One of the main fixtures on the calendar for cyclists over the last 27 years — notwithstanding 2017 when a snowstorm ruined all the fun — the 26th annual Kluane Chilkat International Bike Relay was June 15 as close to 300 teams raced from Haines Junction to Haines, Alaska.
Split into eight legs ranging in length from 19 kilometres to 37.5 km, the 238.3-km course tests riders with long climbs, steep descents and typically variable weather conditions.
This year, 308 teams registered for the race in solo, two-person, four-person and eight-person categories.
Of those 308 teams, 283 finished the race — the remaining teams either did not start or did not finish the race.
This year’s overall winner was Whitehorse’s Matthias Purdon.
Competing under the name Celery General, Purdon finished the race in a time of seven hours, 25 minutes and 34 seconds.
Not far behind was David Gonda, who finished in second place with a time of seven hours, 25 minutes and 43 seconds.
In third place was Tyson Flaharty of Fairbanks, Alaska, competing under the name Where’s My Fat Bike with a time of seven hours, 25 minutes and 52 seconds.
The fastest rider in the women’s solo category was Alisabeth Thurston Hicks of Fairbanks, competing as Little Bit, with a time of eight hours, 37 minutes and 18 seconds.
Second place belonged to Vancouver’s Lindsay Knezevich with a time of nine hours, eight minutes and seven seconds. Knezevich’s team name was Alis volat propriis, which translates from Latin to “she flies with her own wings.”
Third to finish was Whitehorse’s Michelle Klaben with a time of nine hours, 53 minutes and 56 seconds.
The fastest mixed two-person team was Tour Da Haines with a time of eight hours, 37 minutes and 35 seconds. Second spot went to Crazy A’s while Spoke Too Soon was third.
PRW was the fastest women’s two-person team, finishing in eight hours, 37 minutes and 13 seconds. In second place was Sisterhood of Thigh-tanium and in third place was Sister Shit Show.
Sled Dog Afterbirth was the fastest men’s two-person team, finished in seven hours, 27 minutes and 44 seconds. Lapointe-Stamp finished second and Colillas Peludas — Spanish for “hairy butts” — finished third.
The fastest mixed four-person was the Alaskan quartet Black Dolphin, who completed the race in eight hours, nine minutes and 54 seconds. Second place went to Dynamite Wolf Squadron and in third place was Triangles.
You Should Have Seen Us Before Kids was the fastest four-person women’s team, finishing in eight hours, 50 minutes and 45 seconds. McFast finished second and Go HAM finished third.
In the men’s four-person category, Get After It… Again was the fastest with a time of eight hours, nine minutes and 27 seconds. Next to finish was Next Gen followed by Pony Express in third.
The fastest eight-person mixed team this year was Cycopaths, who finished in eight hours, 37 minutes and 30 seconds. The Drivetrain Wrecks finished second and Grinders finished third.
Cruz Control were the fastest women’s eight-person team with a time of 10 hours, 30 minutes and 13 seconds. Second place went to De-cade Legs, while third place belonged to WGH Blood, Guts and Gears.
Rounding out the results, Draft Kings were the fastest eight-person men’s team with a time of nine hours, 46 minutes and 39 seconds. RCMP Steele’s Wheels were second.
