1st Annual Kluane to Haines Intl. MB Mileage Challenge

[Alaskavan]

How does that sound? Tentative date - June 21st. My idea is to have a nice ride, and see who completes the thing using the least gas (283.3 km). That has the advantages of 1. Not having the Mounties or Police freaking about us getting crazy, 2. It makes it so it's not about power, 3. It would allow for the occasional stop just to check out the breathtaking views, and; 4. It allows for stops if bears or moose are on the road. If I'm the only competitor, I win. If you and anyone else comes up here for it, I'll be able to arrange sleeping quarters inside for about 10, and space for Lots of tents (I even have 3 or 4 spare tents). Running such an event here has the advantages of being on a course that has been mapped and GPS'd (Google Kluane Chilkat Relay). There's pretty much nowhere for a cheater to get gas (My present idea is to have a chase car dole out measured amounts of gas so we can control and track that) (I'll supply the gas, so everyone will have the same octane, etc.). The Valley is crawling with bikers on that weekend, but they won't be riding their pedal bikes Sunday, because their race is Saturday. And the Beer Festival is Saturday, and what better way to recover than a good, long, ride?
I welcome questions, comments, and suggestions.

 

[stude13]

hi van; that would a glorious ride. i checked with alaska marine highway for rates and it looks like one person with a bike is about 700 bucks round trip. if thats correct it would mean saving up 25bucks a week till then. good lord willing, i will be there. do we need a passport. how about us who have dui. please check ferry prices. mitch

 

[stude13]

come on guys. it could be the ride of a life time. the sun will be up most of the day. its paved highway with lookouts and parks and a humongus lake. ask van a few questions of the possibilities. lets ride mitch

 

[Alaskavan]

It's a road that's not just up for National Scenic Byway designation. It's up for designation as an International Scenic Highway.

 

[mabman]

OK, that sounds like a plenty skookum time there. I suppose one would have to ride from Haines to Kluane to get to the start eh? Going to burn one gallon might as well burn two. Maybe ride up Saturday against the flow and turn around and come back on the back end of the race? Not like there won't be plenty of daylight that time of year. A 300 mile day is only fair as the pedalers will be doing half that and perhaps there would be some good northern exposure for the movement if performed in that manner?

If I can and am able I would like to do this but too early to tell as I can't seem to ever plan two weeks in advance much less 7 months but for sure it is on my radar.

And because of the border crossing those with any type of record should not apply unfortunately. It looks like you would only miss under 30 miles of the race by not going in to Canada though which is no great loss and the scenery on the AK side is going to be worth the trip alone. So perhaps there could be a felon classification also Van?

 

[Alaskavan]

My thought was that we would tow the bikes up to Kluane and ride back,but if you have enough confidence in your ride, no reason you couldn't rode both ways. Last year, I was riding home from town and passed the main body of the bike race (heading into town). I got a lot of looks from the racers.

For those with DUI's, you can probably get the Queen's Permission to cross the border. It costs $50 (I think). Kind of an official bribe. I'll check into it and get details. A passport is needed. Not to get into Canada, to get back into the US (what's up with that?).

There's no reason we couldn't have interesting events that don't involve border crossings. Maybe Chilkat Lake to Chilkoot Lake. That would be about 40 miles, and you're very likely to see bears on the Chilkoot end. There are dirt roads: back up into the Kelsal Valley; through the gold mine ghost town of Porcupine up to Sunshine mountain; Riding dry river beds at 25 mile.

How scenic is this place? The Discovery Channel is filming a reality show out in my back yard this weekend. A little dogsled racing, some rafting, etc.

 

[Alaskavan]

I just spoke with a board member of the Kluane Chilkat International Bicycle Relay and verified that they have no problem with us riding the same route the day after they do. Just wanted to make sure I wasn't ruffling any feathers.

I think you riders down south should be having similar events to showcase what mileage can be achieved by these bikes.