2015_09_12 Vancouver to Whistler Gran Fondo (Dwaine's Perspective)

Author:  Dwaine Trummert

Les had a great Gran Fondo experience in 2014. Convincing me to join him in 2015 was not a heavy lift. And before you knew it, we had a team of five Cyclopaths. In the next few paragraphs I hope to share the high points of my Gran Fondo Whistler experience.

Going into this event I felt more stress than usual. The logistics were complicated. Packing and preparing my gear required more thought. And the looming choice between maximizing my own individual finish or helping the team finish well in the '5 man' team division weighed heavily. By Thursday, though, I threw in the towel and accepted that this event had way too many variables for me to control. From that point forward I decided to just roll with the punches. Which turned out to be a good choice given the upcoming (mis)adventures.

Bicycle jigsaw puzzle assembled!

Plan 'A' was to store our bikes overnight in a downtown Vancouver storage unit. Then a monkey wrench was thrown we moved into 'work the problem' mode. We had that thought that _maybe_ we could jam five bikes AND five riders in one vehicle. A test fit was proposed and soon the tiny U-Lok parking lot was littered with five bikes being ferried around by four Cyclopaths between the three rigs after two rear seats were removed from one Gran Suburban. When this Chinese firedrill type exercise was done we found that all the bikes fit nicely and the five riders would likely fit as well. A big 'Thanks' to Tom for bringing 'The Bus'.

While the Chinese Bicycle Drill took place I pointed my camera skyward at the U-Lok building architechture.

After aborting the U-Lok plan and then picking up our race packets the three vehicle caravan started off towards it's next task. Almost immediately the vehicles became separated. The map happened to be in Les's van. While he drove the van I became the de facto team navigator. While advising Les on when and where to expect the next turn I was franticly answering incoming calls from both Tom and Mike. On each call I would quickly figure out where on the map the caller was and then try to give directions. Traffic in Vancouver is no walk in the park and I had to work fast to keep all three vehicles traveling in the right direction. Although we did miss a turn or two I can happily report no vehicles were permanently lost.

Last corner. On the gas!

After all the logistical surprises the start of the race seemed calm. The Cyclopath team rode together for quite a while. About a third of the distance Leon and Mike got into a good group and stayed 500k or so in front of Me, Les, and Tom. This CycloTrio kept our powder dry and rode patiently figuring we would slowly grind up to them or they would eventually fall back to us. Neither happened by the 88k 'Salt Shed' rest stop. At which point I figured it was time for me to go my own way. I powered up the road. I tried to work hard on the climbs and  find a wheel for each short descent or flat. This worked well and I quickly bridged to the fifteen rider group that Mike and Leon were in. I sat in with this group until, again, I saw a chance to put in some work on a short climb and bridge up to another group ahead. This pattern worked for only a short while longer. Soon I found no more groups ahead. And the road wasn't climbing enough. A strong blue jerseyed rider powered the 15 man group across the flats and I knew I would be caught. I was furious with myself for burning matches only to be caught. About the time this train caught me the gradient started to increase and halfway up the short climb I was able to make the move that kept me out front of this group. With only about 20k to go and still more energy to burn I was able to ride a good pace the rest of the way to the finish.

Nice Jersey, Mister.

Sunday morning found us well rested and bright eyed. Leon took a short walk. Tom, Les, and Mike went bear hunting. (Yes. Really. Ask them.) And, with the condo all to myself, I made coffee. Then reclined on the sofa, drank my coffee, listened to Van Halen's 'Hot for Teacher', and stared out the window. And let my batteries recharge. And recalled the previous day's race. Dreamy.



I'd like to finish by saying 'Thanks' to my four teammates. The weekend had some unexpected surprises. Tests, almost. Yet we all stayed cool and just kept 'working the problem'. These issues did not deter us and this event turned out to be a great weekend that I'll remember fondly for quite some time. Thank you gentleman.