Here we go again, how fast a year goes by! On Saturday, bicyclists from all over gathered in our town for the 2016 Tehachapi GranFondo.
This year, I helped out at the entrance to our canyon. Only the best riders, those who sign up for the 100 and 80 mile rides, go down the canyon and turn around for a roundtrip of about 12 miles. Mary is to the left and I'm to the right in the above picture, and, as you can see, we had plenty of water. We also had powdered electrolytes and protein bars. And a tray full of doughnuts and muffins. (It went fast!) A more full service station with sandwiches and such was 10 miles ahead.
The pro and elit bikers come by so fast, look so great, but it's over in the blink of an eye, so no pictures. Then come the rest and they stop, they talk, use the port-a-potties, fill up their water bottles, grab a protein bar before they take off again.
The GranFondo is only a race for the best cyclists, for the rest it's more of a folkfest. For me, it's a lot of fun, a great time with friends, helping in a small way to make the event a success for our town.
These guys wanted to be in my picture and on my blog too. It was really fun to see so many older bikers participating in the event.
I thought the bike rack was really cool. We will need more of them for next year. A lot more people than last year came by this station, so notes were made of items we will need more of. In its third year, the Tehachapi GranFondo is a big success.
As you can see, people are taking their time, meeting friends, and socializing with fellow cyclists.
Then the pros returned from their trip down the canyon, still as fast, so I only caught this last guy.
Followed by this great old car.
Fun as it is to see the really great cyclists zoom by, it's those who had some bad luck early on, but who didn't give up, that I will remember best.
