The Hincapie Gran Fondos are one of our absolutely favorite events. Max and I have now done five in total – this was our third time in Lehigh Valley, PA and we have been twice to the one in Greenville, NC.
What makes these Gran Fondos so great is the scenic routes and great atmosphere. And, I particularly like longer routes as they remind me of the stages at the Tour de France. I use the Gran Fondos to give me a sense of how I might do at a longer European race and how my performance is improving every year. So, for me this is not really a ride, but more of a race. But, I am definitely not the only one who thinks that – after all they have timed segments and those with the lowest combined time get a podium award.
Lots of our Star Track teammates go to Hincapie Gran Fondos. Joining me were Hanna, Ian B, Ian C, Josiah, Katie, Lily, Livia, Louis, Oliva, Pac, Viv, Will, and YoYo. Coach Brian Abers was there as well to ride the Medio (he’s a sprinter) and Coach Pete was riding his motorcycle with Aimee from Hincapie Sports who took pictures and videos while riding. Coach David couldn’t make it unfortunately – the Star Track spring semester finale with 100 riders or so was on the same day and he had to be at Kissena Velodrome. Some parents were riding the course but most volunteered at Rest Stop #1 which Ms. Shelly organized.
Both Max and I chose the Gran route. This was for Max the first time riding it and for me the second. They changed things up a little from last year’s route and this time it was 131.4 km long with 1,777 meters of climbing while last year it was a little shorter, 126.5 km, but the climb was almost the same, 1747 meters.
Game Plan
Max and I woke up at 4:30, left our house in New York City at 4:45, and arrived at the start/finish area (the T-Town Velodrome) at about 6:45. Max rushed to get our numbers, I got our bikes ready, and we managed to be at the start line at about 7:15 to get a front row spot.
The front row start was crucial for me. I wanted to do this ride as well as I could and my strategy was to stick with the front group as long as possible, and if it got too hard, fall back to the next group and hang with them as long as I could, and so on. So I figured starting from the front row would make things a little easier.
My main focus was not the timed segments, but the overall finish time (although no awards are given for it). Yes, they have KOMs at the Tour de France, but a stage win seems sweeter. My time to beat from last year was 5:26:23 but during that ride I got a small mechanical that prevented me from using my small chainring. Must have gotten some gravel between my small chainring and the frame that bent a skid plate. Thankfully Lewis from Veloshop helped me – he’s a super nice guy that used to be on Star Track. He bent the skid plate back and I was up and running again 15 minutes later. So, I figured for this year, I could cut out 15 minutes by hopefully having no mechanical, 15 minutes for skipping the rest stops (I took tons of food and hydration with me), and another 15 minutes for just getting stronger. So, the goal was 4:45:00.
My Gran Ride
I thought everyone would start real hard. To stay with the front group, Chris from Edge and I decided to give a light dig and this surprisingly allowed us to pass the VIP group that started in front of us and put us at the front of the peleton. So far, so good, but it gets better.
I was able to stay with the lead group for about 60 km! Amongst it were Bobby Julich, George and Enzo Hincapie, and Simon Jones. I even talked to each of them and all were super awesome by encouraging me to keep it up! This was definitely a highlight, not just for today but for my short cycling career thus far. How often does someone get to ride with past and future pro cyclists?
At the 60 km mark or so we were in Speed Zone #2 and everyone was going super fast on a downhill and I couldn’t keep up. From that point onward to Reset Stop #2, about 10 km, I was riding with Simon and one to two others.
But, that was not the end of me staying with the front group yet. Luckily, we saw the group at Reset Stop #2 (at the 70 km mark or so) and I decided to pull in as well (despite my initial plan to skip all rest stops). I left with the front group and stayed with it for about 20 km. At that time everyone was going super strong on a steep section and I just had no more to give. I was hoping the front group would stop again somewhere, but this was the last I saw of them.
For the remaining 40 km or so, I was part of various groups and finished the ride with a time of 4:15:21, about 30 minutes faster than I expected. Yippee!!! I was actually more tired than anything, but the happiness definitely kicked in later.
