What Makes
Gran Fondo National Series Unique
The Gran Fondo National Series® was born of a desire to combine the best aspects of bike racing and social rides, and create events that are fun, challenging, competitive, and inclusive. Our unique timed-segment format gives cyclists of different levels the opportunity to ride together, race each other, regroup to swap stories and enjoy the scenery in some of the nations finest cycling destinations.
Gran Fondo National Series has managed and produced more than 60 gran fondos including the Gran Fondo National Championship since 2012, when the series was first established. Today this national championship, which utilizes a time section format, is officially recognized by the America’s governing body of Olympic cycling and is recognized as the official USA Cycling Gran Fondo National Championships.
Founded in 2012 by event director Reuben Kline, Gran Fondo National Series is the largest and most competitive series of gran fondo cycling events in the United States. Gran Fondo National Series was the first series to implement timed-segment racing into US gran fondo events, and has crowned Gran Fondo National Champions and Gran Fondo National Series Champions since 2012. Starting in 2020, the Series entered into a partnership with USA Cycling to bring the existing Gran Fondo National Series and the one-day Gran Fondo National Championship into the portfolio of official USA Cycling National Championship events.
We understand that the Gran Fondo marketplace provides lots of options for cyclists, so we created this non-all-inclusive list as to what to expect from a Gran Fondo National Series event. Our key crew are all rather serious cyclists, so we understand what makes a great cycling experience, and that shows in the quality of our events.
Venue
We only use venues that support local cycling and are happy to have us there.
Route Marking
We take pride in our route marking. We often make the claim, “You have to try to get lost on one of our routes!” The handful of people who have gotten lost over the last few years were very quick to admit to us that they were talking and otherwise not paying attention to the road markings and arrow signs.
Route Quality
Being cyclists ourselves, we understand what makes an enjoyable route and strive to only use the best cycling roads in the area. That means we look at road surface, cross streets and traffic signals, traffic volume, shoulder width, scenery, and more.
Route Difficulty
We see our events as goal events, so we don’t shy away from making them difficult. That said, we also also make sure the level of challenge is appropriate for cyclists with varying fitness and experience levels. The Gran courses are hard. The medium-length courses (Medio) feature less climbing and are great challenges for new or experienced cyclists with moderate fitness. Our short courses (Piccolo) are perfect for new cyclists, families, or anyone looking for a great time with fewer miles.
Finish line celebration
We ensure every one of our events finishes with a great party with music (sometimes live), delicious food, and cold drinks (leaded or unleaded) from local vendors.
Time Section Racing
While a very small portion of cyclists enjoy hammering for 100 miles, most want to ride hard and then socialize. As such, we’ve chosen to go with the much more difficult to time, timed segment format. This format means you get to ride at your chosen pace, go full gas during the time section, and then regroup and ride with friends/family again.
Results and Live Tracking
Our results are correct and live. A link to the results is always on our website before you finish.. Your friends and family can always view your last known location via the link on the event page.