Comments on: Whistler Gran Fondo by Alex Precosky

By: JoeAverage

JoeAverage — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 02:18:25 +0000

In reply to Rob Syvertsen. Thanks Rob for the heads-up on deer - I had no idea. And given the speed I usually hurtle down that hill, it's a good thing I do know now!

By: Rob Syvertsen

Rob Syvertsen — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 18:44:26 +0000

Both routes up Burnaby Mountain are very comfortable rides. Both have wide bike lanes and traffic stays to the left. Burnaby Mountain Parkway is pretty quiet on weekday afternoons for the descent, but Gaglardi gets all the University traffic. It’s fine as long as your confident. You’ll be doing about 80 on the descent down Gaglardi which puts you a little slower than traffic. Just watch for debris in the bike lane as windstorms tend to knock branches down on Gaglardi.

If you ride early in the morning, watch for deer. They aren’t afraid of you or your lights and will stand in the traffic lanes. I regularly pass deer within an arms length on my morning commute. There is a bear on the mountain as well. I have yet to see her on the roads, but my co-workers tell me they see her in the morning once or twice a year.

There used to be a few downhill skateboarders as well, but they’ve disappeared.

By: Alex P

Alex P — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 22:39:36 +0000

In reply to Marcus. I've only done it on weekends, and it's been great. That video link above was done on a sunday around 1 PM, and is about as busy as I ever remember it being on a weekend in the summer. The bike lane is wide, except it disappears briefly at the 3:00 minute mark in the movie. It looks like in the movie that a few cars are passing closely and quickly, but I sped up the movie 400% and they were actually passing very carefully (imagine them driving at only 1/4 the apparent speed in the video)

By: JoeAverage

JoeAverage — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 20:06:42 +0000

In reply to Marcus. I have frequently done this hill on weekdays (not peak hours) and it is great - very quiet, with a broad cycling lane most of the way. Don't know about weekends, though.

By: Marcus

Marcus — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 19:56:23 +0000

As a 58-year old guy, I feel inspired. But it’s going to take at least a year, more like 2. I liked the video of the SFU mountain ride, I had not previously thought of this as a training option. Does anyone know how heavy the traffic is on this road – weekdays or weekends?

By: Graeme

Graeme — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 19:51:07 +0000

I don’t think I’m quite ready for this yet, but it doesn’t seem as scary as I thought. I do find it comforting that Alex’s bike is so similar to my 2009 Devinci Madrid, though. I’m pretty sure I couldn’t be ready for riding myself in 2011, but I would love to put in some training runs to see if I could take part in 2012. (And SFU is so close…)

It’s interesting looking at the results. The biggest group (by quite a margin) is the 40-49-year-old men, followed by 50-59 and then 30-39. After that come the 40-49 women, then 50-59, then 30-39. There is remarkably little difference between the groups in the range of finishing times.