Great bike ride

If anyone is interested in a great bike ride through beautiful country here is one to consider.
It certainly a destination type event.  Wine country, Pacific Ocean and punishing hills.

Thought I would share this for anyone who might be looking for a good ride that will certainly challenge you.
There are 3 diferent options available.

Ol’ Paul Revere, when he wanted to know how the British were moving into Massachusetts, asked for a signal to be hung Boston's Old North Church: one lantern if by land, two if by sea.

And if the thunderous forces come via the internet? Set the town ablaze.

Registration for Levi Leipheimer’s King Ridge GranFondo opens at 9:00 AM PST on January 17th at www.levisgranfondo.com and, if past years are any indication, you’ll want to be at the ready. We’re still a first come, first served operation and despite having 7,500 spots to offer, we don’t expect them to last long. By “long," we specifically mean that the gran route will probably sell out in a few days, the medio route in a few weeks. Piccolo spots tend to stay available for a while longer, but even those are eventually tough to track down.

Now, we know that 2011 registration was not without its...irregularities. The good news is that the Levi’s GranFondo team at Bike Monkey made a lot of changes to the 2012 registration to make sure that such a bummer time doesn’t repeat itself. We’re not kidding when we say we used the 2011 problems to completely redesign our registration systems, relocate our servers, and test, retest, and re-retest the whole process. Expect a very smooth experience next week. We’re talking Teddy Pendergrass smooth.

Your registration covers a post-ride meal at our FondoSonoma Festival, a swag bag, a GranFondo t-shirt, a crack at GranFondo jersey pre-orders, a fair bit of goodies from us and our sponsors along the way, and the good feeling you get knowing you’re supporting the GranFondo’s beneficiaries. The ride itself? It’s free. Probably the most expensive t-shirt you’ve ever bought though. Ahh, we keed, we keed.

Speaking of jerseys, this is what 2012’s GranFondo jersey will look like before you drape it over your rippling muscles. You can pre-order them (along with matching bibs or shorts) at a discount when you register and have them shipped to you later in the year (before the GranFondo, of course). Wait until the event and we may run out of your size. It's happened. These fine bits of finery are made for us by our tailors at Capo and they use “European sizing." That’s Italian for “order at least one size up and don’t put ketchup on everything you eat, you ignorant Americano." We’re not joking here. Please do consult the sizing chart before buying.

Finally, we’re pretty excited to present something that would whet the appetite of even the most cynical of cyclists. Ladies and gents, we'll be unveiling our 2011 Levi's GranFondo recap video, courtesy of Citizen Pictures, later this week on our newly revamped and remodeled website. Keep thine eyes glued to our Twitter and Facebook feeds for the release announcement. There’s a lot to be said about what this video conveys about the GranFondo, but more than anything, it makes you want to ride your bike again and again. And again.

It’s really that simple: Get to www.levisgranfondo.com on the 17th. Don’t click refresh 2189340 times. Breathe. Sign up. Enter your info. Breathe again. Take us up on some prime deals. Or not. Look for your confirmation email, then mark your calendar. You’ve just committed to a bike ride that will change your understanding of the word itself.

Thanks for the heads up-I've got my reminder set- I hope I get in!!

:Danni

Which distance are you planning to do?

Signing up for the Gran so I won't be tempted to slack off during the summer months! You?

I haven't and probably won't sign up.  I'll probably volunteer for it.  I can ride it any time I want, so I don't feel the need to pay for it. 

Let me know if you are interested in coming up and giving it a prep ride.  The hardest part has a parking lot a couple miles away from the big climbs.  People park there and tackle just King Ridge all the time.  I'd be glad to go ride it with you.

Scott

I would love that Scott, maybe some Sunday in the near future?

Certainly, just let me know when and we can make it happen.

Scott