November 12, 2025 • 24 mins
Two beloved BC fondos disappeared this year — and not because riders lost interest. We sit down with veteran organizer and Panache Cycling Sports CEO Jon Watkin to unpack the real reasons: traffic control costs spiralling to double-time rates, six-hour minimums, and newly required engineered traffic plans that turn a single intersection into a budget breaker. Jon explains where safety policy helps, where it overreaches, and how a one-size-fits-all approach can sink small, community-driven rides.
From there, we pivot to what’s thriving: gravel. Jon lays out why gravel cycling has become the most welcoming doorway into the sport, and how municipalities and tourism boards, eager to rebuild after the pandemic, are partnering to bring high-quality events to Vancouver Island and beyond.
Learn more about Jon's races at www.panachecyclingsports.com
Sign up for the BC Gravel Series 2026! https://www.bcgravelseries.com
Speed traps on Bowen Island: https://rcmp.ca/en/bc/careers/volunteer-programs/speed-watch (To set up a speed watch program, contact your local RCMP.)
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The Bike Sense podcast with Peter Ladner is produced by the BC Cycling Coalition – your voice for safer and more accessible cycling and active transportation in British Columbia. Membership in the BCCC is now FREE! The future of this podcast depends on people like you becoming members at BCCycling.ca. Please join us.
Got feedback or ideas for future episodes? Please drop us an email at admin@bccycling.ca.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Peter (00:27):
Welcome to Bike Sense, the BC Cycling Coalition's
podcast, where we talk about allthings related to active
transportation advocacy in BC.
I'm your host, Peter Ladner,Chair of the Board of the BC
Cycling Coalition.
I hope you enjoy the show.
My guest today is John Watkin,the CEO of Panache Cycling
(00:54):
Sport, and we're going to talkabout what's with the Fondo
cancellations and why is it sohard to put on bike events these
days.
But before I do, I want toshare a message from a listener
who heard our podcast with theRCMP Media Relations Officer
about enforcement of the safepassing distance.
Dan Park from Bowen Islandwrites, I've been cycling for
(01:16):
many, many years and from timeto time speak with the police
about speeding traffic.
They are invariablysympathetic, but they say they
just don't have the resources tobe out all the time to monitor
traffic.
But ICBC has a neighborhoodspeed watch program that is run
in conjunction with the RCMP.
The local RCMP works withinterested neighborhood
(01:37):
volunteers who are concernedabout speeding in their
neighborhoods and communitiesand trains people to use radar
guns.
Volunteers are not able toissue tickets, but they can
forward identifying info to thepolice who will send warning
letters.
Repeat offenders or seriousspeeders will likely receive a
call or visit from the police.
We are just getting it up andrunning here on Bowen Island.
(01:59):
If you'd like to get this upand running in your community,
we will post a link to theprogram in the show notes.
So back to my guest today, JohnWatkins has been a commuter, a
cyclist, a competitor, avolunteer, manager, and event
director.
He's the co-founder of theWheelhouse Cycling Society.
(02:21):
Maybe you'll tell us what thatis.
And has served on the CyclingBC board for many years.
He's a former elite racer inEurope and at the highest
amateur level here in Canadauntil 2001.
Welcome, John.
Jon (02:36):
Thanks for having me, Peter.
I really appreciate it.
Peter (02:39):
So just to help flesh out the introduction and give
listeners a better idea of whatyou do, could you describe some
of the events that you'vefounded or are currently
involved with and also your mostcurrent upcoming event?
Jon (02:54):
Sure.
Yeah, actually, um I cut mycloth with the uh Bastion Square
Grand Prix, which has been amainstay cycling event in
Victoria since 1994.
It was a legacy event from uhthe Commonwealth Games.
And so I inherited that in2001.
And uh you could call it Trialby Fire.
Uh so I ran that event for anumber of years and then pivoted
(03:15):
to moving the venue fromBastion Square to the BC
legislature, which uh continueson to this very day.
Uh, if your listeners are awareof what's what criterium
racing, they should be Googlingthe uh uh Gas Town Grand Prix.
Uh there's the Robert CameronLost Cycling Series.
So it's very spectatorfriendly.
(03:36):
And uh all this time I wasdoing it uh while I had a new
family and working a full-timejob, uh, but I've been able to
learn the craft.
And uh just after the pandemic,I decided to go full-time and I
started a new company calledPanache Cycling Sports.
And um I'm now doing uhanywhere from seven to nine
(03:57):
events per year, and we've uhevolved to hosting major uh
national championship events.
And uh in the last uh fiveyears, we've hosted two national
cyclocross championships.
And uh this summer, this pastsummer, we hosted the Canadian
Mountain Bike Championships, andthen next year we're uh looking
forward to hosting the CanadianGravel Championships and uh and
(04:21):
then continuing our second yearof hosting the mountain bike
championships.
So it's it's been fun and uhdoing it full time has been
interesting, but uh yeah, I'mjust enjoying it.
You could call thissemi-retirement.
Peter (04:33):
What did you do before?
Jon (04:35):
I was primarily in the tech industry.
I was working for a major uhFortune 500 company uh in in
sales, and then I pivoted toquality management systems and I
became a trained uh qualitysystems auditor and uh did that
for 10 years.
And then I I was uh VP ofbusiness development for a
(04:57):
product design firm uh inVictoria.
So learned a lot of good thingsfrom the tech industry and uh
but no pun intended, it justdidn't turn my crank.
