41:41 averaging 15.3 miles an hour
5-8 person teams women
1 – Granola Girls:Isla Hupe, Lia Hale, Brooke Tobler, Stella Mueller, Robyn Mueller, Piper Wolsky, Grace Machtans, and Lydia Brown, Whitehorse, with a time of 9:40:26
2 – Alaska Scud Riders, Juneau, with a time of 9:51:41 averaging 15 miles an hour
3 – Sweaty Betties Biker Gang, Whitehorse, with a time of 10:05:08 averaging 14.7 miles an hour