The bikes are coming back through Highway 99 on Saturday (Sept. 6).
As many as 4,000 cyclists are expected to ride along the Sea to Sky Highway from Vancouver to Whistler in the fifth annual RBC GranFondo Whistler and Squamish will once again be a big point for the event.
Squamish marks the halfway point of the 122 km route and the start of the 55 km Medio event.
It all gets underway at 6:40 a.m. with the Giro start in Vancouver at Brockton Point in Stanley Park. Alta Classe riders start five minutes later with more GranFondo waves starting at 6:55 a.m.
Cyclists then wind their way through North Vancouver and West Vancouver before blasting through Lions Bay, Furry Creek, Britannia Beach and then Squamish.
As in past years, the course will travel along Highway 99 through Squamish during the morning hours, with several road closures in effect at east-west crossings of Highway 99 in Squamish.
Generally there will be intermittent delays from 8:30 to 8:45 a.m., full closure from 8:45 to 10:45 a.m., frequent delays from 10:45 to 11 a.m. and more intermittent delays from 11 a.m. till noon at all east-west crossings of Highway 99.
Access to Brennan Park can be gained by turning left on Industrial Way from Highway 99 and going under the Centennial Way underpass. Corridor Trail, the Garibaldi overpass and Centennial Way will be open for residents all morning long.
Roads closed and barricaded from 8 to 11 a.m. include: Valley Drive, Clarke Drive, Scott Crescent, Loggers Lane, Finch Drive, Mamquam Road (east) and Garibaldi Way (east).
Furry Creek traffic will be re-routed via internal roads to access Highway 99 northbound and southbound from 7:15 to 11 a.m. and Britannia Beach will have single lane alternating traffic in effect for one km, with no northbound right turns permitted at Copper Drive from 7:30 a.m. to noon.
The top time from last year’s event was Whistler’s Will Routley, who completed the race in three hours, 21 minutes and 11 seconds. But several Squamish residents made a mark in the event such as Chris Christie (60th), Nathan McKay (80th), Stacy Spencer (99th), Eric Goodwin (161st) and Brandi Heisterman (191st).
Stay tuned to The Squamish Chief for full coverage of the event. For more information on traffic delays, visit www.september6.ca.
