Our 1st Annual GranFondoOttawa is taking shape nicely with close to 1,000 riders set to ride one of our great route options through the Lower Ottawa Valley.

Our Fondo-Fit rides on Wednesday (Trek|Bushtukah) and Sunday (GranFondo) are growing and last Wednesday we finally had a decent turn-out but for getting split into 2 groups and not connecting and getting soaked into a headwind on the way back!

With less than 3-months to go, be sure to follow the Training Plan and be out on the bike at least 2-3 days a week for the MedioFondo and 3-4 days for the GranFondo and SuprFondo rides.

We have added a GiroPreFesta on the 19th at Brookstreet Hotel with and Olympian theme and will have a Four Course dinner followed by an open forum panel with 4 celeb`s sharing what it was like to dedicate themselves to a specific sport, their set-backs and successes and what life is like after sport. The Four Course Italian dinner prepared by Brookstreet`s Four Diamond Chef will cost $75.00 and include 2 bottles of Cave Springs vino per table. All proceeds will support our worth charities, Camp Quality and Ride for Dad.

Be sure to check out the Silent Auction section of the website as we have loads of great items…

We will be launching a specific charity initiative to be announced shortly aimed at supporting Camp Quality and Ride for Dad via specific pledge programs. With 1,000 riders and a minimal effort to raise $200.00 each, we should easily hit $200,000.00 for these charities.

Many riders have asked about the fit of the Biemme gear and to showcase how awesome their gear is and to encourage your purchase of the matching bibs, arm & leg warmers, gloves, caps and socks…. on May 27th we will have a Fit-Day with a double purpose. From 9AM until Noon we will offer fittings and showcase product in an Expo format from Biemme, Diadora, Enervit, Veloflex and Stella Azzura and plan to have Trek and Bontragger there as well given Trek is our Official Bike Sponsor.

I will skip over the first round of golf on Monday AM at Pebble and the crazy drive after down Hgwy 1 along the coast and get to the good part…..

The drive from the Central Coastal area took me through some of the most beautiful areas in the world flanked by vineyards and horse stables with mountains all around… and waiting for me was the Four Diamond Santa Ynez Inn, an awesome retreat with huge rooms and great staff. Across the street is CTS and after a team meet & greet dinner and a great sleep…. waiting there for us in the AM are the 4 coaches, led by Kirk + Dave, Jason and Julia, all Cat 1 racers and true disciples of their leader, Chris. Parked out front are 2 fully decked out Sram cars with our pro mechanics, Jason and Chad to take care of us and Soigner Jen with the sag wagon fully stocked with GU and bearing the CTS logos. How good is that…. better than good, awesome. Next…. who pops out but Chris to greet us and tell us a little about what they have in store…. can it get any better….. of course it can.

Off we go along the same scenic rural roads, with horse stables to the left and vineyards to the right and mountains in the horizon. Day 1 is the Field Test, good thing I read the fine print….. ouch that hurt, a short ride with some skill sessions followed by 2 x 8 minute time trials on a 2% false flat to set the bar and after the ride back, 60K was in the books. After a great dinner with Leonardo from Reggio di Calabria (home to Granpa Capello) at Grappolo and a few too many glasses of wine, okay 7 to be exact….  I hit the sack well after Midnight, bad idea!

On day 2, Chris tells us about a ride named after Manny, a cancer victim and off we go to the ocean…. 140K and 5,000 feet later I am better than cooked, these boys can ride and the Gat^s seems like rollers compared to the roads we covered. Thanks to the masseuse or Day 2 would be a total bust.

At dinner the coaches ask if we are ready for Fig Mountain….. Fig what….. So on Day 3 we ride 70K, not bad but for Fig Mountain is a legit euro-style Cat 1 climb with 10 long miles at 2% followed by another 10 miles up at an average grade of 8% and at least a dozen pitches of 14%, again, where did I see that…. wow, a little beyond what I came ready for but a real quad crack^n challenge for sure…. and as a follow-up to the 140K ride but I survived the day earlier, yowszer…..and the descent was unreal. I was happy to see the masseuse again and took an extra half-hour treatment. That night the wine stayed in the cork but the Fig Mountain Brewery lost a few soldiers for sure…..

Day 4 was an easy day with about 70K of roller riding but for Ballard Canyon and it^s 12% short pitch but lucky the GU was doing the trick and the descent was long and fun as the next day was the real stinger as Chris so aptly noted. After another great massage, followed by a hot tub and stretch, that night Chris gave a great talk about his days with 7-11 and the adventures of Alex Steida, the first rider from North America (Canada) to wear the yellow jersey at the TdeF, awesome story teller, wow, are we in for a treat if I can get him here….

Day 5 was the Solvang Century, 170K ride with 5,500 feet of climbing. I made the mistake of taking off with Group A incl Chris and a few too many Cat 1 guys and got dropped after hanging on for 40 minutes…. but managed to complete the ride at just under 32K/hour, not bad for March and riding mostly alone…. That night we had a great dinner and exchanged stories and listened to Chris and took some pics before calling it a quits…

The next day I headed back to Pebble Beach for another shot or two…. to pursue my other passion but found myself wishing I had stuck around for another easy day on the bike in Santa Ynez…. maybe next year….. yes, next year for sure!