Sunny weather, smooth roads and a good turnout made the second annual Haines Junction 88 the place to be for Yukon cyclists on Saturday.
Twenty-three cyclists took part in the 88-kilometre road race hosted by the U Kon Echelon cycling club.
“The sun was out, it was beautiful. It was a little bit windy, but that’s Haines Junction,” said U Kon Echelon director Trena Irving. “The pavement is always spectacular out there; it is just nice and smooth and beautiful. I don’t know why more people don’t go out there to ride.”
The road race ran from the Junction to Dezadeash and back, but included shorter distances for sport and youth divisions. U Kon Echelon also hosted a 20- and 10-kilometre time trial earlier in the day.
“The road is in incredible shape. It’s almost brand new pavement all the way,” said Whitehorse’s Joel Macht. “And you’re going along the mountains there, it’s beautiful.
“It starts out with a big climb going out of Haines Junction and that usually separates the groups a little bit.”
Macht outpaced five other expert men riders in the road race, finishing a hundredth of a second in front of second place’s Marc Lapointe.
Macht credits better nutrition for Saturday’s win.
“Last year I suffered a catastrophic bonk about three-quarters of the way through,” said Macht. “I didn’t have enough to eat and I just totally died. So this year it ended up much better. I remembered to bring some food with me, so that helps.”
It’s a busy couple of weeks for Yukon’s cycling community. VeloNorth Cycling Club is holding a time trial on the North Klondike Highway this evening and the U Kon Echelon cycling club is hosting the second annual three-stage two-day Tour de Skagway this weekend.
Contact Tom Patrick at
tomp@yukon-news.com
Road race
Sport men/women (88 km)
1st Mike Settington (men) - 3:14:37
2nd Joe Morrison (men) - 3:15:31
3rd Martin Eckervolt (men) - 3:20:54
4th Glen Hurlburt (men) - 4:01:09
5th David Jackson (men) - 4:02:16
1st Katrina Wohlfarth (women) - 3:38:49
Sport men/women (54 km)
1st Jonathan Lucas (men) - 1:50:07
2nd Malcolm Taggart (men) - 1:55:07
3rd Andy Muir (men) - 2:04:47
1st Micah Taggart-Cox (U15 boys) - 1:50:43
1st Simi Morrison (women) - 1:55:14
2nd Jody Cox (women) - 1:55:16
3rd Lisa Pauls (women) - 2:08:05
4th Monique Huntin (women) - 2:12:59
Expert men/women (88 km)
1st Joel Macht (men) - 2:26.47
2nd Marc Lapointe (men)
- 2:26.48
3rd Craig Machtans (men)
- 2:27.08
4th Aaron Foos (men) - 2:29.49
5th Shea Hoffman (men)
- 2:32.23
6th Andrew Hall (men) - 2:54:48
1st Trena Irving (women)
- 3:15:18
Youth male/female (30 km)
1st Ava Irving-Staley
(U13 female) - 1:31:02
1st Oscar Settington (U13 male) - 1:32:13
Time trial
Mixed (20 km)
1st Shea Hoffman (expert men) - 39:29
1st Dave Jackson (sport men)
- 40:33
2nd Mike Setterton (sport men) - n/a
3rd Malcolm Taggart-Cox
(sport men) - 43:59
1st Micah Taggart-Cox
(U15 male) - 44:34
1st Jodi Taggart-Cox
(sport women) - 45:52
1st Cayla Jackson (para) - 47:31
Youth male/female (10 km)
1st Oscar Settington
(U13 male) - 26:14
1st Ava Irving-Staley
(U13 female) - 26:34