Pure Sole: ‘Come and do the KCIBR’

The Kluane to Chilkat International Bike Relay is 144 miles long.

I rode 132 of them.

Yep. Twelve miles short.

And I never once admired the beauty I was pedaling past.

But, oh, the lessons I learned along the 240 kilometers from Haines Junction, Yukon, down the “Haines Highway,” briefly through British Columbia and to Haines, Alaska, on June 21.

Most importantly, biking is not running.

Easier to some extent but more difficult in others.

Since I had run the entire Klondike Road Relay 110 miles solo previously, and the race’s more recently adopted 40-mile solo event, I figured I could possibly bike half the Kluane.

“It is just a long bike ride,” Juneau rider Brandon Ivanowicz said.

Ivanowicz and riding partner John Bursell, also of Juneau, had placed first last year in the two-person team men’s division with a time of six hours 31 minutes and 55 seconds and fourth overall among 323 teams through multiple divisions.

This year, team “J & B” finished third in the two-person and sixth overall in 7:23:07. Roughly 284 teams competed, down slightly due to factors that included an Alaska Marine Highway System schedule change and amid ongoing political tensions between the U.S. and Canada.

“The opinions of Washington, D.C., are not the same as your neighbors here,” Haines Mayor Tom Morphet told the post-race banquet crowd. “Whether you are from Whitehorse, the Yukon, British Columbia, anywhere in Canada — you are welcome here and we are one in the North.”

The overall winning duo was 16- and 17-year-old Whitehorse lads, Heron Land-Gillis and Nicolas Giangrande, who teamed up under the moniker “The Bonk Bros” to defeat their solo-riding coach, Hudson Lucier, at the finish line in a sprint with a combined time of 6:43:52 to Lucier’s 6:43:53.

“The training beforehand was probably the most important thing,” Lucier said. “And then having a plan and trying to stick with it.”

Said Giangrande, “Heron got a good gap going into the second half for me. So I just started to jump on that gap and then Hudson caught me right at the end but I had the fresher legs, so yeah, got him in the sprint.”

Added Land-Gillis, “He’s our coach so he might try and tire us out before the next race.”

Ivanowicz and Bursell tried to alleviate my constant fears, concerns and nerves as well as my thoughtful questions, such as, what happens if I have to pee? And most importantly, “How do I train?”

To train in Juneau’s weather, especially to compete, is a difficult task when working a full-time job so my newfound admiration of families or significant others who support cyclists is tenfold.

Douglas’ “Crazy A’s” — Adam Moser and Alisha Falberg — placed third out of 22 teams in the two-person mixed division in 8:12:49 and 26th overall.

Falberg said the key was “finding a group to ride with, that I could stick with the whole time.”

Moser agreed, saying, “Finding a good Peloton is always key and very helpful. Keeps the spirits up and makes the ride a lot easier.”

The duo trained with lots of rides out North Douglas and a few rides out the road.

Falberg said riding with the Freewheelers was also helpful — “and a lot of hours on the trainer because the spring this year has been pretty crummy in Juneau.”

Both agreed “time in the saddle” is important for the race.

“Pretty simple,” Moser said. “You have to be on the bike to ride it well … Come and do the KCIBR.”

Added Falberg, “It is just fun. It is so beautiful.”

The beauty of the rugged Three Guardsmen Pass, Chilkat Pass and the Jarvis and Saksaia glaciers were lost on my “long bike ride.”

It was a journey that actually began in December. Finally conceding an Achilles injury that dropped me from running last summer, I bought a fat tire bike for the winter and chugged around a bit, managing to slog through and past my 65 birthday miles the day before Christmas. That was around the time my gurus suggested the Kluane as a goal.

I chugged a bit more as spring blew in and signed on to Kluane with the support of the aforementioned duo above, who were my mentors and support during the ride.

Serious riders have a “trainer.” An indoor thing-a-ma-jig you attach your front bike fork that allows you to join an online race against others from around the world, watch a movie or offer cooking advice to your significant other as she or he makes sure your caloric levels are not depleted.

My goal was just to complete half, so my “trainer” was a porcupine on Perseverance. But underneath it all, I desired the full thing!

