How Belgian Waffle Ride came to Canada

Belgian Waffle Ride ranks as one of the most iconic gravel races in the United States. Now, the series is coming to Canada. On May 26-28, BWR will land on Vancouver Island for three days of gravel racing, riding and events.

Jon Watkin is the man behind organizing BWR’s first Canadian event. With a long history of organizing events on the lower island, from road provincials to cyclocross nationals and Canada Cup XCO events as well as his own Burnt Bridge Gravel Fondo, Watkin is looking forward to showing off what the Cowichan Valley has to offer.

“Cowichan is so well positioned to give participants a mix of road surfaces. From pavement to gravel and singletrack, there’s a little bit of everything,” says Watkin.

“We want to take the riders to places that are worth the effort to go to. That’s terrain, views and the existing hot spots of the Valley,” Watkin says, adding a tease that some of the three local mountain bike networks, Tzouhalem, Mt. Prevost or Maple Mountian, could find their way onto the route. In proper BWR fashion, the route will be challenging. “It will be hard. Really hard. Road will probably be less than 10 per cent of the course.”

With the event expecting up to 1,000 riders to show up, the Exhibition Grounds provide a space big enough for an event of this scale. “There’s expo space, RV spots and camping and plenty of parking space.”

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While Watkin is organizing the event, he’s quick to credit to Cowichan Valley locals as the instigators of BWR’s migration north. Allison Keple and Jason Sandquist have years of experience racing the BWR in San Francisco.

“It’s really Jason and Allison pushing it that brought the event to Canada. They got to know the directors and pitched Cowichan Valley,” Watkin shares. The original series’s organizers finally relented and visited Vancouver Island. What they saw quickly convinced them to bring the series north. “They were really impressed with the terrain and the overall vibe of the Cowichan Valley,” recalls Watkin. With BWR sold on the venue, they needed a race director. That’s when Watkin and his Panache Cycling Sports were brought in.

While it will be Belgian Waffle Ride’s first event outside of the U.S., Watkin is expecting the combination of the BWR’s reputation with a Maple-flavored twist to work out as well as, well, waffles…