It took six years, but the Les Schwab cycling team from Juneau finally grabbed the Kluane Chilkat International Bike Relay overall title.

Joe Sorenson, Steve Box, Chris Scholes and Jan Kriegel made up Les Schwab II, part of a four-team (Les Schwab I-IV), 16-man crew. At least half of the 16 men have been participating in the bike relay since 1999, but have never finished first.

'Last year, we lost the overall win by two or three seconds,' said Sorenson in an interview after the awards on Sunday. 'So this year, our plan was to come in and win it. It's just awesome when you have a goal and you get it.'

Sorenson credited the work of every team member for the win.

'This year we brought 16 people and we planned to work together,' he said. 'One of the other teams led me out for the win.

'We had excellent support. When four guys are riding, you have 12 guys supporting you twelve guys in five vehicles, so we were pretty well covered.'

Sorenson, who rode Legs 7 and 8, said Les Schwab II had strong riders all along, and a couple of people stayed right with the pack.

'We started out Leg 7 three minutes behind the leaders and made it up,' he said. 'We closed that three-minute gap in like 15 minutes. It was unbelievable.'

He said going into the last two Legs of the relay, the team decided to leave two of the leaders, one of them a solo rider, out in front of them most of the way. The plan was to start breaking them once Sorenson got closer to the finish, and the plan worked.

'The sprint right before the finish is a long sprint,' he said. 'I was in second position coming around the corner, and I saw the two guys in front already starting the sprint up the hill. I didn't start my sprint until about six pedals up the hill.

'I shot past those guys. I didn't have a big gap, but it was enough.'

Sorenson started training for this year's bike relay back in November, biking at least five times a week.

'I'm just a biker,' he stated. 'I don't run and I don't do weights.'

But he said no amount of training in Juneau, where it rains most of the year, could prepare the riders for the heat in Haines Junction and Haines this past weekend.

'I personally feel if it was raining, it would have played out even better for us,' he said. 'The sun as shining in your face all day. It was hot. This was hard riding.'

For the most part, though, the race went off without a hitch for Les Schwab.

'We only got one flat, and that was on the first leg,' said Sorenson. 'It didn't seem to affect us that much.'

Most of the Les Schwab riders plan on coming back to defend their title in next year's bike relay, as does the top women's rider this year, Michelle Boisvert.

Boisvert, who lives in Haines, rode on a eight-person team last year, but decided to go solo this time around.

'It was great,' she grinned, after receiving her first-place ribbon. 'I felt really good out there. I was surprised actually, at how great I felt.'

She said being from Haines may have actually been a benefit near the finish.

'When I got to the border, I felt like I was home,' she said. 'I was just relaxed.

'Overall, it was just an amazing ride. I'd do it all over again today.'

Boisvert said eating was definitely the key to her victory, from start to finish.

'I started eating at the end of the first leg and didn't stop,' she smiled. 'I ate 10 Cliff bars, six goo packets and I must have gone through 12 water bottles. It was definitely key because otherwise your legs cramp up.'

The Haines resident said she trained for the relay by biking every day and even did a couple of practice runs, traveling from Whitehorse to Skagway. In the winter, she swims but doesn't have time for much else, since she has three children.

She will find time for the Tour de Whitehorse later this summer though, and hopefully the Tour de Juneau in August. And of course, there will be the 2005 Kluane Chilkat relay which she will compete in, although she's not sure if she'll be solo.

'I don't know how I'll do it next year though. I'd love to get Jillian (Chown, a Whitehorse resident) to do a two-person team with me next year. She's someone who's just as hardcore. I'd love to get another strong female rider.'

This year's event was a big success on more than one level. As far as ski patrol members can remember, this year's event had the least amount of accidents ever, in spite of the fact it also had the most riders.

'You can't ask for anything better than that,' said race organizer Mike Young. 'We had a couple of road rashes and some cases of heat exhaustion, but for the most part everybody finished and had fun.

'We've had excellent feedback from everyone, even the volunteers. There are just no complaints that I'm aware of.'

Here are the unofficial results of the race, with the top three teams named in each category:

Men's Solo

1. That Montana Dude (Dave Nigh), 6:53:17

2. Johnny Be Good (John McConnochi), 6:53:25

3. Way Past Fast 1 (Tony Smith), 7:12:39

Men's Two-Person

1. It Wasn't Easy, and It Wasn't Pretty, But We Did It, 7:08:05

2. Kluane Two, 7:35:00

3. Trailermullet, 7:54:13

Men's Four-Person

1. Les Schwab II, 6:53:16

2. 8-Ball, 6:53:20

3. Les Schwab I, 6:53:29

Men's Eight-Person

1. Prostate Power, 7:44:35

2. Six Bucks, Two Bits(es), 7:58:44

3. Levi Stubbs' Tears, 8:05:04

Women's Solo

1. One Tern, Off Again (Michelle Boisvert), 7:45:50

2. Should Have Trained More (Janice Sheufelt), 7:54:31

3. Way Past Fast 2 (Linda Cuda), 8:11:03

Women's Two-Person

1. Derailleur Wanna Duo?, 9:55:20

2. Montana Gemini, 10:00:12

3. Clan Destiny, 10:09:54

Women's Four-Person

1. 4 She's To The Wind, 7:53:54

2. Chicks On Slicks, 8:16:46

3. Spongebobanators, 8:27:28

Women's Eight-Person

1. Full Moons Riding, 8:31:08

2. Good Girls Gone Bad, 8:34:28

3. Tanked, 8:47:28

Mixed Two-Person

1. Fischer Family Flyers, 7:52:56

2. Training Wheels, 7:54:22

3. Arctic Flyers, 8:08:37

Mixed Four-Person

1. Fairbanks Mix, 7:04:44

2. Tour Da Haines, 7:04:58

3. Mixed Greens, 7:22:01

Mixed Eight-Person

1. Blood, Sweat and Gears, 7:52:40

2. Pine Dental, 8:20:09

3. United Pedals of Canjapus-Stan, 8:20:09

Editor's note: The official results will be available tomorrow. Please be advised that both times and positions could possibly change, due to factors such as penalties.