In a bid to get more difficult racing under their belts, Whitehorse U23 cyclists David Jackson and Shea Hoffman took their wheels to the Prairies.

At the end of July, the pair, both top cyclists in their age group locally, took on the land of the living sky riders at Saskatchewan’s road riding provincials.

They both competed in the group 1 105-kilometre race, the highest level at that competition. Hoffman edged out Jackson, completing the course in 3:16:58 to Jackson’s 3:46:14, which was good enough for ninth.

“It was competition-wise a bit tougher,” said Hoffman from the road in Victoria, where he joined a contingent of Yukon athletes for a track cycling camp.

Next, the duo raced in Alberta, at the Tour de Bowness’ road race last weekend.

The 88-kilometre category 4 race took the cyclists on a turn-around course of rolling hills near Cochrane, a town west of Calgary.

Hoffman and Jackson finished near the back of the pack, but were happy to gain experience riding with a bigger group of cyclists that were around the same speed.

Hoffman said he was with a pack of about 20 for 20 kilometres, but got dropped on a hill on the way back for the first lap.

Hoffman finished 32nd, about 14 minutes back, while Jackson was 37th, just over 30 minutes back.

Jackson returned to Whitehorse after the races in the prairies, while Hoffman continues west to a track cycling camp in Victoria with cycling great, Houshang Amiri and a group of Yukon cyclists.

He said riding on a track is a lot different from the road and the bike has only one gear and no brakes, so “it’s basically what your legs are able to do for speed.”

The Yukoners will come back to Whitehorse before starting another camp with Amiri closer to home next week.