Peter (05:07):
Well, now that your crank is turning, well, first of all,
you have you were gonna tell meabout an upcoming event.
Jon (05:13):
Well, yeah, we've got um we're we're actually about to
launch the 2026 uh BC GravelSeries, um, and we're gonna be
adding uh Port Alberni uh intothe mix.
So we're looking at four gravelevents for 2026.
So that's uh Campbell River inApril, Port Alberni in May, uh
in the Cowitan Valley.
(05:35):
Uh uh that'll be the CanadianGravel Championships, and then
in September will be the uh thelast event, which is in
Cumberland.
Um and then we are hosting theBC Cyclocross Championships
actually uh in two weeks.
So if we're trying to look atan event that's in our community
in Victoria coming really soon,uh that'll be at Layritz Park
in Saanich on November the 9th.
Peter (05:57):
Well, I wanted to back down from those very impressive
championship level events andhave a quick look at what's
going on with the fondos,because we've seen the
cancellation of two big fondosin BC this year, the Victoria
one and the Penticton one.
And a fondo, for people whoaren't familiar with one, is a
(06:17):
mass participation long-distancebike ride, sort of like a
marathon for cyclists, wherethere's a mass start and they're
usually 80 to 160 kilometers.
They're timed, but they're notraces necessarily, although many
of us tend to race when we goin them.
They have support stops withstations with food and drinks
(06:37):
and mechanical help, and afestival atmosphere, and they
generate usually a lot ofspectators.
They're very fun events, andanyone who's been in one usually
really loves the experience.
But why are these fondos beingcanceled?
And is that part of a largertrend of cancellation of bike
events for reasons that you'reabout to explain to us?
Jon (07:00):
Um, I would say the there's commonalities in terms of why
these events were canceled, andfundamentally it was due to uh
rising costs of traffic control,and it became so high to the
extent that it does not make theuh the events uh commercially
viable, whether they're afor-profit or a nonprofit
organization.
(07:21):
So it's a common trend acrossthe board, I would think.
I don't think it's isolated.
I think this is maybe a bit ofa canary in a coal mined uh
situation with these two events.
But um speaking to other fellowevent organizers, I mean, I
think they're seeing the samething where the the costs are
rising.
I think there's somereassessment of risk management
(07:45):
from different municipalities interms of what they perceive is
is uh is appropriate uh riskmitigation.
But uh the the the fundamentalcosts of traffic control are are
the real reasons.
And um, you know, you can onlyimagine traffic control uh uh
costs are driven by the risingdevelopments.
(08:07):
And if you look aroundVictoria, there's construction
everywhere, so there must beabsolutely high demand for
traffic control services.
So a lot of these trafficcontrol companies can more or
less charge whatever they want.
And it's the small communityevents that I think end up
suffering the most because umthey're, you know, we're running
on much smaller budgets.
Peter (08:25):
Well, granted that there was a fatality in the Penticton
Fondo, and and I think there wasa problem something similar in
Victoria occurred at some point.
Um are these concernsjustified?
Are are the municipalities andregional districts overreacting
to the risks?
Jon (08:41):
Do you think um well each instance needs to be evaluated
on its own sort of uh issues?
Um as far as the Victoria one,um, you know, the uh the traffic
control plan uh had been signedand approved by both the police
and the district, andeverything looked good.
(09:03):
And even to the extent that umfrom what's been released from
the police report, there was nofault ascribed to the trap, the
volunteer marshal or the driver.
And it was just a tragicaccident.
Um with that being said, thedecision to show no distinction
between marshalling a small sidecul-de-sac versus a major
(09:25):
four-way intersection, that'swhere the issue is.
And so in in our instances,when we work with
municipalities, um there's areasonable assumption of risk
where if you have, if thecyclists already have the right
of way and uh vehicles have tostop anyway, having a marshal
there is reasonable to allow thedriver of the vehicle to take
(09:47):
the extra time to make sure thatthere are no cyclists passing
by before they're able toproceed.
However, having a certifiedtraffic controller would not
necessarily change the outcomeof the situation, but it would
certainly drive the costsignificantly.
If you can imagine a certifiedtraffic controller on a Sunday,
(10:09):
they they're they're they chargedouble time.
And typical traffic controlcompanies require a minimum six
hours of billing.
So if you're running a smallevent and you just need a single
person for just an hour, itdoesn't matter.
You're paying for six hours atdouble rates.
Peter (10:22):
What what is that amount, roughly?
Jon (10:25):
Uh it it can go anywhere from $130 to $180 an hour.
Wow.
Yeah.
So in a case of the triple shotcross-fondo, my understanding
is in past years they've runthis event for for many, many
years with only seven certifiedtraffic controllers.
Um, and that uh and again,without any any issue.
(10:48):
And now they're being asked touh come up with 24.
And this is a double time rateat a minimum, you know, four to
six hours of time.
So those costs just areastronomical.
And I think the other newrequirement is the requirement
for an engineered trafficcontrol plan.
So when we've done uh events inthe past, we would have a
(11:11):
certified traffic controlcompany create a traffic control
plan.
Um, and that would besufficient to get permit
approval from differentmunicipalities.
However, in this particularinstance, it needs to be an
engineered uh traffic controlplan uh signed off by a civil
engineer, and that could addmore cost to the event.
And I I can't I can't think ofwhat a civil engineer costs or
(11:32):
what their billable rate is.
Peter (11:34):
Does their contribution make a significant difference,
do you think?
