Editor,
I am writing in response to Sandra Brull's letter in the Sept. 24 issue of The Chief in regards to the GranFondo bicycle event ["GrandFondo good for Squamish"].
I think it was a wonderful event for the entire Sea to Sky country, as well as a fantastic event for the riders. However there definitely were issues that need to be addressed before next year's event.
Ms. Brull says that the last rider left Brennan Park at 11 a.m. and that the park was cleaned and packaged up by noon. I left Britannia Beach at 12:15 p.m. to drive into Squamish and the entire way the cones were still up to block the right lane.
From Murrin Park to Squamish, I and thousands of other drivers were inconvenienced as we inched along to Squamish. What normally is about a 10 minute drive took at least an hour.
While we were slowly moving along, not one single bicycle was in the blocked right lane. My husband left Britannia Beach at 11:15 a.m. to start work at noon and he was 10 minutes late!
I support events like the GranFondo, I even walked over to the highway and stood with other people from Britannia Beach to cheer on the riders as they passed through, so I would say that I was being a "gracious host."
And I don't mind sharing the road with the bicycles but by 12:15 p.m., there were no bicycles and yet the road was still a mess. So it was a "stupendous imposition" to a lot of people and I am sure that in that long, long line of traffic were other tourists who would spend their money in this area as well.
Obviously Ms. Brull was nowhere near Highway 99 to see it for herself. I encourage the organizers of this event when planning for next year to please have someone pick up the cones and clear the highway much sooner than what happened this year.
I am sure that all those bicycle riders would not like to see all the emissions that were coming from the parking lot that was Highway 99 on that day and they probably had family members going to Whistler to pick them up who were also very, very inconvienced, as much as though of us who live here.
Christa Reich
Britannia Beach
