Thousands converge on Sonoma County for GranFondo

Ranging from casual riders to the elite, 7,500 cyclists from around the world are converging on Sonoma County this week for Levi's GranFondo, a mass ride on Saturday morning that will take participants from Santa Rosa to the coast and back again.

"We still have a strong local following," said Greg Fisher of Bike Monkey, the event organizer. "But we have riders from Taiwan, Australia, several countries in Europe, Brazil, we always have a strong Canadian contingent and I feel pretty sure that we got 48 of the 50 states."

The ride, officially the Levi Leipheimer King Ridge GranFondo, is the creation of Santa Rosa professional racer Levi Leipheimer. The event was initially designed to raise money for the city of Santa Rosa's cost to host the Amgen Tour of California but has evolved into Sonoma County's signature cycling event.

"It is where we are, it is what this area offers," said Marc Hagenlocher of Santa Rosa, a former professional rider and friend of Leipheimer, describing the draw of the ride.

"There are some places you ride and it all looks the same. Here you are in grassland, dairy land, then alongside the vineyards and sweeping vistas that look down the coast," Hagenlocher said. "It is like you are doing a dozen different rides, and they are all spectacular."

Now in its fourth year, the event will draw a list of notable riders that includes Leipheimer, professional racer Tom Danielson, two-time Olympic gold medal winner Kristin Armstrong, TV stars Patrick Dempsey and Mark-Paul Gosselaar, hockey player Mike Richter and ex-Giants star Barry Bonds.

Given the egalitarian nature of an event that is patterned after rides in Europe, the GranFondo is mainly for the non-famous. Although riders are timed, the event is not a race, but rather a celebration of bicycling on a route noted for its intensity and beauty.

"I am riding a low-end specialized hybrid," said Maggie Miller of Santa Rosa, a 57-year-old mom who has ridden in every GranFondo. "That is what I like about the Fondo. You can be somebody like me, and you can also be a top-of-the-line rider. It is for everybody."

The event is a boon to the local economy, filling up hotels and restaurants while generating business for Sonoma County bike shops, which are tuning and renting bikes.

"Local people have been bringing in their bikes the past couple of weeks to be tuned, and we have had a surge in bike fitting," said Mariko Fischer of Echelon Cycle & Multisport. "Quite a few people have chosen to make the leap to getting a nicer bike, getting a carbon fiber bike. It helps with extending the summer season for us as a shop."

The ride begins at 8 a.m. at the Finley Center in Santa Rosa, where 7,500 riders will start at one time. Riders head west to Occidental, where some will break off toward Cazadero and others to Highway 1 for a return over Coleman Valley Road.

There are three separate routes. The shortest, the "Piccolo," is 35 miles; the "Medio" covers 65 miles; and the longest, a 103-mile killer "Gran" ride, includes King Ridge and Seaview roads and 8,500 feet of climbing.

There will be a free festival associated with the event from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Finley Center, with food, displays and music.

The ride is again a sell-out, with the youngest rider 8 and the oldest 80, and is expected to raise about $200,000, Fisher said.

Last year, the event brought in $266,000. Organizers gave $60,000 to the city for the tour, $79,800 to Forget Me Not Farm, $22,000 to schools and fire departments in west Sonoma County, $11,300 to Lance Armstrong's Livestrong charity and $93,500 for cycling programs overseen by Velo-Street, Leipheimer's nonprofit group, which owns the Fondo.

Ancillary events include a fundraising dinner Thursday night at Paradise Ridge Winery in Santa Rosa and a premiere Friday night at the Roxy Theater of "The Levi Effect," a documentary on the life and career of Leipheimer.

With the large number of riders, several roads will be closed Saturday morning, including some segments of Stony Point Road, West College Avenue, Third Street and West Ninth Street.

There also will be partial closures on some segments of Stony Point, West College and Fulton roads.

Fifty CHP officers have been hired to handle traffic control and direct traffic at intersections along the route.

Information is available at www.levisgranfondo.com.

You can reach Staff Writer Bob Norberg at 521-5206 or bob.norberg@pressdemocrat.com