Contact John Hopkins-Hill at john.hopkinshill@yukon-news.com
Kluane Chilkat International Bike Relay results
Women’s solo
1 Little Bit 8:37:18
2 Alis volat propriis 9:08:07
3 Michelle’s Solo Team 9:53:56
4 I Like to Ride my Bicycle 9:54:01
5 Bikelicious 1 10:13:03
6 #rockitlikearocket 10:13:50
7 High Cadence Kid 10:51:04
8 Daisy Chains Tutu 11:08:00
9 Daisy Chains 11:10:51
10 Daisy Chain 11:15:23
Men’s solo
1 Celery General 7:25:34
2 David Gonda 7:25:43
3 Where’s my fat bike 7:25:52
4 Captain Planet X 7:25:56
5 Salty Nuts 7:26:19
6 Crusty Col 7:26:27
7 One Ball 7:27:28
8 Thrillhouse Cycling 7:27:31
9 Dr. Vino 7:27:46
10 Spin the legs 7:40:33
11 Tripleshot 7:40:44
12 Willie Bell 7:40:49
13 VeloPlzen 8:02:00
14 Johnny Five is Alive 8:22:29
15 Hermit Crab 8:22:32
16 Black Rabbit Pole 8:22:34
17 Forever Shinkansen 8:32:50
18 Arctic Lightning 8:33:08
19 Long Day 8:36:53
20 Stanley 8:37:32
21 Once Again 8:37:42
22 EcoFalcon 8:56:59
23 Nolo Contendere 8:57:15
24 Wide 8:57:35
25 Tour de Farce 9:03:01
26 Yakmanski 9:14:05
27 Dr. Walker Sports Chiropractor Cycling 9:16:49
28 Krank it up too 9:28:17
29 Sykell Viking 9:31:26
30 All for a Feed of Salmon 9:46:49
31 Hope this dosen’t blow! 9:47:14
32 Snap Crakle and Pop 9:50:33
33 Atom 10:14:33
34 This ones for you DV 10:22:50
35 Rides of Future Passed 10:33:53
36 B Team 10:51:09
37 Willie Muller 11:07:49
38 Krank It Up1 11:09:53
39 asm 11:14:29
40 One Man Wolf Pack 11:19:49
41 Foxy Rider 11:35:34
42 DrEO-71 11:43:02
43 Krank It Up 12:11:41
44 Living the Dream 12:43:08
45 Team Bosco 12:57:44
46 Phil Castello 14:33:02
Mixed two-person
1 Tour Da Haines 8:37:35
2 Crazy A’s 9:00:51
3 Spoke Too Soon 9:07:56
4 Pulling Pork 9:09:19
5 Team Austin 9:25:04
6 Hitchhikers 9:38:44
7 Darcy and Erica 9:47:26
8 Sunshine & Rainbows 9:53:36
9 We’re Not Cousins 10:11:54
10 SlaterSquared 10:20:25
11 Celery Generals 10:25:18
12 GnarBar 10:35:40
13 Danem 10:47:54
14 Dude, Where’s My Car? 11:16:32
15 Dad and Me 11:18:20
16 Quicker by Car 11:50:19
17 Like a Rolling Stone 11:59:06
18 The M&Ms 12:15:21
19 Team Cravez 14:16:45
Women’s two-person
1 PRW 8:37:13
2 Sisterhood of Thigh-tanium 8:57:41
3 Sister Shit Show 8:57:58
4 Newish Westerners 9:56:05
5 Two Tired 10:53:21
6 Spandex Spokeswomen 11:00:11
7 Mécalomanes 11:00:56
8 U Kon Do It Dawn and Trena 11:25:45
9 Original Pedal Pushers 11:56:18
10 Falcon and Finch 12:18:48
Men’s two-person
1 Sled Dog Afterbirth 7:27:44
2 Lapointe-Stamp 7:27:52
3 Colillas Peludas 7:40:04
4 Icycle Ride or Die 7:40:19
5 0475’s 7:40:21
6 Five Ravens (fiveravens.io) 7:59:11
7 Opposites Attract 8:34:20
8 The Indoor Variety 8:52:10
9 Dos jEDI 8:57:09
10 Moore or Less… 8:57:49
11 Wolverines 9:08:16
12 Jean Machine 9:08:30
