Whistler Gran Fondo

I was fortunate to score a last minute Whistler Gran Fondo who had been sold out for many months. What is the Gran Fondo? It's an organised road ride from Vancouver to Whistler with a total distance of 120 km. The ride was set to start at 7 am at the corner Burrard and Georgia. I arrived bright an early wondering what kind of temperature we would get, uncertain of what wear or not to wear. I opted for a vest, arm warmers and stuffed my light rain coat in my jersey. I was wearing the colors of the bike shop, Experence Cycling. As usual, Chris had look after my road steed and my Specialized Tarmac was ready to go. This ride was a self seeding process based on the time one thought they could book the 120 km. I decided to opt for the under 4 hours gate, which was directly behind the licence riders and celebrities. You can always tell you're in a big sporting event when you hear the buzz of helicopters over top. I never get tired of it, it actually bring a smile to my face. The licensed riders were off 10 min early and at 7 sharp, the gun went off. I had opted to be on the left side away from the curb. I was also eying team TNA as they looked like decent riders and figured I might be able to get in their draft. As the first kilometers went on, the field wad trying to sort itself out. There is a bit of an art when you ride in a group. If you ever watch the Tour the France, the field ride in a compact group, making full use of drafting principals. Once on the upper level, I saw a group in the distance, I figure this would be the guys I should be with a gave it all I could in order to catch up to them. I was able to catch up but I wad hopping I didn't burned my legs. The group was going at a pretty pace and the TNA boys that I had spotted earlier were in it. Funny enough, captain Canucks Trevor Linden was part of team TNA, so I would ride the entire race with him. I'm not one to bother people while they ride so I said hello and added a few biking comment along the way and sticked to make sure I was not to be dropped by my group, which meant no stopping at aid station. Although this wasn't a racing division everyone wanted a good finish and with about 5 km to go, the game of cat and mouse began, ridders trying to get the best position for sprint at the finish. With 1km to go, the pack was almost going full steam. I would end up crossing the line in 3:36:38 and I was quite happy with that. The overall winner came in 3:14 so i was not too far off. I would finished 14/390 in my age group, 58 overall in the Gran Fondo division and my speed average was a respectable 34 km/hrs I got to ride with Trevor Linden so it was a great day. What's in store for next week? The cheakamus challenge, a 70 km mountain bike race from Squamish to Whistler. As for the Gran Fondo, although they have some things to iron out, I will be there next year and highly recommend it, that you are a serious rider or that you just want to challenge yourself. Happy trails!

Carpe Diem