My First GranFondo

10/9/10

My GranFondo Ride

I did it! I rode in my first road bike event !

I am new to road bike riding and wanted to see what this sport is all about. This second GranFondo had been is the making for over a year trying to capture enthusiasm and support for a bike riding community in Santa Rosa and to honor our town’s famous rider, Levi Leipheimer . The best part is that all proceeds from this event go to our schools and charity! Wow, that is so cool! The Fondo is a community event welcoming all levels of skill from young to old. I chose to ride the Piccolo of 35 miles while others chose the Medio 65 miles or the Grando 100 miles. Being my first road bike event I had no idea what to expect. Certainly, not the 6000 other riders who showed up! But it was well organized and well manned with a huge volunteer staff directed by Carlos Perez and his expert assistants! One in particular, Devon was superb in overseeing several hundred volunteers over the course of the 2 day event.

Early 5:30am Saturday morning I donned on my spandex outfit hoping to look like a veteran rider complete with head scarf under the helmet, clear shield eye glasses( for the dark descents into the canyon roads) bike gloves, new bike shoes and my jersey pockets filled with the “necessities: goo, Clif blocks, pump, patches, sweat wipes and iphone (it’s the one cool tool everyone has!) Some even had their iphones mounted on the their front cross bars to map the route or “talk” to those left behind. I have to admit I carried mine( for emergency use only) and was very tempted to stop and take pictures to send to the world…but, I resisted.

I think I passed the test, as I lined up with the mob of other “veteran” riders waiting to start…pretty good, no one laughed at me and my new little red used Bianchi steel bike. I looked and felt “cool” enough. The start happened somewhere up front…, but it took twenty minutes for us all to get past the gates and onto open roads to find a good pace . I had planned on riding with some other ladies, but once I got in the “groove”, I couldn’t hold back. I let myself go and sailed ahead with a wonderful feeling of flying and freedom! This is my new found love! The kinetics of flying along on two wheels is such a liberating feeling. I am a kid again! …but, you must concentrate…there are pitfalls to watch out for - loose gravel, ruts in the pavement, other bikers in front and back, cars on one side, dirt on the other…no drifting off to sleep…pay attention! This was my first time in a throng of people jockeying around fast on two wheels. Luckily, this was not a race, but a Fondo, a community ride so the atmosphere was super friendly. The ride was supervised by a great group of Riding Marshalls who announced any dangers or asked if you needed assistance. What support! I know that when I ride again, I will have to be more cautious because I will not have this road guidance. Thank you, Marshalls!

The half way rest station in Graton was a bit more hectic as thousands of bikers descended on the sleepy little west county town. Cars and trucks must not have gotten the memo that we were coming! We all crowded into a parking lot with the most exquisite store of snack foods I have ever seen at a sports event! too numerous to list, just suffice to say that from potatoes to peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and all kinds of fruit, nuts and snacks in between it was a smorgasbord of delights!. I felt very special and it was all free!!!

Met a few people I knew, regrouped and headed back the way we had come. The trip back was a little disappointing mainly because I had already seen this route and I wanted to keep going west to see new sights, to the ocean but, I knew that would eventually be a trip beyond my training ( which was none).

So, I concentrated on learning the sport from the riders around me. I kept a pretty good pace and passed a few until I dipped behind one woman rider who rode so smooth and steady. I followed her for miles admiring her style and her beautiful Specialized carbon–something-or-other–bike. What a million dollar piece of equipment …not really, but this ride was a showcase of the best of the best! All were out with their special rides. Can you blame them?

To wrap it up, I pedaled into the last mile to the finish with another rider and just for fun we pretended to race( you know, really fast pedaling) to the finish line. Through the gates and Yea, I did it! Fun! Fun! Fun!

Off the saddle, hand your bike to the Bike Valet, grab a beer, choose a meal from the many fine food vendors, watch some people, buy some stuff, listen to music, and feel good that Santa Rosa is creating a biking community event that everyone can participate in and share.

Thank you, GranFondo. It was fun! See you next year!