No major injuries reported for Kluane Chilkat bike relay

The direction of the wind was the story of the day for the Kluane Chilkat International Bike Relay on Saturday.

The direction of the wind was the story of the day for the Kluane Chilkat International Bike Relay on Saturday.

The middle leg riders experienced intense winds head-on during many of the steeper climbs for the 18th annual race.

“(There were) definitely some challenging legs with the wind,” said Mike Kramer, chief of race. “The wind was actually stronger in the morning.”

Despite the wind, Kramer was happy to say there were no significant injuries suffered through the entire race. A case of hypothermia, and a few sprains were the most serious injuries, and very few crashes were reported.

Kramer didn’t even witness any spills at the finish line that he says are common when riders finish up their legs tired, and forget to unclip their feet from their peddles.

“We sometimes see a few people who just fall sideways,” he said.

There were many bear sightings, but all added to the excitement of the race, and there were no run-ins.

Kramer was happy with the work put in by police forces and EMS on both sides of the border.

“Everyone did as we hoped,” he said.

With many support vehicles on the road, Kramer was also impressed with the space riders were given.

“We were pretty happy with vehicle behaviour.”

A day after the race Kramer is beginning to hear stories about the race from teams and volunteers.

One group of riders was drafting together to help break the wind when the back rider fell. All of the cyclists did a u-turn and helped the rider back onto his bike and ensured that he was alright to continue.

“It kind of epitomizes what we think is the philosophy of the event,” he said.

The names of those riders is unknown, but Kramer said they just wanted to experience the race, and not be the first to Haines.

“They aren’t looking for fame and glory,” he said.

Kramer said the red lantern winner is still being disputed. The current holders, The Peddle Pounders, finished at exactly 9 p.m., the cut off time. The question lies with a group of 11 and 12-year-old girls from Whitehorse who finished before them, but left the seventh checkpoint at the 7 p.m. cut off.

The Peddle Pounders couldn’t leave for leg eight until the leg seven rider arrived because the final two riders were sharing a bike. Their time was 13 hours, 25 minutes and 26 seconds. 

The girls are still listed as did not finish because one of their leg times is missing.

The young girls who finished up towards the end had a great time, he added.

“They didn’t mind being the last team,” said Kramer, who was in the sweep vehicle and followed the girls towards the end.“They had a lot of fun out there. (It’s) another great example of what the event is about.”

The fastest time this year was seven hours, 21 seconds, earned by the two-man team Raven Racing out of Fairbanks. They were followed just nine seconds later by Bring Back the Draft.

“That’s definitely a fast time,” said Kramer.

The third team in overall was a solo mens team called Coleman Stove in seven hours, 56 seconds.

One problem the race did experience was the border crossing. Support vehicles towards the end of the race waited up to an hour and a half to get through customs, but Kramer said the border guards did all they could to expedite the process.

“The border crossing for support vehicles can become an issue,” he said. “They do as much as they can with the rules that they have.”

Kramer said each rider will be receiving a t-shirt this year, despite earlier announcements that said only those who registered before the early bird deadline would receive one.

With the race over, Kramer said the board is already looking ahead to next year, and the following year which will mark the 20th anniversary of the race.

The board will meet early next week to discuss this year’s race, and planning for 2011 will begin in August and September.

After the race was over, the question “What leg did you do?” could be heard throughout Haines, as riders celebrated a good day on the highway.

“I think everyone had a great time,” Kramer said.

The city of Haines certainly did, he added.

“This is their biggest event of the year.”

The awards ceremony was held immediately following the race, and a large crowd greeted the red lantern cyclists as they arrived. Kramer said holding the ceremony after the race instead of Sunday morning was a huge success.

Kramer expects the final results to be up on the website, http://www.kcibr.ca, later this week. Unofficial results were expected earlier this morning.

See tomorrow’s edition of the Whitehorse Star for more photos of the Kluane Chilkat International Bike Relay.

