The Pacific Populaire is organized by the BC Randonneurs Cycling Club.

BC Randonneurs organize a full schedule of events adhering to the rules of a sport called randonneur cycling, also often referred to as marathon cycling. Randonneur cycling events, called brevets or randonnées, are 200, 300, 400, 600, 1000, and 1200 km in length and must be completed within a time limit.

At the core of randonneur cycling is the 1200 km brevet Paris Brest Paris (PBP), which takes place every four years in France. To qualify for this extraordinary event a rider must complete a series (200, 300, 400, and 600 km) of recognized brevets on the PBP year. Entry is limited to 8000 riders. The next PBP is in August of 2023. BC Randonneurs holds it's own 1200 km events. This has included the Rocky Mountain 1200 and the VanIsle 1200.

Brevet series are organized in four regions around the province. In addition to the Lower Mainland, there are rides in the Southern Interior, the BC Peace Region, and on Vancouver Island.

Randonneur cycling began in BC in 1979 when four Lower Mainland cyclists organized the first local brevets series in order to qualify for that year's PBP. John Hathaway, Dan McGuire, Gerry Pereja, and Wayne Philips, all successfully completed PBP in '79 and then formalized the series of randonneur events in that continues today.