The Victoria Gran Fondo - Saturday June 25th.

[John D]

Four TS members took part in the VGF this year (Mark Ford, Alan, Chris Watt and myself). Things kicked off on Friday evening with a pre-race dinner at the Hotel Grand Pacific. Great food, a cash bar (yes, Alan I still owe you), a chance to meet the other participants (50 in all), and a pre-race presentation from the organizers. Judging by the demographic in attendance, they could have safely named the ride the "The Middle Aged White Guy Gran Fondo." The next morning began with a full hot breakfast at the hotel at 5:45am. Beats the heck out of my usual pre-ride banana.

We rolled out at 6:30 toward Sooke along the Goose before switching onto the Old Island Highway. As predicted, Alan and Chris were quickly lost to sight with the lead group, while Mark and I sat near the back. By the time we reached the first rest stop in Sooke, Mark and I had also become separated, so I rode on in a group of six. We averaged a steady 27km/h and completed the 270km in a total rolling time of 10hrs. I'll leave it to the others to provide their own reports. But in summary...

The 110km leg to Port Renfrew includes some long ascents, notably the hills leaving both Shirley and Jordan River. Not terribly steep, but definitely long and winding. The reward, however, is a pair of memorable descents into Jordan River (at >70km/h!) and Renfrew. There were food stops in both JR and PR, the latter including hot food!

Leaving Renfrew, we headed east for about 17km along relatively flat terrain before the climbing began in earnest. This marked the highest point of the ride, and topped out at around 580m, a little higher than Goldstream Heights for those who have done that ride. Unlike Goldstream Heights, however, the climbing is nowhere near as steep, although it does go on for about 20km. The most daunting part, and the portion which accounted for most of the altitude gain, was a series of steep switchbacks across the face of small mountain. Not too long after that there began a very looonggg and (much welcomed) descent toward Mesachie Lake and then on to Cowichan Lake for...yes, another food stop.

The next 30km leg stretched from Cowichan Lake along the back roads through Duncan, Cobble Hill and Shawnigan Lake. It was mostly flat or slightly downhill, with a few rolling hills and steep kickers to keep the blood pumping...a bit like West Saanch Rd. Did I mention there were two more food stops in Duncan and Cowichan?

The last leg involved climbing back up out of south Shawnigan onto the highway. Coming as it did at about 220km into the day, it seemed pretty daunting at first. However, having now ridden this stretch a few times over the past month, and knowing what was around each bend, made it more manageable. After that, it was just the usual hair-raising descent of the Malahat, back onto the Goose and then back into downtown.

Would I do it again? Absolutely! The route was spectacular (well, except for the clear cuts) and the organizational support was superb. I may not eat for another two days. There was also a support vehicle which carried our extra gear/bags/clothing from stop to stop, and a motorcycle that was equipped with spare wheels, tools, and water for "emergency" roadside assistance.

So how difficult was it? Let's just say that anyone who has done the Malahat can easily handle the climbing sections. The bigger challenge is that of spending 10hrs in the saddle at one go! My legs still felt surprisingly fresh when I was done. Other parts of my anatomy, um, not so much.

John

[Rolf]

Wow, kudos to you four! Sounds like a beautiful tour. I could read between the lines just how much those food stops meant to you.

I'm glad the weather cooperated. Pissing rain and bum-burn might just have been too much pain for all that gain...

[Alan]

Awesome report John. Luckily I had that Monster Chris Watt pull my sorry ass over some of the hardest hill climbs I've ever done. Highlights of the race? The stretch between Jordan River and Renfrew when we caught up with a jackrabbit who flew up the hills and was off the front and someone said it was Andreas Hestler (former Olympian mountainbiker) But when we caught up with him we realized that it was someone else --Are you Andreas I asked? No, I'm Dave, he said. Then Dave told me we had dropped Hestler on that stretch. Now how cool is that. We dropped an Olympian!

The other very cool thing was sitting around having a bowl of soup in Renfrew after flying down into that town and chatting with the other five or so guys with us in the lead group. One guy says: "Man, I don't think I have ever gone so fast on a bike. I think I hit 85 coming down that hill." The guy next to him says, "That's nothing, I hit 132 kph once." To which I said, "ya right, anyone going that fast, probably has the land speed record!". And he replied, "Actually, I do." Suffice to say, the guy I was eating soup with was Sam Wittingham who has the world's record for the fastest cyclist in the world. Afterwards as we were chatting, I asked: "I need to know this, Sam, are you in the Guinness Book of Records?" He said, "ya, a few times..." How cool is that? I got to brag to my kids that I did a race and just finished behind the fastest cyclist on the planet.

I think we should get a bunch of Tripleshotters out next year. This is an awesome Gran Fondo. The only thing lacking was John Taylor so we' could've kept up our Gran Fondo dul.

[Alan]

That's "Gran Fondo duel"...

[jj12]

Great report guys!

[barton bourassa]

It sounds like it was a great ride! Challenging but really good.

Thanks for the detail post. Almost makes me want to try it!!

Congratulations to all!

Barton.

[Chris Watt]

I don’t have much to add to John and Alan’s fine reports except to say that the VGF goes on a very short list of the most memorable rides I’ve done. I can think of a few fellow TS’rs out there who really need to be in this ride next year.

Beautiful, remote, and looong, it was nevertheless extremely well-organized and except for one minor directional screw-up that cost Alan and I a couple of minutes and a painful hammer back to the lead group, was logistically flawless.

As Al said, the opportunity to ride all day with luminaries like Sam Whittingham (fastest man on a bike, owner of Naked Bikes, the finest hand-made bikes in the world) – and Andreas Hestler (Olympian, 3-time winner of Trans-Rockies)- both exceptionally modest, good guys- was pretty special.

[Alan]

Here are the Victoria Gran Fondo results.
http://www.victoriagranfondo.com/
It was an awesome ride--you gotta sign up for next year!

[conway]

I had a very enjoyable ride and won my first cycling prize - the Lanterne Rouge!! My saddle time was 11:15hrs. I understand I could improve on this time by riding a super light carbon bike. If I had, I may have finished mid pack, but them I would not have won my first cycling award and recognition of being the Lanterne Rouge - "That's good isn't it?"

Mark

[AlW]

Thanks for the reports and congrats to the intrepid TS'ers who took on the challenge.

This is a ride that I want to do, but the logistics have been a bit of a concern. (specifically: the fear of having a mechanical in the middle of nowhere). Will have to put this on my list for next year.