First Fondo in Almost Two Years

Is summer 2021 a step on the way back to “normal”, or just a false hope? Only time will tell, but something “normal” happened today for the first time in almost two years: I rode the Gran Fondo Badlands in Drumheller.

It was a good day. The event organizers had moved the date from June to August in the hopes that COVID restrictions would be lifted enough to run. As it turns out, with vaccination rates being what they are, Alberta is reopened and the event went on. We all were worried that the weather would be 36 degrees and windy but the weather has changed and it got up to about 25 degrees with light winds, which was almost perfect.

There were a dozen Bow Cyclists taking part, and I had agreed to ride with Phil, and he’d arranged to ride with Derek and his wife Sandy. And then we met up with Moe and Jason and we became a group of six riders working together. I was a little apprehensive about riding with Phil and Derek, as they are very strong this year, and the pace was high: I finished in 5:15, which was 25 minutes faster than my previous fastest time. I was strong enough to keep up, at least until the last aid station. The group had only stopped at the Wayne station and Dorothy station and the 160 km turnaround. From the turnaround it was 51 km to the end, and the last aid station was only 11 km from the end. The group wanted to push on, but I wanted a break and a stretch so I let them go and I stopped and filled my bottles and had a cookie before riding solo to the end.

It wasn’t a race, but there was timing. I finished 52nd out of 127 doing the full 162 km, and 16th in my category. If I’d really cared, I wouldn’t have stopped for the cookie. 🍪

It felt good to take part in a ride like that. Assuming all goes well, Ian and I should be in Victoria for the Tour de Victoria the first weekend of October. 🤞