As the daily countdown to the RBC Whistler GranFondo enters the single digits, it's with a twinge of desperation that some participants realize it's too late to train. Not so for 麻豆社国产bookworms Jill Aikens and Manouane Deschenes, members of a local book club that embraces road riding with as much exuberance as it does reading.
Both participated in last year's event and they are excited to tackle the intimidating distance for a second time on Sept. 10, when they will be among the 7,000 cyclists upholding the Italian cycling tradition (which more or less translates to "big ride") by pedalling 120 kilometres from Vancouver to Whistler.
A mountain biker-turned-roadie after entering the Bob McIntosh Triathlon a number of years ago, Aikens vividly recalls last year's GranFondo.
"The atmosphere at the starting area was electric," she described in an email. "One of the most memorablemoments of the ride was going over the Lions Gate Bridge.The colours of the sunrise on the water, the whir of the surrounding bikes and the small planes flying overhead made for a very beautiful and surreal experience."
For Deschenes, the highlight of last year's ride was the food and refreshments supplied at each of the six aid stations en route, notably the Galileo Coffee stop in Britannia Beach.
"I like the European aspect of it where you have the food and the wine and the good life," Deschenes said. "It's not just pure competitive fitness."
"What I like about the Fondo also is that it's at the end of the summer so you have a long build-up time, and you can do a really gradual fitness increase that it's really gentle on the knees," she added, "and then when you're done in September, then your legs are strong and ready for skiing."
Deschenes began road riding as a teenager in the countryside around Montreal, but it wasn't until years later after starting a family in 麻豆社国产and sustaining an injury while mountain biking that she reconnected with road riding and rediscovered her old passion.
"It's more gentle on the body and it's a great stress relief just because here it's so beautiful to be outside. It's just a way to be outside without being shaken around like on a mountain bike," Deschenes said.
Aikens couldn't agree more.
"I am not a strong or fast biker," Aikens wrote, "but I love biking as a means of exercising for health, stress relief and just the fun of climbing hills in order to get the reward of 'whooshing' downhill."
Until a few months before last year's Fondo, the longest Aikens had ridden on a bike was 40 km. She began increasing the distance of her long rides by 10 or 20 km a week until she accomplished her longest pre-ride of just over 100 km, from 麻豆社国产to Whistler and back.
"I did not know for sure if I would be able to complete the 120 km, but I was confident in my resolve to make to the finish line eventually," she wrote. "I did eventually make it to Whistler.
"It was an incredible experience for me."
In preparation for this year's event, Aikens rode in the Bike Ride for Humanity from Pemberton to D'Arcy and has found riding up and down the highway between 麻豆社国产to Whistler - the section with the most elevation gain - to be the most ideal for training, which she mixes up with rides out to Paradise and 麻豆社国产valleys, and interval hill climbs in the Garibaldi Highlands.
Deschenes said that while last year she followed an intensive 18-week Fondo training program available on the event's website with the aim of finishing the course in four to five hours, this summer she's been taking it easy after training hard early in the season for the Test of Metal, the 67 km cross country mountain bike race that took place in June. She's been doing the Friday night group rides offered through Corsa Cycles as well as some long, slow rides with friends - most recently a 240 km overnight roundtrip to Hornby Island and back.
"I think my intensity has been trained by doing the Test of Metal, now I'm just getting depth in my fitness by doing long slow rides so I'm not tired by the end of the Fondo and I can party," she said with a laugh.
Her advice to newbies?
"Start gradually and add by increments, don't cram your training," Deschenes warned. "Start really gradually."
