Randonneur Cycling began in BC when the four founding members - Gerry, John, Dan, and Wayne - qualified for and then completed Paris Brest Paris in 1979. By the mid 1980s the growing group of Lower Mainland randonneurs was looking for a way to introduce new people to the sport. 'Populaires' are short, unofficial randonneur events with some of the flavour of official 'brevets' or 'randonnees' (200 km+). These fun rides had been used elsewhere to introduce people to randonneur cycling. Sometimes populaires are also thought of stepping-stones to 200 km brevets, and this may have been the case in BC in 1986. According to Dan McGuire: "My recollection is that Randy Clelland organized it as a warm-up for the 200 and Marty Wanless promoted it to gain membership, and it went on from there."

No records or pictures remain from the early years, but we do know that the first event started at Vancouver City Hall and followed a 100 km route put together by Randy Clelland, and that this route is almost the same as the 100 km route still used... there are a few more stop lights now. The rapid growth of the event in the late '80s paralleled the growth of interest in randonneur cycling.

By far the biggest year for rider participation was in 1990 - over 700 finishers. The success has been attributed to the enthusiasm of the randonneur committee of the day, to the efforts by Dave Johnson (who became ride organizer & randonneur president the following year), and also, and most particularly, to the exceptional marketing skills of Marty Wanless, organizer/co-organizer 1988 - 1990. 1990 was also the year when the event was first called the Pacific Populaire.

1991 was the centennial year for Paris Brest Paris and participation in Randonneur cycling peaked for this event. Following PBP 1991 there was a collapse of interest in randonneur cycling in BC (brevet participation halved in 1992.) Interest in the Pacific Populaire declined much more gradually however, that is until 1995, when the event almost disappeared completely. In 1995 the start/finish was moved to the Plaza of Nations to tie in with the 'outdoor summer sports show'. This change, and the fact that the event was under-publicized, resulted in dramatically lower participation. No records exist for this year, but it is known that nobody rode the 25 km route, only 2 riders did the 50 km route, and fewer than 100 rode the 100 km route.

1995 also marked the beginning of my involvement in the event - I [Eric Fergusson] was at the registration table... I had plenty of time to think. Years before, the Populaire had been my introduction to randonneur cycling and, at that registration table in 1995, I was troubled by what looked like the demise of what had been such a fun event. I agreed to run the 1996 event, and then became the ride organizer for an additional four years. It rained in 1998, but for my other four years (1996 - 2000) the weather was exceptional, and this no doubt contributed to the gradual recovery of the event. I owe a great deal to Tim Pollock for his encouragement, and wisdom especially in 1996 and 1997.

In 1996 the start/finish was returned to Riley Park. This was also the first of many years that Harold Bridge was out on the course with his camera. In subsequent years many others, including Dan McGuire, have been on-course photographing the Populaire - it must be one of the most well-photographed cycling events anywhere. 1996 also marked the introduction of the finisher's pin.

In 2001, Rocky Mt. 1200 organizer, and that year's BC Randonneur club president, Danelle Laidlaw, joined forces with Sharon Street to organize the Populaire, and, they did it again in 2002. Sharon went on to be co-director of the very successful Rocky Mountain 1200s in 2002 and 2004. The 2008 Popualire was Danelle's 8th as ride organizer.

I've talked a lot about 'ride organizers'... But the Pacific Populaire has really always been a volunteer team effort and almost everyone involved in randonneuring in the lower mainland has had a hand in it. For some, their involvement has been for many years. Volunteer committees were tracked beginning in 1996 and these committee members are now recognized on this site on pages accessible from the 'results and photos hub page', and elsewhere on these history pages.

There two other major populaires in BC - the Victoria Populaire, and the Canada Day Populaire in Fort Langley. Like the Pacific Populaire, these are casual fun rides and open to everyone.

February 2003
(updated from time to time)