This ride is an update of Abbey Road 300 last run in 2017. There are a few more gravel paths added this year. The bike paths are generally flat mixed use dyke trails. The gravel is mostly well packed and fine to ride on a typical road bike although wider tires will likely be more comfortable. Some of the paths may be fairly busy with joggers, dog walkers, etc (especially on the weekend) so exercise caution, enjoy the views and lack of cars! Please note that there are stretches of this route that no services are available. Plan ahead and fuel up, especially with liquids as the temperatures during the day are very high right now. One other note is that this route has a large number of controls (all info questions). If you are relying on a GPS as your primary navigation tool it is highly likely to miss some controls. It is recommended to review the route sheet in advance to know approximate locations and distances for controls. Missing controls in a brevet is a DNF and no one wants that!

In addition to the gravel much of the urban route follows designated bike routes. The route sheet may look convoluted in some areas but a good tip is if you follow the designated "Green Bike Route" signs it will help you with navigation. These are also indicated on the Route Sheet. Some examples: leaving Boundary Rd at the start follow "Francis/Union Bike Route", north in Ladner/Richmond is "Millenium Trail", through New Westminister follow "Crosstown Bike Route", in Burnaby to finish fow "Central Valley Greenway".  From last time I know some riders had difficulty negotiating the Central Valley Greenway to the finish. As before it is permissible to follow Lougheed Hwy to Gilmour to the finish. I feel like CVG is nicer and more in tune with the rest of the ride but if you feel you will have difficulty navigating and it is getting late this is an option. There is also significant construction just before the CVG bridge over Winston St that requires a Detour.  The finish is at SteamWorks Brewery (control question), not far from the start. The Brewery closes at 10PM (midnight on Friday and Saturday) so if you get there before then you'll have opportunity of a cold beer, if not, you should have started sooner! 

Note that due to extreme temperatures the official pre-ride was not conducted. I have "pre-preridden" this route in mid May so I believe the route to be good to go. There were a few options I wished to add to the route, including eliminating so overlap between this route and the recent Sanctuary 200 but ultimately there is not sufficient opportunity to verify the route update.

As with all official Randonneur Brevets note that functioning front and rear lights are mandatory even if you expect to complete the entire ride in daylight.

By popular demand, for those that may not find this route hard enough once again a Challenge Version of this route is available. That version involves steep gravel and the steepest road in the Lower Mainland. Wide tires and very low gears are required (as well as GPS navigation) for that route. All Controls remain the same as the standard route. Organizer approval must granted to attempt the Challenge Version.  

Bonne route,

Chris