Northeast - Gran Fondo Philadelphia, August 8th

http://granfondophiladelphia.com/

Anyone going??

For those of us who have not done an event like this, is it worth the 100 bucks? Looks like it should be a blast.

It looks interesting. I wonder if it is worth going down from NYC to this event????

This looks awesome. I lived in Philly for 11 years before moving down to Baltimore last year. I would love to do this, maybe the short ride, i am worried i wont be ready. I just got my bike last week.

What do you think? How would I train for this?

The nice thing about a large group ride is that the car traffic has to give way to the bikes. So if everyone in the pack you are with are crossing an intersection and the light turns yellow you just keep going. When it turns red you can sometimes keep going as well depending on how many other riders do the same.
Even when riders get strung out with people riding alone you feel that the car drivers are more aware since they have seen a lot of bikes on the road.
It's also nice to have rest stops for food and bathroom breaks where you can leave your bike without locking it up.

$100? That depends on what other stuff you would use that money to get.

Looks pretty cool! You get a splashy jersey, saddle bag, and Italian lunch for the 100 clams. Not bad...

I'm definitely doing this ride. Anyone else in Philly thinking about going?

I am inclined to go. My indecision is whether to do the short or longer route.

I'm in.

Any idea what the hill profile is like?

I've got my eye on this ride. It should be great preparation for the LiveStrong Challenge.

I'm registered for the 100.

Has anyone seen what the route will be and the climbs?

Alright, I have been looking at this for a bit and can't decide whether to sign on or not. I'm in michigan and have never done a ride like this. I'm sure I can train and be ready but what would you riders that have done a ride like this recommend. Go for the full 100 or go for the medium ride?

To me, it's well worth the $100 and I'm kind of viewing this as a precursor to getting into CAT-5 or CAT-4 racing.

Any advice?

Routes (http://granfondophiladelphia.com/routes/) are posted. (Scroll down)

I signed up for the 57 mile option. It will be my longest ride so far.

I signed up for the 57 mile option. It will be my longest ride so far.

The Medio Fondo is 63 due to a detour that has been made necessary by a bridge closure. Some friends of mine rode the route last weekend. A calibrated altimeter had about 4,500 ft. of climbing. 73 ft./mile is not super hilly in the abstract, but they seem to have gone out of their way to find a lot of gut busting climbs.

I picked up my packet, timing chip, jersey, and saddle bag Friday night. I'm looking forward to Sunday!

The Medio Fondo is 63 due to a detour that has been made necessary by a bridge closure. Some friends of mine rode the route last weekend. A calibrated altimeter had about 4,500 ft. of climbing. 73 ft./mile is not super hilly in the abstract, but they seem to have gone out of their way to find a lot of gut busting climbs.

If i read correctly your altimeter posted 4500' of ascent compared to mapmyride's 2600'........I've noticed mapmyride's ascents do not jive with ridewithgps and I'm starting to realize ridewithgps may be more accurate. It would be interesting to see this in both maps and check that against your altimeter.

Today we took a short ride but did a boatload of climbing because of a bridge repair, and mapmyride showed only 1000' for our efforts compared to 1600' for mapmyride. My legs definitely say it was 1600' as my mph was so low the climbs were far more than normal. If there's a link on the comparison of the two I'd love to see it.

To all competing tomorrow, best of luck it should be a nice cool 65F start.

So, how was it? I couldn't do it due to a prior commitment :(, but I'm hoping for next year. How did those hills in MontCo treat you?

Sag Vehicles were non existent. rest stops were below par. No Beer at the end.

My Edge 500 claimed 4747 feet of climbing (for the 57/63 mile option). There were a number of difficult climbs and it would have been better if they took more hills into account for the KOM/QOM challenge. (I felt that Old Eagle School Rd was harder but I didn't confirm it on my Edge at the time.) As far a SAG vehicles, I only saw 1 outside of a rest area.

My buddy saw a truck full of bikes at the St. Peter's rest stop. Almost 7,700 ft. of climbing for the Gran. (I told you MapMyRide was WAY off.) At least two tickets for running the stop sign at Horseshoe & St. Mathews. Not a good intersection to blow through as X traffic has no stop.

I was working in a booth in the vendor area near the finish line and got mixed feedback regarding the course. Some loved it and some hated it. Also, heard that quite a bit of people walked up the hills in certain points. Interesting to see what will happen with this next year..