There will be no Valley GranFondo in Fort Langley this year, organizer Mark Ernsting has confirmed.
The website for the event has posted a notice to that effect.
“As a result of the continued pandemic, we have once again made the difficult decision to cancel the 2021 event, originally scheduled for June 5th.”
All participants who deferred their 2020 entry to the 2021 event should have received an email giving them the the option of a refund, or deferring registration again, to the 2022 event.
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Ernsting was responding to a incorrect posting on a cycling website that mistakenly said the event, normally held on weekends, would be happening on July 5, a Monday, this year.
Not so, said Ernsting.
He is hopeful current COVID restrictions will have been lifted in time for a 2022 event, which he said will likely add a family ride, potentially along a shorter 20, to 30 kilometre route.
“We really feel that’s a big component [of the sport] and we’d really like to incorporate it,” Ernsting told the Langley Advance Times.
At the 8th Annual Prospera Valley GranFondo in Fort Langley in 2019, more than 1,200 riders rode along one of three routes.
It was the first GranFondo managed by M1 Sports Management, founded by Ernsting, a former cycling champion.
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Officially, in the original Italian tradition, GranFondo are planned bicycle rides of at least 120 kilometres, but the event starting from and ending in Fort Langley is laid out in three course lengths, from a full 160 km for serious cyclists, to an easier-to-manage 50 km for beginners and youngsters.
A portion of the registration fees from the GranFondo helps support local various programs.
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