Spectators at the Giro di Burnaby can toast the cyclists with much more than a water bottle this year.
For the first time, the event will include a beer garden, with libations from Steamworks Brewing Company and Italian sausages from Rocky’s Meats.
“People line up for their Italian sausage at Hats Off Day,” Giro organizer Rainy Kent told the NOW regarding the popular Heights butcher shop.
“The beer garden is going to be at the east end of the course, where they all come down and they turn to go up Hastings Street,” Kent said. “So if you were sitting in the beer garden, it would be like all of these cyclists were racing straight for you. And then they turn and head up.”
Steamworks is excited to be involved in the event this year, according to a Giro di Burnaby press release.
“As a relative newcomer to the Burnaby area, Steamworks is thrilled to participate in and support such an iconic Burnaby event like the Giro di Burnaby,” Steamworks president Walter Cosman stated in the release. “We believe strongly in giving back to the community, and we’re confident that teaming up with the Giro will help the event to grow and flourish for years to come.”
This year’s event will also feature the return of the Giro expo, which is expanding and will be located on either side of the beer garden, on the north and south sides of Hastings Street and Madison Avenue.
“Hopefully people who have expressed interest in being at the expo, and profiling a product or service, will have a tent set up there,” Kent said. “And it’ll be set up so that people will hopefully wander through on their way to the beer garden. So it’ll be more exposure for our expo people.”
The Giro will also include a bike valet service as in previous years, in a city parking lot on the east side of Madison Avenue at Albert Street, she added.
“The west side is the reserved VIP parking for the mayor’s reception,” she said.
And for the younger set, this year’s races also include a youth race, as well as a special area for the younger kids.
The Girolino children’s event is at the former site of the Burnaby Heights Resource Centre at Willingdon Avenue and Albert Street, and starts at 3 p.m. Burnaby Neighbourhood House and Burnaby Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services are co-hosting the event, according to Kent, and Dandy Horse Cycles, HUB cycling coalition and Pedalheads bike camps are helping out. It is sponsored by Boffo Developments Ltd.
There’s also a new event for young cyclists this year – the Giro Breve. The youth race is about 20 minutes, 15 minutes plus two laps, according to Kent, and is for experienced racers. It starts at 5:30 p.m.
The race is for girls ages 12 to 16, and boys ages 13 to 16, and is limited to 50 participants. It is a partnership between B.C. Superweek and Global Relay’s Bridge the Gap Fund, a national cycling development program.
The Giro di Burnaby began in 2006, with 7,000 spectators attending, according to a press release from Giro organizers. The Giro joined B.C. Superweek the following year.
B.C. Superweek is Canada’s biggest professional road cycling series, the release stated, with more than $120,000 in prize money available during eight races over nine days. B.C. Superweek runs from July 10 to 18 and includes the Tour de Delta, UBC Grand Prix, presented by Mahony and Sons, Global Relay Gastown Grand Prix, Giro di Burnaby presented by Appia Development, and Tour de White Rock presented by Beverley by Cressey.
