# Gran Fondo NJ weekend is almost here!!!



## tednugent (Apr 26, 2010)

picked up my packet this afternoon....

Before the ladies of Colavita ESPN-W showed up...









Tomorrow... bring my dog into MoTown for the 1-mile walk for the Seeing Eye Dogs....


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## NJBiker72 (Jul 9, 2011)

Very cool. Home you had a great ride. Did the 107. 108 by mine. Great ride. Maybe left too much in the tank but still felt great. Really beautiful ride.


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## Squidly (May 17, 2011)

I did the 43...had a great time.


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## tednugent (Apr 26, 2010)

Did the 43 also....

the marty's Randolph folks were busting my chops for riding this year, instead of doing SAG...

loved all the Caution Steep downhill/curvy sections....


also... the best schwag I got was.... asked the notubes team if they had some stickers for my phone & roof rack fairing.... I got two 2 oz bottles of sealent instead! Those guys definitely like the Alpha 400 better than the 340


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## climbingcue (Aug 25, 2010)

It was a fun ride, rode with the Pro's for about 10 miles around mile 85. They turned in the rest area and I rode home. It was really nice to have a break at that point and get the free ride for a while...

Bill


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## robdamanii (Feb 13, 2006)

Great ride. Only did the Medio due to time constraints, but enjoyed it immensely.

The only thing that needs to change is the mass start. That was a cluster. Need to send people off in waves.


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## NJBiker72 (Jul 9, 2011)

robdamanii said:


> Great ride. Only did the Medio due to time constraints, but enjoyed it immensely.
> 
> The only thing that needs to change is the mass start. That was a cluster. Need to send people off in waves.


Agree on the mass start. Looks nice but waves make it much smoother. Not a big deal though, been in worse.


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## tednugent (Apr 26, 2010)

robdamanii said:


> Great ride. Only did the Medio due to time constraints, but enjoyed it immensely.
> 
> The only thing that needs to change is the mass start. That was a cluster. Need to send people off in waves.


I don't think anyone crashed this year on the mass start....

though the walking... felt like 5 Boro Tour


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## Montyaloofah (Mar 14, 2012)

Good ride. great day. I did the 107 with a couple of guys i usually ride with from Lifetime Fitness. we supported each other pretty well. Pleased with my performance on the timed hills. The stops were very good, but the first rest stop was very crowded. It thinned out after that. Marty's did an excellent job. Route was very well marked. Didn't need the cue sheets. Will do it again next year


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## gpcyclist25 (Mar 22, 2011)

It was fun. Ended up doing slightly better than last year, just above the median or so. Rode with a much slower friend so we barely made the barbecue but it left me enough gas in the tank to do the climbs decently. Still can't get over the JV cheerleaders they had set up.


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## ischgl99 (May 22, 2011)

Did the 43 mile ride with a friend and really enjoyed it. We thought it was very well organized, the scenery great and very well marked routes, but agree the mass start was a bit of a pain. We stayed near the back to avoid the masses and stayed out of trouble on the start. Someone near about mile 3 had a bad wreck at the 90 degree turn on Washington Valley Rd I think it was, we passed just before the amublance got there. He did not look in good shape, we hope he is ok. The cheerleaders were a nice touch and completely unexpected. We also liked how they closed off a lane for us returning to the city so we didn't have to battle with the traffic.

We are probably going to do it again next year and since I am the slow friend, hopefully will be fit enough to try the 62 mile route.


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## gpcyclist25 (Mar 22, 2011)

That wreck was entirely predictable. Pretty much exactly the same thing happened last year. Between the mass start, the narrow roads, fast descent and somewhat blind curves, it was pretty much a statistical certainty that somebody was going to wipe out on that early downhill. It's a fundamental hazard of that many riders going that fast on that kind of terrain. I ended up doing way too much braking early on because of the traffic and because I didn't think it was terribly prudent to be passing people going downhill at 35, and frankly didn't think too much of people who did.


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## robdamanii (Feb 13, 2006)

I hear from a Marty's guy that the crash resulted in a fractured clavicle and some road rash, but nothing much more.

Our group made the mistake of starting near the front of the 14-16 group in hopes of "saving energy by doing a really easy warmup 5 miles." Yeah right. We wasted more energy dealing with people not moving over up every rise, riding 4 abreast with traffic, etc etc. Ended up with a 13 mph average until we hit Lake Road. Then we turned on the gas and made up the rest of our time to finish the medio in 3:45.

Still killed the Medio climbing bits though. 3 of the 4 of us placed top 10, one in second place. 

It's nice having both climbs in my back yard and knowing every inch of them.


