10/9 Ride Report - The GranFondo

Mile 50 – Sweat and tear seeps into my eyes as I struggle yet up another hill. At the halfway rest stop, I toss my bike on a rack and plop myself on a folding chair as I struggle to breathe and to let the cramp in my right leg subside. The mountainous terrain had totally worn me out… and… I still had 53 miles more to go! My mind drifted back to the commitment I had made 10 months ago when I signed up for the Santa Rosa’s GranFondo.

The Blog post came on December 16, 2009 notifying that the VeloViet Cycling Club was planning to ride the 2010 Levi Leipheimer’s GranFondo in Santa Rosa. This was going to be the hardest and baddest VeloViet ride ever as total mileage was 103 miles, but the elevation gain was over 9000 feet! I had thought back then, why not? I should be able to do this ride okay in the large VeloViet group. I am familiar with our group to know that although I am probably the weakest A1 rider, I am a pretty good A2 rider. It should be okay if a large group is going. Right?

Pre-Ride Dinner – Oh crap, I thought. Who showed up to Santa Rosa was three of our strong riders. There was Cap’t Thomas, who was extremely excited as he just met Levi and got a signed water bottle, Anh Sang, our energizer bunny that did the San Diego Amtrak century and the 120 mile Sunday ride on back-to-back days, and Long, the quiet A2 Cap’t who is like a mountain goat on any hilly terrain. As if this was not enough, Sang brought along his buddy Van, who happens to only weight 125 pounds and rides like every day, often twice a day, with a fast morning ride and an afternoon family ride. Yikes!

With my recent oversea work commitment, my biking fitness went downhill fast. I was sweating bullets when I saw these four fit guys loading on pasta at the pre-race dinner. I was the heaviest (167 pounds) and weakest of this bunch, and knew that this hilly route would wear me down. Long must have sense my fear as he whispered to me that he would stay with me during the ride. I decided then that I would tell Long to take off with the rest of the guys if I start to falter, since in a ride like this you have a better chance to finish if you are in a pack, and I wanted all the guys to finish even at the sacrifice of one. Here we go, I thought...

Photo #1 - The Dinner Crowd: Van and Family, Sang and Friend Clyde, Thomas, Long (hidden), and My Family

Photo #2 - Thomas... "Hey guys, I got Levi's Signature!"

Morning Meeting – 5 AM, and I suddenly awoke to a deep darkness in the hotel room. The night has been sleepless for me as riders after riders arrived to the hotel, most well past midnight and making a lot of noises in the hallway. I started to go through my mental checklist of things to bring on the ride.

5:30 AM I got up and groped around to find the restroom, while trying to be as much quiet as I can as I had bring my entire family with me on this trip. I paused as my 8-year old son turned in his bed after I banged my feet on the luggage. I quickly put on some clothes and venture out in the cold air in search of a morning breakfast.

Breakfast found and eaten, I put on my VeloViet uniform excitedly. This was a ride where we would represent our club, and this was probably the farthest ride from our base in the OC that we have done in uniform. I was to be only one of four VeloViet that represent our great cycling club, and I was extremely excited at that thought.

6:45 AM I woke my wife up to drive me and my bike over to Clyde’s house. Clyde is Sang’s friend and he lives about 2 miles from the start of the ride. I was the first to arrive and quickly unloaded my bike so that my wife can go back to the hotel and sleep. Thomas and Long showed up about 10 minutes later. We took a few pictures and roll out to the starting location at Finley Center. It was amazing experience already as it seemed on every corner, every gas station, every hotel, and every parking lot; we picked up bikers upon bikers. The crisp cool air and riding in a growing excited group had my heart pumping and my legs turning quickly. I had to remind myself to take it easy as the race has not even started. This did not work as Sang, who probably felt the same excitement, was kicking up the speed and passing everyone. The rest of the VeloViets had to kick it on just to keep up with him!

