Sunshine and heat for Yukon Cross-country Mountain Bike Championships
The Cycling Association of Yukon held the Yukon Cross-country Mountain Bike Championships on July 31 at Mount McIntyre in Whitehorse.
Starting and ending at Fireweed Junction, the 2.86-kilometre course featured portions of a number of trails – Rebirth, Calypso Canyon, Reimer Reason and others.
Depending on age category, riders completed four, five or six laps of the course.
As the territorial championship, the race was also used to “identify interested athletes for the Canada Summer Games,” scheduled for August 2022 in Niagara, per the association’s website.
A total of 13 riders competed in the event, with three riders racing five laps, eight riders racing four laps, and two riders racing six laps.
The four- and five-lap races were also divided based on age, but age categories were not immediately available following the race.
In the four lap race, James McCann was the fastest rider finishing in 46 minutes and 11 seconds. Behind McCann, Taiga Buurman was second in 48 minutes and 24 seconds with Johna Irving-Staley third in 50 minutes.
Matilde Roldan was the fastest woman in the four-lap race, finishing in 50 minutes and four seconds.
In the five-lap race, Mara Roldan finished first with a time of 54 minutes and 40 seconds. Ava Irving-Staley was second to finish in one hour and 49 seconds, followed by Aisha Roldan in one hour, one minute and 58 seconds.
Rounding out the results, Ian Parker set the pace in the six-lap race with a time of one hour, two minutes and 30 seconds.
Next up is the Junior Yukon Cross-country Mountain Bike Championships on Aug. 4 at the Gunnar Nilsson and Mikey Lammers Research Forest.
This is event is targetted to riders ages 5-11, with coaches or parents accompanying riders depending on age.
Information on the upcoming race and how to register is available on the Cycling Association of Yukon website.
Race photos
