The expression “it’s anybody’s race” seemed less cliche than usual this weekend.
About 13 cyclists popped it into gear for VeloNorth Cycling Club’s Jake’s Corner Road Race and ITT on Sunday. Not among them were Troy Henry and Heather Enders, the two cyclists who have dominated the circuit since day one.
“(Henry) is going so well and everyone else is of a similar level, like he seems to be quite a bit above everyone else,” said Stephen Ball, who won the expert men’s class.
Ball and the three other expert men cyclists were wheel-to-wheel for almost the entire 87-kilometre course from Jake’s Corner along the Alaska Highway to Robert Service Way, plus—for the expert men only—a 10-kilometre loop on Miles Canyon Road. Ball rode across the finish line just five seconds ahead of second place finisher Marcus Waterreus, with a time of 2:15:01.
“It was just the three of us along the highway and it just came down to a sprint between the three of us,” said Ball. “Everyone was riding well together.”
The fastest woman of the day was Kerrie Paterson in the sport class, completing the 77-kilometre course with a time of 2:06:52, almost a half hour ahead of her nearest competitor, Leslie Vandermaas. Paterson created a buzz among officials, riding the majority of the race with the expert men.
“I tried to hang in there—I’m not feeling super hot today, but it was good,” said Paterson. “They lost me on that hill—I couldn’t keep up.
“It’s still my first year racing so I’m not sure what category I should be in.”
Henry, who won VeloNorth’s first five events for the expert men, was not in the race because of a broken wrist he suffered while mountain biking earlier in the week.
It was a similar story for the expert women.
The absent Enders won four of the first five races of the season. The two cyclists will be representing the Yukon at the Canada Summer Games being held August in PEI.
Cycling in the time trial event, Mike McCann, president of the VeloNorth Cycling Club, had the fastest time on the 77-kilometre course, finishing in 1:46:46—covering that stretch of highway in less time than the expert men in the road race.
But it’s not fair to compare the two events, said McCann.
“I was doing a time-trial so I’m just setting a pace as fast as I can go,” said McCann.
“(The expert men road race cyclists) were racing with each other, so they’re not concerned with how fast they go, they’re concerned with the person they were racing against.
“It’s a totally different type of racing.”
Road race results
Expert men - 87 km
1st Stephen Ball - 2:15:01
2nd Marcus Waterreus - 2:15:06
3rd Derrick Hynes - 2:15:34
4th David Gonda - 2:15:34
Sport men - 77 km
1st Dan Reimes - 2:02:53
2nd Anthony Delorenzo - 2:02:53
3rd Jud Deuling - 2:15:24
Sport women - 77km
1st Kerrie Paterson - 2:06:52
2nd Leslie Vandermaas - 2:34:54
3rd Corinne Tetreault - 2:36:28
4th Mary Egan - 2:36:33
Time trial results
Expert men - 77 km
1st Mike McCann - 1:46:46
2nd John Berryman - 1:53:11
Sport women - 77 km
Trina Irving - 2:24:25
Contact Tom Patrick at
tomp@yukon-news.com