Twenty-five of us showed up at 33rd and Ontario at 7 am last Sunday (May 6) right beside jittery half marathon runners lining up for blue biffy relief before their start. We were testing the idea of a community ride on the BMO Vancouver International Marathon course ahead of the runners, taking advantage of the barricaded streets. This is something done in other cities, and has the potential to become the mass community ride Vancouver so badly needs. Beginning in 1995, the LA Marathon organizers had a non-competitive bike race on their route before the runners race – an event that drew more than 10,000 cyclists. But in 2009, new race organizers eliminated the bike tour from the official program.
Although the ride was promoted by V.I.A. and other reputable sources, its so-called organizers were careful to let prospective riders know that the marathon organizers weren't happy about it. They were already spooked by the traffic complexities along their new route, summarized in a 600-page traffic plan that had taken 18 months to produce. They didn't want any new risks that might spoil their show. That, the early hour, and the novelty of the concept no doubt kept some prospective riders at home. (In Boston, cyclists solve the early hour problem by having a midnight marathon ride as well as early morning riders.) It was mostly lycra-clad cycling group friends who showed up, some from the North Shore, prepared to ride shorter and slower than they usually would, in return for a traffic-free scenic tour of the west side of Vancouver.
We left Riley Park and headed up the 37th Ave. bike greenway to hook into the marathon course heading south on Cambie. With the full marathon runners not starting until 8, some of the streets (like Cambie heading south) were still open to car traffic, but at that hour on a Sunday, we had a lot of car-free time on the streets. On 49th we had some entirely car-free barricaded lanes; side street traffic was never an issue-- it was blocked all along the course. Marathon organizers thought cyclists might get in the way of water trucks servicing the frequent watering stations, but we only encountered two of them in the 30k section of the course that we rode. They weren't hard to ride around.
The new marathon route takes in some of Vancouver's most spectacular scenery, especially coming around the UBC peninsula on Marine Drive and coasting down the hill to Spanish Banks through to Jericho Beach. Riding along Pt. Grey Rd. and down Cornwall in totally protected lanes was a highlight. Some rule-obsessed safety-immune VPD officer insisted we cycle against oncoming bike traffic in the Burrard Bridge bike lane rather than use the completely empty lane beside it that had been closed-off for the runners (still an hour away).
We kept away from the seawall section of the marathon, skirting north along the Hornby bike lane, to avoid interrupting the half-marathoners already racing through Stanley Park. Finishing at the foot of Burrard, a block from the marathon finish line, we then retreated to La Musette cafe in the lane off Drake to jostle for seats with scores of other lycra hounds taking a break from their Sunday morning rides.
Marathon organizers have said they would consider incorporating this ride in their program next year. Our small pilot ride this year showed there's not a lot that can go wrong, and that this ride has a lot of potential for promoting the marathon and getting people out on the course who could never be able to run it.
