whoa , rider numbers way down this year .
the organizer said on year one he wanted to see it grow to 12,000 . this year they had just over 4,000 , declining numbers every year .
reviewing the results there were a lot of names i didn't see . whistler locals , and people i knew from the cycling sports community from back in the day not entered . i think many saw it as a " i gotta do this " thing , and now that they have done it , realized they don't have to spend 275$ to have a good long day on the bike . if even half the participants ever discovered randonneuring , this event would be dead in five years .
i think if they want to see it become an established , mass participation event they are going to have to bring the price down , like way down to around a hundred bucks .
right now it is an event for the privileged who can afford it , rather than an event for any cyclist who wants to participate . no surprise but riding in from the back i saw many , many overweight gentlemen on very expensive bikes .
i know it probably costs a lot to stage , but if the organizers are trying to fund it on entry fees , the thing is doomed to fail .
and a note to road maintenance , the same shit that was on the side of the road back in june , is still there . if sea to sky wants to establish itself as a road bike friendly destination , then the contractors need to get their crews off their asses and clean up that shoulder . any roadie i know will ride as far away from traffic as possible , but if the riding line next to the barriers is littered with gravel , glass and other shit , then you will see riders closer and closer to the white line . it is not that bad ( yet ), but you can tell no one is doing regular maintenance , which is unfortunate because the surface itself is great , but it needs to be cleaned .
one other note : huge props to the BACON station in brackendale . although i didn't partake , it sure smelled good and it was great to see a random community group get out there and contribute to the event .