Photo #3 - VeloViet Pre-race Lineup

Photo #4 - Riding to the GranFondo Start

Photo #5 - Chasing Sang and Cap't

Photo #6 - Sang was a Cycling Machine on the way to GranFondo

GranFondo – Holy Toledo!!! The place was jammed pack with colorful cyclists of every imaginable jersey there is. Man they were pumping adrenaline-loaded loud music over large speakers, and it seemed like it was more like a rock concert than a bike ride. The atmosphere was loud, exciting, and colorful. A sight to be seen!

Photo #7 - It's A Huge Party Baby!

Photo #8 - A Few of the Hundred Ride Marshalls on the Course

Photo #9 - The Crowd

Photo #10 - More Crowd

The number of cyclists who signed on is 6059 riders. This group, the number of volunteers, family and friends present, there must have been close to 10,000 people at the start. Besides the very large crowd, Levi had brought along a few of his “close” friends. There were the professional women’s racing team Tibco, one from Peanut Butter & Co 2012, and Webcor. There were Levi’s teammates from RadioShack, and from Trek Livestrong U-23 development team no other than Taylor Phinney. There was even Hollywood celebrity Patrick Demsey (aka McDreamy) that all the Tibco, PB&C, and Webcor gals were swooning over. Plus a few Olympic champions, NHL stars, NFL stars, etc… thrown in. Everyone made the loudest noise though when Levi came onto the stand and made a quick speech.

Photo #11 - The Ladies from the Women's Pro Team of Tibco and Webcor

Photo #12 - The Ladies from Peanut Butter & Co 2012

Photo #13 - McDreamy Making the Pro Ladies Swoon

Pumping up the crowd is none other than Dave Towle. If you have been keeping up with the domestic professional racing scene, then you know who this guy is. Dave was pumping up the audience and got everyone into a mad frenzy!

Photo #14 - Dave Towle Pumping The Crowd and Introducing The Celebs

Photo #15 - The Energy Even Infuse Our Quiet A2 Road Captain Long

This state of euphoria did not live for long as the time counts down to the 8 AM start. Riders start to focus and prepare mentally, as most zone out from the loud rock music and prepare themselves for this brutal assault. One thing I note is that the professional racers are rail thin skinny and doesn’t seem to have an ounce of fat on them. I felt pretty heavy standing next to these pros. Here you can see our VeloViet riders start to get into the zone.

Photo #16 - VeloViets Focus to Prepare for the Assault

Photo #17 - Van Loading Up Before The Ride

The sound of the horn went off and you can hear the collective howl from the front as the professional riders take off first. If our VeloViet A1 riders were like wolves, these professional riders were like cheetahs or panthers as quickly make their way out of the starting block chasing after some invisible prey. The pedaling was smooth, efficient, and quick. The hunt was on!

Unlike other normal ride, a GranFondo ride has everyone starting at the same time! People who were doing the 30 miles and the 65 miles were riding along folks who were doing the 103 miles. As you can guess, in the first 5 to 10 miles, everyone was there with loads of energy. I kept pace behind Cap’t as he led us through this crowded mass start.

At the 5 or 10 miles mark, Van took off with a fast group that was moving through the pack. We were already moving at 27 mph and this group looked like it was a couple of mph above that. I looked over and thought, man this guy is full of energy. Little did we all know then that Van would pay dearly for this early exertion of energy.

Riding in a pack of 6000 cyclists is quite an experience. There was one moment in the beginning of the ride when we started climbing up a hill, I looked up ahead and saw a wall of cyclists moving in synchronicity as if they were on an escalator going up towards the heaven. It was an AMAZING view and I wished that I had a helmet camera, as there was no way I could have taken a picture with my hand held camera in the tight pack formation and high speed we were going.

The route was a heavy gorgeous wooded forest and farmlands throughout the route. Weather was a perfect riding weather and in the low 80s. We arrived to the first rest stop in 1 hour and covering 21 miles. This was fast as there were a lot of climbs already in that first hour!

