Levi Gran Fondo 2011

I can summarize this event in 3 short words.

BEST. RIDE. EVER.

My desire to ride this event goes back to 2009 when a co-rider Deven was telling me about this "gran fondo" ride and this guy named Levi who passed him up on the ride yelling "Go go, big guy!" Back then, I can barely manage to climb 2500 ft in one ride and 36 miles was epic in my books.

Who is this dude named Levi? Well, he's only a 3-time Amgen Tour of Ca winner, fellow teammate of Lance Armstrong on Radioshack, etc.

What is more awesome is that it is a charitable event which benefits Livestrong, Forget Me Not Farm, Velostreet Community Giving Program and Santa Rosa Community. This year, the event managed to raise almost $250,000 for these charities. Amazing.

At the beginning of the year, when the registration for Levi's Gran Fondo event opened, I diligently registered the minute it opened. The server (Levi's) crashed several times. But I did get in.

Yesterday, I rode it. It was the MOST. GORGEOUS. RIDE. EVER.

My goal for this event is to just plain enjoy it. We decided not to rush it, take our time, enjoy the views, take lots of pictures and talk to people. I'm glad we did. We were no slouches on the ride either. The climbs were very manageable, almost all anyway.

I have never been on a ride that was so well supported, where riders were almost pampered, where the views were so breathtaking and the encouragement of the community so uplifting.

With 7,499 other riders, somehow, Levi and the organizing committee managed to make everything so seamless.

Registration was a breeze the night before. They gave us these cool bag, a special edition Bike Monkey magazine and a lot of numbers to put on your bike.

Not knowing what to expect, we arrived at the Finley Community Center at 6:15 to be able to get decent parking. The ride doesn't start until 8 so we have a lot of waiting to do.

As people started arriving and lining up, I started getting a sense of how big this event really is. Folks from all over the world came to ride.

Washington, DC, Chile, Philippines, and No, I didn't hear any Tennessee, John, so you should come next year.

Everyone, 30 mile riders (Piccolo), 100k riders (Medio), and 100m riders (Gran) all start out at 8 am. Everyone has front license plates that contain chips which record start and end times as you cross the start and finish line (just like run events). That was a first for me.

The slow walk/ride to get to the start line was unnerving - with a lot of other riders on all sides. But we made it.

The first 4 or so miles were around town, closed roads, with a lot of cheers from the community. Also, riding with everyone was nerve-wracking - cyclist or bicycle riders who do not know cycling etiquette, pulling right in front of you, or staying on the left side while riding slow. M & I passed out hundreds of riders as we tried to gain speed and avoid crashing at the same time.

The first climb was up Graton Rd. Not so bad, 3 miles with only about 11% max grade. Very doable. What was scary was all the other riders on the road - weaving, slow folks riding on the left, would not move over, fast folks passing on the left with warning. As we do our descent, we had to stop and walk a section due to a crash. The road was narrow, twisting, steep and surrounded by trees. Poor folks.

After Graton Rd, the descent was one of the best I have ever experienced. Just plain beautiful. Nice, sweeping, smooth descent on Bohemian Hwy into Camp Meeker.

A bridge before the first rest stop. I think this is the Russian River. Not quite sure. But it was very serene. By this point, the Medio riders have separated from the Gran and Picollo. Much more manageable crowd.

First rest stop.

At each rest stop, there were signs telling you where the next rest stop will be.

Only 9 miles tell me that there is some climbing up ahead.

Well, not so much as climbing as headwinds AND climbing around the beautiful 101 coast. Very serene - that is if you can call cross winds and nice rollers - along the highway serene. To me, the smell of the ocean, the view of the rocks and beaches, overcast skies = zen moments on a bike. It was a very overcast day with strong winds. And yet, I didn't feel cold at all. It must be the hard work of climbing and managing the cross winds. I remember pedaling hard on the descents to be able to manage 16 mph.

After being passed by countless Harleys, passing another crash (crashed into the bushes-must be doing a very high speed descent), we approached the 2nd rest stop.

I got a kick out of this sign.

Cheerers!

I remember thinking... hmmmm.... 6 and 12 miles. Must be some serious climbing to have rest stops every 6 miles. I know that Coleman Valley Rd is up.

Well, Coleman Valley Rd was indeed UP! As in, it goes way way up. For those familiar with El Dorado Hills and Newcastle, imagine Beatty Dr at the beginning then a longer and steeper version of Shirland Tract (constant 18% gradient) to top it off then tapers off to a longer version of Chili Hill. Did you feel my pain? As I started climbing, I was thinking to myself... not bad.. not bad. Hard but doable. I looked down at my Garmin and the gradient reached all the way up to 22% at a very short section. So it was a continuous 11-15% for maybe 1/2 to 3/4 miles. There were many riders already walking at that point. So, it is quite a feat to manage the bike and the crowd and the cattle guards. Just as it cleared, I saw this wall ahead of me. My HR was already at it's highest and I really needed to bring it down. That or collapse. I managed the climb up to the Wall. Then stopped dead. Dang. Second hill I had to walk in my entire life. So, I have a bone to pick next year with this road.

Walking the Wall. I see a lot of hill repeats at Beatty in my future.

The course map at the reststop at the top of Coleman Valley Rd. Big sigh. One more major climbing to go.

One of the things I love about this event is their course signage. No such thing as looking for a little arrow on the road. Nope. There were BIG arrows as in maybe 2 x 2 signs on the side of the road. Plus, course marshals and cops holding up traffic so you can turn. Plus, warnings on steep descents. I felt comfortable going at my comfort level speeds and being cautious depending on the sign.

During the Coleman Valley Descent, M & I were keeping on the right so the fast and crazy folks can descend at 40+ mph. I heard someone yell "Good job, you guys!" as a team of cyclists decked out in Radioshack Team kits, followed by 2 motorcycles and 1 SRAM team car. Wow. It was Levi. I was awed. A fellow cyclist got a better deal. If I had known McDreamy was doing the metric, I would have been content to just follow him.

There were very few flat sections. The last 10 miles were. We turned to Santa Rosa Creek trail. Quite a nice trail. In all these events, the last 10 miles was the hardest and longest. This one was no different.

After finishing, we parked our bikes. Check out this valet bike parking!

Festival at the end. You get to choose what you want to eat. Paella, burritos, BBQ, Indian Cuisine and more.

And there is no such thing as free coffee. Fake sign to lure you to the other side where you buy coffee.

Overall, I loved this event. Levi and the community of Santa Rosa really know how to stage an almost perfect ride. I will be back next year.

This gets 11 stars in my books.

62 miles
4300 ft of climbing
Gorgeous Views.
Incredible feeling.
Amazing ride.
No mechanicals.
Tired legs.