Last week the Tour of Alberta rolled into the province with a bang.
Cycling is extremely popular around the world and this event was shown in a 150 countries and watched by over 50 million people.
There were six stages, from Sept. 3-8. The start was in Edmonton and, after riding 900 kilometres through rural southern Alberta, finished in Calgary. The race was comprised of 15 professional teams and 117 participating riders. Some of the top names included Cadel Evans from Australia, winner of the 2011 Tour de France; and Ryder Hesjedal, a Canadian and winner of 2012 Giro d’Italia.
I was at Seaman Stadium in Okotoks Sept. 8 with my buddies Kevin and Roy. We were there to participate in another event, the TransRockies Tour of Alberta. This was an opportunity for recreational riders to cycle some of the same terrain that the professional teams would be covering on the 6th stage of the Tour of Alberta. It was also my seventh event in TransRockies Quest 888. If I could complete the 130-km course then I would achieve 751 km towards my target of 888 km.
Our start time was 7 a.m. There were two distances to choose from, an 80 km and the 130-km loop, and at 6:55 a.m. the 300-plus rides for both distances were in the start chute. With two minutes to go, I heard a familiar tune, AC/DC’s Highway to Hell and we were off. As the sun was rising, we rolled through a sleepy Okotoks and on to the country roads. The first hour we rode in and out of banks of mist, as we headed west.
Kevin, Roy and I set up a “mini-peloton” and the kilometres clicked by. Gerry then joined us and our gang of four ate up the mileage. I did have one little mishap along the way. After a nature call, I was getting back on my bike and leaned the same way as my foot was clipped in. The fall was not graceful, but I only received a flesh wound. Back on the bike we pushed to the finish line.
In the stadium, the crowds were gathering for the 1 p.m. start of the 6th and final stage of the main race. A number of the riders were signing autographs and I had the pleasure of meeting Antoine Duchesne from the Canadian National team. A number of these riders support charities. Mark Cavendish, winner of 25 stages of the Tour de France was not there, but he is a Right To Play Athlete Ambassador in the UK.
Driving back to Cochrane, I started to think about the ninth event in TransRockies Quest 888 – the Heli-Run on Sept. 21. This race involves teams of two. One runs up a mountain 21 km and the other flies up in a helicopter. They then swap places, the runner flies down and the other runs down. Should be fun.
Stay tuned.
