I participated in the Tulsa Tough Gran Fondos this year. Several have asked me what Gran Fondo means. Best I can tell it is a fancy term for a large organized bike ride. Last year I rode 2 x 100 miles. This year they offered something new, a 200k called the Molte Gran Fondo on Saturday. I figured why not. The farthest I had ridden previously was 110 miles. This would be about 124 miles.
Day One Saturday - Molte Gran Fondo
The ride was to start at 7:30. A train through downtown Tulsa delayed the start about 15 minutes. It doesn't seem like much but every minute means more heat to ride in. The start was great, the route headed South down Riverside Drive. Riverside is closed down and it is a blast to ride down the road in a large group. I kept up with the large pace group through Kiefer which is about mile 26. This is the first significant hill on the ride. I wasn't far behind but I lost the main group on that hill. A small group of us stayed together for while after this hill. We were actually catching the lead group when we came to a four way stop with traffic. Stopping for traffic put the lead group way out of reach. Even if I would have stayed with the lead group I would have never stuck with them on Teal Rd Hill.
My first rest stop was Kellyville. After this rest stop was the optional 200k extra loop. That was a lonely extra 20 miles. It did turn out to have a benefit I never thought about. The 200k loop eventually rejoined the main route. I started seeing people again. That was great. What wasn't great was my second trip up Teal Rd. I might have cussed a bit. Or a lot. At the top of that hill I ran saw some Team Superior including Mike & TJ. A bit after that I saw Marsha for a bit. Had a brief stop in Kellyville again and then off with a few riders. At the mile 50 stop I saw Susan & more Superior including Dan. Taking that extra loop was great for seeing people. I ran into Nita several times throughout the day as well as she was providing support for Jared.
The last person I ran into that I knew was Paul. Paul and some girl that called him Scott :-). I forgot her name. Paul decided for this to be his first century! A tough century indeed. I think the century riders actually got 106 this day! I rode off/on with Paul over the last 40 miles. I did make one mistake. I left the last rest stop just as Paul pulled in. I did not enjoy that last 10 miles. It was hot and lonely. I was quite happy to finally finish.
Almost forgot, about mile 100 I help a guy named Danny change his flat tire. Well, I changed it for him since he didn't know how :-s. Come on people.... Then just as we got it completely changed the SAG vehicle pulled up. Timing is everything.
Day One stats
Tough Official Molte Gran Fondo results
http://www.milliseconds.com/races/detail/1437/144167
7:47:58 (1:40:31 behind the first finisher)
15.9 mph avg
15 out of 23 male finishers
17 out of 26 all finishers
My Garmin
126.58 miles
7:22:32
17.2 mph avg
45.4 mph max
8788 calories
158 heart rate average
81 average cadence
5722' ascent
Day Two Sunday - Gran Fondo Cento
Another 7:30 AM start from Riverpark West. Today looked a bit stormy. We were delayed about half an hour before we started. I ran into Brett at the start line. We've ridden some gravel in the past and we thought we would stay together if we seems compatible. We had both ridden long rides on Saturday. Turns out every time Brett was tired so was I. Somewhere in the first 20 miles we started riding with a group of 5 from Highroller Cyclery out of Fayetteville, AR. At rest stop 2 we decided to wait for this group to make the day go easier.
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| Rest Stop #2 |
At the end ran into a friend, Susan. Thanks for saying hi and taking a few pictures.
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| Brett & Sean at the end to two days of Tough |
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| New this year. A medal for finishing 2 x 100 (or more). |
Day Two stats
6:42:30 (2:06:18 behind the first finisher)
14.9 mph avg
33 out of 43 male finishers
37 out of 52 all finishers
My Garmin
106.24 miles
6:15:02
17.0 mph avg
42.8 mph max
7179 calories
136 heart rate average
78 average cadence
4305' ascent
Out of about 1000 riders only 5 did the 200k/100mi courses. Only 10 riders did the 2 x 100 mi courses. Fifteen "Double Tough" finishers. I think 17 people completed the ultimate goal of the Deuce, 2 x 100 miles in under 5 hours each.
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