As if paddling from Whitehorse to Dawson City wasn’t enough, one family decided to extend the trip from Salt Spring Island, B.C. to Tuktoyaktuk, N.W.T. – travelling the extra kilometres by bicycle.

Billed as the “Race to the Midnight Sun,” the Yukon River Quest is celebrated annually as the world’s longest, and toughest, marathon paddling race.

Since 1999, competitors have travelled from around the world to paddle one of North America’s great rivers and test their endurance on the 715-kilometre (444-mile) race route from Whitehorse to Dawson City.

As the teams left Rotary Peace Park this morning, one is writing its Quest story with an added chapter of challenge and adventure.

Led by 59-year-old Michael Peirce, “The Carcs” team is registered to race in the C4 category. It includes Peirce’s 25-year-old son Benjamin Wright and 23-year-old twin daughters Emily Wright and Claire Wright.

Collectively agreeing they are a family that moves from one adventure to the next, the team is amplifying their Yukon River Quest experience by adding a 3,400-kilometre bicycle tour to their travel itinerary.

“I’ve got the most intrepid kids around,” Peirce proudly says.

Benjamin explains that he volunteered for the event twice in previous years supporting remote checkpoints which initially connected him to the race and put it on the family’s radar.

“The family had planned to do the race but also had plans to bike across the country going west to east,” says Peirce.

“We realized it was going to be really hard to work those things in together with all the graduate work the kids are doing so we decided, ‘Why don’t we ride across the country south to north instead and just throw a little 700 kilometre canoe race in between?’”

The foursome started the initial leg of their journey June 3, setting out on their bikes from Salt Spring Island, Peirce’s home base and where his partner, Cora Platz, has stayed behind to mind the family farm.

The group rode a total of 2,425 kilometres with an occasional rest day on the road, and rolled into Whitehorse last Wednesday.

Once here, the team took a few days to rest and organize themselves for the start of the race.

After the race, the family plans to get back on their bikes in Dawson and ride more than 900 kilometres up the Dempster Highway to Tuktoyaktuk, N.W.T.

With plans to fly home from Inuvik July 23 – and no support vehicle accompanying them – Peirce says, laughing, “If anyone wants to give us a lift back from Tuk to Inuvik, we would happily accept the ride.”

Connecting with the team six days into their journey after they stop for the day just north of 100 Mile House, B.C., Benjamin said no one in the family has done much paddle racing, but they have all done countless canoe trips, and are avid paddlers.

“Because I had identical twins with an older brother that was still in diapers when the girls were born, I used to take them individually to Algonquin Park in Ontario, where we lived, every weekend in the summer to have one-on-one time with them,” Peirce says. “From the age of two onwards, they’ve been out paddling with me.”

A family paddling adventure is also inspiration for the team’s name. “The name comes from one of our many adventures canoeing in Algonquin Park when we decided to go down a creek called ‘Carcajou Creek,” explains Peirce.

“It isn’t a canoe route and just turned into a full-on adventure with us dragging the canoe going where we weren’t supposed to be, and we’ve been ‘The Carcs’ ever since.”

Despite riding though record heat with short turnaround times between the legs of their journey, the squad is collectively grateful for this unique chance to spend time together. Emily says she and Claire have never been to the Yukon and are both extremely excited to see the North.

“In terms of magnitude and timescale, doing something all together like this is probably a once in a lifetime opportunity,” Benjamin says.

Peirce also says it is important to acknowledge the people who have helped make the many adventures he has shared with his kids a reality.

“So many people have supported us to get here. A lot of people supported us, and me raising the kids, including their mom. It takes a lot of people behind the scenes to raise a family to be able to do these kinds of things, and that is definitely something worth mentioning,” he said.

A humble and good-humoured group, the family agrees they’re on this adventure with the shared mindset of having a fantastic time together.

Benjamin says “The Carcs” have a simple goal for the Yukon River Quest: “Our plan is to finish happy … and stay in the boat.”

Open to solo and tandem canoes and kayaks, solo stand-up paddle boards, and bigger C4 and voyageur canoes, the Quest will run until Friday.

The race had a pre-start list of 54 teams representing 134 paddlers hailing from 10 countries. A full list of teams is available 
at https://yukonriverquest.ca.

By Rebekah Harrison