Review: Wilmington Gran Fondo

In years past, riding in a Gran Fondo would have been a target I trained for. This year, I used the Wilmington Gran Fondo as a training ride to get ready for our cross country adventure. I’ve been riding 6 days on and with 1 day rest for the last month and a half. That’s the same schedule we’ll be following on the big ride so I’ve been curious how my body will put up with it. I’ve been doing less mileage than the x-country ride (clearly) but have been ramping up the length of the rides the last few weeks… I think last week my average ride was ~35miles. I figured I’d throw in the Gran Fondo as just another (albeit longer) training ride.

The Course

I’ll be honest. I thought all of Delaware was rail flat. Last year on our Hack the Coast ride, we road up the Delaware coast. The largest climb we had on that ride was up a bridge overpass. The Gran Fondo organizers posted the cue sheets last week. I created the route on Running Free so I could add it to my Garmin. I really didn’t pay attention to the elevation change, but RF claimed 3.6k’ which in hindsight should have clued me in that the ride might have some climbing. (more…)

My altimeter freaked out due to the rain, but I’m thinking 3.6k’ was conservative. I had 2k by the 20 mile mark, and the rolling hills kept going until the finish. So yeah, I can tell you first hand, Delaware is not flat.

The course itself ran all over northern DE. If you look at the route, it seems a bit convoluted. However, the roads were relatively light with traffic and well marked despite a night of rain beforehand. None of the climbs were knee breaking (I’m looking at you, Garrett County Gran Fondo) but there were a large number of kickers that were over 10%. The course also included several covered bridges, some great twisting descents, a few long sustained climbs around the 40 mile mark, and unbelievable scenery. Also, the ride could have been sponsored by the New Castle County Realtors Association for all I know because we went past some absolutely amazing houses along the route.

The Ride

First off, the weather was nothing if not annoying. It never quite rained but it was never quite dry; at best, the weather fluctuated between “light mist” and “heavy mist”. I put my jacket on and off a few times, and gave up trying to keep my glasses clean and went without them for most of the ride. The roads were a bit slick, but my new ride (a Lynskey Sportive Disc… more on that in another post) was more than capable of handling the conditions. I was one of a few people with disc brakes and I think the only one with a full rear fender. Seriously, those things should be a requirement on large group rides… getting sprayed by someone’s rear wheel for miles on end is a bummer.

Speaking of people, there weren’t exactly a ton of folks on this ride. The website indicated that registration would be cut off at 2,000 people. I’m not sure how many folks registered, but I think there couldn’t have been more than 300 people in attendance. Given that there were 3 different rides going on (100k Gran Fondo, 50k Medio Fondo, and a 15 mile ride with the Governor) there were relatively few people on the road at any given time.

I’ve been known to exaggerate at times (no way!), but in all seriousness, after the rest stop at mile 33, I saw a grand total of 6 other cyclists. For the most part, I was completely alone and couldn’t see anyone in front or behind me. I got passed by a small group on some hills (I’m not a real strong climber) and passed two other riders right before the finish. Judging from the continuous trickle of one or two riders who came across the finish line after I did, I presume this was an experience shared by many. I imagine there was something of a group up front, but I don’t think it was a very big pack.

This ride was also the first field test of the Mobile Command Center. The rig worked great. I built a custom bike carrier for the rear area of the van that can hold 3 bikes in a ~20″ wide space. We had a full tank of fresh water and lots of food on board. I even took a shower in it after the ride (tho we had a bit of a false start getting the hot water heater up and running the first time). The one big take away is that my kids, when left alone with a 4G router providing in-vehicle wifi, will consume GIGS of data in just a few hours watching movies, playing minecraft, and downloading lord knows what. We’ll have to work on that this summer.

The Organization

The Wilmington Gran Fondo was a well run event from start to finish. Easy registration and good communication before the race. Lots of parking in and around the venue, easy onsite check-in, and an on time start. The organizers had great support from the local police as most of the major intersections were covered (with the exception of one VERY major left turn on to a 4-lane divided about 5 miles from the finish… but really, if that’s the biggest issue, I have no complaints). The rest stops were well stocked if not a strangely placed. The rest stops were at 10, 15, 33, 38(?!?) and 54 miles. I stopped at the 54 mile rest stop to use the facilities. I got the impression from the volunteers that not many riders were stopping at that one. I think the distribution on the 100k ride was a bit skewed because they were also supporting the 50k ride. At the finish there was plenty of food, drinks, and beer. And there was even a goodie bag with a couple of t-shirts. The Gran Fondo is part of a larger weekend of cycling in Wilmington and it’s obvious that the organizers know how to run these events.

The Opinion

I enjoyed this ride more than I thought I would. The course was well laid out and more fun than I thought you could have on a bike in Delaware. The one bummer is that group rides like this are more fun when there’s actually a group… talking to other riders, working in small packs, swapping stories… that’s part of the fun. So I guess the message is: Next year, you better sign up for this awesome ride! 🙂