levi granfondo

So this last weekend was our last organized ride for the year (well we think). It was a new ride put on by Levi Leipheimer who is a native of Santa Rosa. So up to Santa Rosa we went friday night where we had a very tasty meal at Ca bianca. When we first walked in, I was a little unsure because it was in a victorian house and looked really upscale. But I was reassured by the menu prices and almost all the pasta was homemade and super tasty.

Saturday, we got up early and got to the starting line around 7:30. It felt like the first time we were early for a ride. It was a mass start for all the ride distances so we went and sorted ourselves into the intermediate group which is where we thought we should be. What was unexpected was the parade like atmosphere in the start. I guess there isn't much to do in Santa Rosa because a lot of the residents were all out on the street in lawn chairs and cheering us on at the start. It was pretty awesome.

The first hill was pretty uneventful and still a bit crowded but at the first long downhill, we on the tandem kicked up the gear and then picked up a line of people all drafting behind us. It was actually pretty tiring going downhill that fast so we took it easy after that. The biggest hill of the day was Coleman valley road heading back up from the coast but a quarter of the mile up, a cyclist passing us told us that our tire looked flat. Of course this was the first ride where we had forgotten an extra tube or any tools. The tire wasn't flat though (just had been slowly leaking air). So when R came up to us and we realized he didn't have a pump either, we decided to just continue the hill climb with our smooshy tire. What was surprising to me was the sheer number of people who were unable to bike up the hill and were all walking their bikes up (you would think if you signed up for a 65 mile ride that you would be able to climb a mile hill). After getting more air from the sag vehicle at the top of the hill, we coasted down to the last rest stop where we saw Levi ride in! D and R took a photo op.

A picture from the back of the tandem as we were riding on the coast.



We took off for the last 20 miles and got passed by Levi's fast peloton which was awesome to see. We saw D peel off and catch the tail end of the group and apparently he was able to hang with them all the way to the end.

In summary, this was probably one of the best signed routes we have ever done. Pretty well organized as well.