MOUNTAIN LIFE - Blue Mountains | Spring 2019

22 ML BLUE SPRING 2019 UP FRONT The Grey County Road Race and Centurion Cycling are back this year under a new name: the Blue Mountains Gran Fondo. ( Gran Fondo is Italian for “Big Ride.”) The Blue Mountains Gran Fondo is Canada’s only qualifier for the UCI Gran Fondo World Championships (Amateur Worlds), held September 5-8 in Poznan, Poland. In addition, Centurion Cycling is moving its September date to June 15 and combining with the Gran Fondo. The Medio Fondo will be the C50 on a brand new course, which includes a timed hill climb challenge, and the Gran Fondo is now the C100, following a new route with less climbing, to mimic theWorld Championship event in Poland. All races start and finish in Thornbury, Ontario, with après festivities sponsored by the Thornbury Cidery. Bruce Bird founded this event five years ago as the Grey County Road Race. A three-time Masters UCI world champion, Bird has spent a lot of time riding and racing in the area. The Blue Mountains region is a mecca for road cyclists and Bird has found that the roads here provide some of the most challenging terrain in Ontario so it’s a perfect setting for this event. The Blue Mountains Gran Fondo will be the largest road racing venue in Ontario for Amateur age group and Masters road cyclists. The race will consist of two distances C50 (72km) and C100 (152km) that riders can complete based on category. Groupings are based on the expected number of participants for each of the age groups along with projected speeds for the groups. The Medio Fondo event will attract the more casual recreational cyclists while the Gran Fondo will attract more serious racers, so there are options for all types of riders with this new format. Other changes include later start times and post- event celebrations at the start-finish area. Info including accommodation options here: thebluemountainsgranfondo.com THE BLUE MOUNTAINS GRAN FONDO Last year’s Gran Fondo. JEREMY ALLEN /WETPIXELS.NET