SLO Inaugural Gran Fondo

The inaugural San Luis Obispo Gran Fondo was held on October 23rd.   It was organized by Team HTC-High Road to benefit ALPHA, a local organization serving Central Coast families for over 30 years.  A great success, 650 riders participated including many elite and professional cyclists.

The Italian style ride has a mass start with 3 route options; the "Piccolo" 25 mile, "Medio" 50 mile and the "Gran" at 100 miles.  The Marks Baywood Cyclery Team choose  to ride the "Gran" Fondo.   Starting in downtown San Luis Obispo, it included a very tough climb up Old Creek Rd. then on to San Simeon Pier before returning back down HWY 1 to SLO.  The morning started out cold and damp but quickly turned into a warm picture perfect Central Coast day.  The team had a great ride despite 7 flats among 8 riders! We all look forward to next years Fondo to be held Oct. 15th. Hope to see you out there!

Pictured above are Alan Stephens, Bill McMillan, Kary Karahadian, Kathy & Mark Torcaso.  Team members not pictured included Brad Cummins, Jim Campbell and Jim Hiserman.