“There is a fine line between training for a bike race and training for a run,” Bursell said. “At some point one is going to weaken the other.”

Bursell is a world-class triathlete — part of the Juneau triathlon community — who was answering my question of why I was struggling on my return to running while at the same time getting in some decent fat tire excursions on Treadwell, Salmon Creek, Perseverance and the highway. (And by decent I mean, maybe one a week — look, I am a newbie. OK? A newbie. How new? Well, my cycling kit, which I will touch on later, flapped a bit in the wind and consisted of a mix of women’s XXL and men’s L apparel that I’d cobbled together from online sales and a variety of fabrics that tangled in bushes as I fell.)

Bursell explained wattage and output and a number of other things that left me looking through him and thinking, “What will I have for dinner tonight? Isn’t that a pretty cloud? My, isn’t the weather unusual today…”

So, I am sure you are wondering… a fat tire bike in Kluane???

Um, no.

Like I said, the race is similar to the Klondike, only on bikes. By that I meant, many do the event for different reasons and under different means.

I fortunately was offered the luxury of a very light, modern piece of biking perfection that my soul will be repaying through all eternity.

That cycle came into my possession before boarding the M/V Hubbard north a day before the race.

My shoes arrived two days earlier, a bunch of other stuff did not. Gurus Bursell and Ivanowicz provided pieces of my kit and advice I would need from that time after. I did take my significant other’s T-shirt as I needed a “skin tight” shirt under my racing bib. Ha. Racing bib. Just like a big boy.

The night before the race I WATCHED as my gurus attached clips to my shoes in a Haines Junction cabin. I walked my bike onto the cabin porch, clipped a foot in a pedal, clipped a second foot in and fell over into a barbecue, which, along with the gurus, kept me from tumbling off the porch.

Lesson one, balance.

We then proceeded to the highway to practice shifting and drafting.

“Don’t be afraid to join the peloton,” my gurus said.

Newbie note: Peloton is a large group of riders that allows a cyclist to conserve energy by using the slipstream of other riders.

“Big chain, little chain.” That was the easy “Klas-speak” for instruction on my front left-hand shifter.

“Cassette” was my front right-hand shifter for shifting between the cogs at the rear.

“Think of the beautiful music you make as you pedal past,” they noted.

Surprisingly, there were no incidents on that evening ride that would feature 22 gear combinations, some of which I SHOULD NOT “cross chain.”

I even learned to attach my bike number in a more aerodynamic manner.

And I didn’t stick myself in the morning when attaching my jersey number. I loaded liquids in a bottle well and stuffed a few snacks in my shirt correctly along with my passport — which was required for going through Customs 104 miles down the way.

Ivanowicz, who would cycle the second half of the race, drove Bursell and me to within a mile of the start. We pedaled down to warm up, me stopping once to relieve myself among mosquito-infested bushes.

“Try to get into a group at the start, get up that first hill and you will be fine,” they said. “Don’t worry. You have good endurance. Get near the front.”

OMG.

The race announcer said professionals and amateurs training for more than six months should be at the front and recreational riders behind, and my Swedish brain was saying, “Woo hoo! Look out world I am about to explode off the line…”

Darn clip-in shoes. After bumping about and getting swarmed by riders of every level I managed to begin a cadence – the speed at which a cyclist pedals – and my adventure began.

East Coast transplant to Juneau Peter Warden was part of a three-man team. He has done amateur bike racing for over six years and noted the Kluane secret.

“Don’t get mad at the headwind,” he said. “Accept the headwind, keep going. And when you are going up a hill you don’t want to go up just look at the road, don’t look at the hill and keep the pedals turning. That’s the secret to every bike race, keep the pedals turning… and ride in a group. People don’t realize how working in a group of three or more helps keep your average speed up and is significantly easier than riding alone… and riding in a group of 10 or more is significantly easier than riding in a group of three… The peloton is where you can do some damage.”

The last I saw of Bursell was five minutes into the start as the lead peloton snaked away. The last I saw of Ivanowicz was a half hour later as he drove by to say, “You look great!”

The plan was for them to ride their race, do what they needed to do and when they had finished and tended to themselves, drive back and check on me.

There was a headwind. For the entirety of the race the wind seemed to want to keep riders out of the United States.

