This week, Cycling Association of Yukon (CAY) hosted two versions of its 2021 XC Mountain Bike Championships races. XC is short for “cross-country” and is a timed race that occurs on a course with hills, descents and technical features.

On July 31, the race for teenagers and adults was held on a challenging course at Mt. McIntyre. The track was three km in length, and participants raced either four, five or six laps.

Although short in distance, there was sustained climbing and you had to be on your game while descending some of the trickier sections, especially at speed.

As the July event was also the Yukon territorial championships, results from this race will be used by CAY to identify mountain bike athletes for the next Canada Summer Games. The Games are scheduled for August 20-22 in Niagara, Ontario.

On August 4, the race for kids aged five to 11 was held on an easier, flowing course at the Gunnar Nilsson and Mikey Lammers Research Forest. The track was about six km in length and everyone rode one lap. You could hear hooting, laughing and words of encouragement from parents, teens and kids all the way around the course.

Depending on who you ask, the highlight for many could have been the huge spread of snacks and prizes at the finish.

Every participant got a Yukon XC Mountain Bike Championships race plate for their bike, and wonderful category and draw prizes came from our sponsor Icycle Sports.

There are more super fun mountain bike events being held in August, including:

• ShredHERs Enduro on August 14

• Royalty of the Canyon on August 21

• Midnight Dome Enduro in Dawson City on August 21

• GRIMBY: Road/Mountain Bike Relay on August 28

For results information about the above upcoming events and to register, go to https://yukoncycling.com.

Submitted by Geof Harries.