Whistler GranFondo

[mtsmith439]

I searched the forum for some posts on this event, but I didn't find too much.
Is anyone in the club planning on doing the Whistler GranFondo this year?
I am relatively new to Tripleshot (2nd Year) and I decided it would be good motivation to sign up for an event this year. Putting a "stake in the sand" out there in the near future would get me off of the couch and onto my bike a bit more. Full disclosure: I haven't exactly signed up yet but I plan to in the next few days. This year's edition is on September 12th, and there is a price jump on June 30th.
Full disclosure #2: I have only gone over 100km in my life, so I find this adventure a little intimidating. That being said, I'm confident if I get some regular riding in over the next few months, it will be a heck of a lot of fun. My goal is to have a really positive experience while being proud of my performance at the same time. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
I think it would be amazing if we had a Tripleshot coordinated effort going into this event.
Load up on calories on the Friday night, ride our butts off on the Saturday, celebrate in Whistler Saturday night.
I assume many of you have done this event one or more times, and it's old hat, but I am super excited.
Who's with me?!?!

Cheers,
Mark

[Andrew]

Hey Mark, there are some really old posts back to 2010 on the Whistler Gran Fondo. It is a really cool event and worth the very steep price of admission. It is really fun, generally well organized and damn satisfying to finish. You want to get to an optimal weight for this event as it is climby. The fast tripleshotters do it in 3:20 to 3:50 hours (A riders), 3:45 to 4:30 for B riders. Sub 5 hours is decent for a first attempt. I did 4:30 my first go on 869kms of training. I stopped all the way up at the feed stations and view point, and enjoyed the event with a bunch of friends. Since then I have improved each year and no longer stop at the rest stations. I carry three bottles and some food. I managed to have my chain break on the lions gate bridge last year doing the giro. Had a fabulous ride up once velofix kindly got me going 15 mins later. Having somebody meet you up there is the best way to go to give you a ride home. The bus is a good option. Riding home is kinda fun, kinda not fun. It is not as downhill as you think and you discover the wind was pushing you up the hill. A ton of TSC riders have done it over the years but interest has waned and we haven't been able to get groups together to car pool in recent times. Procity may put a team in the Giro this year. PM me and we can chat some more. Congrats on doing it. It is what got me started riding.

[steve w]

Hey mark
I'm hoping to do the whistler ride again this year but it is dependant on getting time off from work. I am still training as if I'm going so if you would like to hook up for a few training rides, I be in
Steve

[mtsmith439]

Andrew: Thanks for the great response. Lots of detail and very inspiring. I will definitely PM you to pick your brain some more. In particular: Nutrition plans. I have heard a few times that a good nutrition strategy is key to a good Whistler Gran Fondo. I would love to hear what you have learned over the years.

Steve: Totally. We definitely will hook up for some rides. 70km on the weekend will not cut it going forward. We will need to start pushing it up over 100km.

Once again, thanks for taking the time to reply guys.