Jul
22
8:00 AM08:00

[pH]UEL 5.0 GRAN FONDO ASHEVILLE - Presented by Ingles - iheart Radio - WLOS-TV

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500 Rider Limit – Register Now!

 [pH]UEL 5.0 GRAN FONDO ASHEVILLE - Presented by Ingles - iheart Radio - WLOS-TV, and Hosted by Wicked Weed Brewing

Discover alluring Asheville, from the unique perspective of your handlebars.

Mark your calendars for the 4th annual Gran Fondo Asheville, a fun and festive ride on Sunday, July 22, 2018. Road cyclists will take in the natural beauty of Western North Carolina as they cruise along a well-marked course with the option to push themselves for brief timed periods, competing to win. Beginner and avid cyclists alike will find challenging rides to meet their individual goals with courses covering 30-, 60- and 100-mile journeys.  Gran Fondo Asheville is a part of the Gran Fondo National Series.

Discover alluring Asheville, from the unique perspective of your handlebars. Experience Asheville, North Carolina, Lonely Planet’s top U.S. travel destination for 2017. Your ride begins in downtown Asheville at Wicked Weed Brewing's Funkatorium, rolls out of downtown, and quickly moves along well-marked winding roads out into pastoral countryside and up to mountain ridge vistas. At the end of the ride, as you descend from the Blue Ridge Parkway into the heart of town, you will be afforded a spectacular cityscape view and greeted by fellow riders and families back at Wicked Weed Brewing's Funkatorium; where you can enjoy the music, vendors, massage therapists, and of course– food and beer!

Ride with your friends | Race with your friends

GFNS welcome riders of all abilities to join us for Gran Fondo Asheville

  • 3 Distances to choose from:
    • Gran Route (100 mi), Medio Route (60 mi), Piccolo Route (30 mi)
  • 4 Timed Sections in the Gran Route – Best Combined Time Wins
  • Custom “Race Winner” jerseys for all Gran Route age group winners
  • Awards and Prizes for Gran Route winners
  • Awards and Prizes for Medio and Piccolo winners
  • No racing license required
  • Fully stocked aid stations and SAG support to keep you going
  • Post Race Food & Beverage for a fun recovery

Beneficiary
Each year Eblen Charities assists tens of thousands of families in the Asheville area with food, housing, medical heating and utilities,  medication, and all manner of emergency assistance.

 

*Event T-Shirt included only for registrations received before 7/12/18

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Packet pick up:

Post ride meal provided and beverages served

Reserve your accommodations now at Gran Fondo Asheville’s Host Hotel
TBA

Pre-Race Details

Want more?  GFNS has entered into an exciting partnership with Haute Route which produces world’s best multi-day amateur road cycling events. Please check their website at www.hauteroute.org .

GFNS and Haute Route want to inspire you to do more! Expect to see the name Haute Route at all our events, along with unique benefits for all GFNS riders to be announced over the next few months. The first benefit which is available to you immediately is the opportunity to take your GFNS entry and apply it in full toward a Haute Route entry fee.  If you ride any GFNS event in 2018, you are entitled to credit the entire entry fee paid toward any 2018 Haute Route three-day or seven-day event. Already signed up for the Haute Route?  Then take advantage of a free entry into one 2018 GFNS event of your choice to prepare for the Haute Route.

Parking

We understand that parking is tight in downtown Asheville, so our friends at Eblen-Kimmel Charities have secured a free lot at 40 Coxe Ave for participants, this lot is 0.3 miles from the venue (Wicked Weed Funkatorium).

We are cyclists ourselves and a few of us have made the mistake of leaving our bike on the car and then driving into a garage...so we will also be providing bike valets and bike racks at the entrance to the garage.

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MORE INFORMATION

Race Email, Gran Fondo Asheville | NOTE: information below is carried over from 2017, be sure to check back to confirm details closer to your event.

