Solidjake

Hey guys, here is my story on my first Gran Fondo race. What a ride....

Bike config during the event:

- 2014 Cannondale Synapse 105 Carbon
- Vuelta wheels
- Continental Gatorskins
- Continental inner tubes
- Two cages/bottles
- Medium saddle bag (two inner tubs, multitool, tire levers)
- Garmin Edge 520
- Road morph pump



Strava history:

https://www.strava.com/activities/1585228851


Got some good rest the night before and woke up around 220am, had some toast/banana/oj for breakfast around 3. Arrived near the staging area around 430 or so and just took it easy as they were setting up the road. There was a guy with a fold-able bike that was doing the 100 miler which was nuts. We all made our way to the bridge staging area past security where they had separate waiting areas by rider number. I was number 788 out of 5000 so I was up a head a good amount. Did some stretching in the last 30 min before the start, had an energy shot and nerves were kicking in. They had a good amount of known people there (presidents, olympic winners, etc) which was cool. The president of GFNY made her speech and did the countdown... 3..2..1.. go...

Made my way down the bridge onto the local streets of Fort Lee in New Jersey. Lots people zipping by and others taking it east as we made our way into the beginning of the Hudson Drive (a road wide enough for 2.5 cars where a lot of cyclists go). Good amount of descends followed by some minor climbs and then the big one of the morning, Alpine. Took it easy, stayed to the right, heart rate up there and in lower gear just making it through. As I got to the top the road leveled out and we got onto route 9 (one/two lane road for us to go down) Took another energy shot right before and kept on drinking the one bottle/hr, started to rain but it was still fast cycling. I was cycling with a few other riders keeping a great pace all the way to the beginning of Bear Mountain where my average speed was around 17mph up to that point.


The mountain itself... 3-4 miles non stop climbing, the last mile was done in the easiest gear. I haven't done a climb this long/steep ever. It was mentally challenging and at one point I wanted to get off but I pulled through to the top. Avg on the climb 6mph, overall average went down to 16 or so. Took a short break, ate again and rocketed down the mountain.

Now came the hardest part... those climbs after the mountain. Miles 52-68 were challenging. Cramps started kicking in and the mental part was extremely difficult. On the flats/minor climbs it was ok, high cadence to keep cramps at bay and keep up the average pace. But for the climbs I had to stop a few times either before/during/after a climb because of cramps and the need to stretch.

Mile 68 rest stop after the two big climbs (Pinarello/Cheesecoat) I was feeling ok. I had the major points of the race and the 10mph min average speed times needed for each point taped onto my top tube with the mile markers for the climbs and the rest stops to know my pace. I was around 1.5hrs ahead of the min time needed and kept that for the remainder of the race. All hills after was done with the lowest gear/second to lowest gear.

Mile 80 rest stop still same as before, still drinking a lot of water/energy drink, eating energy bars, bananas, energy gels, etc. Making my way back on route 8 that we were on the beginning of the race after the first big hill. Kept a good pace on that road even with the hills and the cramps weren't showing. Once we got back to the top of that hill it was a nice downhill that I used to rest my legs. The subsequent hills took them easy and there were two bigger hills left (one constant climb for a bit and the last BIG climb - Dyckman hill).

I took the first long steady climb nice and easy but had to rest for a bit before the last last hill because of cramps. Managed to get up the last hill and it was pretty flat all the way to the finish line. Picked up speed, saw the finish line and emotions hit. I can't believe how far I cycled, how many feet of climbing I have done for the first time, that I actually was going to complete a race, a gran fondo. It meant so much to me, I wanted to tear up badly but held back and kept pushing those last 500 meters. The crowd was cheering, that gave me motivation for the last push, made it across the line with no other cyclist around at that time so the announcer said my name as I passed.

I finished.. stopped and enjoyed this major accomplishment. It was so physically demanding after the halfway mark and as difficult mentally as well. I have learned a lot from this event and I will use it to fine tune my cycling. Using the higher cadence definitely helped and the rides I did before did help me with this event. I definitely need to do more training on these climbs so I will make it my goal to once/twice a month depending on my schedule to do the first 20 miles of the race and back to hit those steep hills a few times. Before major events I will keep doing more training and drive out to Bear Mountain and go up it at least twice per ride maybe three times.