I had lathered quite proportionately with sunscreen as that giant orb is the bane of my existence yet one 64-ounce bottle was insignificant as miles flew by.

I found pelotons to join. I learned not all riders like newbies, and one such arrogant man kept bumping me off the end of the line. I would charge back up to the opposite side and he would sling over and bump me back again. (This is not the Tour, sir, I will see you next year I am sure.)

I even passed a few riders, briefly slowing to latch onto them, then telling them to latch onto me. I pulled one up to a peloton (racing kudos to myself)!

Overall, the lessons came fast and furious. I struggled to reach food from my jersey pockets on the back… I didn’t feel thirsty and did not drink enough… my Snickers bar melted into a blob… my butt, shoulders, neck and arms throbbed as my halfway goal was attained… I used the portable potties just once… I cursed the pavement when a bump arose.

Cycling is physical.

It is also mental, and mental endurance is a science in itself. I had done what I wanted. Why punish myself? Where are John and Brandon? Do dogs cycle? Is that bear poop or pie, hmmmm — no, it did not get that bad but it was close.

As miles shortened, they also became more burdensome.

Sixty miles to go meant I would have ground my fat tire bike out to Point Bridget and back, twice. Fifty miles meant Boy Scout Beach and back twice.

At the border crossing — Dalton Cache-Pleasant Camp — where Yukon Highway 3 and Alaska Route 7 meet, I bid adieu to a Whitehorse cyclist who was turning back because “Haines is nice but I have date in the Junction and I will have a tailwind home.”

The finish line loomed 40 miles away. Just one fat tire ride to the end of Glacier Highway and back to Boy Scout Beach?

My mind continued to spiral. A rider in sandals pedaled past, his bib number seemingly laughing in the wind… A group of ladies stormed alongside but I could not match their cadence to attach… Cars stopped and drivers jumped out with bottles of refreshments and snacks for their cyclists and as I went past they said, “Good job, almost there,” but to me it felt like bullying as I perceived the job was bad and the end was not almost there.

Soon, the cars stopped.

My gurus suddenly appeared and a light blinked on in my soul. That light was dim. I was dehydrated, I was hot and tired.

I took a can of Coca-Cola from them and could not hold the weight of 12 ounces and fell into the guardrail. I scraped and twisted my knee.

I couldn’t unclip from the pedals.

They lifted me, unclipped me and encouraged me to continue.

I, however, told myself that nine hours for an unprepared cycling newbie was just enough for a wonderful summer day along the Chilkat river road.

A DNF next to my “No One Fights Alone” solo team name is one I will still accept with pride. And next year, who knows?

The day after Kluane my gurus took me for a bike outing, and the day after that we ran Mount Ripinsky and cycled again.

At the Haines ferry terminal, waiting to return to Juneau, among the cars with bike racks, I gravitated over to listen to Rob Welton of the Juneau Freewheelers share years of experience.

“Hey!” he said. “You were in a long bike race. What is more fun than that?”

That night, I dreamed of a tailwind. It wasn’t too hot or too cold. I was the third wheel in a peloton, waiting for the right moment to attack…

KCIBR Top Placings (winner, top Alaskans and/or Juneau), town, time, rank:

Solo Men – 1. Hudson (Hudson Lucier), Whitehorse, YT 6:43:53 (1st out of 54 riders in category/2nd overall out of 284 teams in race); 2. Still Fuzzy, Fairbanks 6:59:15 (2/54, 3/284); 22. Solo dolo, Haines 9:10:12 (22/54, 68/284); 23. SkagwayRoadie, Skagway 9:18:00 (23/54, 80/284); 38. Team Beez, Ester 10:24:01 (38/54, 186/284); DNF. No One Fights Alone, Juneau; DNF. Team Clement, HNS.

Solo Women – 1. Instinct x Icycle (Heather Clarke), WH 8:00:14 (1/28, 16/284); 16. Glacial Speed, Douglas 10:03:05 (16/28, 151/284); 21. Dunbar & Walsh, HNS 10:41:55 (21/28, 196/284); 22. Brittany D, HNS 10:42:06 (22/28, 197/284); DNF. Hannah Trujillo, HNS; DNF. Catherine Rocchi, Anchorage.

