Event organizers can control many things…but not the weather. That was the case for the Gran Fondo San Diego. The forecast was for rain and rain it did. There was a light spritz as we rolled out of the hotel. By the time we got to the start we were at the light drizzle point. As we stood waiting for the 7am start the sky blackened then opened up. By start time we rode through a full downpour. The first hour was about the same. I’m sure that the view from the top of the Coronado Bridge is nice but I didn’t get to see it. My glasses were a mixture of fog and rain and I was busy making sure that I stayed clear of other riders…
Here’s a video from uRide.tv that will give you a pretty good idea of the day’s conditions.
The whole Gran Fondo experience was great. I’ll describe the rest of the event in another post. For now, here’s the complete ride report.
Through my connection with the organizer of the Gran Fondo Philadelphia my riding buddies, Ed & Greg, and I were given placement in the VIP start wave. This placed us in the first group of 200 (of over 3000) riders to start. With the conditions at the start I was glad to be in the front group. Starting with us in the front group were quite a few cycling luminaries. Among these were Bill Walton, a basketball great and avid cyclist; John Howard, one of my boyhood cycling heroes; Dave Lettieri, multiple national champion (among other accomplishments) and one of the riders I worked with in the early 90s; Mari Holden, World Champion, Olympic medalist, multiple national champion; Anthony Zahn, Paralympic cyclist with many medals at the international level; and, oh yeah, Paolo Bettini, 2 time World Champion and 2000 Olympic Gold Medalist among tons of other victories. I was carrying my son’s Flat Stanley and was able to get Stanley’s picture with most of these folks!
As I mentioned at the beginning of the post it was pouring at the beginning of the ride. We rolled out of San Diego and on toward the Coronado Bridge. The bridge is normally closed to cyclists but the Gran Fondo folks not only made it possible to cross it but we had 2 or 3 lanes all to ourselves. The rise to the top of the bridge was 8-9% so I took it easy. It was going to be a long, cold, wet day so I saw no reason to kill myself in the first few miles. This was a great choice since I got to see guy who appeared to have rabies of the butt. I’m thinking he probably didn’t rinse out his shorts well after the last wash. Seeing his foaming chamois made the climb over the bridge a bit easier!
After the bridge I re-grouped with my friends. We rolled along at around 20 mph +/- between San Diego Bay and the Pacific, getting blown all over the place. It was still raining hard and spray from the tires in front of me kicked up tons of water and sand. (I found sand deep in my seat bag later…I’ll spare you details of where I found sand while showering.) We stopped at the first rest stop (around 18 miles, I think) and I was able to get Paolo Bettini to take a quick picture with Flat Stanley. Mille grazie, Paolo!
Paolo Bettini & Flat Stanley
The next ten miles or so were uneventful with some flat areas as we left the coast then some sharp up & down riding. As we headed up a 5 or 6 mile gentle rise Bettini, Allesandro Colnago, and the rest of the Colnago crew caught us. Greg & I jumped on the group and rolled along with them. They were doing a nice tempo up the rise but nothing that would kill us. I hung on for most of the climb getting some World & Olympic Champion tire spray in my face. For some reason it wasn’t quite as annoying as Greg’s tire spray (but thanks for dragging me around, Hoff!). The climb got a bit steeper at the top and was a bit much for me to keep my Clydesdale butt with the group. There was a nice descent after the climb as we headed toward the Olympic Training Center. Bettini was sitting up on the descent. I supposed I could tell the story as “Yeah, I passed Bettini like he was sitting up. I was going about 35 at the time…” The truth is that Paolo was indeed sitting up, taking it piano on the descent. I was doing my best to catch up to the group, hands in the drops, pedaling like crazy. So, yeah, I my best Clydesdale skill (going downhill) to pass a 2 time World Champion (who wasn’t trying).
We hit the rest stop at the Olympic Training Center at around 30 miles. The rain had let up a bit but it was still pretty cold. My feet were partially thawed but my hands were OK. The rest of my group was pretty well frozen. Aside from EJ, the fastest guy in our group, we were considering whether we wanted to suffer for another 70 miles or go another 25 miles. The Training Center was the turn point. You either kept going, up over a 6 mile climb and down some long descents where you’d certainly get even colder, or you headed back to San Diego. We made the decision to pull the plug on the full Gran Fondo in favor of having toes and fingers at the finish.
The exit of the Olympic Training Center took past many of the venues used by our National Teams. Certainly a pretty cool part of the route. After leaving the training center the rest of the ride was pretty ordinary except for one pretty good descent. My courage wouldn’t allow me to go faster than 39 mph. Even that speed might not have been the best idea as one of my riding buddies swears it was sleeting while we were descending. There were reports of sleet at the top of the climb so its certainly a possibility! As we got back toward the port area the riding became quite sketchy due to the rain and numerous railroad tracks. Most of the tracks were at some crazy angle to the road, requiring tons of caution. Event with over 25 years of riding under my belt I had the back wheel kick out at one point. I was lucky to stay up but can imagine that other riders must have fallen in this area. Given the finish area placement it would have been hard to avoid this area so I can’t fault the organizers.
The Gran Fondo finished with about half a lap around the Expo and under an official finish line. Volunteers were there to
Gran Fondo Finisher's Medal
collect your timing chip and hand you your finisher’s medal.
We racked our bikes and headed into the after ride meal. All riders were treated to a great Italian meal including salads, giant blocks of Parmagiano, and, of course, lots of pasta. Since we were in the VIP start we also got to head into the VIP meal. In addition to the food we were able to enjoy a seemingly endless supply of Prosecco, too!
After lunch #1 we headed back to the hotel to get showered. While there I took my pedals and seat bag off of my borrowed Cervelo. Post shower our bellies were recommending another trip to the VIP tent. We had some more to eat, some more Prosecco, and as an added bonus the caterers brought out bottle of Brunello. That’s certainly a nice Italian way to end a day of riding!
I’d without a doubt come back to the Gran Fondo San Diego. The rain was an anomaly so next year almost has to be better! The Gran Fondo USA series continues on August 8th with the Gran Fondo Philadelphia. Since this is in my backyard I almost have to be there. Besides, I think I owe the Gran Fondo folks some volunteer time to say thanks for the great treatment we received! After that is the Gran Fondo Los Angeles on October 24. If you’re close to either Philadelphia or Los Angeles and want a great ride experience I’d highly recommend you hit one these rides!
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Well done, Eric, nice write-up. I like the Cricket/Flat Stanley pic, that is great.
Hey Eric, Nice report, sounds like a great trip. Grand Fondos seem to be really taking off here which is a good thing because they are so much fun.
Bravo Good story. Keep up the good work (riding). The GF Philly will be nice although I must add not quite so scenic.
great write up. Felt like I right back there again.