13 OMG 9:16:38
14 Twins 9:17:27
15 Beairsto Brothers 9:38:13
16 Dad Bods 9:39:26
17 Bikey McBikeface 10:16:25
18 Up and Down and Smoke 11:43:51
19 The Righteous Brothers 11:59:40
20 Wilddubya 12:12:49
21 TLH2ANC 12:28:47
Mixed four-person
1 Black Dolphin 8:09:54
2 Dynamite Wolf Squadron 8:35:54
3 Triangles 8:42:46
4 Northern Exposure 8:42:50
5 Biking Vikings 9:00:15
6 eat at baked 9:03:24
7 Forced Family Fun 9:05:48
8 ShiftyFifties 9:06:18
9 Quill Club 9:06:47
10 Twoo Tired 9:16:15
11 No Snow 9:20:05
12 Les « Chez » 9:23:29
13 Sk8erAde 9:24:15
14 The Wolf Pack 9:27:18
15 The Chamois Dancers 9:31:17
16 Constantine Rock Lickers 9:34:07
17 Shunned by our kids 9:34:45
18 Sockeye Cycle 4 9:38:18
19 Big wheel spinners 9:47:01
20 Denglish 9:48:26
21 Sorrento Cyclopaths 9:48:58
22 Tutu Fast 9:50:32
23 Because We Can Can 9:53:07
24 Fixie Trixie and the Junkyard Wheelers 9:55:49
25 Generation Gap 10:06:26
26 Team Sparks 10:09:29
27 The Spoke Nipples 10:10:24
28 The Mamas & The Papas 10:11:25
29 Foxtails 10:19:05
30 Unfit From Parenting 10:20:20
31 Riding with Protection 10:22:13
32 WCC CYCLOPATHS 10:32:56
33 Jet Stream 10:34:42
34 Hoo Ha gliders 10:35:47
35 Spin to Win 10:36:45
0 Jet Stream Seniors ::
37 Joy on Wheels 10:37:51
38 Old, Cranky and Kicking Asphalt 10:42:56
39 Team Blue Ribbon 10:50:40
40 The Dream Team 11:00:07
40 Trying harder 11:00:07
42 Topaz Tigers 11:08:09
43 Wheely Fun 11:11:06
44 MacGillivray2 11:11:34
45 Pedantic Pedalers 11:21:08
46 TBD 11:24:46
47 Having fun 11:25:05
48 Some Golden Girls 11:28:05
49 Les fous braques 11:28:06
50 Life is Good 11:30:04
51 Roll Tide 11:32:20
52 Wheelie Awesome 11:34:29
53 4bike4 11:35:00
54 Beauty And The Beasts 11:36:24
55 Peanut Butter and Jelly Legs 11:48:55
56 the chicken tenders 11:52:57
57 Kerry and the South Klondikers 12:08:49
58 Callanish Steveston 12:16:08
59 Callanish Seymour Forest 12:16:46
0 Callanish UBC Hill ::
61 Callanish Deep Cove 12:17:27
62 Callanish Victoria 12:18:34
63 Fork ‘n’ Tyred 12:30:32
64 Two Falcons and a Wolverine 12:58:24
65 Spoken’ Hot Babes 13:10:56
66 TBA 13:18:04
Women’s four-person
1 You Should Have Seen Us Before Kids 8:50:45
2 McFast 9:02:28
3 Go HAM 9:45:41
4 Master Babes 10:12:19
5 Chilkat Cats 10:20:03
6 Worst Game of Tag Ever 10:35:06
7 The Best Ships are Friendships 10:35:21
8 The Horo-spokes 10:35:22
9 Skiers Gone Wild 10:37:04
10 Yukon 9s 10:41:19
11 WOW (Women on Wheels) 10:50:49
12 Winey Wheelers 11:02:09
13 Freya’s Cats 11:10:02
14 Chill Cats 11:15:30
15 Bike Now, Wine Later 11:27:54
16 Callanish Cowichan 12:16:16
17 Strong Spokes 12:18:42
18 Tortoises or Hares 12:30:33
19 The Crusty Cranks 12:42:13
20 Sprokettes 12:56:52
Men’s four-person
1 Get After It…Again 8:09:27
