As Spain's Alberto Contador rode down the Champs-élysées in Paris and raised his Tour de France trophy, another ride inspired by the gruelling international event wound its way through Sturgeon County Sunday.
Tour de l'Alberta spun into its 16th year as hundreds of riders took off from Morinville and rode throughout the county, going as far as Westlock and Thorhild.
The huge group of riders started to lurch away from the start line in wave after wave early in the morning, and by the time the last riders left the start there was virtually an unbroken line of cyclists all the way to Highway 44.
The 1,100 riders who took part in this year's event are a far cry from the 30 cyclists that left St. Albert on the first tour in 1994.
Don Peddie was a man with a plan back then, one that just suddenly popped into his head on an evening bike ride.
"I was meandering along the northern end of the city and I went to Villeneuve and Legal and I wandered through a community called RiviÈre Qui Barre, and then I came through St. Albert," he said. "All of a sudden a light came on, and I said I just went through four or five French towns. It is kind of like I did my own Tour de France."
Peddie, 67, has pedalled through 15 of the 16 local tours, having taken one year off to ride across Canada.
In the first year, organization for the event consisted mostly of drawing out a map and picking a starting place and time. The riders used convenience stores as rest stops and the 30 riders were all members of the Edmonton Bicycle and Touring Club.
Over the years the field grew, rider by rider, and the club eventually opened up the race to the general public.
Peddie said he never thought Tour de l'Alberta would grow to this size, but is thrilled it has.
"It is strange, but it is wonderful. I am really happy with the success and all the people."
In part to make the event more open, the ride is now actually four rides with 100-kilometre, 50-km and 20-km routes, as well as the main event, a 187-km trip that takes cyclists from Morinville to Westlock, Thorhild, Redwater, Gibbons and Bon Accord.
That route is a little longer than what cyclists call a "century ride," which is 100 miles (161 km) and most legs of the Tour de France fall around that mark.
Monumental task
For many years, Peddie has been off the hook as an event organizer. He jokes they burned through about three club presidents before they realized it was time for some full-time help.
This year's monumental task of organizing the event fell to the triumvirate of Dan Boonstra, Karen Evenden and Jason Demers.
Boonstra said the ride got a shot in the arm the last few years with marketing funds from the Alberta Government. The different routes have also helped expand the ride, by making it appeal to a broader public, he said.
"The idea is it is just a recreational ride, which is pretty much the merits of our club as well," he said. "We try and shoot for that middle of the road, the mere mortal cyclist."
The 100-km course was by far the most popular Sunday with more than 600 riders taking part.
Boonstra and the other organizers' cellphones and radios were beeping constantly, to co-ordinate the myriad of logistical challenges needed to pull off the tour.
He said he didn't realize the scope of what was involved when he first signed up.
"It always takes up more than you think. There are all kinds of organizational details that you don't think of."
Like any army, this legion of cyclists needs to stay well fed to keep rolling, and the organizers used more than 200 volunteers to stock the rest stops with food and plenty of water.
"We have about a dozen rest stops all together and for every rest stop you have to have the right amount of water and Gatorade and trail mix and that sort of thing," said Boonstra.
In addition to the cellphones and walkie-talkies, the Northern Central Alberta Amateur Radio Club set up a radio system for the day allowing a free flow of communication about flat tires, skinned knees and dwindling supplies.
Evenden said one of the biggest challenges was finding and recruiting volunteers.
"That is in part because the profile of the event is still growing, but I think that is going to get easier.
In addition to being a busy weekend, many of the prospective volunteers are cyclists who would much rather be out on the course than watching from the sidelines, she added.
Ron Chapman volunteered this year after spending last year on the course. He said it was hard to leave his bicycle at home, but he will likely return to the road next year.
"I kind of want to be out there, but my help here is more useful," he said. "I love the club and they needed help, and that is the bottom line."
Warren Footz from St. Albert, a rider who completed the 100-km loop, called the tour a great event.
"I like that it is organized and that there is support along the way if I need it — and it is fun riding with other people."
Edmonton's Dwayne VinStraten, who rode the long course, uses the race to help train for the national Ironman competition in Penticton, B.C.
He said riding as a group is more physically challenging and rewarding.
"You are pedalling higher, because as a group you are moving along a little faster … than you would be by yourself."
Roving pack
This year's tour was capped at 1,200 entrants, though slightly less actually raced.
Though the field left en masse, riders returned in a steady trickle, each to a small round of applause and a medal for their efforts.
Unlike the tour in Paris, where a yellow jersey is handed out, the first rider across the finish line at the Tour de l'Alberta receives only bragging rights, and many riders purposely slow down to cross at the same time.
Peddie said he is amazed at the event's reach.
"We have people coming in from Calgary, I rode with 10 guys who had come down from Fort McMurray for it, and there were people from Saskatoon," he said. "Word of mouth just keeps spreading and there are people from further and further away."
Out on the road, the bicycles get a wider berth than they might ordinarily, which is one advantage of a group ride like Tour de l'Alberta.
"When they see the highway littered with bikes for miles they change their mentality and they slow down a bit."
He said the nicest thing about the big group ride, however, is the company. He always has someone to chat with on the course.
"The less time you have to ride all by yourself, the happier people seem to be."
