Cycle tour company takes on Yukon's Canol Road

A bicycle touring company will begin guided trips on Yukon's Canol Road this summer. 

Cycle Canada has added a one-week trip from the Macmillan Pass at the Yukon/N.W.T. border to Whitehorse to its roster of Canadian cycle tours, which also includes a Whitehorse to Inuvik trip along the Dempster Highway.

Bud Jorgenson of Cycle Canada says there is more demand for cycle tourism in Yukon and that includes off-roading. 

"The Dempster is a tough ride on a bike, or it can be if the weather's bad, but there is steady traffic on that one and the road is maintained. Every time I've been through there there's a road crew working on the road," he said. "That's not the case with the Canol. It is maintained, but not to the extent that the Dempster is."

The tour will begin with an optional day ride on the unmaintained Canol Heritage Trail on the N.W.T. side of the border. 

Jorgensen says about half of the people who take the company's cycling tours are from outside Canada.