Get out and Ride!

Saturday July 8, 2017:

This year’s Cache Gran Fondo had a record registration of 1200 people. You have two options, 50 or 100 miles.

We registered for the 50 mile course. It was a new route this year for both the 50 and 100. They modified the routes due road damage from the flooding this year. Here is the 50 mile course.

We started off with some overnight kefir, coach’s oats and strawberries.

Which was a good thing since we arrived only 15 minutes before our 7 AM start time and didn’t have time to grab the provided breakfast. Enough time to put on our race bibs, sunscreen and find a spot at the back of the pack.

I was not very excited about the 7 AM start time as temps were supposed to be close to 100. However, we were fortunate to have a cool breeze throughout most of the ride. It really only felt warm on the last 30 minutes of the ride.

The new route was a nice change as it felt like a whole new ride. However, I seemed like this year’s route had a lot more incline over the previous course when it seemed like the only incline was the Trenton Hill. This year’s route had us approaching Trenton Hill from the opposite direction, so we actually enjoyed riding down it versus climbing it.

With the new route, there was just one fuel station that you pass twice. As usually, it was well stocked with a variety of carbs. By the time we came back to the fuel station for our second time on our way back into Logan, I was ready to fuel and grabbed a bagel quarter and a few donut holes and washed it down with my water.

Heather timed our ride on the Strava app which said we finished in 3 hours and 25 minutes. She started it 10 minutes before our race start. We stopped at the fuel station both times. So we figure actually ride time was probably about 3 hours and 5-10 minutes. I was kind of surprised since it was a new route and if felt a little more challenging.

It felt good to cross the finish line at just about 10:30 AM. Upon crossing the finish line, you are given a cloth towelette, the large Cache Gran Fondo medal and a free meal ticket.

Although I still had water, it was no longer cold. We were grateful for the complementary Jolly Llama Sorbet Pop! Ice cold and refreshing – just what we needed!

We both enjoyed a pork burrito from Cafe Sabor for our complementary post-race meal. After refueling, we walked back to check out the prize board and found that Heather had won a prize from the random drawing – a memory foam pillow and a water bottle!

It was a great day for a great ride! Thank you to Cache Gran Fondo, all the volunteers and sponsors, Gary Bird Photography and to Cache Valley Law Enforcement who helped us stay safe on the roads! See you next year!