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## Squidly (May 17, 2011)

All in all I was fine with the start. Same sort of thing happened in this year's Philadelphia Open. The problem is the narrow start line choke point. Once we got through that we were moving (albeit slowly) Lots of people are inexperienced when it comes to riding in a Fondo-style pack, so I was cautious early on until things opened up. Saw the guy with the shoulder and 3 other wipeouts. One was the result of a flat, the other a clip-out mishap, and the third happened when a rider couldn't make it up a hill (basically came to a stop and flopped over.) I'll not judge.


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## tednugent (Apr 26, 2010)

gpcyclist25 said:


> That wreck was entirely predictable. Pretty much exactly the same thing happened last year. Between the mass start, the narrow roads, fast descent and somewhat blind curves, it was pretty much a statistical certainty that somebody was going to wipe out on that early downhill. It's a fundamental hazard of that many riders going that fast on that kind of terrain. I ended up doing way too much braking early on because of the traffic and because I didn't think it was terribly prudent to be passing people going downhill at 35, and frankly didn't think too much of people who did.


... I did the majority of my passing bombing down the steep curvy parts of the route... when the crowds thinned out, of course

Photos:
Gran Fondo NJ 2012 | Facebook


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## robdamanii (Feb 13, 2006)

tednugent said:


> ... I did the majority of my passing bombing down the steep curvy parts of the route... when the crowds thinned out, of course
> 
> Photos:
> Gran Fondo NJ 2012 | Facebook


Wait, was that you with the beaver hat?


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## tednugent (Apr 26, 2010)

yep. It was me.

100% positive reaction from everyone.


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## NJBiker72 (Jul 9, 2011)

tednugent said:


> yep. It was me.
> 
> 100% positive reaction from everyone.


Nice hat. Think we were riding along at one point.


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## ischgl99 (May 22, 2011)

tednugent said:


> ... I did the majority of my passing bombing down the steep curvy parts of the route... when the crowds thinned out, of course
> 
> Photos:
> Gran Fondo NJ 2012 | Facebook


I was riding with you at times, I was wearing the Rutgers jersey. You were certainly the easiest one to find out there!


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## tednugent (Apr 26, 2010)

I do remember seeing someone with a Rutgers jersey yesterday

some guy at the Chester water stop wanted a photo of me.

Likewise, the woman working the SRAM booth wanted a photo also and a lady with the golden retriever (the Seeing Eye reject dog... whom was afraid of thunder) wanted a photo also


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## thegock (May 16, 2006)

*Rutgers jersey*



ischgl99 said:


> I was riding with you at times, I was wearing the Rutgers jersey. You were certainly the easiest one to find out there!


I had said "Nice jersey" to you about 20 minutes before the start-cuz I have the same one at home.

Great day, great results and I am glad that the crash guy only had a clavicle.


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## BethLikesBikes (Nov 28, 2010)

I rode the medio on Saturday. It was such a fun atmosphere, but I agree that a mass start is a bad idea. I was almost under warmed up, as it was still a little chilly out and I felt like I was hardly moving and then hammering the climbs and trying to pass people. Picking through weaving and bobbing n00bs was not how I wanted to spend the first 20 miles. Loved the rest stops, especially the ice cream from Bex. The course was great and my pre-riding paid off with a QOM and overall second place finish for medio women.


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## Paolin (Aug 6, 2012)

tednugent said:


> ... I did the majority of my passing bombing down the steep curvy parts of the route... when the crowds thinned out, of course




I did the 63 and I think we rode together a bit and I definitely remember seeing you, great idea the hat!! I was the tall guy with the "Maratona dles Dolomites" jersey.


on the mass start, I have to say that I enjoyed it, to me it gives more a sense of reunion, or celebration. Glad to hear that the guy that crashed was ok, I saw him on laying on the ground being assisted by a bunch o people and I was afraid he was seriously hurt.
P.


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## jsedlak (Jun 17, 2008)

Thanks for coming out everyone! Glad you hear fun times were had 

I had a lot of fun, ended up doing about ~130 miles total (I rode after). If you missed the ice cream sandwiches in Califon, I feel really bad for you.


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## BethLikesBikes (Nov 28, 2010)

jsedlak said:


> Thanks for coming out everyone! Glad you hear fun times were had
> 
> I had a lot of fun, ended up doing about ~130 miles total (I rode after). If you missed the ice cream sandwiches in Califon, I feel really bad for you.


Those ice cream sandwiches were amazing, just unfortunate that they were placed right before the timed climb. We love Bex and often ride our bikes there for brunch. They're very good to cyclists.


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## ischgl99 (May 22, 2011)

thegock said:


> I had said "Nice jersey" to you about 20 minutes before the start-cuz I have the same one at home.
> 
> Great day, great results and I am glad that the crash guy only had a clavicle.


I remember you, I also had a guy ask me where to get one at the finish line.


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## tednugent (Apr 26, 2010)

the official video

GRAN FONDO NJ 2012 on Vimeo


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