It’s not quite time for Yukon cyclists to store their spandex for the winter.
VeloNorth Cycling Club has made two last-minute additions to the season with a pair of time trials before the snow flies.
But late-summer races are nothing new for the club.
“We have also in the past done a ‘Last Gasp’ time trial, and typically it’s been from Jake’s Corner to Swan Haven, but I understand they are doing some road construction out that way,” said VeloNorth’s Michael McCann.
“Basically, we are resurrecting what we’ve done in the past.”
First up is a 25-kilometre time trial on the North Klondike Highway at 11 a.m. on Sunday. Registration starts at 10 a.m. at Hot Springs Road and the North Klondike Highway. It’s the same location as two longer road races during the regular season, including the Yukon Cycling Championships in July.
The VeloNorth season then officially closes with the club’s second edition of the Skagway Hill Climb, a 19-kilometre time trial from Skagway to the White Pass Summit, climbing roughly 1,000-metres in altitude.
“We’ve done the Skagway Hill Climb other years at the end of the season ... and we were thinking it would be good to have that one reappear and see who’s interested in doing it,” said McCann. “It’s a bit of a challenge.”
In the season’s first Skagway Hill Climb in May, Whitehorse’s Tamara Goeppel broke her own course record from the year before, completing the race in 59 minutes, 11 seconds, shaving off 1:54.
Whitehorse’s Troy Henry, who won the Tour of Anchorage a little over a week ago, set the men’s record of 51:39 in 2009.
“It’s too bad that Troy Henry has gone back to Calgary already, but I think David Gonda is still around,” said McCann. “If David is around for the hill climb, that would be excellent.
“I’ve spoken to some folks in Juneau and they were talking about coming out to the hill climb.”
More information can be found at the VeloNorth website.
Contact Tom Patrick at
tomp@yukon-news.com