There's a lot more to the Tour de Delta than a bunch of supremely fit athletes zipping around our streets in brightlycoloured spandex.
With the 14th edition set to get underway on Friday, Delta's annual cycling weekend has not only grown in stature over the years but must also be credited with helping the sport evolve in this country.
Back when former Delta councillor (and former Delta North MLA) Guy Gentner proposed the idea of a bike race, the cycling scene in Greater Vancouver wasn't so vibrant.
The venerable Tour de White Rock was being held every summer, but that was about it.
After the Delta races were introduced, the criterium in Gastown returned and was soon joined by other single-day races in Burnaby and UBC, creating what is now known as B.C. Superweek.
Without Delta book-ending the week, it's unlikely the other races would have materialized, which means Superweek wouldn't be anywhere near as super.
Not only has the series that offers nine races over 10 days provided riders with a smorgasbord of opportunity, it's also helped nurture the sport by giving upand-comers a chance to hone their skills. I remember being at the hill climb in North Delta in 2003 when Zach Bell, this young guy from up north no one had ever heard of, claimed top spot. Well, plenty in the cycling world have heard of Bell since then as he's represented Canada at the last two Olympics.
Former Symmetrics star Svein Tuft of Langley, who was a mainstay of Superweek, is another to have gone on to represent our country at the Olympics as well as winning stages at both the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia.
American Tyler Farrar, who was a dominant force on the streets of Delta about a decade ago, has gone on to win six individual stages of the Grand Tours while racing with the sport's elite in Europe.
The addition of international sanctioning for Sunday's White Spot Delta Road Race, an honour bestowed on the men's race in 2013 and the women's race this year, will not only increase the competition with deeper fields, but will allow riders, and their countries, to earn points that determine entrants in world championships and Olympic Games. That means the Tour de Delta has gone beyond just helping athletes develop to the point it's now giving them a direct route to the international stage.
That's a pretty impressive place for our cycling weekend to find itself at as it gets ready to host the next generation of riders this weekend.
