It was supposed to be the first major cycling event in St. Albert since the '70s. Now, those who worked to put on the Perron District Criterium say the St. Albert Singers Guild was behind the city's last-minute cancellation of the race.
Earlier in the week leading up to the long weekend, the finish line appeared to be in sight, with around 100 cyclists ready to ride the more-than-one-kilometre downtown route last Sunday. But less than three days before it was slated to begin, the city pulled the plug, citing safety concerns.
Velocity Cycling Club president Ed Heacock told the Gazette volunteers from two local cycling clubs worked with the city and with the RCMP, the Alberta Bicycle Association and local sponsors to ensure the race would be a safe one. He said the city gave them the go-ahead sometime back in April.
“A little less than three days before (the event), we just get the message that says it’s cancelled,” he said. “So it was cancelled for some perceived safety concerns. It is one thing to have an event cancelled because something is wrong ... but this was cancelled I think because the St. Albert Singers Guild had a show at the Arden Theatre.”
The Singers Guild did have a matinee show scheduled for the same day as the race but the two were being held at different times. The race was scheduled to run from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. while the guild show was slated for 3 p.m. Heacock said the guild wanted a two-hour buffer to allow patrons time to attend the show.
“One of the members of our club, his mother is in the (Singers Guild) and they received an email from their music director who maybe had concerns that if this bike race was on, no one would come to see (the) group sing,” he said. “So what (the music director) wanted (the guild members) to do was phone mayor and councillors to complain about this bike race. I think that’s when the whole thing blew.”
The Gazette attempted several times to reach out to the St. Albert Singers Guild, but only received a response back saying the guild members were in Ireland.
Event sponsor Andrew Phelps, with Cranky's Bike Shop, agreed with Heacock's belief that there was some pressure to have the event shut down, although he didn't name the Singers Guild.
“My understanding was administration thought this was safe and good to go and then all of a sudden that political element kicked in and now it was deemed not safe,” he said. “I’m not sure if city council is going to decide on everything administration does. Why do we even have administration?”
Race organizer Troy Rossmann provided the Gazette with a copy of a May 16 letter that appeared to be from the Singers Guild, which was sent to Cranky's Bike Shop. The Gazette could not independently verify the letter, which said it was "outrageous" the race was scheduled without the guild or the Arden being consulted.
The letter stated the Singers Guild was expecting 400 people to attend its event and felt the race would interfere with the ability of people, specifically elderly people, to attend.
"The St. Albert Singers Guild are in desperate need of help or we risk our financial stability and our over 30-year standing in the community. This is urgent," the letter stated.
"The City needs to rectify their mistake and they need to do right by us."
Rossmann also provided the Gazette with a May 16 email from a person who identified himself as a Singers Guild member. The email argued restricting access for people with disabilities to a public building could possibly be illegal.
"Even with all the best goodwill and marshalling in the world this will have a severe disruptive effect on your cycling races, and may result in a backlash against Cranky's cycle store," the email stated.
"I suggest that you rearrange your schedule so that the downtown streets and car park are cleared of cycling activities by around 1:00 p.m."
Phelps said he doesn't put a lot of stock in the email and believes it was only the comments of a single member, not the organization itself. However, he said he felt offended his store would be targeted for trying to put on a community event.
"Why would we want to continue to sponsor events when us sponsoring this event could (mean) we would have to deal with some kind of business repercussions from it?" Phelps told the Gazette Friday.
"If you (want) to sponsor an event in this community and have to worry about backlash – I don't even know what to say. It's really disheartening."
He added Cranky's is currently reviewing all of its current sponsoring.
In an emailed statement to the Gazette, the city stated it regrets that the event wasn't able to proceed.
"The City hopes to have the opportunity to work with the Perron District Criterium on establishing a recurring annual event in St. Albert and regrets the circumstances that led to the cancellation of this event last weekend," said Sharon Chapman, director of strategic services and information technology.
The city declined to answer follow-up questions or provide an interview.
Chapman said in the statement the city's objective is to "encourage active safe participation for all."
"The primary issue that unfolded during our review of the Perron District Criterium was ensuring the safety of all those within the Perron District as vehicles, bicycles and pedestrians would all be using the transportation systems and infrastructure and competing for the same space during the dedicated race event," she wrote.
"Recognizing the challenges of the site plans, alternate arrangements were discussed but an arrangement was not able to be made in time.
Coun. Ken MacKay confirmed with the Gazette that the Singers Guild did reach out to council through email to express concerns in a co-ordinated effort but denied placing any political pressure on administration.
He said he simply forwarded the guild’s email to city staff.
“It looked like an organized campaign because we all received emails,” MacKay said. “Basically, (Mayor Cathy Heron) handled it all and sent them back an email. I responded to one individual only because he was a retired police officer and somebody I knew. I just responded that we will be forwarding it onto administration and they will look at it. It’s their decision. It’s their call.”
Heron declined to speak on the matter, saying in an email she had nothing to add and that she responds "to every email I receive.”
Heacock confirmed the city had suggested an alternative plan, which was to do a new loop.
The original 1.15-kilometre loop would have involved Perron Street, St. Anne Street and Sir Winston Churchill Avenue but Heacock said the city wanted that changed to St. Anne Promenade, Taché Street and Sir Winston Churchill. The city’s route didn’t work, according to Heacock, because it didn’t meet the 800-metre circuit length requirement under Union Cycliste International, of which Velocity Cycling Club is a member.
The city’s route would have been short by approximately 200 metres, which organizers of the event believe could have been a safety issue unto itself.
Heacock added the clubs were not invited to any meetings to discuss any of the route changes and all communication was done over the phone with one individual on the organizing committee.
Through the emailed statement, Chapman said the city hopes to be able to work with the organizers in the future to create an ongoing annual event.
“The city encourages and is supportive of the Perron District Criterium event if the proper planning, coordination and controls are in place,” Chapman said. “Further, we are willing to dedicate appropriate resources to work with the Perron District Criterium to have a safe and successful race later this year or in future years.”
For the roughly hundred people who registered, Heacock said they will be refunding everyone and will eat the approximately $400 registration fee that Zone 4 takes for helping to organize the event.
The last major cycling race of this calibre in St. Albert was in the 1970s.