One thing I did notice is that my eating/drinking was good, maybe had to load up a bit more later on in the ride. Second thing is that after the halfway point while tackling a hill I was feeling warm. The temps were rising rapidly since the clouds moved out before taking on the Bear but I knew I had to get rid of the long sleeve liner I had under my jersey. Once I took it off I felt refreshed, kept the zipper down as I took on climbs to cool off faster and zipped up a bit on hills.



I already signed up for next years event and will do this every year. I also signed up for the inaugural race in the Dominican Republic ( www.gfnyrd.com ) next April, a month before next years NY event. My step father is Dominican btw, so we'll do a family vacation during the time of the race. I'll rent a hard shell case for the bike and fly down with it.







I already signed up for next years event and will do this every year. I also signed up for the inaugural race in the Dominican Republic ( www.gfnyrd.com ) next April, a month before next years NY event. My step father is Dominican btw, so we'll do a family vacation during the time of the race. I'll rent a hard shell case for the bike and fly down with it.

bald1

Great report! Look forward to your next one.

Abu Mahendra

Awsome...but why do you say doing it on a folding bike is nuts?

atwl77

Don't look down on the folders and similar 20" wheels. I've seen groups of them on my 200km brevets, and a handful also joining 300km brevets. As long as the bike is comfortable and the owner knows how to maintain/service their bike, it'll do just fine.

Abu Mahendra

i am traversing South Korea right now, from Seoul in the northwest to Busan in the southeast, on--you guessed it--a folding bike. Lots of ignorance and prejudice on this forum of folding and small-wheel bikes.

joewein

@Solidjake, welcome to long distance cycling

It's not necessarily any more difficult on a folding bike and it depends very much on the bike. I have completed 400 km brevets on my 20" Bike Friday Pocket Rocket. In fact I rode all my brevets from 2012-2015 on my Bike Friday. I have heard of people even riding PBP on Bike Fridays.

Unlike what many people think you don't have to "pedal more" just because the wheels are smaller. That's what gears are there for. The same crank and cassette combined with smaller wheels only mean you give up some very tall gears that most 700C riders hardly ever spend any time in. In return you gain some lower gears that will save your legs on a long ride with steep climbs. Which brings me to this....

I have never cramped on a climb. I also don't get knee pain on climbs. I think that's partly because both my Bike Friday and my Elephant Bikes National Forest Explorer (NFE) have low gearing (BF: 22-92 gear inches, NFE: 21-100 gear inches) so I can spin up hills instead of having to grind.

My introduction to randonneuring was a 300 km brevet with a 28 km (17 mi) uninterrupted climb in it (near Mt Fuji).

And here is a picture of me and my Bike Friday from a 231 km ride from Tokyo to half way up Mt Fuji (2305 m / 7500 ft) and down to sea level again:

unterhausen

I saw a lot of Moultons on PBP, not too many Bike Fridays. I know there were some though. I know someone that rode it on a Bike Friday. Anyone that has never ridden a Moulton or similar bike will probably think they are slow. They actually give the feeling of more speed than a bike with bigger wheels. It's not really true though.

Solidjake

Thanks guys. It was a great event and can't wait for the next one.

I'm not knocking on foldable bikes whatsoever so don't see it the wrong way. It's just amazing that the cyclists using them can accomplish such feats, it's amazing.

Abu Mahendra

Folders are bikes like any others, except they fold (mature technologies), and have smaller wheels (requiring higher gearing). That's all. There is nothing truly amazing, really. You only think them amazing because you are unfamiliar with them.

atwl77

I wouldn't go so far as to say prejudice... ignorance or lack of experience with smaller wheels, I suppose. Until they get passed by a fast-paced mini-velo peloton!

rhm

Well, we're pretty off-topic here, but i'll weigh in anyway.

To be fair to the haters, there are some terrible folding bikes out there.

Among the good ones, you still have to understand that there are FOLDING bikes, and there are folding BIKES. That is, some of them are great at folding up, but maybe not so great as bikes; and others are great bikes that kinda fold up, but they don't fold up well enough to use for multimodal commuting. The latter are perhaps better thought of as 'travel bikes.'

My current folding bike is a decent compromise, but the emphasis is on folding up quickly and small enough that I can sit anywhere on the train, not just in the handicapped person area. It's a great bike; and during the summer I ride it 13 miles every day, in addition to a hundred on the train. But I won't be riding any brevets on it. It's not aerodynamic, and it's a little too floppy for standing up and hammering up hills. Don't get me wrong; I'm totally pro-folding bike; but they aren't necessarily made for a gran fondo. If I had to abandon all my bikes and have only one, it would probably be a folding bike.