One-of-a-kind cycling event still on course in Banff
Some 1,500 pedallers from eight countries are in Banff for the second edition of the GranFondo Banff, the only cycling event of its kind to take place in a national park.
Organizers expect the sold-out, 145-kilometre event will run smoothly Saturday. Last year, the course was reduced from 142 to 104 kilometres after parks staff tracked a mother grizzly bear and her three cubs feeding along the Bow Valley Parkway.
“We work with Parks Canada for weeks, days and hours leading up to this moment,” GranFondo Canada president Kevin Thomson said Friday.
“At this time, wildlife monitors have no actual indication of grizzlies being around. So there probably won’t be any reason for disruption. If Parks Canada does one last look at the course and it’s fine, we’re carrying on as planned.”
Contingency plans could be implemented at the last moment due to wildlife or adverse weather conditions.
But Parks Canada public relations officer Michelle Macullo said berries have been mostly picked over, so there shouldn’t be any bears seen along the route.
“All indications are the berries are drying up and the bears are moving up to higher ground to follow the food source,” said Macullo.
“Last year, we had our matriarch Bear 64 and her offspring roadside, so we had to reroute to make sure there was no disturbance. This time, we’re not seeing any bears.”
Thomson noted there are participants from more than a dozen U.S. states, 10 of 13 Canadian provinces and territories, as well as from the United Kingdom, Denmark, Singapore, Switzerland, Japan and Ireland.
The course, he said, has been extended by a few kilometres to permit the event to start and end in the Banff townsite and wind through nearby Vermilion Lakes, so members of the public can cheer on the riders.
All main highway portions of the route have been eliminated and the majority of the event will travel through the beautiful scenic mountains. Roads will be briefly closed in Banff and along Bow Valley Parkway for short periods to accommodate the ride.
Environmentalists as well as other critics have previously expressed displeasure with such a large event in the national park,
Conservationists could not be reached Friday but Mike McIvor of the Bow Valley Naturalists said last December that he hopes similar standards as last year will be in place to reroute the race if there’s wildlife in the vicinity.
“I was really, really pleased — perhaps pleasantly surprised — that Parks Canada stood its ground (last) year,” McIvor said. “I can only hope it will do it again if there are wildlife species in the area that could be disturbed. They shouldn’t be going there.”
Riders are set to mount their bikes and begin the race at 7 a.m. on Saturday.