2 Next Gen 8:26:57
3 Pony Express 8:28:34
4 Ditching Our Parents 8:42:22
5 YCCMA Riders 8:51:14
6 Strategically Alligned 9:19:26
7 Just have fun 9:22:41
8 Fidget Spinners II 9:26:04
9 Just Here For The T-shirt 9:50:49
10 Slow and Wobbly 9:52:55
11 Biking Jambons 10:07:30
12 The Free Wheelers 10:07:40
13 Bromanceathon 10:11:14
14 Atomic Jellyfish 10:19:26
15 Nostalgia 10:20:28
16 BST 10:38:44
17 MacGillivray1 11:25:19
Mixed eight-person
1 Cycopaths 8:37:30
2 The Drivetrain Wrecks 9:21:57
3 Grinders 9:31:42
4 Gears & Beers 9:40:31
5 Cyclelogical 9:45:25
6 YEC Power Peddlers 9:47:00
7 Will Figure It Out at the Finish Line 9:51:36
8 Eastbound & Down 10:01:53
9 Six Bucks Two Bitz’s 10:04:52
10 When Pigs Fly 10:07:38
11 Chain Breakers 10:12:26
12 Speed Sold Separately 10:19:50
13 Stunning Spokes 10:21:11
14 Gears, Brooms, Balls and Beers 10:21:57
15 Old Cranks New spokes - Northwestel 10:23:17
16 Slow Spokes 10:23:43
17 Flying Jellyfish 10:25:33
18 U Kon Echelon Youth 10:29:36
19 Summerlong 10:36:01
20 Ageless Bikers 10:39:48
21 Remind me - why are we doing this? 10:43:21
22 Team Charlotte 10:43:26
23 Pedalling for the Peel 10:43:42
24 Your pace or mine 10:44:23
25 The Regulators 10:44:26
26 Merpeople of Kluane Lake 10:47:12
27 Too Lucky Men 10:48:27
28 Everyone but Ian 10:52:31
29 One Gear Full Beer 10:55:23
30 Linkus 10:56:18
31 Pedal to the Mettle 10:59:44
32 Purple Penguin Pedallers 11:08:21
33 Sockeye Cycle 11:11:54
34 Soft n supple 11:14:50
35 We Don’t Carrot All 11:17:31
36 Y’Alkan Suck my Tires 11:18:17
37 Team Burgis 11:23:41
38 Precision Measures Petroleum Pumpers 11:25:13
39 Weakened Warriors 11:26:22
40 Team Chips 11:27:17
41 Who Wants WaterMelon? 11:27:39
42 Ride or Die 11:30:27
43 Tandem For the Win 11:33:17
44 Not playing with a full deck 11:34:00
45 It Depends 11:36:17
46 Ski-Lynks 11:36:46
47 Training Wheels 11:39:04
48 Trap, Rattle, and Roll 11:43:21
49 Turning Trikes 11:44:58
50 Beef Dip 11:46:26
51 Arkell Flyers 11:47:34
52 Junction Jujubes 11:49:55
53 The Pros (Short for The Procrastinators) 11:52:30
54 Which leg am I doing? 11:57:29
55 The Wheel Deal 12:01:41
56 Tyrannocyclists 12:11:56
57 Łu Ghą Dän 12:14:52
58 Team Tater Tot 12:18:52
0 Road Scholars
60 Teslin Rusty Sprockets 12:21:30
61 Maybe Last Time 12:22:53
62 Air North 12:23:02
63 Lettuce Win 12:38:00
64 Not Fast, Just Furious 12:47:21
65 Wobbly Wheelers 13:00:29
66 WCC CYCLOMANIACS 13:36:16
67 Weapons of Ass Destruction 13:48:15
68 Litseen Tlingit Kwáan 14:01:32
69 Gears for Beers 14:33:52
Women’s eight-person
1 Cruz Control 10:30:13
2 De-cade Legs 11:14:11
3 WGH Blood, Guts and Gears 11:19:08
4 RCMP Steiner’s Riders 11:39:11
Men’s eight-person
1 Draft Kings 9:46:39
2 RCMP Steele’s Wheels 10:15:07