Photo Courtesy Wilf Marquis

By Tanner Smith

Track Lord Cycle Club

Local cyclist club hits the road in Grande Prairie

Jan 11, 2024 | 4:58 PM

Organized cycling is returning to the Peace Region, as an Edmonton-based cycle club, Track Lord has extended its reach to Grande Prairie.

Wilf Marquis, a Track Lords team member and local cyclist, began the process of starting a bike club in Grande Prairie after being offered a spot on the Edmonton team last year.

“They approached me when I was racing down in the Calgary-Edmonton area last year, and asked me to join their team, and I kind of just sat on it, laid out my options and decided that I would join their team. As per joining their team, I threw out the opportunity of us starting a club up here in Grande Prairie, and piggyback off them; So there will be opportunities for members here in Grande Prairie, besides myself, to go down and race and enjoy the aspect of being part of a team.”

Photo Courtesy Wilf Marquis

Serving as both a social group and a race team, the Grande Prairie division of Track Lord is open to all skill levels along with a variety of ages; and will eventually host many forms of bikes. Marquis says some members already have met up to do some trail riding on their mountain bikes.

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The club was created to grow the interest in cycling in the area, which Marquis says has been around for a while, after referencing Grande Prairie’s own NCAA Divisions 1 Cyclist, and Bronze Medal winner of the 2021 Junior Canadian Road Cycling Championships, Mairen Lawson.

Photo Courtesy Track Lord’s social media page

Now with this club set up, Marquis said anyone interested in participating in a leisurely ride, or big races down in southern and central Alberta has the opportunity.

“For us being in Grande Prairie if you want to go down to Calgary or Edmonton to race, you’re going on your own dime, so it’s fortunate to have local companies here sponsor. This upcoming year, granted if we can get some more sponsors, then it keeps the cost down and will give these guys the opportunity to go down there. When you go down to race, and you tell people you’re from Grande Prairie, they will say ‘What, people ride bikes up there?'”

Currently, the Grande Prairie cycle club consists of eight people hailing from all over the world, taking part in social group rides and weekly virtual training, to “keep everyone honest” says Marquis.

“There’s eight riders, give or take, and usually we get interest from other guys but because of the city we live in, people are always busy with work or getting called in. I’m anticipating with some of the interest we had last year, we should see a lot more. We have a guy who moved here from Dubai last year, another guy from Finland, and another guy from Calgary. Being a transient town here, we get a lot of people who move here and want to find a group to ride with, so this will give them the opportunity.”

Photo Courtesy Wilf Marquis

Marquis also discussed some of his hopes for the future for the club, saying there have been talks between the Cities of Dawson Creek and Fort St. John about bringing back the Challenge Cup, fundraising opportunities, as he and several members raise money for cancer awareness in August, and a Peace region based racing team.

Anyone wanting more information, or would like to join the Track Lord’team, can visit and contact their social media page or reach out through the STRAVA app.