It was literally an up hill battle for a good portion of Wednesday's Range Road Road Race as participants tackled one of the more difficult courses in the VeloNorth cycling series.

This was the first time the popular Range Road course has been used this season for one of VeloNorth's races.

The event attracted 15 participants, whose cycling skills were put to the test on what was a very hilly course.

"I would say it's one of the harder courses because you are doing a lot of climbing and there is not much rest on it, but I want you to know that all of the riders tested clean last night," joked race organizer and VeloNorth Cycling Club president Mike McCann, making reference to the Tour de France doping scandals. "Nobody was thrown out."

The race started at the bus turnaround area on Range Road.

From the turnaround area, riders travelled south on Range Road before turning right at the lights onto Mountain View Drive.

The course eventually led into Porter Creek, before cyclists made their way back onto Range Road again and eventually ended up where they first started the race.

Cyclists had to complete four loops of the course to finish the race. Each loop was approximately 8.5-km.

Cost to participate in the Range Road race was $2 for all club members, while non club members had to pay $5. Individuals also had to be insured by either belonging to VeloNorth or another club in the Yukon, which covered both organizers and participants in the race. Presently there is around 65 members in the VeloNorth Cycling Club.

This year VeloNorth cycling events have attracted as many as 40 participants, but there is usually a drop off after the Haines to Haines race for a while.

VeloNorth's races are usually held on Wednesday's to avoid conflicting with other weekly athletic events in Whitehorse this time of year.

These weekly events include the Tuesday night fun run and the Thursday night trail run.

The club puts on about 20 events each year and they take place in various locations. Some of the events include road races, while others are time trials.

This is the fifth year in a row the club has been putting on events in the Yukon. The majority of the races are held in Whitehorse. VeloNorth's race season typically begins in the last week of April and the club's final event will be on Sept. 1.

There are three categories of competition for both male and female riders at VeloNorth cycling events. The first is expert and usually includes the cyclists who has been riding for a number of years and training for more than 10 hours a week.

Expert riders also normally have plenty of experience taking part in competitions throughout the cycling season.

Competitors in the sport category are usually not in their first year, but are still getting comfortable riding in a group.

The final category is novice, which is usually made up of first year riders, who don't have much experience taking part in a cycling competition.

Instead of prizes at the Range Road race, points were awarded in order of an individuals final position. The point breakdown included 10 points for a first place of each category, seven points for second place finish and third place earned five points. Every competing cyclist earns at least one point at VeloNorth event.

Points are added up at the end of the season and a trophy is given out to the winners.

In a close showdown in the expert men's category, Jesse Reams just edged out Troy Henry by four seconds to claim first place. Reams finished with a time of 51:45. Jerome McIntyre finished in third place with an overall time of 54:34.

Heather Enders won bragging rights in the expert women's category, finishing with an impressive time of 58:33, while Kelsey Kabanak placed second at 1:05:48.

Shannon Meekins was the lone competitor in the sport women's event and finished with a time of 1:11:29.

With eight riders, the sports men's event was the most popular and was won by Ryan Burlingame, who posted a time of 54:01. Jud Deuling came in second at 55:24 and John Berryman finished at 56:46 to take third place.

Trina Irving, who competed in a shorter race in the novice women's category, posted a time of 36:45. Irving was the only women in the novice group.