What a great morning to gather with over 2700 of my closest friends to ride the 16th annual Tour de Grand in Cambridge, Ontario. Even with this many riders the massive the event went off flawlessly because of an army of ambitious volunteers. Registration, parking, and on route support was all fantastic! |
With routes ranging from 10km to 160km there is a distance perfect for any ability. I lined up with many members of the Waterloo Cycling Club in a group of at least 50 people strong. We maintained a fast pace around 38km/h for the first part of the ride until there was a fairly nasty crash involving two riders. The first rider to go down was seemed ok but I am not sure if he continued his ride or not. The second rider managed a very graceful flip over the handle bars and got up pretty slowly but was determined to catch the front half of our group; after the race we found out he had broken his saddle and cracked helmet ... and this is why it is always a good idea to wear a helmet!
Our group, behind the crash, worked hard to catch the leading bunch of riders and picked up many dropped riders along the way. Eventually after the second rest stop we managed to catch the group (only because they stopped to replenish water). About the time we caught this group there was a bunch of confusion with route markings and our group (along with many other groups) missed a couple of turns and needed to back-track to get on course. Even though we missed a small section of the course our back-tracking efforts managed to keep the distance the same.
Overall, this was a very well organized event and in most cases the route was very well marked. There could have been some additional marshals at some of the busier intersections but for the cost of the event and the number of volunteers running it I really cannot complain. The route itself was very flat with lots of aid stations along the way which is perfect for those interested in riding their first long distance ride (100km or 160km) or for those interested in in a really fast group ride.
I will definitely be riding this event again next year!
Our group, behind the crash, worked hard to catch the leading bunch of riders and picked up many dropped riders along the way. Eventually after the second rest stop we managed to catch the group (only because they stopped to replenish water). About the time we caught this group there was a bunch of confusion with route markings and our group (along with many other groups) missed a couple of turns and needed to back-track to get on course. Even though we missed a small section of the course our back-tracking efforts managed to keep the distance the same.
Overall, this was a very well organized event and in most cases the route was very well marked. There could have been some additional marshals at some of the busier intersections but for the cost of the event and the number of volunteers running it I really cannot complain. The route itself was very flat with lots of aid stations along the way which is perfect for those interested in riding their first long distance ride (100km or 160km) or for those interested in in a really fast group ride.
I will definitely be riding this event again next year!