Upgrades to Cavell Bridge will alter the proposed route for June’s inaugural Jasper Gran Fondo, as construction will not be completed in time for the June 13 race.
Parks Canada announced last month that it is investing $600,000 into improvements to the 63-year-old bridge, with construction taking place until June 25.
As a result, this year’s 180-km Gran Fondo will be reduced to 165 kms.
“Initially it was 180 kms, as we wanted to put the climb up to Edith Cavell into it, but with construction that section had to be pulled out and now it’s a 165-km ride,” explained Trevor Soll during the May 12 Jasper Park Chamber of Commerce meeting.
The route will now take cyclists from town, up to Marmot Basin, down to Athabasca Falls and then south on Highway 93A to Poboktan Creek, where they will turn around and return to town.
A Gran Fondo is a long-distance road cycling event in which amateur cyclists are individually timed as they race a marked route.
The Jasper event will include three distances—the full Gran Fondo, the Medio Fondo at 100 kilometres and the Piccolo Fondo at 65 kilometres; only the Gran Fondo was affected by the Cavell Road closure.
As of May 12, Soll said, 100 cyclists had registered for the event, with 50 per cent of those riders coming from Edmonton, 20 per cent from Calgary, 20 per cent from Jasper and 10 per cent from a variety of areas, including as far away as Waterloo, Ont.
“That’s good so far,” said Soll, who has been trying to bring a Gran Fondo to Jasper for a number of years.
This year’s event has a cap of 400 cyclists, but Soll hopes that in the future that number will grow.
As well as the Gran Fondo, MultiSports Canada is also organizing a triathlon for June 14.
The triathlon, which has a capacity of 200 participants, also has multiple options: the Sprint, Tri It and Kids of Steel.
The sprint is comprised of 30 lengths of the pool, 26 kms on the bike and a five km run, while the Tri It includes 12 lengths, a 13 km bike ride and a 2.5 km run.
“Numbers on that one are a little bit lower,” said Soll, “but there’s a big chunk of people from B.C.: Victoria, Vancouver and then Edmonton, as well.”
The reason for hosting both events in one weekend is to maximize the opportunities for families, he said.
“The whole plan that I pitched to the park, and to you guys as well,” he said to Jasper’s business owners, “is to bring people in over a couple of days and make them stay—come in and experience Jasper, have a great time and hopefully come back again next year.”
Registration is open online at www.granfondo-jasper.ca.
Nicole Veerman
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