Bicyling the Yukon

Where better to spend summer solstice weekend then the Canadian Yukon? Last Saturday was the annual Kluane Bicycle Relay. It's a 150 mile event that starts in beautiful Haines Junction (Canadian Yukon) and heads south, over the Chilkat Pass and down to the seaside town of Haines (Alaska). The highway between the two cities, the Haines Highway, was built in 1943 by the Army Corps of Engineers. It connected Haines, a U.S. military base, to the Alaska-Canadian (AL-CAN) Highway which had been built a year earlier. The AL-CAN connects the contiguous U.S. to Alaska via Canada and was a military supply route during World War II. The Haines fort was decommissioned in 1947. The military jeeps are long gone and at least every June, they are replaced by hoards of bicyclists.

Bikers in the Kluane relay have the option of riding solo, double, or on four person or eight person teams. Generally, I'm on a four person team, but this year I rode double with a friend of mine who is recovering from a paragliding accident last summer. After multiple surgeries, her recovery goal was to complete the second half of the Kluane bike relay. It took us over twelve hours but we did it! I rode the first 70 miles and with my ultra-marathon goal in mind, I stopped and ate and went for "time on my seat". It was a gorgeous sunny day. The first half of my ride was pure enjoyment. But, as I was beginning a series of climbs towards the pass, the notorious Chilkat winds kicked in and my luxurious ride through the stunning mountains rapidly morphed into a demanding physical grind.

Here is the elevation chart for the entire ride. The first rider does the climbing. The second rider takes over about 10 miles short of the Chilkat pass and then has a thrilling downhill spin through U.S. customs and finishes with about 30 miles along the rapidly flowing Chilkat River and generally faces a nasty headwind.
This year the wind subsided below the pass and my friend had a lovely ride into Haines. On Sunday morning, we boarded the ferry back to Juneau. It sounds odd after riding 70 miles, but my legs felt rested Sunday afternoon when I ran up to the local tram. I've heard that running and biking require using different leg muscles, and I guess that's true. This weekend I'm running lower mileage and early July brings my two hardest training weekends. Will I wish I was back on the bike?