Countdown to Sea to Sky Trail ride One of the big bike events of the summer, the Sea to Sky, or sky to sea, off rode trail ride will take place on Saturday and Sunday, July 11 and 12. Starting in Devine, near D'Arcy, on day one, 500 participants will bike down from Anderson Lake, through Gramsons, Owl Creek and Pemberton to Whistler. On day two participants will head to the finish line in Squamish. Although the event is not a race, organizers are keen to point out that entrants should be in good shape. They also point out that bikes should be well tuned. Friends and family are invited to a barbecue and beer garden at Myrtle Philip Community Centre on the Saturday evening. On Sunday evening the celebrations move to the finish line in Squamish. The registration fee is $99 per person for the two days ($59 one day) if received by July 1. After that date prices go up by $10. Registration fee includes well-stocked rest stops, with food and refreshments, breakfast and lunch both days, transportation of sleeping bags and overnight packs, overnight camping at Myrtle Philip school, mechanical support, sag service and a T-shirt. Transportation for riders and bikes to D’Arcy is an additional $20 from Squamish and $15 from Whistler. Barbecues on Saturday and Sunday evenings are an extra $8. For more details call the hotline — 604 SEA 2 SKY — or try the website: www.great-explorations.com. Money raised from the event will go towards helping to develop the Sea to Sky Trail. The Sea to Sky Trail is growing in spurts along the corridors between Vancouver and Pemberton. The task is monumental as trail society member Gord McKeever points out. "It's a huge project for a volunteer board to deal with. You're basically creating a park that's 150 kilometres long and three metres wide. And there are so many different interest groups involved. You've got private land, Crown land, BC Hydro and BC Rail. It's just an enormous project." Last year the trail society combined forces with the RMOW and BC Hydro to build a section of trail in the Shadow Lake area. This year there are plans afoot to blaze a trail in the train wreck area south of Function Junction. Any money raised from the off-rode event will benefit the construction of the whole trail.
