Leaving for Seattle/Vancouver, I wasn’t sure how to feel. I was looking forward to finally taking on the challenge of the RBC Whistler Granfondo Forte I had set myself earlier in November 2021. Yet, I still wasn’t totally sure if I was ready for this ride. I still hadn’t ridden 100 miles in one ride since 2018 and the ride across America and I had also never climbed 10,000 feet in a single day. Having had three years of no cycling, I wasn’t sure if the same determination, that had got me up the mountains to Flagstaff AZ. in 2018, was enough to get me up to Whistler now.
Somewhere inside me I knew I could finish this ride, but how long would it take me?
The RBC Whistler Granfondo Forte, is basically three different rides in one. You start at sea level in Stanley Park and head out over Lionsgate Bridge to Cypress Mountain about 4 miles into the ride. Then you turn right, climb up Cypress Mountain, which is 3,000 Ft in around 13 miles. After the long climb up the mountain, you get to fly back down the same road to join the main Sea to Sky highway 99 and all the other 5,000 riders who are doing the shorter Granfondo route.
This first section was always going to be my big challenge. While preparing for this ride, I had thought to myself, that if I could get up Cypress Mountain then I could probably finish the ride. My training on Zwift allowed me to climb up Alpe du Zwift, which is a similar distance and elevation gain to what I was to face here. It is a hard solid 2-hour ride for me, so having done it a few times on Zwift I knew I could get up there, even if I had to have a couple of stops on the way.
I left the hotel at 5am and rode along the harbor shoreline around into Stanley Park and finally up to the start line. As is usual for me, I was early compared to the others, so I found myself a nice position near the start line and watched everyone else arrive and start to gather around. After a few encouraging words from the starter, the clock hit 6am and we were off into the darkness and the long road ahead. Having decided that I needed to be steady and not get excited early on, I sauntered off through the park and then out to the “Lions Gate Bridge”. Still in darkness, we crossed the bridge and approached a short climb that I had seen from the car earlier in the week. It wasn’t a long hill but it was some of the steepest grades I would see all day, leading up to the freeway which then runs all the way to whistler. I turned towards the hill and put Hagrid into his lowest gear to face the climb. Lots of riders happily sped past me, a few pushed on alongside and a few had the odd stop to rest (not a good sign for the rest of the day). Anyway, I kept turning the pedals steadily and finally crested the hill still sat on Hagrid and pedaling. First obstacle overcome. Now it was off down the highway until I saw the sign for Cypress Mountain. That came soon enough and the 500 riders attempting the “Forte” route took the exit to start the 3,000 ft climb to the resort 13 miles away. It was still cold but the sun had now broken through and all was well.
As riders passed me bye, I found my own rhythm that was certainly not fast, but something I could sustain without burning myself out, as I knew there would be another 100+ km to ride when I was finally back down from this mountain. The further I went the less people I saw. I knew I was towards the back of the select field but again that didn’t really concern me too much. As I reached a switchback at around 30% of the way up, I suddenly saw the leader fly past me on the way down, which was sort of disconcerting, but hey he was a third my age and actually racing. There was a viewing point here so I quickly took a picture of the city waking up.
Back on the bike I kept going up, riders waved and shouted on their way down and the time kept passing bye. Eventually I found myself not too far from the top and began to feel a bit better about everything. I had been pushing hard on the pedals, breathing heavy and grinding it out for about (2 hours) now and was ready for some relief. I finally turned at the summit, a volunteer filled my empty water bottles and I removed my jacket as the sun was now shining brightly. My stop there was only for a couple of minutes, to eat an energy bar and add carbohydrate powder to my bottles, as Jill had told me to do so.
Now for the fun relief of flying back down the same hill that had been killing me only minutes earlier. Pretty much alone I headed off. I did pass the odd rider still heading up but it was now plainly obvious I was very near the back of the field for sure. Again, this was fine, as my main goal was just to finish the ride. The organizers had decided to end all the finish line festivities at 4pm, which was then my secondary goal. If it took longer to get there, then so be it. Flying down Cypress was a blast. Lots of Km with little or no pedaling, as I couldn’t make Hagrid go any quicker. I cornered safely and didn’t take any risks or get carried away, but it was a fun nonetheless. Finally, I reached the highway and circled around the intersection back onto highway 99 to face the next section of the ride along the water to Squamish.
The middle section of the Granfondo runs for (50km) around the mountains. It is a rolling ride with plenty of small climbs and descents. My plan was to ride this slightly harder, steady on the uphill’s and push on the pedals on the flats and descents where I could make up a little bit of time. As I started this section, I found I almost had the freeway to myself which was great with no other riders to worry about. After a while I started to come up to the rear of the “Granfondo” riders which encouraged me even more to keep up a good pace and work hard through this middle section. The hills were fine after the Cypress climb and the descents were great as I sped passed the riders who were now using them to freewheel and rest.