Jon (11:38):
We don't know.
We we've never, I mean, Icertainly have never had an
engineer uh devise a trafficcontrol plan.
Um so I don't know to theextent of what else they would
provide that uh a trafficcontrol company uh would provide
us anyway.
I mean, the the the trafficcontrol plans that I've seen are
quite thorough.
They they specify positions andlocations of people, the flow
(12:01):
of traffic, the types of signagethat's being used, um you know,
all those things.
Um so I can't think of anythingelse that the engineer would
would suggest to make it moresafe.
Peter (12:12):
Could you talk a little bit about what the impact is on
a community when it has a fondo?
You're probably most familiarwith the Victoria one.
You've got thousands of riderscoming in and their friends and
family.
Talk a little bit about theeconomic impact and the impact
on just the popularity ofcycling.
Jon (12:30):
These events, I mean, they draw so like hundreds of people
from outside the area, fromVictoria.
They come over from the lowermainland, the interior of the
Fraser Valley, uh, Kootenys.
Um typically they spend one ortwo nights, they stay in hotels,
they spend money atrestaurants.
So the economic impact on theseevents is is is huge.
(12:51):
Um, if you look at an eventlike the Triple Shock Cross
Fondo, it actually takes placeduring the shoulder months of
the year in October, and that'swhen the hotels are at their
lowest occupancy.
So these events are critical tohelp the hospitality industry
kind of maintain a bit of a flatline as it relates to the their
revenues and economic benefits.
Um, and then you've got thelocal bike shops, uh, travel to
(13:13):
and from locations.
So yeah, they're they'resignificant.
And you know, if if you were tospeak to you know Tourism
Victoria, I think they wouldhave some very ponding things to
say about the cancellation ofthese events because it really
affects their mandate, which isto really bolster uh tourism and
sport tourism in the region.
Peter (13:36):
Tell me about the fundraising events, the cops for
cancer and the and the variousevents where a lot of amateur
cyclists uh polish up theirbikes and head out for
fundraisers.
Are they still going strong?
Are they having problems?
Jon (13:50):
Uh I'm not aware of any issues with like uh like the
Tour de Rock Cops for Cancer.
Obviously, they have thebenefit of uh having police
services and support.
And you know, if you have apolice uh escort of your bike
ride, I mean that's that's huge.
Um it's very rare to ever getthe police involved with any
cycling event for that matter.
But I I know the the thethere's a local grassroots
(14:14):
cycling group called theVictoria Cycling League, and
they've been faced withcancellation of their own events
because they're trying tobasically start bike racing
development at the mostfundamental level, which is
getting young kids and youngadults into bike racing.
So we've seen them affected byby these changes.
So just as a foot in the doorgetting people into learning the
(14:36):
sport of cycling, um, we'reseeing that um, you know, for
the smallest uh, you know,grassroots events.
Peter (14:44):
You mentioned that Tourism Victoria is probably
unhappy with the cancellation ofthe Fondo.
You also mentioned to meearlier that you've been
approached by municipalities whoreally want these events to
come to their communities.
And tell me a bit about thatand then what they have to learn
and do to make that happen.
Jon (15:02):
Yeah, I mean, up until I think it was post-pandemic, um,
we've I've had a number ofmunicipalities reach out to me,
particularly uh City of CampbellRiver, and um we've developed
strong partnerships with theCalaghan Valley Regional
District and Tourism to Naimo.
And they they see uh thesetypes of events as being
(15:23):
fundamental to help to uhbusinesses recover from the the
losses during the pandemic.
So before the pandemic, it wasthe opposite.
It was us begging and pleadingthe municipalities and cities to
host these events, and then forus having to jump through a lot
of hoops to get the permits.
So it was interesting to have asituation where municipalities
(15:43):
coming to us because theythey're trying to revitalize
their own economies and they seethese events as as being uh
very complementary to what iswhat is already there.
If you look at VancouverIsland, especially, there's
hundreds of kilometers of trailsand gravel roads.
So if you're a a gravel ormountain bike enthusiast, it's a
(16:05):
it's a playground.
And so uh inviting people tocome to the island and to take
advantage of this this outdoorstadium that we have, um, they
they they see the the bigpicture here.
And so yeah, we've we've we'veworked with these partnerships
and most recently uh PortAlberni, um, they want an event
on their doorstep, so we'reworking with them to make that
(16:26):
happen.
Peter (16:27):
You talked about uh some gravel events.
What's a gravel event?
Is that a race?
What if I were just taking upgravel biking, could I go in
there and enjoy myself, or do Ihave to be sponsored and very
fast?
Jon (16:39):
Uh not at all.
Gravel cycling is probably themost uh inclusive and accessible
cycling discipline in NorthAmerica right now.
Peter (16:51):
Describe to me what you mean by gravel cycling.
Jon (16:54):
It's um think of uh roads that take you away from the
hustle and bustle of the city,yeah, whether it's through crown
land, and they just take youthrough these remote areas where
you're just away from the cityand you're you're essentially in
the middle of nowhere.
The the forestry industry isprobably responsible for most of
the gravel roads that we'reseeing uh on Vancouver Island
(17:17):
and the lower mainland.
Uh, love or hate the loggingindustry, it's really made uh
people appreciate the thewilderness and the outdoors, and
especially now that people aregetting so frightened about
riding their bikes on pavedroads.
