More spandex than ever before will be cruising the Sea to Sky Highway come Sept. 11 when Canada's first ever GranFondo road race passes through Squamish on its way to Whistler from Vancouver.
The recently announced Whistler GranFondo is based on popular European and South African mass participation cycling events, which can attract as many as 30,000 cyclists. The local 120-kilometre race will be open to 2,000 competitors, and registration has been open since Dec. 18, with about 250 entrants already signed up.
With two more GranFondo events in the works for the Okanagan and Ontario in 2011, organizers anticipate the Whistler GranFondo will be the start of something huge.
"This is the big beast. If we can do this one, we can do it anywhere," said GranFondo Canada's Kevin Thomson, who also helped launch the BC Bike Race.
In fact, Thomson said he'd wanted to bring the event to Canada since traveling to South Africa and learning about the Cape Argus Pick n Pay Cycle Tour, which draws thousands of cyclists. The lingering question: where?
He discovered the perfect course location was right under his nose while driving to Whistler for a BC Bike Race meeting.
"I was driving the new highway and I said, 'sweet mercy, this is it.'"
The prestige event will take strong wills to complete as the course features 2,400 metres of climbing and 1,750 metres of downhill. Some of the most challenging sections are located just north of Squamish, which will be the site of the major rest station and the start line of the easier 60-kilometre Medio option.
Thomson was part of a group that did a trial ride of the course last September, so he knows exactly where riders will have to push the hardest.
"I found the Murrin hill to be a lot more difficult than I expected. But coming out of Squamish is relentless. And you really got to train for that and have the right gearing, so we'll be making sure we give people as much heads-up as to the proper way to prepare for it," he said.
The Giro division will be the race component, open to licensed riders in Categories 1 through 3. The Giro will be an all-out race to Whistler with an anticipated average speed of over 30 km/hr. Thomson said he expects the fastest cyclists to finish in about three hours 45 minutes.
While the elite riders race, other participants are encouraged to test themselves either on the full 120-kilometre GranFondo or the 60-kilometre Medio. For this year only, all riders who sign up for the Whistler GranFondo will be recognized as a Founding Rider. They will be recognized at the finish as a Founding Rider and, in following years, will receive early notification of deals, breaking news, and special offers not available to other riders.
Early registration (until June 30) costs $175 for the GranFondo and $160 for the Medio. Costs then increase to $200 and $185 respectively. To register or find out more information visit www.whistlergranfondo.com.
