Dozens of three-wheeled Polaris slingshot motorcycles will soon be swooping into town for the second annual Sundre Slingfest.
However, there will not be any timed trial races like in last year’s inaugural event, said organizer Shawna Brackley, who owns and operates Wagons West RV Park with her husband Mark.
“We wanted to change things up,” said Brackley, adding the goal is to come up with something different every year.
“This year’s change-up is a poker rally.”
Besides, time trials are a typical aspect of slingshot events that riders commonly take part in, she said.
“They can do an eighth-mile time trial anywhere. But they can’t tour our beautiful backcountry any day,” she said.
“The more they see, the more they’ll want to do it again.”
So the idea was to provide an opportunity to showcase what the Sundre area has to offer for visitors who are not familiar with the region. The tour is scheduled to start Saturday, July 28 at Wagons West in the morning, followed by a ride over to the Sundre Pioneer Village Museum for a casual lunch break pit stop and show and shine before the riders hit the road again to explore portions of the surrounding Mountain View County, she said.
However, as of last week, organizers had not committed to a specific route and were keeping an eye on road construction projects in the area, she said.
“We’re constantly keeping tabs on the roads. The route has to be conducive to motorcycles.”
Although an exact route was not determined, the intent was to include visits to places such as Bearberry, south towards Water Valley and as far north as Gleniffer Lake, she said.
“We have people coming from all over North America. We want to make sure to showcase what the area has to offer.”
While the poker rally takes place July 28, the event runs from July 27-29. Some participants ended up deciding to extend their visit to a week from initial plans to stay a couple of days, she said.
“That’s a huge economic boost for the community.”
Also helping to make the Sundre Slingfest possible was grant funding from the municipality’s Sundre Event Development Initiative Fund, she said.
“We’re super grateful for that.”
The participation of the Sundre museum is also an important partnership that represents a huge component of this year’s event, she said.
“They’re super supportive and they’ve been wonderful — hopefully we can help them get some exposure as well.”
Original Ts will be preparing a farewell meal for Sunday, while the IGA is partially subsidizing a lunch. Rainy Creek Power Sports, a slingshot dealer from Eckville, has also played a supportive role by making available several of the unique vehicles for demo rides, which she called a rare opportunity.
Slingshots are a popular option for riders who due to, for example, balance issues can no longer ride motorcycles but still crave the open-air experience on the roads, she said.
“We already have more than 50 people and 30 machines registered.”
Last year there was a last-minute surge in the days leading up to the event, and she hopes even more will decide to come out this year.
Following the 2015 crash in the price of oil and subsequent recession and sluggish recovery that Alberta has experienced, Wagons West came close to calling it quits but dug into savings to pull through and the situation seems to slowly be turning around, she said.
Although Wagons West is offering free accommodations for those who are coming to the event from out of country and therefore won’t benefit substantially from the event, the organizers are keen to contribute to the overall financial well-being of the community by bringing people to Sundre, she said.
“The more healthy the whole town is economically, the better we all do,” she said, adding numerous businesses had plenty of positive feedback following last year’s event.
“That’s why we are doing stuff like Slingfest.”