And in spite of the fact thatthere's all these uh separated
bike lanes, um I'm noticing moreand more people are scared to
ride their bikes around the citybecause it's just too
(17:39):
congested, it's too busy.
I'm seeing more and moremotorists being distracted and
instances of fellow cyclistsbeing hit or almost hit by
distracted motorists.
So it's becoming a morefundamental problem.
But gravel just seems to invitepeople to like get away from
downtown, enjoy your bike on theoutdoors, ride on the galloping
(18:00):
goose.
Uh, I would I would considerthe galloping goose as gravel
riding.
And um, and if you go into abike shop, you'll see there's
more offerings of gravel bikesto buy than there ever was
before.
Peter (18:11):
And a gravel bike is a regular road bike with wider
tires?
Jon (18:17):
Yeah, from first appearances, a gravel bike looks
like a road bike.
You know, it's got the the drophandlebars, but the the bikes
themselves are configured so youcan accommodate a tire width of
about you know almost twoinches.
But they're they're muchlighter than a mountain bike.
They typically don't come withwith suspension, although I
(18:39):
think that's starting to change.
There's you have to understandhere the bicycle industry is is
constantly trying to reinventitself.
So they'll they'll come up witha new category that's it's not
a mountain bike, it's not a roadbike, it's kind of a merge of
of the two together.
Peter (18:53):
So people are coming to these gravel events.
You don't have to be a fancyracer, you can be just a person
who likes to get out in thebackwoods.
Jon (18:59):
That's right.
Peter (19:00):
And that sounds very appealing.
Yeah.
Um are you are they getting alot of uptake?
Jon (19:04):
Absolutely.
I mean, you know, our event, wewe kind of there there, we have
two arms in terms of what wetry to do.
We want to be a sport tourismevent, but we also want to be an
eco-tourism event.
We want people to feel thatthey can go to our event and not
having to be too concernedabout their finish time.
And and we also try to selectroutes that bring people to the
most beautiful, most scenicparts of Vancouver Island.
(19:26):
And we have three distances.
You can be just abeginner-level cyclist, and
typically that's about 30 to 40kilometers.
Intermediate is about 70kilometers.
And if you're a hardcoreenthusiast, you're looking at
about 110 to 120 kilometers ofriding.
So there's something foreverybody, and we even have a
category for e-bikes.
So if you I think I've got acouple of uh participants that
(19:48):
are in their mid-late 70s andthey have an e-bike and they're
able to tackle those 20% gradeswithout any problem.
Peter (19:57):
Uh just to wrap up, I'd just like to look at what you do
in the context of cycletourism, because uh when I think
of cycle tourism, I think of agroup of people who decide
they're going to do the KettleValley Railway or something.
But you also attract tourists.
And do you work with othercycle tourism promoters, tour
guides, what hotels, uh tourismagencies, whatever, to make that
(20:22):
happen?
And what do you think we needto be do to do to make more
tourists come and cycle at BC?
Jon (20:28):
Yeah, I mean, we work with Tourism Victoria, Tourism Couch,
and Tourism Danaimo, CampbellRiver, Port Alberni.
Uh, there's an organizationcalled 4VI, which is sort of
like a consolidated group thatsupports uh tourism on Vancouver
Island.
I haven't worked directly withany tourism offices or agencies
outside of Vancouver Island, butI think the uh transportation
(20:49):
and getting uh to and from thearea is a big one.
I I can only speak to being onVancouver Island.
Like if if the ferries, BCferries costs keep increasing, I
think we're gonna start seeingfewer and fewer people that are
gonna be able to come toVancouver Island.
We would want to encouragepeople to ride their bike to our
events instead of driving.
So that would kind of make itso that it makes it more easy
(21:11):
for people to get to the island.
But beyond that, I think it'sjust more of like a messaging uh
thing.
You know, people don't realizehow beautiful uh the British
Columbia is, how beautifulVancouver Island is, and and
there's no better way to enjoythose, the the beauty of the
outdoors than on a bicycle.
And one thing I'd like to addtoo, like when we partner with
these municipalities, we collectuh tens of gigabytes of video
(21:37):
and and professionalphotography, and we share that
with all uh our municipalpartners so that they can then
use this professionally uhproduced video and photography
and then use that to promotetheir own respective regions,
right?
So we we try to take an activerole to making that happen.
Peter (21:54):
Terrific.
Well, one day we were we'regonna get the BC Ferries on this
podcast and talk to them abouthow they can be more cycling
friendly.
But until then, is thereanything else you would like to
add before we wrap this up?
Jon (22:06):
Yeah, uh stay tuned for the 2026 BC Gravel Series uh coming
to Vancouver Island starting inApril of next year.
And um, if you're fromVancouver Island and you wanna
um, if you don't want, if youwant to ride, but you also want
to support our events or evenvolunteer, I mean, we're always
looking for people to help usout in different ways too.
(22:27):
So uh if you visitbcgravelseries.com, uh you can
sign up.
We'd love to have you on board.
Peter (22:35):
Thanks, Jonathan.
Uh, I think if I wanted to comenext April, I should start
making my ferry reservationsright now, right?
Jon (22:42):
Uh unless, unless, yeah, I mean, unless if you're just a
walk-on, you should be fine.
Peter (22:46):
Yeah, right.
Thanks so much for telling usall these stories and filling us
in on this whole aspect ofcycling, which we haven't really
covered on this podcast before,which is clearly a major part
of how people cycle in ourcommunities.
