Ryder Hesjedal’s Tour de Victoria operates on the same principle as big-city marathons, says ride director Seamus McGrath.
About five per cent of runners at big-city marathons, such as those in Boston and New York, will be champion runners, turning in times close to two hours, McGrath said this week.
“But the other 95 per cent are doing it for their own reasons — personal fitness, a challenge, or even as a social event,” he said.
Ryder Hesjedal’s Tour de Victoria on Sunday is the same kind of event. Everybody is timed and recorded, with a computer chip mounted on each bicycle. But the ride’s focus is about introducing, promoting and encouraging cycling in Victoria.
“You could almost call it an anti-race,” McGrath said.
The ride is named for the Victoria native who has gone on to become one of the world’s best competitive cyclists. Hesjedal won the prestigious Giro d’Italia last year and placed sixth in the 2010 Tour de France.
He will appear in this year’s Tour de Victoria as a participant.
McGrath said last year’s event attracted 1,750 participants. About the same number is expected this year.
A top cyclist like Hesjedal could be expected to complete the full Tour de Victoria course in just under four hours.
“But if you want to ride with four or five friends, chat, stop at all the feed zones, fuel up and take seven or eight hours, you can do that too,” McGrath said.
The event has been set up to attract cyclists of all calibres and ambition — there are routes of 140 kilometres, 100 km and 50 km.
The 140 km starts at 7 a.m. in front of the legislature. The Island Savings 100 km starts at about 8:15 a.m. from Langford City Centre Park, and the 50 km starts at 10:30 a.m. in Sidney.
McGrath said a drawing card for Ryder Hesjedal’s Tour de Victoria is the cycling experience provided by Greater Victoria’s varied geography.
There are the narrow, paved laneways of the Highlands, forested parks, the farms of the Saanich Peninsula, the beach in Sidney, and Beach Drive in Victoria.
“I’ve ridden my bike all around the world and what we have here in Victoria is truly world class,” McGrath said.
And when you combine the geography with a traffic-controlled route kept clear of cars, with food and water stops, medical people for emergencies and even mechanical help, the cycling experience is without equal.
“When you offer people that kind of cycling experience, it can show how beautiful the sport or just the activity of cycling really is,” he said.
Tour de Victoria registration fees — $100 for the 50 km and $190 for the 140 km and 100 km — support two causes: the Ryders Cycling Society of Canada, dedicated to recreational and sport cycling in Canada; and GoodLife Kids Foundation, dedicated to getting children active.
For more information, including registration and volunteering, go to tourdevictoria.com.
