Michael Marceau has won back to back Southern Lakes GranFondos.

Marceau finished this year’s race in under five hours (four hours, 57 minutes), shaving 20 minutes off his winning time from last year.

The race took place June 3.

Peter Heebink is the founder and organizer of the race, and an avid cyclist. The Star reached him Thursday at his home in Marsh Lake.

“He’s the one to beat,” said Heebink of Marceau.

Heebink recalled the history of the Southern Lakes GranFondo.

He said the 173 kilometre circuit around the southern lakes started about 17 years ago.

“Previous to that it had been a gravel section between Jakes’s Corner and Carcross. And I remember riding that road back and thinking how nice it would be if it was all paved, so right after that, they chip-sealed the section there. It just seemed like it was in prime condition for a event like a road relay with road bikes.

“And so that got it started. And there were a couple of people who were influential in that too. John Streicker and also Simi Morrison, who organized this race for many years before I kind of took over.”

Heebink then described the route GranFondo riders take.

“There’s three major lakes: Marsh Lake, Tagish and Bennett Lake that it goes past and five communities, being Marsh Lake, Tagish, Carcross, Mount Lorne and Golden Horn.”

Heebink said it also goes by five smaller lakes, thereby making it a true Southern Lakes circuit.

“Originally the idea was to rotate the community that would host it every year so they could highlight their own community and put on the dinner and have volunteers,” recalled Heebink. “That involved five different timing stations and check stops and that was very well organized but it involved a lot of volunteers. So after years of that, it seemed like there was a bit of a volunteer burnout and, and then we decided to simplify things.

“So now we’ve dispensed with all the check stops and timing stations along the way and we allow riders to change any place along the route as many times as they want, so it kind of was more of a freewheeling format, and we tried to discourage a lot of support vehicles. So that sort of simplified it.”

Heebink said the route itself goes clockwise, so it’s not crossing any traffic lanes.

“It starts here at McClintock Bay and goes to Jake’s Corner, then to Tagish, Carcross, and then back on the Carcross road through Mount Lorne. Goldenhorn is at the Carcross Cutoff, and then (it) turns south to go back to the starting point. So it’s a tidy circuit.”

Heebink explained how the race works.

“We have solo riders and we have two-person teams, and three to five-person teams, and different categories too: youth, family, adult and over 50. And I would say about half the riders, maybe a little less are solo riders. And so they tend to be more competitive and then the teams are often way slower so that times are anywhere from five hours to eight hours to complete the circuit. Often the front riders, solo riders, will form a peloton. And so consequently they’re going way faster than most of the other riders, especially the family or the teams.”

The race starts and ends at a recently new location, McClintock Bay Adventures at 62 Swan Haven Drive in Marsh Lake.

“They’ve become the permanent location for this race. And they’re excited to put it on and they put on a good meal. And it’s right on the beach here, so people can jump in and swim if they want after they race,” said Heebink.

Heebink said there was construction between Tagish and Carcross to deal with this year.

“We had a couple of gravel sections that slowed the pace down for a lot of people. I think it’s about a 10 kilometre stretch and it was fairly loose gravel.”

Some people on teams were able to change bikes on the gravel sections. Heebink said gravel bikes, ideal for those types of sections and Yukon roads in general, are a big seller now. In fact, some people did the entire race on gravel bikes, which according to Heebink, are probably the best bikes for this race.

“The only really smooth part of it is between Carcross Cutoff and Jake’s Corner, about a 55 kilometre stretch which has a beautiful bike lane, then everything else is either chip seal, or sections of gravel.”

Heebink said the wheels on a gravel bike are a little different.

“They’re a little beefier and they have more texture to them. But they’re still pretty fast.

“I was talking to Dean at Cadence Cycling and he said he’s selling mostly gravel bikes instead of road bikes now.

“A mountain bike would suffice, too, on any kind of gravel roads but they’re not as fast and aerodynamic as gravel bikes are.”

There were 62 riders this year. 23 of those were solo riders.

The race averages between 60-80 cyclists per year.

Heebink said this year’s race was “great” overall.