And uh congratulations on yourrole in making it happen and
best of luck for getting thesefondos back in gear, as they
(23:07):
say, and surmounting some ofthese, sometimes it seems
ridiculous, requirements forvery expensive safety measures.
But all the best with that.
Thanks, John.
Jon (23:18):
Thank you.
Appreciate it.
Peter (23:24):
You've been listening to Bike Sense, an original podcast
from the BC Cycling Coalition.
If you like the podcast, we'dbe grateful if you could leave
us a rating on whatever platformyou use.
You can also subscribe so youdon't miss future episodes.
If you have comments orsuggestions for future episodes,
(23:45):
email me at peter.ladner atbccycling.ca.
You can help us amplify BCCycling Coalition's voice by
simply becoming a free member atbccycling.ca
Welcome to Bike Sense, the BC Cycling Coalition's
podcast, where we talk about allthings related to active
transportation advocacy in BC.
I'm your host, Peter Ladner,Chair of the Board of the BC
Cycling Coalition.
I hope you enjoy the show.
My guest today is John Watkin,the CEO of Panache Cycling
(00:54):
Sport, and we're going to talkabout what's with the Fondo
cancellations and why is it sohard to put on bike events these
days.
But before I do, I want toshare a message from a listener
who heard our podcast with theRCMP Media Relations Officer
about enforcement of the safepassing distance.
Dan Park from Bowen Islandwrites, I've been cycling for
(01:16):
many, many years and from timeto time speak with the police
about speeding traffic.
They are invariablysympathetic, but they say they
just don't have the resources tobe out all the time to monitor
traffic.
But ICBC has a neighborhoodspeed watch program that is run
in conjunction with the RCMP.
The local RCMP works withinterested neighborhood
(01:37):
volunteers who are concernedabout speeding in their
neighborhoods and communitiesand trains people to use radar
guns.
Volunteers are not able toissue tickets, but they can
forward identifying info to thepolice who will send warning
letters.
Repeat offenders or seriousspeeders will likely receive a
call or visit from the police.
We are just getting it up andrunning here on Bowen Island.
(01:59):
If you'd like to get this upand running in your community,
we will post a link to theprogram in the show notes.
So back to my guest today, JohnWatkins has been a commuter, a
cyclist, a competitor, avolunteer, manager, and event
director.
He's the co-founder of theWheelhouse Cycling Society.
(02:21):
Maybe you'll tell us what thatis.
And has served on the CyclingBC board for many years.
He's a former elite racer inEurope and at the highest
amateur level here in Canadauntil 2001.
Welcome, John.
Jon (02:36):
Thanks for having me, Peter.
I really appreciate it.
Peter (02:39):
So just to help flesh out the introduction and give
listeners a better idea of whatyou do, could you describe some
of the events that you'vefounded or are currently
involved with and also your mostcurrent upcoming event?
Jon (02:54):
Sure.
Yeah, actually, um I cut mycloth with the uh Bastion Square
Grand Prix, which has been amainstay cycling event in
Victoria since 1994.
It was a legacy event from uhthe Commonwealth Games.
And so I inherited that in2001.
And uh you could call it Trialby Fire.
Uh so I ran that event for anumber of years and then pivoted
(03:15):
to moving the venue fromBastion Square to the BC
legislature, which uh continueson to this very day.
Uh, if your listeners are awareof what's what criterium
racing, they should be Googlingthe uh uh Gas Town Grand Prix.
Uh there's the Robert CameronLost Cycling Series.
So it's very spectatorfriendly.
(03:36):
And uh all this time I wasdoing it uh while I had a new
family and working a full-timejob, uh, but I've been able to
learn the craft.
And uh just after the pandemic,I decided to go full-time and I
started a new company calledPanache Cycling Sports.
And um I'm now doing uhanywhere from seven to nine
(03:57):
events per year, and we've uhevolved to hosting major uh
national championship events.
And uh in the last uh fiveyears, we've hosted two national
cyclocross championships.
And uh this summer, this pastsummer, we hosted the Canadian
Mountain Bike Championships, andthen next year we're uh looking
forward to hosting the CanadianGravel Championships and uh and
(04:21):
then continuing our second yearof hosting the mountain bike
championships.
So it's it's been fun and uhdoing it full time has been
interesting, but uh yeah, I'mjust enjoying it.
You could call thissemi-retirement.
Peter (04:33):
What did you do before?
Jon (04:35):
I was primarily in the tech industry.
I was working for a major uhFortune 500 company uh in in
sales, and then I pivoted toquality management systems and I
became a trained uh qualitysystems auditor and uh did that
for 10 years.
And then I I was uh VP ofbusiness development for a
(04:57):
product design firm uh inVictoria.
So learned a lot of good thingsfrom the tech industry and uh
but no pun intended, it justdidn't turn my crank.
Peter (05:07):
Well, now that your crank is turning, well, first of all,
you have you were gonna tell meabout an upcoming event.
Jon (05:13):
Well, yeah, we've got um we're we're actually about to
launch the 2026 uh BC GravelSeries, um, and we're gonna be
adding uh Port Alberni uh intothe mix.
So we're looking at four gravelevents for 2026.
So that's uh Campbell River inApril, Port Alberni in May, uh
in the Cowitan Valley.
(05:35):
Uh uh that'll be the CanadianGravel Championships, and then
in September will be the uh thelast event, which is in
Cumberland.
Um and then we are hosting theBC Cyclocross Championships
actually uh in two weeks.
