For an event that was once considered a nuisance, a 10-year anniversary is no small feat.
Next week, Giro di Burnaby will host its 10th B.C. Superweek race with what is expected to be the biggest event yet.
Giro di Burnaby was the brainchild of Coun. Pietro Calendino. His intention was twofold: to attract competitive cycling to Burnaby and to salute the city’s Italian community (Giro di Burnaby translates to Tour of Burnaby in Italian).
The first race went ahead on July 14, 2006.
Organizers chose the Heights because it provided the perfect spot for a closed circuit race and because the Heights Merchants Association used to sponsor a bike race as part of Hats Off Days in the 1990s, Calendino said at the time.
While it was Calendino who paved the way for the event to happen, it was and still is Rainy Kent who turned the vision into a reality. Kent has been the race director since its inception and has seen it grow into the much-anticipated event it’s become.
“It’s now something that’s looked forward to by a lot of people rather than inconvenient, which it is. There’s no denying to have Hastings shut down in rush hour traffic on a Thursday is going to inconvenience people. We just try to work really hard to make that as painless as possible,” she said.
The inaugural circuit was longer than the course used now. Racers would travel east on Hastings Street, then head north on Rosser Avenue, up to Madison Avenue and back down to Hastings Street, before riding west to MacDonald Avenue, where they’d once again head north to Albert Street, eventually turning east on Gilmore Avenue and back down to Hastings Street.
Kent said that course proved long for the fast-paced criterium race, so organizers cut the second “dog leg.” This year, they’ve made another change. Instead of going all the way down to Madison Avenue, riders will make their turn about mid-block between Madison and Carleton avenues.
Other new additions over the years include a beer garden, bike valet (courtesy of HUB Burnaby), and the Boffo Breve – a youth race for boys and girls with some racing experience.
While some things have changed over the years, one this has remained the same – the support the event receives from the community and its sponsors. Giro could not proceed without the financial backing of its major sponsors Appia Development and Boffo Developments, Kent said.
“We couldn’t even be where we are today without the amazing support of the sponsors who have stuck with us and have been with us since year one,” she said.
“It’s just getting more support, and I’m just so appreciative of all the work that everybody does to make this day a success.”
Tough economic times forced the cancellation of the 2009 and 2010 Giro di Burnaby, but the race returned the following year to renewed fanfare and a three-year sponsorship deal with Embassy Development, Appia Development and Palladio Jewellers. (Appia continues to be Giro’s presenting sponsor. Other sponsors include: the Burnaby NOW; Boffo Developments; Solterra Group of Companies; FortisBC; Bosa Foods; Expert Physio; G&F Financial; Censorio Group; Aquila Developments; Code Sports; Still Creek Press; Steamworks Brewery; Fit First Footwear; SW Audio Visual; Grand Villa Casino; Chris Dikeakos Architects Inc.; and Dolomiti Homes.)
The Giro itself, meanwhile, is dependent on the more than 200 volunteers who turn out every year to help the event run smoothly for riders and spectators, Kent said.
“Honestly, out of those 200 people probably 75 per cent of them have been with me since year one,” she said. “It’s amazing. I have people that take the day off work just to be there for the whole day to support me and to support the event.”
On her plans for the future, Kent said she has no plans of stepping away from the Giro di Burnaby – in fact, she admits, she never thought about the future when she started organizing the event.
“I don’t think I ever looked this far ahead; it’s just always something we take it one year at a time,” she said.
“There’s not a lot of neighbourhoods that can lay claim to having a professional cycle race right out their front door. It’s pretty special for the North Burnaby neighbourhood to be able to say that this happens.”