We would like to thank you for registering for the Gran Fondo Asheville

Please read all notes below

Parking is limited, you need to pay attention and plan accordingly.
Car Pool and or ride from your hotel
 – LOOK AT THIS MAP!
Click HERE Link to Gran Fondo Asheville Parking Map.
Yellow Dot on Map is Start / Finish area.
Red Dots are approved Parking areas.
Do not park in regulated parking spaces, you will be fined.

You must return you timing chip or you will be charged $100. Please make sure you return it!

Start Locations is at: Wicked Weed Brewing's Funkatorium, 147 Coxe Ave, Asheville, NC 28801 (at race Start Finish area)

Cyclist must have valid I.D. to be served beer at post festivities.

You must start on time at 8:00 AM or your times will not be counted. Race briefing is at 7:45 under the start/finish arch. Be there ready to ride. 

You must start at same time as everyone else!

This is not a Start to Finish Race! Time sections determine placement.

The course is open to traffic – you must obey traffic laws! That means stop at lights and stop signs. If you do not obey traffic rules and laws you will be disqualified and fined by local police.

Recommended Gearing We strongly recommended bringing the easiest gearing you have.
If you have not seen the elevation charts, check them out along with all the other maps at https://www.granfondonationalseries.com/asheville-maps/

Packet Pick Up: (You must check-in in person, you must have ID to check in)

  • Saturday 7/21/18, 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM; Wicked Weed Brewing's Funkatorium, 147 Coxe Ave, Asheville, NC 28801 (at race Start Finish area)
  • Sunday 7/22/18, 5:45 AM to 7:15 AM; Wicked Weed Brewing's Funkatorium, 147 Coxe Ave, Asheville, NC 28801 (at race Start Finish area)
  • All riders must pick up their timing chip on race morning. This takes a minimum amount of time and is a separate process from check in.
  • We recommend picking up your packet on Saturday to avoid the rush on race morning it will save you a lot of time on race morning… you’ll also get to enjoy a beverage.
  • You will be issued a timing chip, if you do not return the timing chip you will be charged $100.
  • Race numbers must be mounted on your back right side and be easily readable.
  • If you plan to pick up your packet on race morning be early!

Accommodations:

Aid Stations:
There will be 3 aid stations along the 100 mile, 2 on the 60mile, and 1 on the 30 mile route Each aid station will be fully stocked with great products from Ingles Markets and Hammer Nutrition. Water, HEED energy drink, Hammer Gel, Endurolyte Fizz, Bananas, PB&J Sandwiches, Cookies, Chips and Pretzels, Apple, and Oranges.

Bathrooms
Aid-Station will have bathrooms.

Maps:
View all maps at: https://www.granfondonationalseries.com/asheville-maps/

Premium route navigation on your device: Get the RideWithGPS App and load the route to your smart phone or GPS

Use this RSVP Code to access premium RideWithGPS features and get turn by turn navigation for free: RSVP code is:  https://ridewithgps.com/events/22977-gran-fondo-asheville?rsvp_code=kn8xqV3mMqZfx6Rv

Time Sections: (THE RACE) This is not a start to finish race, your overall time is not calculated

You Must Obey Traffic Laws. This is not a closed course, Think Safety First.

Do not cause an accident!!!

Be respectful of others on the road, including cars!

During all race sections you have the right of way. When you are outside of race sections you DO NOT have the right of way. You will not be racing through any intersections; this means when you come to a sign or signal you must slow down, stop, and be safe. 

There are timed sections along the route. The start and finish of these sections will be marked with a feather flag and orange cones. As you approach the timed sections you must travel through the designated area (in your lane of traffic!) so that your chip can be properly read and recorded. The times for your timed sections will be compiled and determine placement.  The 100 mile route has 4 timed sections; 60 mile has 2 timed sections; 30 mile has 1 timed section. You can view all the details for timed section with the above map links, click the map icons for details.