So if we're trying to look atan event that's in our community
in Victoria coming really soon,uh that'll be at Layritz Park
in Saanich on November the 9th.
Peter (05:57):
Well, I wanted to back down from those very impressive
championship level events andhave a quick look at what's
going on with the fondos,because we've seen the
cancellation of two big fondosin BC this year, the Victoria
one and the Penticton one.
And a fondo, for people whoaren't familiar with one, is a
(06:17):
mass participation long-distancebike ride, sort of like a
marathon for cyclists, wherethere's a mass start and they're
usually 80 to 160 kilometers.
They're timed, but they're notraces necessarily, although many
of us tend to race when we goin them.
They have support stops withstations with food and drinks
(06:37):
and mechanical help, and afestival atmosphere, and they
generate usually a lot ofspectators.
They're very fun events, andanyone who's been in one usually
really loves the experience.
But why are these fondos beingcanceled?
And is that part of a largertrend of cancellation of bike
events for reasons that you'reabout to explain to us?
Jon (07:00):
Um, I would say the there's commonalities in terms of why
these events were canceled, andfundamentally it was due to uh
rising costs of traffic control,and it became so high to the
extent that it does not make theuh the events uh commercially
viable, whether they're afor-profit or a nonprofit
organization.
(07:21):
So it's a common trend acrossthe board, I would think.
I don't think it's isolated.
I think this is maybe a bit ofa canary in a coal mined uh
situation with these two events.
But um speaking to other fellowevent organizers, I mean, I
think they're seeing the samething where the the costs are
rising.
I think there's somereassessment of risk management
(07:45):
from different municipalities interms of what they perceive is
is uh is appropriate uh riskmitigation.
But uh the the the fundamentalcosts of traffic control are are
the real reasons.
And um, you know, you can onlyimagine traffic control uh uh
costs are driven by the risingdevelopments.
(08:07):
And if you look aroundVictoria, there's construction
everywhere, so there must beabsolutely high demand for
traffic control services.
So a lot of these trafficcontrol companies can more or
less charge whatever they want.
And it's the small communityevents that I think end up
suffering the most because umthey're, you know, we're running
on much smaller budgets.
Peter (08:25):
Well, granted that there was a fatality in the Penticton
Fondo, and and I think there wasa problem something similar in
Victoria occurred at some point.
Um are these concernsjustified?
Are are the municipalities andregional districts overreacting
to the risks?
Jon (08:41):
Do you think um well each instance needs to be evaluated
on its own sort of uh issues?
Um as far as the Victoria one,um, you know, the uh the traffic
control plan uh had been signedand approved by both the police
and the district, andeverything looked good.
(09:03):
And even to the extent that umfrom what's been released from
the police report, there was nofault ascribed to the trap, the
volunteer marshal or the driver.
And it was just a tragicaccident.
Um with that being said, thedecision to show no distinction
between marshalling a small sidecul-de-sac versus a major
(09:25):
four-way intersection, that'swhere the issue is.
And so in in our instances,when we work with
municipalities, um there's areasonable assumption of risk
where if you have, if thecyclists already have the right
of way and uh vehicles have tostop anyway, having a marshal
there is reasonable to allow thedriver of the vehicle to take
(09:47):
the extra time to make sure thatthere are no cyclists passing
by before they're able toproceed.
However, having a certifiedtraffic controller would not
necessarily change the outcomeof the situation, but it would
certainly drive the costsignificantly.
If you can imagine a certifiedtraffic controller on a Sunday,
(10:09):
they they're they're they chargedouble time.
And typical traffic controlcompanies require a minimum six
hours of billing.
So if you're running a smallevent and you just need a single
person for just an hour, itdoesn't matter.
You're paying for six hours atdouble rates.
Peter (10:22):
What what is that amount, roughly?
Jon (10:25):
Uh it it can go anywhere from $130 to $180 an hour.
Wow.
Yeah.
So in a case of the triple shotcross-fondo, my understanding
is in past years they've runthis event for for many, many
years with only seven certifiedtraffic controllers.
Um, and that uh and again,without any any issue.
(10:48):
And now they're being asked touh come up with 24.
And this is a double time rateat a minimum, you know, four to
six hours of time.
So those costs just areastronomical.
And I think the other newrequirement is the requirement
for an engineered trafficcontrol plan.
So when we've done uh events inthe past, we would have a
(11:11):
certified traffic controlcompany create a traffic control
plan.
Um, and that would besufficient to get permit
approval from differentmunicipalities.
However, in this particularinstance, it needs to be an
engineered uh traffic controlplan uh signed off by a civil
engineer, and that could addmore cost to the event.
And I I can't I can't think ofwhat a civil engineer costs or
(11:32):
what their billable rate is.
Peter (11:34):
Does their contribution make a significant difference,
do you think?
Jon (11:38):
We don't know.
We we've never, I mean, Icertainly have never had an
engineer uh devise a trafficcontrol plan.
Um so I don't know to theextent of what else they would
provide that uh a trafficcontrol company uh would provide
us anyway.
I mean, the the the trafficcontrol plans that I've seen are
quite thorough.
They they specify positions andlocations of people, the flow
(12:01):
of traffic, the types of signagethat's being used, um you know,
all those things.
Um so I can't think of anythingelse that the engineer would
would suggest to make it moresafe.
Peter (12:12):
Could you talk a little bit about what the impact is on
a community when it has a fondo?
You're probably most familiarwith the Victoria one.
You've got thousands of riderscoming in and their friends and
family.
