Grand Forks Cycling Club
Cross-border rides and borscht
Along the hilly roads and highways of Grand Forks, B.C., you’re likely to come across cyclists clad in the distinctive yellow-and-black kits of the Grand Forks Cycling Club. Even though there are mountain bikers, time triallists and triathletes in the busy, 55-member club, there’s a lot of road riding on the association’s calendar.
Cycling in the 8,000-strong town, situated i n the arid part of the southern Interior close to where the West Kootenays becomes the Okanagan, is a beautiful and challenging experience among the rolling, sage and antelope brush–covered hills. Sitting at the confluence of two rivers, one a tributary of the Columbia River, affords the area rich soil that attracted members of the Russian Doukhobor religious group at the beginning of the 20th century.
The area can be terrifically hot in the summer; when I passed through Grand Forks on a 2008 bike tour, the sun soft-boiled my brains to such an extent that when I saw two turkey vultures sitting on the roadside west of town, I thought I was hallucinating. Club president Heather Shilton notes that the town experiences relatively quiet traffic and is located close to two U.S. border crossings leading to Washington State. Some of the best long local road rides are international ones, such as those that take in Boulder Creek, Sherman Pass and Bonaparte Lake. Grand Forks’s Canadian fare is equally engaging. Shilton outlines why the North Fork-granby Road loop is a favourite: “One side is flat, but on a slight incline heading up the Granby River; the other side is rolling hills.” If members are looking for a real test, they can head 20 km east on Highway 3 to Christina Lake and climb the fearsome Paulson (Blueberry) Summit, a grunt of nearly 30 km to an elevation of 1,535 m. Club rides are Tuesday and Thursday from Midmarch to late September, and Cycling BC membership is required for these paceline rides. Shilton says, “Two members share captain duties, calling the ride depending on weather. Our Captain B leads slower riders who warm up with the faster riders. Both groups often meet up on the return to town.” Monthly meet-and-greet rides with new riders are spun at a relaxed pace and end at a local pub. There’s also a Fat Friday for the knobby-tired set. The town is blessed with plenty of singletrack through high pines and rail trails. When the Canadian Pacific Railway abandoned the spur through Grand Forks, its right-of-way was destined to become part of the Trans Canada Trail. The gfcc holds several events i n the summer, including early summer’s three-day Robb’s Ride headed by club member Robb Sebastian, an occasion that draws cyclists from all across the province and Washington. On Day 1, riders roll the North Fork-grandby Road loop. They head down into the United States on Day 2 and are greeted with Doukhobor borscht and bread at the ride’s conclusion. On the final day, riders head to the Deadwood Junction Coffee Shop in Greenwood and back. This year, the club saw 200 riders participate. The season’s events wind down after late August’s club championship, consisting of a tough 2.2-km hill climb and a 16-km time trial. Soon after comes mid-september’s century ride. The meeting place for the club’s rides is member Brian Fletcher’s bike store, Chain Reaction Ride ’n Slide.