Gran Fondo Delle 5 Terre

[DaveyJohnston]

I am seriously considering doing this - http://www.granfondo5terre.com/

Has anybody here ever done it?
Any suggestions / recommendations / advice?

 

[Race Radio]

I haven't done the race but I have ridden in the area. Should be a technical course, narrow roads, lots of up and down. Great area of the world.

Here is a good list of GF's in Italy.

http://www.dalzero.it/gran_fondo_ciclismo.htm

 

[Michele]

Never done it but the area is quiet nice.

What kind of advices/suggestions are you looking for?

 

[rhubroma]

I did it years ago, but with the flu. The first climb is selective and then it only gets worse....

 

[DaveyJohnston]

I have done a few Sportives in the UK (including the Fred Whitton).
I am planning on entering it directly rather than through LaFuga.
Has anyone entered an Italian Gran Fondo directly rather than through La Fuga or similar.
Being a true Yorkshireman saving money is paramount for me.

 

[DaveyJohnston]

I did it years ago, but with the flu. The first climb is selective and then it only gets worse....

Did you enjoy it?
The ride, not the 'flu.

 

[rhubroma]

Did you enjoy it?
The ride, not the 'flu.

Well unfortunately no. The thing was I had done another granfondo the previous week in Abruzzo. At the time I was probbaly in the best shape of my life. Climbed with DiLuca for a while and finished top 20, beating a few pros to boot.

Did a long training ride with several climbs during the week and felt like I was just flying. But then, within a couple of days, I started feeling the symptoms of flu settling in and so I felt just aweful at the start in Liguria. I was thus shed out the back on the first climb. With moral now lowered to an abysmal level and felling so terrible in those conditions, I therefore decided to renounce on doing the long course, for which I had signed-up, and so bailed out at the turn-off junction to do the short event.

The only thing I wanted to do was get back in my car and drive down to Rome, in what was one of the most humiliating rides of my life.

Such are the turns of cyling. Or as somebody has said: sometimes you are the hammer and sometimes you are the nail.

 

[dolophonic]

Man that looks like fun.
I will try to do something this summer, Did GF Pinarello a few years ago. Great time. You can do these type of events without a tour co. no problem.

 

[vveneto]

It's easy to enter on your own. Most Gran Fondo accept credit cards for payment and have online registration. Those that don't will usually accept entries by fax and wire transfer (which is a bit of overkill for €40, but whatever). If you can't read/write Italian, use Google Translate to shift the website into your language of choice.

Most have packet pick-up the day before, especially the larger ones, so plan that time into your travel plans. That's also usually a good chance to scope out the lay of the land re: parking for the day of.

If you're really keen on saving cash, check out Air BnB for room/apartment rentals - often a better deal than most hotels.

Lastly, bring a camera! Whether you mount up a Go Pro or just have a point n click in your pocket.