Talk a little bit about theeconomic impact and the impact
on just the popularity ofcycling.
Jon (12:30):
These events, I mean, they draw so like hundreds of people
from outside the area, fromVictoria.
They come over from the lowermainland, the interior of the
Fraser Valley, uh, Kootenys.
Um typically they spend one ortwo nights, they stay in hotels,
they spend money atrestaurants.
So the economic impact on theseevents is is is huge.
(12:51):
Um, if you look at an eventlike the Triple Shock Cross
Fondo, it actually takes placeduring the shoulder months of
the year in October, and that'swhen the hotels are at their
lowest occupancy.
So these events are critical tohelp the hospitality industry
kind of maintain a bit of a flatline as it relates to the their
revenues and economic benefits.
Um, and then you've got thelocal bike shops, uh, travel to
(13:13):
and from locations.
So yeah, they're they'resignificant.
And you know, if if you were tospeak to you know Tourism
Victoria, I think they wouldhave some very ponding things to
say about the cancellation ofthese events because it really
affects their mandate, which isto really bolster uh tourism and
sport tourism in the region.
Peter (13:36):
Tell me about the fundraising events, the cops for
cancer and the and the variousevents where a lot of amateur
cyclists uh polish up theirbikes and head out for
fundraisers.
Are they still going strong?
Are they having problems?
Jon (13:50):
Uh I'm not aware of any issues with like uh like the
Tour de Rock Cops for Cancer.
Obviously, they have thebenefit of uh having police
services and support.
And you know, if you have apolice uh escort of your bike
ride, I mean that's that's huge.
Um it's very rare to ever getthe police involved with any
cycling event for that matter.
But I I know the the thethere's a local grassroots
(14:14):
cycling group called theVictoria Cycling League, and
they've been faced withcancellation of their own events
because they're trying tobasically start bike racing
development at the mostfundamental level, which is
getting young kids and youngadults into bike racing.
So we've seen them affected byby these changes.
So just as a foot in the doorgetting people into learning the
(14:36):
sport of cycling, um, we'reseeing that um, you know, for
the smallest uh, you know,grassroots events.
Peter (14:44):
You mentioned that Tourism Victoria is probably
unhappy with the cancellation ofthe Fondo.
You also mentioned to meearlier that you've been
approached by municipalities whoreally want these events to
come to their communities.
And tell me a bit about thatand then what they have to learn
and do to make that happen.
Jon (15:02):
Yeah, I mean, up until I think it was post-pandemic, um,
we've I've had a number ofmunicipalities reach out to me,
particularly uh City of CampbellRiver, and um we've developed
strong partnerships with theCalaghan Valley Regional
District and Tourism to Naimo.
And they they see uh thesetypes of events as being
(15:23):
fundamental to help to uhbusinesses recover from the the
losses during the pandemic.
So before the pandemic, it wasthe opposite.
It was us begging and pleadingthe municipalities and cities to
host these events, and then forus having to jump through a lot
of hoops to get the permits.
So it was interesting to have asituation where municipalities
(15:43):
coming to us because theythey're trying to revitalize
their own economies and they seethese events as as being uh
very complementary to what iswhat is already there.
If you look at VancouverIsland, especially, there's
hundreds of kilometers of trailsand gravel roads.
So if you're a a gravel ormountain bike enthusiast, it's a
(16:05):
it's a playground.
And so uh inviting people tocome to the island and to take
advantage of this this outdoorstadium that we have, um, they
they they see the the bigpicture here.
And so yeah, we've we've we'veworked with these partnerships
and most recently uh PortAlberni, um, they want an event
on their doorstep, so we'reworking with them to make that
(16:26):
happen.
Peter (16:27):
You talked about uh some gravel events.
What's a gravel event?
Is that a race?
What if I were just taking upgravel biking, could I go in
there and enjoy myself, or do Ihave to be sponsored and very
fast?
Jon (16:39):
Uh not at all.
Gravel cycling is probably themost uh inclusive and accessible
cycling discipline in NorthAmerica right now.
Peter (16:51):
Describe to me what you mean by gravel cycling.
Jon (16:54):
It's um think of uh roads that take you away from the
hustle and bustle of the city,yeah, whether it's through crown
land, and they just take youthrough these remote areas where
you're just away from the cityand you're you're essentially in
the middle of nowhere.
The the forestry industry isprobably responsible for most of
the gravel roads that we'reseeing uh on Vancouver Island
(17:17):
and the lower mainland.
Uh, love or hate the loggingindustry, it's really made uh
people appreciate the thewilderness and the outdoors, and
especially now that people aregetting so frightened about
riding their bikes on pavedroads.
And in spite of the fact thatthere's all these uh separated
bike lanes, um I'm noticing moreand more people are scared to
ride their bikes around the citybecause it's just too
(17:39):
congested, it's too busy.
I'm seeing more and moremotorists being distracted and
instances of fellow cyclistsbeing hit or almost hit by
distracted motorists.
So it's becoming a morefundamental problem.
But gravel just seems to invitepeople to like get away from
downtown, enjoy your bike on theoutdoors, ride on the galloping
(18:00):
goose.
Uh, I would I would considerthe galloping goose as gravel
riding.
And um, and if you go into abike shop, you'll see there's
more offerings of gravel bikesto buy than there ever was
before.
Peter (18:11):
And a gravel bike is a regular road bike with wider
tires?