At one point I heard a car horn peep, I looked over I realized it was Deirdre on her way to our prearranged SAG stop in Squamish. We waved and I saw the huge grin on Deirdre’s face. A few miles later the cars on my left were at a standstill due to the closed roads for us and turns for them. I passed Deirdre and quietly laughed to myself. On I went feeling good as I watched the kilometer’s tick over and more riders passed. Unbeknownst to me at one stage I had gotten 7 miles ahead of Deirdre and she was sat in the car worrying she might miss her main and only job of the day, being at our SAG stop and giving me my supplies for the rest of the ride. I had thought if she didn’t make it, I would be fine and just stop at the garage or bakery I knew were where we were going to meet, to get my chocolate milkshake and brioche. However just before I reached our rendezvous spot, I got a text saying “I am at the Starbucks car park on the other side of the road from our planned spot. Great, now I get coffee also, perfect. I rolled around off the highway onto the car park and finally off the bike. The timing was close as Deirdre had to go back into the Starbuck’s for the coffee, she had ordered only minutes before I arrived, all was good. We chatted briefly, I was in ride mode so not very talkative and I also had a bit of a cough and slightly crappy feeling chest. I later found out that there was smoke and fine ash in the air on Cypress from a previous forest fire, which coupled with the cold and constant heavy mouth breathing of the climb had obviously got onto my chest. I didn’t worry too much about it and enjoyed the coffee, milkshake and food. Bottles and pockets filled, excess clothing discarded, I left Deirdre and headed back to the highway for my final section, a 50+ km climb to whistler.
The last third of my ride was a climb of around 50 km uphill. On the two occasions we had driven this section of freeway it had looked pretty steady but not crazy steep. Roads look very different from a car than they do on a bike. Off along the road Hagrid and I went. We reached a first climb that turned out to be pretty steep and long enough to really get your attention. Thoughts of 50km of this, started to run through my mind. Also, I started to see and hear people talking about the official SAG stops, saying there was little to no food, gels or even water there. Glad we had decided to self-support my ride, mainly due to having a specific fueling plan with my usual brand products, I rode on passing the chaos that seemed to be unfolding at each official SAG.
I stopped looking at my Garmin because the miles passed slowly and the end never seemed to appear any closer according to the data it recorded. On climbs the speed was depressing and on descents I never had much time to glance at it any further. On and on the road went, turn a bend to see another long steady hill, over the top and a short decent, then back climbing again. As I continued further, determined not to stop, riders were stopped everywhere along the road. Some walking up hills, some just having a break but over these miles I must have passed a couple of hundred of the social riders who were finding their ride tough. Eventually I noticed a sign that said 25km to beer. Whether that was a relief to know I only had 25km to go or despair that I still had 25km to go I can’t tell. I had never thought ahead of myself all day so wasn’t going to start now, head down, knowing it will end sometime ahead, so just keep pedaling until it does.
Finally, I saw that I was at the 95-mile mark, around 10 or so miles to go. I always had confidence that I would get to Whistler, but to be honest it was here I actually knew it. I looked at the time and I noticed I had around an hour left to get there before 4 pm, my second real goal. The Garmin said my average speed up these hills was just over 10 mph; this was going to be close. Knowing I didn’t want to go crazy and start pushing too hard now, it was a case of just continue what I had been doing and see what happens. I did think it might be worse to miss the time by a few minutes rather than say an hour or so, yet I was feeling good and knew it was better to continue as I had done for the past 9 hours. The miles slowly ticked by along with the time of day. Around a bend, another hill and the sign for Whistler village. Over the hill, another bend, another hill. Funny enough the miles passed slowly but also did the time. At last, I recognized the final stretch of highway to the gates of Whistler. I looked at the Garmin, it was 3:50 pm, I was going to do it, finish the ride and get there before 4:00 pm. Turning into Whistler I had that funny moment you almost cry because you have achieved something, that happy cry that I had a couple of times on my CrossCountry ride 4 years before. Obviously being male and 60 I didn’t let myself enjoy a tear or two, resorting to the British stiff upper lip and pull yourself together instead. I turned left to the finishing straight and happily pedaled the final few hundred yards to the finishing banner. I spotted Deirdre just as I approached the line and heard her shouts of support as I finally freewheeled under the arched finish line. It was over, I had completed the RBC Whistler Granfondo Forte in 9 hours 53 Minutes 49 seconds.
I can say I felt pretty good after the ride thanks to Julie’s training, Jill’s nutritional fueling plan, Deirdre’s last-minute coffee and all of your support. No cramps, aches or pains after the ride at all.
