Horse Creek Road was abuzz with swarms of cyclists on July 30 as the Tour de Bowness kicked off.
The three-day road race (put on by Bow Cycle) brought 224 riders – both men and women – from all over the country and the United States together for the 15th edition of the competition.
“It was a huge success this year,” said marketing director and race organizer Bob Grunewald. “Compared to previous years there were a lot bigger crowds and the amount of riders that turned out was excellent.”
Stage one was a 22-km course, which started and ended at Wheedon Community Hall, north of Cochrane. Stage two was a steep 1.25 km hill climb held at Canada Olympic Park on July 31 which was cancelled before all six categories of riders could make the ascent due to lightning, while the final stage (criterium) was a high-speed road race through the community of Bowness on Aug 1.
Winners in the Mens One and Two Categories – the highest level – were Nigel Kinney (road race) and Amiel Flett-Brown (criterium) who took home $1,500 (as do all of the winners in the top categories, with winners in lower categories taking home lesser monetary prizes).
In the Womens One, Two, and Three Categories, Anna Talman (road race) and Meghan Lemiski (criterium) finished head of the pack.
As to where the race is heading for the future, Grunewald feels the is a need to plan stages earlier in the day to prevent them from being cancelled, case in point: this year’s hill climb, only the second one in the tour’s history to be cancelled.
“We’re going to try and do that earlier next year because the weather usually seems to be worse as the day progresses,” Grunewald said. “We’re also thinking of doing a youth group because even though we had riders as young as 15 we’ve never had a specific category for kids.”
