Visit the traffic circle at the entrance to Horseshoe Bay any sunny weekend in May and you’ll likely come across some guerilla marketing.
It was an idea formed by Karen Harrison to help spread the word about the annual Rotary Ride for Rescue. The timed bike challenge up Cypress Mountain is a fundraising event organized by the Rotary Club of West Vancouver Sunrise.
Harrison, a West Vancouver resident for more than 40 years and a Rotary member for 26, noticed the hundreds of cyclists who ride through the Horseshoe Bay area each weekend when the weather warms and got the idea to do some direct marketing.
Now a team of volunteers regularly sets up at the circle to hand out cold drinks and information about the race.
The initiative seems to have worked. In its first year the ride had 44 participants. Last year there were 255.
This year’s event, the seventh annual, is scheduled for Saturday, June 10. Participants ride up Cypress Mountain, beginning at the junction of Cypress Bowl Road and Cypress Lane and finish at Cypress Mountain Lodge.
Although it’s timed, Harrison describes the event as a “community-based, friendly recreation ride.”
One hundred per cent of the money raised through pledges and rider registration goes to causes Rotary supports locally and internationally, and 60 per cent of this year’s ride will go to the Tim Jones Memorial Fund.
“North Shore Rescue is a wonderful beneficiary,” says Harrison.
The first year the event raised $12,000, this year the aim is $150,000.
Harrison notes that the Rotary motto is “service before self,” and the reason they can donate 100 per cent of pledge money to the cause is they don’t have any paid staff. About 60 volunteers help to make the event happen, and work on the spring event starts each year in September.
As a co-chair of the event with Robert Crozier, Harrison has been instrumental in its organization and development. Although she is not a cyclist, she says she has learned a lot about the sport working on the event.
When asked what she does on race day, she quickly answer with a laugh: “Are you kidding?”
It’s a busy day that sees close to 400 people, including organizers, spectators, and riders, at the top of Cypress by the end of the day. A 15-tent expo is featured at the finish line, a free pancake breakfast is offered at Cypress Lodge from 9:30-11:30 a.m., and the race is followed by prize presentations and a raffle.
A unique element of this ride is that it has both mountain and road bike options, and new this year is the option for participants to complete the distance with indoor cycling at Method Indoor Cycling in West Vancouver.
For more information visit rotaryrideforrescue.org.
