Cyclists successfully complete the challenging 10th Golden Gran Fondo

Hundreds cyclists enjoyed the challenge of the 10th Annual Golden Gran Fondo in Colorado last weekend, part of the SUAREZ Gran Fondo National Series

Starting at an elevation of 5,600 the cyclists kicked off their morning by riding up the infamous climb of Lookout Mountain, through Golden Gate State Park, and surrounding areas.

Pictured above are Series Founder & Director Reuben Kline (left), along with Maty Quinn (right) the cofounder and course designer of Golden Gran Fondo, and National Anthem singer Donald Tallman (centre) preparing riders for the start under the Welcome to Golden Arch in downtown Golden, CO.

For those completing the shorter 20-mile Piccolo route, this is where they returned to downtown Golden.

Some made it as high as 11,000 feet riding the 91-mile Gran course, they went as far as Coal Creek Canyon, Highway 119 through Rollinsville and Golden Gate Canyon State Park before returning to downtown Golden.

All riders enjoyed the after-ride party at Parfet Park to enjoy beverages from Oscars Blues and Natalie’s Juices, where the fastest riders across a range of categories were awarded prizes including customer winner jerseys by SUAREZ clothing, presenting sponsor.

The after party also included the eagerly awaited raffle with over $5,000 of prizes!

In the women’s 91-mile Gran Fondo, Lauren Riedle from Denver was fastest on timed sections in a time of 1h 1m 36s ahead of Jessica Cygan and Tracey Jacobs.

In the men’s 91-mile Gran Fondo, John Keller from Englewood was fastest on timed sections in a time of 43m 45s, ahead of Matthew Cooke and Leroy Popowski.

In the women’s 63-mile Medio Fondo, local cyclist Megan Castle was fastest on timed sections in a time of 44m 25s ahead of Debora Finger and Kelly Eberly.

In the men’s 63-mile Medio Fondo, Michael de Sena was fastest on timed sections in a time of 38m 4s ahead of Michael Brady and Chris Eyestone.

In the women’s 20-mile Piccolo Fondo, local cyclist Diana Shaheen from Denver was fastest on timed sections in a time of 31m 3s ahead of Marie Komori and Nicole Novembre.

In the men’s 20-mile Piccolo Fondo, local cyclist Paul Mooney was fastest on timed sections in a time of 27m 18s ahead of David Pritchett and Josh Starkey.

Steve Presta, Daniel Burke and Maria Harvey from team Racer X Cycling won the team award.

91 mile Gran Fondo Winners

Custom “Race Winner” cycling kits by SUAREZ cycling were awarded to all Gran Route age group category winners

63 mile Medio Fondo Winners

20 mile Piccolo Fondo Winners

Link to full 2022 Golden Gran Fondo results: https://my.raceresult.com/214260/results

$5,000 Prize Raffle

The popular SUAREZ Gran Fondo National Series Raffle was after the podium awards in Parfet Park. The Golden Gran Fondo raffle featured more than $5,000 of prizes from Series sponsors, including:

4-night Stay at Garda Bike Hotel in Italy
Wahoo ELEMNT Rival GPS Watch
Wahoo KICKR smart trainer
Lazer three helmets
Industry Nine hubset
Cane Creek components 
Swiftwick socks
Bike Flights travel vouchers
Shimano products
CTS Trainright Memberships
Jittery Joe’s Coffee
UNDRBUDR anti-chafe cream
Ride with GPS Premium Memberships

Next Up: Maryland Gran Fondo!

Mark your calendar for September 18th, Frederick, MD

Gran Fondo Maryland in Frederick on September 18^th 2022 is the perfect way to cap off your summer cycling season. The event has something for everyone, taking riders through several different state parks, municipal forests, protected watersheds, and the Catoctin Mountain National Park.

Frederick, Maryland is within an hour of Washington DC and Baltimore, and within 4 hours driving distance from many of the biggest cities on the East Coast, including Philadelphia, New York City, Pittsburgh, Roanoke, Richmond, and Norfolk. 

There are three distances to suit all abilities of riders. The Gran Fondo is 96.6 miles with 9,133 feet of climbing, the Medio 61.4 miles with 5,718 feet of climbing and the Piccolo 27.8 miles with 2,388 feet of climbing.

The well designed, quiet and breathtakingly beautiful routes take riders on a challenging and scenic loop north through several different parks, forests and protected watersheds, almost touching the Pennsylvania state line before heading south into the Catoctin Mountain National Park, Frederick Watershed, and Gambrill State Parks.

After exploring this incredible region, riders will return back into historic downtown Fredrick and be welcome to well-deserved festivities at the finish line, complete with great food from Brewer’s Alley, beverage from Monocacy Brewing Co, and more fun.

Register Now and Save!

Registration is open, but with just over a month to go you'll need to hurry to secure a place on this epic challenge across the Catoctin Mountain National Park.

For more information, please visit https://www.granfondonationalseries.com/gran-fondo-maryland, or click the button below to register now.

Benefiting Linganore Mountain Bike Team

The Linganore Mountain Bike Team is for student athletes in grades 6-12 and sanctioned by the Maryland Interscholastic Cycling League (MICL) and National Interscholastic Cycling Assoc. (NICA).