Jon (18:17):
Yeah, from first appearances, a gravel bike looks
like a road bike.
You know, it's got the the drophandlebars, but the the bikes
themselves are configured so youcan accommodate a tire width of
about you know almost twoinches.
But they're they're muchlighter than a mountain bike.
They typically don't come withwith suspension, although I
(18:39):
think that's starting to change.
There's you have to understandhere the bicycle industry is is
constantly trying to reinventitself.
So they'll they'll come up witha new category that's it's not
a mountain bike, it's not a roadbike, it's kind of a merge of
of the two together.
Peter (18:53):
So people are coming to these gravel events.
You don't have to be a fancyracer, you can be just a person
who likes to get out in thebackwoods.
Jon (18:59):
That's right.
Peter (19:00):
And that sounds very appealing.
Yeah.
Um are you are they getting alot of uptake?
Jon (19:04):
Absolutely.
I mean, you know, our event, wewe kind of there there, we have
two arms in terms of what wetry to do.
We want to be a sport tourismevent, but we also want to be an
eco-tourism event.
We want people to feel thatthey can go to our event and not
having to be too concernedabout their finish time.
And and we also try to selectroutes that bring people to the
most beautiful, most scenicparts of Vancouver Island.
(19:26):
And we have three distances.
You can be just abeginner-level cyclist, and
typically that's about 30 to 40kilometers.
Intermediate is about 70kilometers.
And if you're a hardcoreenthusiast, you're looking at
about 110 to 120 kilometers ofriding.
So there's something foreverybody, and we even have a
category for e-bikes.
So if you I think I've got acouple of uh participants that
(19:48):
are in their mid-late 70s andthey have an e-bike and they're
able to tackle those 20% gradeswithout any problem.
Peter (19:57):
Uh just to wrap up, I'd just like to look at what you do
in the context of cycletourism, because uh when I think
of cycle tourism, I think of agroup of people who decide
they're going to do the KettleValley Railway or something.
But you also attract tourists.
And do you work with othercycle tourism promoters, tour
guides, what hotels, uh tourismagencies, whatever, to make that
(20:22):
happen?
And what do you think we needto be do to do to make more
tourists come and cycle at BC?
Jon (20:28):
Yeah, I mean, we work with Tourism Victoria, Tourism Couch,
and Tourism Danaimo, CampbellRiver, Port Alberni.
Uh, there's an organizationcalled 4VI, which is sort of
like a consolidated group thatsupports uh tourism on Vancouver
Island.
I haven't worked directly withany tourism offices or agencies
outside of Vancouver Island, butI think the uh transportation
(20:49):
and getting uh to and from thearea is a big one.
I I can only speak to being onVancouver Island.
Like if if the ferries, BCferries costs keep increasing, I
think we're gonna start seeingfewer and fewer people that are
gonna be able to come toVancouver Island.
We would want to encouragepeople to ride their bike to our
events instead of driving.
So that would kind of make itso that it makes it more easy
(21:11):
for people to get to the island.
But beyond that, I think it'sjust more of like a messaging uh
thing.
You know, people don't realizehow beautiful uh the British
Columbia is, how beautifulVancouver Island is, and and
there's no better way to enjoythose, the the beauty of the
outdoors than on a bicycle.
And one thing I'd like to addtoo, like when we partner with
these municipalities, we collectuh tens of gigabytes of video
(21:37):
and and professionalphotography, and we share that
with all uh our municipalpartners so that they can then
use this professionally uhproduced video and photography
and then use that to promotetheir own respective regions,
right?
So we we try to take an activerole to making that happen.
Peter (21:54):
Terrific.
Well, one day we were we'regonna get the BC Ferries on this
podcast and talk to them abouthow they can be more cycling
friendly.
But until then, is thereanything else you would like to
add before we wrap this up?
Jon (22:06):
Yeah, uh stay tuned for the 2026 BC Gravel Series uh coming
to Vancouver Island starting inApril of next year.
And um, if you're fromVancouver Island and you wanna
um, if you don't want, if youwant to ride, but you also want
to support our events or evenvolunteer, I mean, we're always
looking for people to help usout in different ways too.
(22:27):
So uh if you visitbcgravelseries.com, uh you can
sign up.
We'd love to have you on board.
Peter (22:35):
Thanks, Jonathan.
Uh, I think if I wanted to comenext April, I should start
making my ferry reservationsright now, right?
Jon (22:42):
Uh unless, unless, yeah, I mean, unless if you're just a
walk-on, you should be fine.
Peter (22:46):
Yeah, right.
Thanks so much for telling usall these stories and filling us
in on this whole aspect ofcycling, which we haven't really
covered on this podcast before,which is clearly a major part
of how people cycle in ourcommunities.
And uh congratulations on yourrole in making it happen and
best of luck for getting thesefondos back in gear, as they
(23:07):
say, and surmounting some ofthese, sometimes it seems
ridiculous, requirements forvery expensive safety measures.
But all the best with that.
Thanks, John.
Jon (23:18):
Thank you.
Appreciate it.
Peter (23:24):
You've been listening to Bike Sense, an original podcast
from the BC Cycling Coalition.
If you like the podcast, we'dbe grateful if you could leave
us a rating on whatever platformyou use.
You can also subscribe so youdon't miss future episodes.
If you have comments orsuggestions for future episodes,
(23:45):
email me at peter.ladner atbccycling.ca.
You can help us amplify BCCycling Coalition's voice by
simply becoming a free member atbccycling.ca
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