2010 Kluane Chilkat International Bike Relay

Top 10 results

Solo Men

1. Coleman Stove           7:00:56

2. What was I thinking     7:12:04

3. Can Kiwi                   7:12:05

4. James Skimo Minifie     7:39:04

5. SMS alone                 7:39:10

6. Raven Mad               7:48:25

7. Glass                       7:59:45

8. 123 mad mattz           8:09:07

9. Team Leisure             8:30:12

10. world champion of the wo 8:30:33

Two person mens

1. Raven Racing             7:00:21

2. Bring Back The Draft     7:00:30

3. Y It So Dumb         7:01:07

4. The Full Catastrophe     7:48:25

5. Tin Foil Hat                 8:21:10

6. Two for the Road         8:37:47

7. Leben ist Schwer         8:45:55

8. Devy Sprocket WildFron 8:56:50

9. Snot Rocket               8:57:08

10. Les Gourmands Sportifs 9:14:48

Four person mens

1. Team Kunde Hospital         7:26:54

2. Floyd Landis Pharmaceuti   7:33:03

3. We Should be Cyclists       7:33:07

4. Sprocket Rockets             7:51:35

5. Beaner Rats                 7:54:26

6. Addicted to Crank       8:02:36

7. Kitchen Pass             8:03:59

8 463 Bulbasaur Batallion   8:15:42

9. Graham’s Bike Team         8:35:31

10. Long Live Levesque         8:36:27

Eight person mens

1. Soft Supple                   9:31:58

2. Tight and Bright             9:37:29

3. Boomers Zoomers         10:52:06

Solo women

1. Solo Sheufelt               9:04:07

2. Derailleurs in the Mist 1   9:38:22

3. Derailleur in the Mist 2     9:43:28

4. can I do this                 9:51:34

5. for-my-dad-John-Irving     9:54:32

6. Sylvie Anne Williams     10:32:22

7. Megbot                     11:14:26

8. Autobus II                 11:38:01

Two person women

1. I love big bottom bracke     8:30:07

2. Last Bitch Effort             9:41:59

3. Salty Dames             9:57:11

4. Olivacious Flycatchers     10:45:46

5. Aging Divas in Denial       12:45:04

Four person womens

1. C.A.L.L. Girls             8:45:55

2. Spokin’ Four             8:53:10

3. That’s What He Said         9:19:20

4. The Kitchen Wrenches       9:47:59

5. MEADIA Slick Chicks         9:49:26

6. Full bodied aromas           9:49:43

7. The Long Overdues           9:55:22

8. My Other Ride is a Manat   10:14:52

9. Over 4 Tees                 10:23:52

10. Yukon Yamahos           10:54:58

Eight person womens

1. Caution Runners on Bikes   9:11:19

2. Better Bodies                 9:23:33

3. Sisterhood of the Travel   10:30:32

4. Rock’n roll’n rubber duc   10:50:43

5. Haines Her Way           11:10:19

6. The 8 Girls                 11:21:22

7. Soar Sisters                 11:23:21

8. Lean Mean Dream Team   11:33:42

9. Foux de Fa Fa               11:38:10

10. SheBeasts                 11:54:05

Two person mixed

1. Fall From Grace             8:13:43

2. SulliCon Duo                 8:37:39

3. Sing Fat Lady SING         8:45:42

4. Salmon Run                 8:51:03

5. Smokin’ Pedals (Paws) Ke   8:57:16

6. Lactic Acid Trip               8:57:23

7. Little P/Big R             9:21:30

Four person mixed

1. TOUR DA HAINES           7:56:39

2. Eporiffic                       8:14:55

3. team fiesta                   8:16:26

4. Gina and the Jets           8:24:15

5. Tacoballs                     8:25:10

6. Floyd is my Co-Pilot         8:32:15

7. Red Banjo - 5 Finger Pic     8:52:19

8. Skagway Coyotes       8:56:20

9. Neisyeemoy Briner           8:56:38

10. Sk8erade                   9:06:05

Eight person mixed

1. Cycotics                     8:42:29

2. Six Bucks Two Bitz’s       9:05:35

3. The Raging Philatelists 9:05:58

4. The Pedalphiles             9:09:55

5. Asphalt Eight           9:11:27

6. Older Budweiser           9:26:43

7. More Cowbell             9:32:13

8. Mind o’ Matter             9:32:59

9. GGADm                   9:35:49

10. Pride of Atlin             9:36:12