t Update, January 10

Leg 1, starting 4:00 am, Sunday, June 18:

Fort St John - Hudson's Hope - Chetwynd - Mackenzie Junction

300 km, 3450 m climbing

Leg 2, starting 8:00 or 9:00 am, Monday, June 19

Mackenzie Junction - Prince George - Quesnel - Williams Lake

400 km, 3460 m climbing

Leg 3, starting 5:00 am, Wednesday, June 21

Williams Lake - 100 Mile House - Lone Butte - Chasm - Boston Bar - Harrison Hot Springs - Chilliwack - Tsawwassen

602 km, 5210 m climbing

Travel day: Friday, June 23

Leg 4, starting 7:00 am, Saturday, June 24

Duncan - Port Renfrew - Victoria (at the Legislature Building)

205 km, 2590 m climbing

Wrap-up event

7:00 pm, Saturday, June 24

Details to be determined.

The Peace to Parliament is a first-of-its kind event for British Columbia. It is an opportunity not only to earn a Super Randonneur medal in a single week, but also to earn the BC Randonneurs' Rambling Randonneur pin for riding a brevet in each of the club's regions. It may be your last chance to see the beautiful Peace River Valley before the Site C Dam floods it.

The event is being run as four separate brevets, with very little support. There are highways without shoulders, stretches of nearly 100 km without services, stretches over 100 km without telephone coverage, night riding in the Fraser Canyon and nearly 15 km of climbing. There will be no sweep riders or sag wagon. If you DNF, it will be up to you to get yourself home or to the next start.

Club rules require that a rider must have ridden a 200-km ACP brevet before riding a 300, a 300 before a 400, and a 400 before a 600. This rule will not be waived for this event.

You can ride any combination from one to four of these brevets. They are just four separate brevets, with normal rules and fees. We hope that a good-sized flock of Vancouver Island riders will join us on the final leg. You should sign up on the Randopony for each leg:

• Fort St John to Mackenzie Junction
• Mackenzie Junction to Williams Lake
• Williams Lake to Tsawwassen
• Duncan to Victoria.

The last day to preregister is Wednesday, June 14, except the Duncan to Victoria leg with deadline Wednesday, June 21. The ride organiser will have four extra route sheets and control cards at each start.

Current plans call for three staffed controls: a refreshment station at a rest stop between Chetwynd and Mackenzie Junction, a private residence in Quesnel, and a sleep control at Canyon Alpine Motel in Boston Bar.

Getting to the start:

North Peace Regional Airport in Fort St John is serviced by Air Canada Jazz and WestJet Encore (both flying Q-400 turboprop aircraft with limited baggage), and Central Mountain Air (flying even smaller turboprop aircraft via Prince George). If you book early, you should find air-fare in the $200 range. As of this writing, there are no Air Miles seats available from Vancouver.

One driver with space for 6 bikes will be driving to the start from Vancouver Island. Another will rent an enclosed trailer to take up to 18 from the Lower Mainland. They will take your bike, on a first-come, first-served basis for a $50 fee (covering the trailer rental and extra gas) that will be between you and them. Ask the organiser to put you in touch.

Accommodations:

Fort St John: One or two club members will open their spare bedrooms or basement floors to riders. Contact the ride organiser to be put in touch. There are several hotels in the area. The ride starts at the 24-hour McDonald's.

Mackenzie Junction: We will be staying at the Windy Point bunkhouses. These are Spartan rooms, each with a bed, sink, shower and toilet. This will be a mass booking, and you will pay the ride organiser up front. Details to come in early April. There are a few other rooms at nearby businesses, but if you don’t book in time, you may need to ride 30 km off the route to Mackenzie for a hotel. Windy Point has a restaurant, and they say that they will open to feed us early on Monday morning. We will make sure that dinner of some sort is available for all riders arriving on Sunday night.

Williams Lake: We have a group rate at the Sandman Inn, which is at the end of Leg 2 and the start of Leg 3. You will probably need to pay for Monday and Tuesday night, and you will need to book your own room. Contact the ride organiser for the booking information. You’ll be spending a full day in Williams Lake. There are plenty of places to eat and find entertainment, including a Denny's restaurant at the hotel.

Boston Bar: There will be a staffed control at Canyon Alpine Motel, a few km north of Boston Bar. This is 344 km into the 600-km ride. The rooms are already booked. Most likely, our volunteer will check you in, and have your key in his room. He will have cold breakfast foods and hot coffee available.

Tsawwassen: You can shower and sleep at the finish control, Ron & Kathleen Stewart’s house. Recovery beverages will be available. There is a motel and a Coast hotel in Tsawwassen, as well as plenty of restaurants & pubs. Metro-Vancouver-based riders might want to leave their cars at the Stewart house before heading north to FSJ.

Duncan: We have a group rate at the Ramada for Thursday and Friday nights. You will book your own room. This is two blocks from the Dog House restaurant, the starting point for the last leg.

Victoria: Several club members in Victoria will be willing to host riders at the end of the week. There are bike-friendly hotels a few km from the finish.

Bag Drops:

The companions of several riders intend to drive cars from sleep stop to sleep stop, and will be willing to carry drop bags.

Wrap-Up Event:

We expect to book a meeting room in a restaurant near the finish. There will be a cost to riders. Details to follow.

To contact the organiser:

Ron Stewart is your organiser. His temporary email address for this event only is p2p@moonset.ca. On July 1, that email will be disabled.

We are hoping to get a good turnout for these brevets. We guarantee that the adventure will leave you with plenty of stories to tell.