“And we had pretty ideal weather. At least at the start.”

Heebink said it rained a little bit at the end of the race.

“The ones who did it in five hours had better conditions than those that did it in seven hours.”

Heebink said everyone seemed to have a good time.

“There was nobody complaining, that’s for sure. A little complaining about the gravel section. That’s understandable.

“Last year, we had a couple incidences through a gravel section. Somebody had a fall in there and somebody had a flat but this year there were no incidences, although my 16-year-old son had a breakdown and lost his pedal off his bike, so he had to get another bike, but everyone has a good time.

“They were thanking me for a great event and saying they’d really like to come back next year.

“And they thanked me for the weather.”

T-shirts were given out as prizes, as they usually are.

Sponsors included Icycle Sports, Cadence Cycle, U Kon Echelon and McClintock Bay Adventures, the main sponsors.

Heebink pointed out that Trena Irving from U Kon Echelon has been very instrumental in helping out with the event.

She also promotes cycling for youth, especially introducing youth to cycle racing, and is very active in the cycling community.

“I think I would have trouble doing it without her and U Kon Echelon,” related Heebink.

Heebink said the GranFondo has always been a popular training race for the Chilkat international bike relay race.

“So we try to do it two weeks ahead of that race.”

He added, “There is a group of people that really like this race. They come year after year. And now that we’ve got this ideal venue, it’s way easier and more fun.”

Heebink said teams really like to be able to change riders whenever they want.

“Although we stress it should be in a safe zone on the highway, places where you can pull over and not block the bike lane, especially on the Alaska Highway.

“They can even ride with other team members if they want to; you can mix and match your team however you want to.

So you can go with the same bike for a team if you want to.

“The thing people like about it, it’s a one day event,” said Heebink.

“There’s no camping involved or long distance traveling.

“And it seems like it’s more environmentally friendly because there’s not 100’s of support vehicles and RV’s.

Vincent Lapierre finished second to Marceau in the Men’s Solo category in five hours, three minutes.

Hudson Lucier came in third, close behind Lapierre, in five hours, six minutes.

The Women’s Solo category featured a couple of tight finishes.

Verena Konig and Heather Clarke tied for first in the Female Solo rider category with a time of five hours and 21 minutes.

Jodie Pongracz finished second in six hours and 41 minutes.

Pam Booth finished right behind her in third in six hours and 42 minutes.

Lauren Ray and Emilie Stewart Jones (The Green Bones) came in first in the Two-Person Female category in six hours, 12 minutes.

Harriet Stanford and Emily Jones (Hehehe) came in second in seven hours and 20 minutes.

Leah Gasparovic and Amaya Chen An-Hall (Three Guardswomen) finished right behind in third in seven hours, 21 minutes.

Micah and Lucas Taggart-Cox (Quad Size Large) captured the Two-Person Men’s category crown in five hours, 30 minutes.

Levi and Kai Bruce (Butterfly Babes) were the only other team in the category. They were second in seven hours, 27 minutes.

Erika Mah and Darcy McCord (Mah-McCord) came in first in the Two-Person Mixed category in six hours, 40 minutes.

They were the only team in the category.

Michael Setterington, Chris Reynolds and Martin Fry (GHVFD Chiefs) placed first in the Three to Five Person team category in five hours, 49 minutes.

Major mushers Susie Rogan and Hans Gatt and Emilie Herces and Julien Revel came in second in six hours, 13 minutes. Their team name was Hope We Make It to the Wedding.

Jeff Bond, Glenda Koh and Lise Farnowski (Arctic Fire) finished a close third in six hours, nineteen minutes.

And Jocelyn Land Murphy, Ed Gillis, and Sitka and Heron Land-Gillis (Gears n Cheers) finished first in the Family category in five hours, 49 minutes.

Yannik, Cynthia and Greg Freeman and Frank Oblak (The Hive) came in second in six hours, 35 minutes.

Maeve McManus, Gayle Corry, Dawn Lammer and Tori Vollmer (Robinson Roadies) finished third in the Family category.

The Star will have coverage of the Kluane Chilkat International Bike Relay once results become official.