Levi's Gran Fondo Ride Report-Jon H-10/9/10

Event: Levi Leipheimer's King Ridge Gran Fondo
Date: Saturday, October 9, 2010
Distance: 103 miles
Summary: Epic

This was the second edition of Levi's ride. A year's experience made a big
difference. Everything felt smooth and well organized. Last year it fell on my
anniversary so I did the Medio (100K) route to get home in time for dinner. This
time I went all in and tackled King Ridge. It was awesome. Definitely helped
that the day was perfectly clear with very little wind.

Lining up with 6000 riders was crazy. Amazingly, more than half the people were
from outside California. And up in the front there were some young guns: Taylor
Phinney and Ben King, some not-as-young guns: Fast Freddie Rodriguez and Dylan
Casey, plus a whole bunch more names I sort of recognized.

We rolled out at 8am and it was chilly until the sun made it up above the trees.
The first 30 miles were mostly flat with just a few rollers. The pack gradually
thinned and I settled into a good group. We worked together and covered the
distance in less than 90 minutes, even with the slow start.

Then I made my first rest stop before starting up King Ridge. I should point out
there were eight rest stops over the 100 miles. This was great to help reduce
the crowds and I never had to wait in line the four times I stopped to refill.
(Don't judge, I drink/sweat a lot.)

The climb up King Ridge was really two climbs. The first wound through the trees
and reminded me of Tunitas or the lower part of West Alpine. After a descent,
the second was through open ranch land and we were rewarded with amazing views
of the Pacific. Up on top, the narrow road was definitely bumpy though not as
rough as I had expected. The descent to the coast was technical and fun.

The stretch down highway 1 had the most traffic of the day, but there were
plenty of CHP officers keeping an eye on things. Also worth noting is there was
traffic control at every intersection, allowing us to roll through all the stop
signs, and I only remember one traffic light along the whole route.

The last big challenge of the day was the climb away from the coast up Coleman
Valley Road. It started pretty steep then mellowed as it went on a little longer
than one would hope. Again, the views from the ridge were well worth the effort.
Finally, I was flying down the other side into Occidental, then cruising along
the flats back to Santa Rosa. Another improvement this year was that the last
few miles along the bike path have been paved. Finishing on gravel last year
wasn't as fun as you'd think.

The Gran Fondo isn't a race, but everyone gets a timing chip and eventually the
results will be posted. I didn't try to kill it, took my time chowing down at
the rest stops, and finished in a little over 7 hours, with 6:27 of ride time.

This event is a terrific way to cap off the season. Having joined the CoreTechs
team and riding a lot more this year, I felt about 10 times better at the end of
the 100 mile route than I did at the end of the 100K route last year. Definitely
a reward for all the hard/fun work. There is a reason this event sells out so
fast. It would be great to do it with a group next year.

Thanks for reading.
-Jon