It was short, but not necessarily sweet for the 10 riders who participated in VeloNorth's most recent cycling race.

The inaugural Up-the-Hill Down-the-Hill Challenge was divided into two separate events, combining the times of both to determine final placing.

Starting by the entrance of the Go-Kart track on Wednesday, the first challenge worked its way up Robert Service Way for around two-km.

It was no easy feat as evidence of the Asthma-like symptoms riders displayed after finishing. Prolonged hacking, coughing and wheezing could be heard for the remainder of the evening.

Part two of the meet saw riders starting in reverse order with the slowest hill climb time beginning first and the fastest going last.

The second race began at the Visitor Rest Area at the top of the Robert Service Way and ran down the hill for approximately four-km, ending just before the SS Klondike.

During both disciplines, cyclists had to deal with the scorching heat that had many thankful about the shorter distance.

Ian Parker didn't waste any time motoring up Robert Service Way, setting the fastest hill climb pace. He finished the first race with a 21 second buffer ahead of second place rider John Berryman.

Parker was able to hold on to win his experts category with a combined time of 8:31.

"It's just too nice out right now to not be out on your bike as much as possible," he said.

Parker, along with cyclist Bill Slater, will be competing in the B.C. Bike Race. The race is being held at the end of June and consists of seven stages. Their team is called Yukon Fuel and the two are using the race to raise money for the Whitehorse Food Bank.

Entering short and really intense events are good for trying to peak for the B.C. Bike Race, Parker said.

He added he was glad it wasn't a longer race, given the temperature.

"In a four minute effort you can generally kind of tough it out, but if it was any more than five minutes in this kind of weather then you would really want to have a bottle (of water)."

Coming in second and achieving the top downhill time was Berryman, who finished 13 seconds behind Parker.

Berryman joked about loading up at Tim Horton's earlier in the day to make himself heavier in preparation for the downhill challenge.

"I think I might have broken the speed limit going down there," he kidded. "No cars passed me, so that was good."

Berryman said he's suited to downhill disciplines.

"I never considered myself an uphill rider and I just went as hard as I could and that's what happened," Berryman said, adding he tried something a little different in the downhill race by putting his chin right on the handlebars to get as aerodynamic as possible.

"I think that might have helped a bit too," he said.

Mike McCann rounded out the top three in the expert men's category, finishing with a combined time of 8:48.

Bill Parry took top time in the sport men's category, finishing the up hill at 4:37 and 4:45 in the downhill.

Darren Holcombe took second place with a time of 9:27, while Nat Rodden was the third quickest sport rider, coming in at 9:46.

Bob Bowerman locked down fourth spot, while Tom Ullyett placed fifth and Randy Lamb finished sixth.

This has been a busy week for Ullyett, who on Tuesday participated in the five-km fun run and tonight plans on competing in the Thursday Night Trail Run.

He said all of this is in preparation for the 2009 World Masters Games, which is being held in Sydney, Nova Scotia in October.

Ullyett will compete in four events at the masters games: the five-km track run, eight-km trail run, 10-km road race and the half marathon.

He said he was feeling alright after Wednesday's cycling race.

"I think after tomorrow night I'll be tired," he said. "Tonight was a hard race, but it's a very short race, so it doesn't have that lingering effect on you."

Despite all of the activity, Ullyett doesn't plan on taking a break this weekend.

However, he did say he will enter some more leisurely events.

"I'm going to do the Relay for Life, which will be a nice, easy thing to do and there's a walking event in Skagway on Saturday," he said. "So I may do that at a leisurely pace, but I'll do low intensity stuff on the weekend."

Coralie Ullyett won the sport women event on Wednesday, finishing with a combined time of 12:16.