2-Person Men – 1. The Bonk Bros (Heron Land-Gillis, Nicolas Giangrande), WH 6:43:52 (1/24, 1/284); 3. J & B, JNU 7:23:07 (3/24, 6/284); 10. Nolo Contenderes, JNU 8:35:54 (10/24, 42/284).

2-Person Mixed – 1. tWINning (Finland & Aramintha Bradford), WH 7:51:46 (1/22, 12/284); 3. Crazy A’s, Douglas 8:12:49 (3/22, 26/284); 8. Blomblom, JNU 9:21:03 (8/22, 92/284); 15. Everyone’s a Winner, FAI 10:55:54 (15/22, 211/284); 16. ChrisWyn, Anchorage 11:09:54 (16/22, 224/284).

2-Person Women – 1. Couple of Cycle-paths (Jessica Edwards, Christina Bigrigg), WH 9:00:53 (1/11, 59/284).

3-4 Person Men – 1. Rick Angeli (Marshall Gellatly, Trevor Matthews, Rick Angeli), Kamloops, BC 7:47:06 (1/16, 9/284); 6. Sockeye 4, HNS 8:55:25 (6/16, 49/284); 8. Put Away Wet, Douglas 9:20:45 (8/16, 91/284); 13. We’ll Survive This, JNU 10:07:05 (13/16, 161/284).

3-4 Person Mixed – 1. Nico and the Cyclepaths (Maude Molgat, Mia Sawatsky, Nicholas & Noah Connell), WH 8:07:50 (1/57, 21/284); 2. Tour Da Haines, HNS 8:14:12 (2/57, 27/284); 7. Winging It, HNS 8:59:27 (7/57, 55/284); 11. Gina and the Jets, HNS 9:10:58 (11/57, 72:284); 25. Downstream, HNS 9:38:25 (25/57, 109/284); 32. Ice Worm Wigglers, JNU 9:56:56 (32/57, 136/284); 34. Chud Monkeys, HNS 9:59:08 (34/57, 142/284); 40. Haines Her Way, Fairbanks 10:27:15 (40/57, 199/284); 42. Team Blue Ribbon, JNU 10:32:43 (42/57, 193/284); 50. Four Play, FAI 11:09:50 (50/57, 223/284); 54. Lichen the Bikin’, HNS 12:25:03 (54/57, 251/284); DNF. Bearrily Pedaling, Palmer.

3-4 Person Open – 1. Smash or Crash, WH 9:20:16 (1/2, 87/284).

3-4 Person Women – 1. Girls Group (Leah Gasparovic, Emilie Stewart-Jones, Mary Kelly, Cecily Dawson), WH 9:12:55 (1/19, 77/284); 3. Pedal to the metal, FAI 9:38:41 (3/19, 111/284); 18. The Fourth Territory, JNU 12:30:00 (18/19, 252/284).

5-8 Person Men – 1. WHFD (Ryan Miller, Ammon Hoefs, Tyler Hamm, Ian Weir, Alex Cusson, Jack Blister, Ocean Stimson, Chris Bridgeman), Marsh Lake, YT 9:01:57 (1/4, 62/284); 4. Who let the Dawgz out?, HNS 11:15:44 (4/4, 226/284).

5-8 Person Mixed – 1. Yukon Dream Team (Roger & Oskar Luxemburger, Charly Melin, Sam Boucher, Jack Belaner, Alice Belanger, Max Labelle), WH 8:55:38 (1/42, 50/284); 9. Sockeye 8, HNS 9:45:18 (9/42, 120/284); 37. Not Born Yesterday – eBike, HNS 11:49:55 (37/42, 244/284); 39. Ermahgerd it’s Solstice! – eBike, Eagle River 12:03:35 (39/42, 246/284).

5-8 Person Women – 1. Granola Girls (Isla Hupe, Lia Hale, Brooke Tobler, Stella & Robyn Mueller, Piper Wolsey, Grace Machtans, Lydia Brown), WH 9:40:26 (1/4, 113/284); 2. Alaska Scud Riders, JNU 9:51:41 (2/4, 123/284).

• Contact Klas Stolpe at klas.stolpe@juneauempire.com.