Heading into the weekend, many in the Drumheller area may have noticed a heavy influx of visitors that had bicycles on their vehicles.
This was because a very large bicycle event took place on Saturday throughout the Drumheller Valley, Gran Fondo Badlands. Riders from throughout the Prairies, US, and even some from as far away as South Africa were here challenging themselves at one of four distances for the competitors, 50 K, 75 K, 100 K, or 163 K (100 Miles). This year was the 15th year the event has been held in Drumheller, and since 2023 has been organized by the TransRockies Race Series. Aaron McConnell, President for TransRockies, shares why he believes so many love coming to participate in Drumheller. “It is just a great place to ride a bike. It’s scenic, the roads are great, the town is awesome. There’s great access to beautiful riding right from town, so we can base this event out of the town and really showcase a wide variety of terrain.”
It is a big event that is held in Drumheller and McConnell is so thankful for the local support of the event, including the number of local volunteers. “We wouldn’t be here without the support of the community, our local volunteers, the Badlands Search and Rescue, the Town of Drumheller, we rely on all our partners to make it possible.”
The event has continued to grow year over year. In 2025 they had 1,500 riders and this year was a total of 2,000 or more. McConnell shares that the event will return to the Drumheller Valley next year. There are a number of riders that come from all over the world to participate and McConnell admits that’s why Drumheller is one of their races. “Most of our races are destination races. Sometimes, they’re in well known places, sometimes they’re not. Drumheller is well known for the dinosaurs and the Hoodoos, we want to make it well known for riding bikes too.”
The best time for the 163 K race was by Joel Souchotte of Calgary at 4:13:54.0. Best for the 100 K race was a tie between Duncan Adams and Jack Whelan, both from Calgary, at 2:41:08.0. Fastest time for the 75 K was by Mike Stein of Drumheller with a time of 2:16:36.9. In the 50 K, Tony Nguyen of Calgary had the best time of 1:41:38.6. For a list of results, visit the Zone 4 website. To learn more about the Gran Fondo Badlands for 2027, visit the Gran Fondo Badlands website.
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