2.5°C Light Rain 
The fifth annual Slow Food Cycle Sunday will have to wait, as organizers have decided to cancel the 2009 event in light of the serious forest fire situation facing upper Pemberton Meadows residents and emergency personnel.
The event, which has grown steadily each year and attracted 2,300 riders in 2008, offers an introduction to local farmers and producers through a flat, beautiful bike ride along Pemberton Meadows Road. But with two significant wildfires raging on the Camel Back and Copper Dome mountains in the valley, and an evacuation alert issued for residents living north of Wilson Road, Slow Food Cycle Sunday organizers late Wednesday (Aug. 5) decided to cancel the ride scheduled for Aug. 16.
Co-organizer Niki Vankerk on Thursday (Aug. 6) said the farmers in that area already have a tremendous amount of things to deal with, as do emergency services staff. And as Pemberton Meadows Road is the only way to get in and out of that area, organizers felt it would not be wise to have a crowd of people on the road.
The ride usually begins at the Meadows Community Centre, and participants can bike along Pemberton Meadows Road for up to 30 kilometres. Currently, travel on Pemberton Meadows Road is restricted to residents and essential personnel only north of Wilson Road, with a checkpoint set up at Green Road.
“We just decided, out of respect for everybody, to pull it at this point,” Vankerk said Thursday (Aug. 6).
She said organizers decided on Wednesday to cancel the event after talking with Squamish-Lillooet Regional District (SLRD) officials. Some of the farmers who were scheduled to participate had already pulled out of the event because they need to focus on their own properties.
Vankerk said organizers felt it was important to cancel the event because other producers involved might have needed to purchase goods and make advance preparations.
“We just don’t know what will happen in the next 10 days,” she said.
The fifth edition of the event is now set to run on Sunday, Aug. 15, 2010. Other events associated with this year’s Slow Food Cycle Sunday, including a screening of the film The Real Dirt on Farmer John and a dinner at North Arm Farm, are scheduled to take place as planned on Saturday, Aug. 15. The movie screening is set for 7 p.m. at the Pemberton Museum, with admission by donation, and the North Arm Farm dinner is scheduled to run from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Tickets are available at the farm, or by calling (604) 894-5379.
A Slow Food Cycle Sunday calendar produced for this year’s event will still go on sale at the Pemberton Valley Supermarket and Pemberton Home Hardware, as well as at the Helmer’s Organics stall at farmers’ markets around Vancouver and the corridor, including Pemberton’s market on Wednesdays from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Legion and Whistler’s market on Sundays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
For further information, check out www.slowfoodcyclesunday.com.
As of Thursday at 10:21 a.m., the uncontained Copper Mountain fire was estimated at 850 hectares in size, and the Camel Back fire was an estimated 736 hectares. The Camel Back blaze is 30 per cent contained, with a hand guard built on the west flank of the fire joining up with a guard constructed along the lower edge, according to the bcwildfire.ca website. Visit that site for updates on these fires.