Photo #18 - Rest Stop #1

Photo #19 - More of Rest Stop #1

Photo #20 - Posing at The Rest Stop

Mile 21 - A short break and the VeloViets were off. They pushed the pace hard trying to make up lost ground for the short break they had. Catching up to Levi was out of reach by now, but they thought perhaps that they could catch up to one of the celebrities or one of the cycling group. They did indeed got mix in with several local riding groups, and this pack worked together to move along at a fast pace.

At the second rest stop, the VeloViets drove on while most of the other riders in their pack stop for a rest. Out of this rest stop, Van came fast and he charged up to latch on with the VeloViets.

This next part of the route was probably the second steepest section of the 103 mile route. These hills were the kinds that you could not walk up, let alone riding up on a bike. But yet riders were slowly struggling up on their machine. Phong quickly realized how foolish it was not to bring a compact crank or a climbing cassette on this ride, as he struggled mightily up these steep hills. Listen to Tuan The Gear next time!

Then the worse happened! A rider suddenly stopped in front of Long, forcing him to also stop abruptly. Phong and Sang were behind Long, and these two had to yank their foot out of the pedal to deal with this sudden loss of momentum. This change in cadence caused Sang’s legs to seize and Sang fell to the side crying in pain. After recovering from the initial pain, Sang waived Long and Phong onward as he decided to rest longer by the roadside.

Note that it was nearly impossible to restart from a dead stop on a steep hill, as you had no chance at all to pedal with one leg while you hurriedly try to clip on the other foot. After a few tries, Long and Phong managed to clip in and they continue up the monster climb. Long and Phong moved on to try to catch Cap’t and Van.

Then the next casualty occurred! At the top, the car appeared suddenly coming from the opposite side of the road. The road was extremely narrow as is already, and riders scattered to the side to make way for the car. Several riders stop and this force Phong to also suddenly stop.

This change in effort from heavy exertion on the steep climb, to no exertion at all due to the dead stop, brought on a sudden searing pain to Phong’s right quad muscle and calf. The pain was so intense and sudden that it caused him to fall by the side of the road writhing in agony. His right leg had seized and he could not move it at all. Only once before did he experienced this kind of excruciating pain on a bike, the kind that etched in your memory for the rest of your life, and that was when he rode for the very first time with the Veloviets where both of his legs cramped up. Only with the help of the two Billies (Billy P and Billy D) did he manage to limp back to MSP. Back then it was only about 5 miles back to the parking lot, here he had a whole 60 miles to go. Oh Sh!t.

Cap’t came over to help. After 5 minutes, Phong managed to control the pain enough to where he could stand gingerly. At the top was a magnificent view of the valley and hillside and the VeloViets took a moment to enjoy the scenery as a consolation prize.

Photo #21 - Peeking Down the Steep Hill to Watching Struggling Riders Climbing Up

Photo #22 - Cap't At The Top

Photo #23 - Sang At The Top

Miles 40 to 50 were twists and turns with loads of climbing. The initial huge output that Van put out were taking toll on him as he began to deal with cramps on the climbs. Long’s bike also had started to develop mechanical issues, as the gear changed on its own and a grinding sound can be heard from his bottom bracket.

Mile 50 – I dropped back to reality from my dazed and confused dream state. Van was talking to another rider, and this rider thinks that the worse is over and it was going to be all flat or downhill from here on. I hope so!

Photo #24 - VeloViets Loading Up at the Halfway Stop

Mile 55 – This was the lowest point in the ride for me, and I almost gave up and threw in the towel. The last 5 miles, after the midway point, were NOT flat, but more of the steep hill climbs similar in the first 50 miles that wears on your bones. Mentally I had given up hope of completing the ride. Physically my back hurts, my neck hurts, my shoulder hurts, and I have a lingering cramp still in my right leg. I also can’t see where I am going as the climbs and descents were through deep, dark woods where you can’t really see where you are going. My bloodshot eyes also brought on blurred vision, and I can’t take any more of this freaking climbing. I was contemplating on how to break the abandonment new to my fellow riders.

