A popular cycling event in the Municipality of Clare will not take place this year.
The 2021 Gran Fondo Baie Sainte-Marie was scheduled for September, taking cyclists on a scenic route through the area.
Clare’s tourism manager Larry Peach says the organizing committee has been watching public health directives, and the trends with gathering limits.
He says it wouldn’t be possible to host an event of this scale.
“The best that we could have expected was a gathering limit between 100-250 people. It’s not cost-effective for us, and it’s not our brand.”
Normally, the event would draw one thousand participants.
This is the second straight year the pandemic has claimed the Gran Fondo.
The event began in 2015, and has drawn lots of tourists to the Municipality of Clare.
Peach says the event is here for the long haul.
“We’ll be back. We’re going to plan our event in 2022. We’re looking forward to welcome cyclists from all around the world to Clare again in the near future.”
He says they’re organizing a smaller, mountain bike event in July for 100 participants.
