The Whitehorse mountain biking community has a new royal court, crowned at the King of the Canyon race last weekend.

David Gonda and Sierra Van Der Meer are the court’s newest king and queen, while Fabian Florentin and Chrissy McConnell are this year’s prince and princess.

After being held at Mount Mac for the past two years, the race returned to Grey Mountain with a modern take on the original course, circa 2007, still marked by gold crowns.

“I wanted a return to the marathon-style course,” said race organizer, Jenn Roberts.

Using the 2013 course as a base – so people could look it up on the trail app if they wished – Roberts swapped out the doubletrack Cantlie Lake Road Connector for Gates Trail, Blue’s Brother and Quiller, to offer up singletrack with ridge views.

Starting at the Schwatka Lake boat launch, riders began on a tough hill before settling into the ride.

This year the long course totalled around 47 kilometres, while the short course was about 25 kilometres.

While Ontario rider Paul Cooney, who was visiting Yukon for a family vacation, was expecting the hills, the elevation gains were still a workout.

“That was a challenge for me, dealing with the long climbs,” he said. “I’m from Ontario, so there’s a couple two and three minute climbs around, so when I come to an event like this, I expect about a half hour climb and 20 minute climbs and it delivered for sure.”

Hailing from Sharon, Ont., the visiting rider was impressed by Whitehorse’s trail system. He finished third (2:50:50) on the long course behind Gonda (2:35:12) and Colin Abbott (2:40:23).

“I’m racing today so I’m trying to get a good time in, but I also wanted to lift my head up and look around. That Canyon Trail (Yukon River Trail) was phenomenal,” he said after the ride, sporting a fresh change of clothes and a new Contagious Mountain Bike Club t-shirt.

“Oh my god, that scared the crap out of me. If you tip over, you’re going all the way down.

You’re going to have broken bones and you better be a good swimmer, so I just kept my head up and tried to keep the bike level across that section. It was gorgeous.”

The Yukon River Trail is a favourite of many and queen Van Der Meer said it’s the best she’s seen it this year.

“I always love the Yukon River Trail. It’s hard to beat when you’re right on top of the river, especially on these late (summer) days when everything is really yellow,” she said.

Van Der Meer almost didn’t race on Saturday. She was just dropping off a friend when she stepped out of the car to see how things were going at registration.

“I would say I decided to race about five minutes before the race started,” she said. “It was a very last minute decision.”

Van Der Meer was the only lady to attempt and finish the long course this year. It was her first time winning the crown.

In the past she has organized the race. One year, she tried to race the short course and run the race. “I was half doing one and half doing the other,” she said.

It was her first race this season that she didn’t volunteer. “I really got to just ride, which is a nice treat.”

Sitting on a rock near the finish chute, she said the trails were great to ride on.

“They don’t get much better than this,” she said. “They were tacky. There was some slippery bits in some sections, but there was also some phenomenal trail. 

“Some of the sections were some of the best I’ve ridden all year.”

The trail conditions helped propel Gonda into his fifth crown. He won the event in ‘09, ’10, ‘13 and ‘15. He also won in 2014, but was disqualified for taking a wrong turn and running a shortened course.

“I love mountain biking and it’s fun to come out and have a hard workout and push yourself,” he said. “The trails are so enjoyable, so it’s a good time.”

He and Abbott were together for much of the course, but Abbott wiped out and Gonda took the lead.

At an aid station at the top of Payback, he sucked back some fluid and pushed hard.

“I knew I had bit of a gap from Colin, so I was just trying to think about pacing myself, not crashing, not making any mistakes; just enjoying the fun downhills and nice scenery,” said Gonda, who said he has not done much riding this summer.

The King of the Canyon marks the end of the summer mountain biking season for many local riders, but there may be a cyclocross race in the fall, and of course fat bike season won’t be long after.

“All in all a super great year and it’s a great way to cap it off with a blue sky and sun,” said Van Der Meer. “Can’t get much better than that.”

By Marissa Tiel, Star Sports Editor