We started to come out of the woods to roll through farmlands full of cows and horses. It was amazing as there were no barriers between the animals and the road that we were on. I was carefully watching the bulls nearby to make sure one does not come out suddenly in front of me. Cap’t commented that our bright red jersey may not be the best choice in this field full of horned bulls!

The VeloViets started to speed up as the road opened up more. Somewhere around here Van cramp up and passed out my first salt pills. Also around this time I thought that this would be a good place to break the new to the guys that I am giving up.

Photo #25 - The GranFondo Brotherhood

Photo #26 - Chasing Cap't, Long, and Sang

Mile 62 – All of the sudden, as if it was an act of grace from the Cycling Gods who were watching over the VeloViets, the route clear and we came upon this majestic view of the Pacific Ocean. The view was so thick in beauty that it seeps into my soul, opened up those clog arteries of defeat, and infused new energy into my weary limbs. I recovered mentally and decided to continue on.

Photo #27 - Infused With New Energy by the Ocean's Edge

The next 13 miles were the most exciting part of the ride. We were bombing down the mountains on these huge sweeping paved roads exceeding 45 mph on flat stretches. The ocean remained in constant view on our right side, offering probably some of the most scenic views in Sonoma County. The cramps, fears, and abandonment thoughts were all washed away and it was as if we rinsed clean of all this negative impurities in our physical bodies and mental souls. We were one again a strong cohesive team ready to face the challenge of the next steps.

Photo #28 - The Gorgeous View

Photo #29 - The Majestic Sonoma Coast

Mile 75 – This rest stop was similar to the start, where rock-n-roll music was blaring and everyone was in a euphoric state. Riders sensed that they were near completion of what is an extremely hard century. VeloViets, along with the rest, were loading up on food and drink, as well as doing mini dance moves to the music! It’s Dancing with The Cycling Stars baby!

Photo #30 - Sang Bopping to the Music

Photo #31 - Cap't and Van Posing at Mile 75 Stop

Little did the riders here realize that the GranFondo organizers are jokesters and had planned a little surprise for them. What started on Mile 78 is the hardest 5 mile part of the ride. Rearing at a huge 14% elevation, this section was so steep that it makes the roads to the Mt Baldy ski lift on the GMR ride puny by comparison. If you stop on this hill, that’s it! You are going to have to walk your bike up and hoped that there is a small flat section that you can restart.

As the road jagged back and forth up the mountain side, I looked up and can see riders riding at what’s like 3 mph on this climb. The four strongest riders of our group did just that, while I could not find the gear to drag my heavy carcass up, finally succumb, and had to walk part of the way. Thomas, Sang, Long, and Van quickly left me behind to fend for myself as they continued on the climb.

I found a flat spot, hopped on, and started chasing down the VeloViets. A little later, I came upon Van on the side of the road as he had cramped up again. He said his cramped was so bad that he had to have help from another rider just to unclip out of the pedals. Van asked for my last salt pill, and urged me to go on while he waited for the cramp to subside.

A little later I caught up to the front three around the 85 mile mark and the final rest stop. Continuing on after this, I finally ran out of juice at the 90 mile and was just running on fume. Long fare worse and had drop off earlier. This last 10 mile was a slugfest as we struggled just to turn the cranks. Thomas and Sang finished first, I and Long were next, and Van rolled in about 15 minutes later.

Photo #32 - Long, Thomas, Van, Sang, and Phong at the Finish. We Did It!

This route was hard! The VeloViets and their friend Van had to dig deep just to survive and stay alive on the bike. With the distance and elevation gain, all here agreed that this was the hardest century that we have ever done. The ride was much, much harder than Purple Monster, Palomar, GMR, or the San Diego Century. Even Cap’t was saying that he does not want to do this beast of a century ever again… but we know that time heals old wounds. Who knows? Maybe there will be a day when the VeloViets will return to Santa Rosa.

Photo #33 - Rider 1238 Made It Out of The GranFondo Alive!

Out,
Phong