The second annual Tour de Skagway proved to be hairier than usual.

The race series, hosted by the Whitehorse cycling club U Kon Echelon, saw riders compete in three races over the long weekend.

Saturday’s schedule saw cyclists take on a 20-kilometre time trial followed by an 84-km road race, setting up Sunday’s big finish involving a 19-km hill climb. Race lengths varied, depending on divisions.

Participants came from Whitehorse, Skagway and Juneau to take part in the two-day event, which saw cyclists encounter a black bear and her three cubs during Saturday’s road race.

Juneau’s Casey Colten was the expert division winner after placing first in the time trial, second in the road race and third in Sunday’s hill climb.

Meanwhile, Sarah Burke-Forsyth took the female division, while David Jackson won the men’s sport class and Ava Irving-Staley and Caius Taggart-Cox took their respective U13 titles.

Last year’s tour champion Ian Parker did not participate.

The series began with a 20-kilometre time trial Saturday that saw 17 cyclists pedal from Fraser to just beyond Log Cabin, then return.

Colten posted the event’s top time, crossing the finish line in a swift 30:37, while Burke-Forsyth topped the women’s race in 43:13.

Though the youth division called for riders to complete just 10 km, Caius Taggart-Cox and his brother Lucas did the full 20-km distance.

“These boys are mentally and physically pushing themselves all the time,” race organizer Trena Irving told the Star via email.

The subsequent 84-km road race proved to be a difficult but spectacular route.

Leaving from the other side the of Canadian customs office and travelling up to the summit, this route involved a lot of climbing and then a very fast descent for the 18 riders who completed loops of 24 km.

Along with riders having to contend with climbing and headwinds, there was a black bear family on the route, said Irving.

“Our support vehicle was asked to park by the bear so she didn’t get too spooked, as tourists kept stopping to look at her and causing her some discomfort, which made the riders a little leery passing her,” she explained.

Expert rider David Gonda completed the fastest time in 2:29:18.

Gonda’s time was ahead of some of the sport riders, despite the fact they only cycled 60 km. Malcolm Taggart took the sport class in 2:27:59, while Burke-Forsyth again earned the women’s title in 2:26:10.

Finally, there was the hill climb.

One would think that riders would be intimidated by the 19-km vertical challenge from the Dyea highway intersection straight up the summit, but that wasn’t the case, Irving said.

“We had a huge number of riders for this event—27, almost 10 more than the other events,” she said.

Twelve riders competed in the expert class, with Gonda again posting the quickest time in 52:42.

Burke-Forsyth completed her sweep of the women’s races with a finish time of 1:23:25, while Jackson took the sport class in 1:24:23.

Perhaps the most inspiring rider was nine-year-old Lucas Taggart-Cox, who completed the race for the third straight year.

He worked with Oscar Settington, pulling each other up the hill and finishing in just over one hour 42 minutes.

Each of Sockeye Cycle, Icycle Sport, Cadence Cycle, Sports Experts, Alpine Bakery and Midnight Sun provided prize donations, while Skagway’s Bites on Broadway provided a rider discount, Irving noted.

The Tour de Skagway was the fifth event on a busy cycling calendar this summer. The season began with the Carcross Cut-Off Time Trial, hosted by VeloNorth April 29.

Upcoming events for U Kon Echelon include a criterium on Wednesday at Titanium Way followed by another June 3.

On June 6, the Southern Lakes Yukon Granfondo – formerly known as the Southern Lakes Bike Loppet – will take place.

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Whitehorse cyclist Joel Macht led his rivals across the finish line to win the Haines Junction 88 on May 9.

Macht bested the field of 23 with a time of 2:26:47, eking out victory in the 88-km race over Marc Lapointe (2:26:48) and Aaron Foos (2:26:49).

Trena Irving took the women’s title, while Mike Settington took the men’s sport category.

In the 54-km category, winners were Micah Taggart-Cox (U15), Jonathan Lucas (sport men) and Simi Morrison (sport women).

Oscar Setterington and Ava Irving-Staley won their respective U13 races.

The cycling event began with a time trial in Haines Junction that saw cyclists travel 20 km.

David Jackson finished first in the sport category, beating his time trial record for a personal best 40:33.

Shea Hoffman had the fastest time out of the nine participants, finishing one minute ahead of Jackson to finish first in the expert men category.