Gran Fondo San Diego

[usedtobefast]

http://www.lawheelmen.org/grantour.htm

the LA Wheelmen do this one, if anyone wants some distance, and it is well supported.

 

[DirtyWorks]

http://www.lawheelmen.org/grantour.htm

the LA Wheelmen do this one, if anyone wants some distance, and it is well supported.

Having completed the Tour of Two Forests and a couple of the L.A. Wheelman doubles long ago, some of these should have enough climbing to satisfy anyone. http://www.caltriplecrown.com/schedule.htm

The L.A. Wheelmen have been doing that event for a very long time. The club's been around for a long time too. The URL has great example of the 'extreme' rides are already there and have been for a very long time for the endurance crowd in California. I imagine the rides have steady attendance, but never took off like triathlon. Why?

 

[Race Radio]

Having completed the Tour of Two Forests and a couple of the L.A. Wheelman doubles long ago, some of these should have enough climbing to satisfy anyone. http://www.caltriplecrown.com/schedule.htm

The L.A. Wheelmen have been doing that event for a very long time. The club's been around for a long time too. The URL has great example of the 'extreme' rides are already there and have been for a very long time for the endurance crowd in California. I imagine the rides have steady attendance, but never took off like triathlon. Why?

Those events are just nuts. Who wants to do a double with 20,000 feet?

a 7-10,000 foot day is in reach of many, especially those who live near mountains. The key issue is promotion and good management

 

[El Oso]

http://www.lawheelmen.org/grantour.htm

the LA Wheelmen do this one, if anyone wants some distance, and it is well supported.

+1 The Grand Tour is an excellent ride. Well supported and goes through a good area to ride. I've done the highland version of the double twice, although there isn't really that much climbing even in the highland version.

 

[Murray]

Gripe, whinge, mumble..


What, really, whats not to love about events like this???

You've hit it right on. I am going down to NYC for GFNY in May. No, I am not superfit. Yes, I could stand to lose a few pounds. But I'm a medical resident with huge work commitments, a wife and two kids so excuse me if I don't have a 26" waist and ride 10,000km per week.

The whole idea is to get people out and riding. Who cares what you call it? If "Gran Fondo" makes it seem more fun and exotic, so be it.

This display of snobbery is what keeps our great sport marginilized.

 

[DirtyWorks]

You've hit it right on. I am going down to NYC for GFNY in May. No, I am not superfit. Yes, I could stand to lose a few pounds. But I'm a medical resident with huge work commitments, a wife and two kids so excuse me if I don't have a 26" waist and ride 10,000km per week.

The whole idea is to get people out and riding. Who cares what you call it? If "Gran Fondo" makes it seem more fun and exotic, so be it.

This display of snobbery is what keeps our great sport marginilized.

Interesting. You are going to do this ride at some personal expense given the demands on your time, why not any number of organized rides that have been around?

What parts of the thread were snobbish? It's a real question, not a 'challenge.' I am most interested in this issue as I view it as a big problem in competitive cycling.

 

[Murray]

Interesting. You are going to do this ride at some personal expense given the demands on your time, why not any number of organized rides that have been around?

What parts of the thread were snobbish? It's a real question, not a 'challenge.' I am most interested in this issue as I view it as a big problem in competitive cycling.

To quote snobbery... "You do not have to be that fit to do a hundred miles. Centuries are full of punters who are thirty pounds overweight that have no problem with the distance." Just because someone is overweight doesn't make them a "punter", and really, fitness is relative. I find, in general, that there are a lot of posts on the forum criticizing people for being too slow, too fat, or riding bikes that are deemed too expensive for them.

So, yes I am taking personal expense to go down to NYC. But it is not soley for the ride. It's also a fun road trip to New York with friends and have to social aspect of it.

 

[BroDeal]

To quote snobbery... "You do not have to be that fit to do a hundred miles. Centuries are full of punters who are thirty pounds overweight that have no problem with the distance." Just because someone is overweight doesn't make them a "punter", and really, fitness is relative. I find, in general, that there are a lot of posts on the forum criticizing people for being too slow, too fat, or riding bikes that are deemed too expensive for them.

Sorry, tubby, but you do not need to be what I consider very fit to ride a hundred miles. Centuries, MS150s, and other rec rides are full of people who are not in that great of shape but finish the distance and manage to have fun doing it. That is neither here nor there. The point is that it looks like an opportunity to bridge the gap between recreational riding and racing is being lost because, in search of the lowest common denominator, gran fondos are turning into not-so-gran centuros.

 

[Granville57]

North East Hill Climb Series

Some of you may like the looks of this...

Northeast Hill Climb Series

 

[Murray]

The point is that it looks like an opportunity to bridge the gap between recreational riding and racing is being lost because, in search of the lowest common denominator, gran fondos are turning into not-so-gran centuros.

So, if I understand your point, you would like a ride that is longer than a century but not quite as hard as a race?