Loopy Lower Mainland. Not just because of the loops, but because one would have to be loopy to do it.

Seriously, it's the Lower Mainland like you've never seen it before.

In the before times, when Barry Chase still lived in South Surrey, he hosted a Spring 1000 called Lowlands which was a three loop circuit starting and ending at his house each day.  This gave riders a chance to re-gather and start out together the following day if they so desired.  Additionally, he would put up riders in his basement and provide a pre-event dinner and a post-event breakfast.  It was a wonderful social experience.  Anna wants to do the same next spring, hosting riders at our house in north Burnaby.  But, Anna being Anna, she wants a route that will enable riders to choose from different daily distance schemes to complete the 1000: the 350/350/300 km scheme and the 400/400/200 km scheme being the main ones.  She also wants a route that stays off busy, high traffic roads, and one that doesn't necessarily stick to the same old/same old.  It's a big ask, but it looks possible.  This Fall 2021 Lower Mainland 1000 is a proof-of-concept preview of the course that may be used next spring.  For your $15, you will get a pre-ride supper, a place to bed down, a semi-supported 1000 km brevet (Grand Gamma Station will be the control six separate times), and a post-ride breakfast. Given organizational logistics we will have just one start day and time, and given the preliminary nature of the event, and these still being COVID times, the event is limited to 10 riders.

Yes, the full RwGPS route map shown on this page looks horribly convoluted.  But it is not really that complicated.  To provide for the various daily km schemes and to maintain Grand Gamma Station as a central hub, it turns out that we need five loops, consecutively they are 350 km, 50 km, 300 km, 100 km, and 200 km. Each starts and ends at (or near) Grand Gamma Station.  All roads lead to Grand Gamma Station and the official hub is the five-way intersection of Empire Dr, Cambridge St, and Gamma Ave.  We can cleverly preserve the ACP rule that no stretch of road may be ridden in the same direction more than once.

Loop 1, 350 km, takes riders up the Fraser Valley to a turnaround at the Woodside Mountain spring.  Anna abhorred the idea of climbing up the east side of Woodside, and the Agassiz Bridge is to be avoided also, so we'll make side-trips to Rolley Lake, Cascade Falls, and the Webster Creek hatchery, and swing south to the Langley Municipal Nature Park.

Loop 2, 50 km, can be done at the end of Day 1 for a 400 km day, or at the beginning of Day 2 before (a second) breakfast at Grand Gamma Station.  It is a circuit along the Vancouver waterfront to UBC and a return on the MIdtown Bikeway.  It is surprisingly quick for an urban route.  I pre-rode it recently in just over two hours with only five minutes of stoppage time.  It can be done.

Loop 3, 300 km, is a run out to the central Fraser Valley using mainly greenways through Surrey and Langley.  After ice cream at the Birchwood, riders head for the Chilliwack River road and a turnaround at Thompson Regional Park.  The return is via Boundary and 0 Avenue all the way to Peace Arch Park and beyond to Tsawwassen before heading back to Grand Gamma Station.

Loop 4, 100 km, can be done on Day 2 by the speedy 400/400/200 riders, or not.  It is a flat circuit around Richmond.

Loop 5, 200 km, heads out to Fort Langley, Glen Valley, and other familiar places in north Langley and Abbotsford (with a loop through PoCo on the way back), hopefully using some unfamiliar roads.

A GPX/TCX file will be provided for all five loops separately.  Your Garmin might get confused, even if you don't. Fair warning: Limited pre-riding has been done.  There are several areas where road construction is underway, please respect the flaggers.  There is a fair amount of gravel but very little that is not suitable for 25 mm tires.  Even so, you may have to walk for short stretches. One will need to lift one's bike over the horse trail gate lips in a few places. There are several places where one enters a street with a "No Exit" sign.  Fear not -- bikes can get through.  There are a couple of places posted with "No Tresspassing" signs.  Again, fear not, these are recognized bikeways and we are authorized. Services are generally plentiful on, or just off, the route.  Services are noted on the route sheet in those areas where this is not the case.

Please join us on September 18 for what promises to be a unique and adventuresome 1000 km brevet!

Mike