150 miles:   Haines Junction, Yukon Territory to Haines, Alaska -

1st solo, 2006

2nd solo 2007

www.kcibr.org

The Kluane race is a curious test, with relay teams (2 to 8-person) and solo riders competing against each other (& drafting each other) to be the first one to tidewater in Haines, Alaska.  We begin our trip on the intermountain basin at Haines Junction, Northwest Territory, Canada.  Our race traverses mostly raw, untamed country where sightings of moose, bear, and glaciers are common as we climb the Coast Range mountains pass, not far from Mount Logan, the highest in Canada.  This can be a sublime crossing during a sunny warm spell.  Or, it can be Canuk hell, with cold rain, snow or numbing winds.  But cold or not, this is our kind of country, and if all we wanted was warm weather we would be racing down much further south.

Some 1,200 racers participate in this controlled chaos, which for most of the Canadians is the most fun they can have without hockey skates or Molson ale.  Still, the Canadians want badly to spank the yanks, so the fierce rivalry makes for serious racing for many.  

These subarctic bikers come from Whitehorse, Juneau, Fairbanks, Anchorage, locally, and from the Lower 48.  The Canadian Constables completely close this international road for the start of the race, and the race begins.  The only other snag in the race now is that as of last year each rider must stop at the U.S. Customs and present a passport: too many Canadian bikers were entering the U.S. and stealing our jobs.

Winning times for this race are in the seven hour range.  Most take much more.  The Kluane race is a celebration of summer and life.  I highly recommend this event, for the scenery alone.  And I'm told that having a team is the way to go.  That's probably true.  Still, I'll be back in '08 solo.