The Kluane Chilkat Bicycle Relay http://www.kcibr.org/
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Jamie
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This annual ride from Haines Junction in the Yukon to
Haines, Alaska on the Lynn Canal is approximately 150 miles, most of which is without any
services. Bikers ride the
eight legs solo, or in two, four or eight person teams.
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| Charlotte |
I met my team online:
Australian visitor, David,
another visitor, Jamie, from Port Angeles, WA,
Whitehorse resident, Jim and myself.
My room mate, Sam, was aghast that I would up and join a team of strange men.
I have always had grand experiences with bicyclists so it never occurred to me to be wary.
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| Checkpoint 4 |
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| Lake View |
The ride is one long celebration. It began Friday night with a salmon bake and bluegrass band. On race day there were bagpipers, teams dressed like cows, Davy Crocketts, American flags, Tom Cruise look-alikes, etc. There were teams called Chicks on Slicks, Pushin’ Tushins, and Fork ‘n Tyred, et al. Our team was “The Young, the Old, and the Aussie”. With three countries represented, we were truly international.
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| David |
The first twenty miles I was disgusted with all the support vehicles but I changed my mind when I was riding my own two legs (Legs Five and Six) and had folks to cheer, hand me candy or do the wave just for me at least every km. The spirit was inspirational: a particularly good thing since we had a 10-20 mph headwind the whole way. Jamie’s stretch was sunny, David’s stretch was overcast, but my stretch was drizzly and sprinkled with sleet until I hit the pass at 3200 feet. The long downhill to sea level was all in sunshine.
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Haines from ferry
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Just before I hit the pass, I was biking alone and came upon a Yukon DOT truck with a woman beckoning me to move over to the wrong side of the road.
With my usual obstinate curiosity I wasn’t going to move until I understood why she was directing me.
Then she
screamed, “Grizzly” and pointed to the burrow pit where a huge, golden was munching down right next to me.
“Move it”, she yelled.
I did.
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| Jamie |
Leg Six has to be one of the most magnificent scenery in the whole world.
The mountains are HUGE.
The road borders the largest glacial field outside of the polar ice caps.
This area has the highest mountain in Canada and fourteen of the highest mountains in the U.S.
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| Again. He was my relay driving partner. |
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| These two were in Muu-muus so they could easily moon their team mates. |
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| At the end: we all survived (Jamie, Jim, Char, David) |
In Haines we celebrated with two suppers: the free Solstice Fireman’s Salmon BBQ plus the seafood chowder meal for bikers at the Parade Grounds at Fort Seward. I was tired but absolutely bonded with my team and their families. We elders had each only done around forty miles (Jamie did another leg and a half on his own) but the elevation gain and the headwind took the spunk out of me while softening up my emotions to a depth to appreciate everyone fully. I am so blessed to have such people in my life and also blessed to have a sturdy body that still keeps cycling along, one crank spin at a time.
