Photo Courtesy Stealth Cycling Club

By Tanner Smith

Stealth Cycling Club

Stealth Cycling looks for Peace region members

May 13, 2025 | 1:52 PM

Stealth Cycling, a new cycling club, has now come to Grande Prairie and is welcoming members.

Club President of Stealth Cycling, Alexander Philipp, says he worked with local cyclist Wilf Marquis to make an Edmonton-Peace region-based club after meeting at a race a couple of years ago.

“We just like riding our bikes, we like being good community members. The racing’s fun, it’s definitely not our M.O., I think our M.O. is more contributing back to communities in which we reside, whether that’s through the cycling scene, or general volunteering. Wilf and I do a couple of bike fundraisers a year.”

Philipps says it is more of a social club, focusing on group rides and fundraising. However, there is still interest in competitiveness, with a mix of retired athletes from a wide range of sports involved with the club.

That is why Stealth Cycle has also started a race team; “On the race team, there’s about ten guys, three girls, and then on top of that there’s probably another eight or nine social members in Grande Prairie.”

Philipps added, as the club grows, they are thinking of adding a summer training program for those interested.

When it comes to recruiting and how the club operates, Philips said, “obviously we want a bit of an open membership, especially on the social side. There are things just for the Alberta Bike Association you get coverage with, in terms of insurance and group rides, if you are actually registered with an official club. Which we really like to promote just for general safety and coverage.”

“But really just the atmosphere, I think in the team, everybody’s very helpful. We’ve got a nice group chat. With people reaching out, ‘I’m riding this day or that day, or here’s what I’m thinking for races, where’s everybody going to stay?'”

Locally, group rides take place almost every Sunday, “These guys ride most Sunday mornings that they can in the summer. Obviously, everybody has lives, sometimes it doesn’t work out. But yeah, they get out often on that Sunday morning to do a nice loop kind of west of the city, out toward Wembley, and it’s awesome.”

“I actually came up last year to visit, and he (Wilf Marquis) said we do it one of two ways. We either just have a purely social ride, or we kind of ride on to our halfway point, and if guys want to have a bit of a shootout, not necessarily a race feel, but if you want to test the legs with some of the guys at any point you’re welcome to attack, and you can assume anybody that’s following you is there for the workout.”

“Anybody who hangs back, that’s fine, but we all revisit before the right turn and back into the neighbourhood.”

Cyclists in the Peace region looking to join the Stealth Club for either the social, fitness or competitive aspect are encouraged to reach out through Direct Message on Instagram, @Stealth_c.c.

Philipps also took the time and said thanks to all of the club’s sponsors and supporters so far in their brief journey.