Max’s Gran Ride
This was the first time for Max riding the Gran route. Max really wanted to take in the scenic aspects of the ride and have fun riding with his friends. Ian C, Josiah, Viv, YoYo, as well as Chris and Nikhil from Edge were with him most of the time. Also, he wanted to sample each and every available food at all the rest stops – in other words, he turned it into a food tour!
Max’s group stayed together until the last rest stop, number four, which was about 15 km to the finish. At that time, Max really wanted to get this ride over with, left the group, and soloed it to the finish. He really must have been desperate as he’s generally not keen on riding on open roads (particularly not by himself) but the roads were not busy at all. Also, what was super nice is that people were blocking cars at every intersection so that Maxi did not have to stop.
Podium
After the ride, we were just hanging out, talking to other riders, eating pulled pork sandwiches, and waiting for the award ceremonies. Since I was not focused on the timed segments, I really didn’t expect much and was surprised that I finished 16th out of 210 men who were ranked on the Gran route (there were an additional 86 men with no ranking for a total of 296 men on the Gran route) and 2nd out of 13 in the U19 age group.
After the podium award, I had another super nice moment. The U19 Gran winner, Marcus from Veloshop, gave me his first place medal. What happened is that the results of Speed Zone # 4 were not available for all riders because of an equipment problem on a cell phone tower I believe. Because of this, the Speed Zone # 4 results were ignored for all. But, for the three U19 riders that made the podium (Marcus, Troy from Edge, and I) we knew that with those results I would have come in first because on Speed Zone 4# Marcus had a flat – without the flat he would have clearly won with or without the Speed Zone # 4 results. Must admit, I now regret that I allowed Marcus to give me the medial and I will set this straight when I see him next. Anyway, what a class act, Marcus!
Funny enough, Max didn’t go for any of the five time speed zones, except the fourth which got canceled. Overall, he finished 8th in the U19 age group with a total ride time of 6:08:59. With him just having turned eleven, he was the youngest rider on the Gran route. At his age I just did the Medio. So, very nice job Max.
Incidentally, Enzo Hincapie didn’t carry his timing chip so his results weren’t recorded. He clearly came in ahead of Max and I (probably in first place), pushing our finish ranks one down.
Raffles
So, you would think that things just can’t get any better but they did, at least for my teammate Viv and I. They had various raffles and I won the Speed Hound Recovery Boots and our teammate Viv won a Ventum bike. Wow, just wow! Coach David lent Max and me the Speed Hound recovery boots before and we loved them so much. Ok, I am running a little out of steam here (this is the longest blog post I have ever written), but please know that I am super grateful and these recovery boots are something that I will be using a lot.
Greenville Gran Fondo Next
The Junior Challenge at the Hincapie Greenville Gran Fondo in October is my absolutely favorite race. Period. For one, it’s a long race (about 80 km) with many climbs (1,250 meters or so) which suits me well. But more importantly, many of the junior cyclists I really admire have competed in it and it just doesn’t get better than lining up with them. Enzo Hincapie was there when I went in 2022 and 2023. I started shoulder to shoulder with Artem Shmidt in 2022 (he is now a pro cyclist with Hagens Berman Axeon), and Ashlin Barry competed in 2024 and won. And yes, I didn’t see much of those guys after we started, but in 2023 I was able to hold on a little longer than in 2022. And this year I will definitely keep working hard to stay with these guys even longer – hopefully.
Outside the Junior Challenge race, Max and I always had a great time being in Greenville. In 2022 we got together with George Hincapie and made this interview. In 2023 we got a chance to interview Christian Vande Velde as well as Ashlin Barry and Enzo Hincapie and you can watch them following the links. Last year, we also spent time with Coach David’s brother and he took us boating and even allowed us to steer.
Photos
Below are some random pictures. My mom and dad took some, others come from the parents of Star Track teammates, and others from Aimee at Hincapie Sports who sat on the back of Coach Pete’s motorcycle.
The last picture below is not from this year’s ride, but when I was riding my first Gran Fondo ever. It was the one at Lehigh Valley in 2022. I was riding the Medio route and had a fantastic domestic, Evan Schlank, who helped me push through the ride and took that picture with George Hincapie and me. Another memory I will have forever and maybe even the reason why I love these Gran Fondos so much. Small moments, big differences?
