How I Started My Worlds Gran Fondo Journey:
When I retired at 59 from the work world, I decided I could ride my bike more than when I worked. I told my boss that I was moving to Dahlonega to ride my bike and play the banjo and that’s what I did. I initially questioned my decision. I love the area for hiking, but it is daunting for cycling with a 100 feet or more of climbing per mile no matter your route. I did join two groups of country bluegrass players but ended up not pursuing after the pandemic I broke my knuckles during a crash in Italy, but that’s a story for another day.
So, how I got involved in World Gran Fondo racing all over the world was because in May of 2017 I raced the Cheaha Challenge, a 100 mile, 10,000 feet of climbing in Jacksonville, Alabama.
https:/www.cheahachallenge.com
It was the first year it was a world qualifying age group race (19 to 80+ age groups for both men and women) and I raced in the 60-64 year old category. The top 20% in each age group or top 3 in the smaller groups qualified for Worlds Gran Fondo which in 2017 was in Albi, France.
I had no idea what I was getting into. I just wanted survive the race and make the cut off at the highest point, so they wouldn’t send me back into town. If that happened, I wouldn’t be able to complete the whole course. There were other ladies in my age category, but I didn’t fret over that because my only goal was to complete the course. I made the cut off, so I was able to ride the whole course. I thought I had the stamina because I had completed the Athens to Savannah ride a few weeks earlier with the lead pack. It was a two day ride with slightly over 200 miles in two days.
The event has live results and as I passed an aid statIon, the director's husband who was dressed in a devil’s suit shouted at me, “You’re going to France” I shout back at him “shut up!”, I thought he was taunting me like the TDF devil does. I apologized later. He explained he was tracking every age group.
So, as I rolled in I asked someone to check the results on his phone. The young man said only one person in my age group had completed the 100 mile course. That person was me. I checked on the status of the other ladies. The organizers said the other participants in my age group had DNF or decided to take the shorter route which could have been a time cut off situation. So, due to peer pressure foremother racers, I called my husbanD to tell him, “We are going to France!”
I have had the opportunity to participated in both the Time Trial and Road Race in the following events: 2018 - Varese, Italy, 2019 - Poznan, Poland, 2022 - Trenton, Italy, 2023 - Perth & Dundee Scotland, 2024 - Aalborg, Denmark