Timed sections are open for specific durations. In order to be timed and eligible for awards you must maintain a progression speed between 22mph and 10mph. NOTE: this is progression speed not average speed, progression speed includes all stopped time.

Cut off times No exceptions for 100 & 60 mile riders!  There will be two cut-offs these are also points where you can short cut the route. If you do not maintain an average progression speed greater than 10mph you will be directed to take a shorter route. These cut off spots will happen at the pre-established splits and you will be directed to the shorter route. Please Note: This is a 10mph progression speed not average speed. Progression speed includes all stopped time. No exceptions!Riders must progress between speeds of 22mph to 10mph. The times above reflect these speeds with a little bit of cushion. These speeds are based on progression, not average speed, and they include all stopped time.

Short cut- If want to start the party early?  60 & 100 mile riders, at 12 miles from the finish, there is an alternate route back to the finish line that bypasses the final climb up Elk Mountain Scenic Hwy and will save you about 10 miles of hard riding.  Although you won’t quality for timing sections, you can still win great door prizes during the awards celebration.

Awards and Raffles: 

30 and 60 mile awards will be held between 3:00 and 3:30

100 mile awards will be held as close to 4:00 PM as possible but not before.
Awards are given for the fastest times, three deep for each age category.

The fastest male in section 2 and in section 4 and the fastest female in section 1 and in section 3 will win a prize.

Yes 4:00,   Please understand, it is not possible to tell who won until everyone is finished… this is the nature of a gran fondo, the first one back is not necessarily the winner.  We will have great food and Beer From Wicked Weed Brewing to help you get to awards. Cyclist must have valid I.D. to be served beer at post festivities.

If you do place in the top three of your age group, and you cannot/wish-not-to wait for the awards ceremony, you can send a self-addressed postage-paid mailing package to us and we will mail you your award.  If you are not present at awards you will not receive any prizes, the prize will go to raffle and make someone else happy.

Yes the raffle– Yes the raffle, directly following 100 mile awards, we will have great stuff for the raffle from our sponsors including, a stay at Garda Bike Hotel, an Industry Nine Hub-set, a Shimano road components, Cane Creek, SeaSucker vacuum mount bike rack, Crotch Guard, Swiftwick socks, Hammer Nutrition, Velofix, Jittery Joe’s Coffee, as well as other great prizes). Yes, it’s worth sticking around for!  (List subject to change, but not much).

Post Ride Food
We will have food for you as well as beverages. Cyclist must have valid I.D. to be served Beer.

Sponsors:
Thanks to all of our great sponsors: Swiftwick, Shimano, Industry Nine, Bicycling Magazine, Bertucci Performance Watches, Hammer Nutrition, Cane Creek, Crotch Guard, Garda Bike Hotel, SeaSucker Vacuum Mount Bike Racks, Rudy Project, Jittery Joe’s Coffee, BikeFlights, HUB Labels, and Capua Law Firm.

Start Time:

Riders meeting to take place at 7:45 AM under the arch; event to start at 8:00 AM.

Directions:
Start finish area: Wicked Weed Brewing's Funkatorium, 147 Coxe Ave, Asheville, NC 28801 

What to bring:
Please check the weather and make sure you have adequate clothing. If you get caught in a passing shower on the top of a mountain it can be very cold! We strongly recommend carrying a light weight cycling jacket.

Results
A link to Results will be posted on the home page at www.GFNCS.com

Emergencies
If you see an emergency please report it.  If you have cell phone reception and it is a true emergence call 911.  If you see something important that is not an emergency or do not have cell phone reception please report the issue to the radio operator located at the start of each timed sections.

From the staff of GFNS, we would like to thank you once again for your participation. If you have any questions feel free to send us an email at info@granfondochampionship.com

Tell your friends to get registered now and join us for the BIG FUN!

Yours Truly,

GFNS Staff

www.gfns.com

 

OUR SUPPORTERS

A special thank you to all our sponsors and those who support the

GRAN FONDO NATIONAL SERIES

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