In competitive cycling there is Pro-racing, Amateur racing, Sportives (not supposed to be competitive but then they still are somehow) and Granfondos. The thing is, what do you do when you are too old to be a Pro, but too good to retire. Not all pros want to sit back and get fat, some continue riding at different level, in age group veteran and master racing, because it’s the competitive edge that still matters to many. So with no surprise you find lots of ex Pros riding Granfondos. Imagine a race comprising of licenced racers of all age groups and all rider categories, men and women all in one race, all off with one bang (not in timeslots such as Prudential 100) . The first rider across the finish line gets a big fat prize (ToC prize was £1,500 for the winner). That’s a Granfondo. It’s a race – its not a sportive!
Mega-Peloton, 2,000 international licensed racers
The Tour of Cambridgeshire last weekend was the first Granfondo staged in the UK. Run on entirely closed roads, with plenty of NEG motorbikes, lead cars and Shimano neutral service cars. A beautyful early summer day with temperatures soaring close to 30 centigrade. Apparently 2,000 licenced racing cyclists set of as one huge mega peloton from Peterborough Arena, not far from Cambridge. The strong headwinds at the early race must have strung the peloton out to an almost 5km echelon(!!!). Thanks to a hefty pace from the start it shattered into pieces very quickly but Simon, Gavin, Detta and myself were positioned at the front end of business, possibly with about 200 other riders. The race unfolded exactly like any Elite 1/2/3 race, attack after attack, riders peeling off the front, being reeled in again, more attacks, same pattern as usual until a number of people met out in the break and made it stick, for a while at least. You saw our Dynamo jerseys always in the front 30 of the peloton, often part of the escapees, Gavin was off the front for a while, I had my various attempts on my own or chasing and Simon certainly was seeking early opportunities, too. By km 60, 5 riders had managed to build a gap of maybe 30seconds, we could clearly see them and it didn’t look like they would stay away for long. That was the time when massive cramps set into my calves. I usually never get cramps on the bike, just very very rarely, only on hot summer days at the end of long rides. These cramps just returned again and again and after a while I figured the only way to not take a taxi to the finish line was to keep churning a big gear at low cadence with my heels always pushed down as far as possible and by doing so stretching my calves. I still had to respond to accelerations and occasionally join intermediate sprint efforts, but those usually didn’t last for long. Another couple of people escaped and by the time they bridged to the breakaway I stopped counting how many where up the road, it was obvious that they began organising themselves and they soon vanished out of our views. But for me it was just about arriving at the finish, the cramps didn’t let go, they came back again and again. There were some interesting sections along the course, one that went through a flat nature reserve on a straight road for miles and miles that didn’t seem to come to an end, another interesting section when the course let onto the runway of an airport, with the echelon swerving from one side of the runway to the other in one kilometre long pace line, must have been such awesome sight from a helicopter. We raced the entire length of the runway before leaving the airfield again. Along the whole course thousands of supporting spectators on the roadside reminded me in places of images from the Grand depart in Yorkshire last year and I got goose pimples a few times. Getting closer to the finish was then a bit of a drag as the race length was determined before the race as 125km whilst the registration info said 135km. At the end the reality was somewhere around 130km. All 4 of us finished in the first peloton that came in after the lead group, with myself 5. in agegroup (23rd overall) and Simon 15. in age group (52nd overall), Gavin 5. in his agegroup (35th overall).and Detta I think 2nd in her age group (and overall of the Ladies?). Maybe she can put this right if I got it wrong. It was a spectacular event and all 4 of us qualified for the UCI Masters World Championship in Copenhagen in September. Simon, was it a joke with the national jersey being compulsory? I would rather prefer to ride in Dynamo colours..
link to Strava page
