Every spring, amateur bicycle racers appear on roads in 91原创 and Abbotsford, thanks to the area's combination of a rural setting and good terrain.
"It's the quiet country roads," said Drew Nelson of Thrashers BC, which organizes a string of spring races in Aldergrove, South 91原创, Bradner, and the County Line areas. "Traffic is pretty minimal, there's not a lot of stop lights."
The picturesque views of the mountains and farmers fields are also a draw for cyclists from throughout the Lower Mainland and beyond.
In addition, the area has the right combination of flat stretches and hills to challenge riders, with Nelson 鈥� who goes by Tenacious Drew in the cycling community 鈥� comparing it to the terrain where classic Belgian cycling races take place.
"We call it our own little mini-Flanders out in the valley," Nelson said.
The final piece is a good relationship with 91原创 Township.
"The Township is great to us, they're very accommodating," he said. Abbotsford, where some of the races take place in whole or part, has also been good to work with, he noted.
Within cycling, there are multiple kinds of specialized disciplines and competitions.
For decades, the mountains of the North Shore have drawn mountain bikers. Cyclocross riders 鈥� a hybrid sport that involves riding on roads, gravel, through mud, and sometimes even carrying the bike 鈥� also gravitate towards the same area in the fall.
But spring and summer are the seasons for road cycling, and lycra-wearing amateur cyclists have been coming out to 91原创 for about 25 years, Nelson said.
The Port Coquitlam resident originally founded Thrashers BC as a cycling club, but he quickly found that what was needed wasn't another club, it was someone to organize events.
The COVID-19 pandemic had disrupted the usual race organizations in the area, he said.
"After COVID, it kind of died off."
He picked up the ball, and Thrashers began organizing events, often using the same or similar routes that previous racing groups had used in the past.
This spring Thrashers BC is running six events in 91原创 and Abbotsford, including the upcoming Monument of B.C. on May 24, at a new location in the County Line neighbourhood of 91原创. The race will be run on a course between 248 and 264 Streets, with 72 Avenue the northern boundary and 60 Avenue the southern. The route includes some rolling hills and a couple of steep ravines.
The length of the course will depend on the contestants 鈥� the more competitive will be riding 106 kilometres worth of laps, while more recreational racers will be riding as little as 60 kilometres.
Local races like these have a wide variety of difficulty levels, Nelson said. At the top end are people who are on the border between amateur and professional and are highly competitive. At the other end are people just out to race for fun.
"There's really a category for everyone," he said.
The Monument of B.C. will be the final spring race of the season for Thrashers. Nelson said he's partnering with nearby Locality Brewing, which will host a post-race event where awards will be given out.
Then Thrashers will be back in the fall to organize cyclocross races in the area, he said.
