Editor's Note: This ride has been canceled due to COVID-19 concerns.
Gran Fondo: a long-distance cycling ride that originated in Italy that has a celebration-like atmosphere. CHI St. Joseph Health hosts the fifth annual Gran Fondo in the Brazos Valley on March 22, celebrating life, wellness, and accomplishment.
“We try to create the atmosphere when they get back to the [finish point, they are greeted by] music, food, merriment, and celebration that they accomplished their goal, first, and secondly that we celebrate our life and wellness and all that being active and exercising does for us,” says Tammy Way, logistics chair of the Gran Fondo.
The Gran Fondo is a 20-, 40-, 70-, or 100-mile bike ride starting at The Stella Hotel in Bryan and traveling throughout the Brazos Valley.
“I think the nicest part of our route is our 70- and 100-mile routes goes across Lake Somerville,” says Way. “It’s a nice scenic area to ride in — beautiful hills going up to Burton. That’s definitely the challenging end of the ride. Our 20- and 40-mile routes are fairly flat. More of your basic riders can ride it.”
While the ride has steadily grown over the past five years, one of the most exciting aspects of this year’s ride is the designation as a recommended ride for training for events like the Texas MS150.
Recommended rides gain that label by adhering to strict safety and rider support guidelines, based on an agreement with the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, explains Way. Recommended rides are the best way to help cyclists prepare for rides such as the Texas MS150.
Way says this is especially exciting since for the first time, the MS150 not only rides through much of the Brazos Valley, but finishes at Kyle Field.
“With the Texas MS150 coming to Kyle Field May 2 and 3, part of our route is on the Texas MS150 route, so we hope that appeals to people to come out and ride and get some experience on those roads before they do the big ride,” Way says. The Gran Fondo is the only training ride she is aware of that will cover a nice portion of the same route from day two of the Texas MS150.
The proceeds from the Gran Fondo ride go directly to the CHI St. Joseph Cancer Center for patient care services. However, Way says the event is also an opportunity to promote wellness and connect with the community.
“We do see this as a fundraiser for [Cancer Center Services], but ... we haven’t continued to do it because it brings in a lot of financial resources,” says Way. “We continue to do it because of the community involvement and the ability for us to promote wellness, our mission, our community outreach, and that sort of thing.”
At each break point along the ride, representatives from different departments at CHI St. Joseph Health will interact with the riders. “Our hope is that those areas can help people learn about CHI St. Joseph Health and what we do and all the different areas that we work in to promote our ministry to those in need,” she says.
Register to participate in the ride or volunteer at www.granfondobcs.com. Day-of registration at the start of the race will be available as well. Additionally, ambitious cyclists can participate in the Gran Gravel 500 — a 500-mile ultra-distance, self-supported, off-road race beginning Thursday, March 19. On March 21, The Stella Hotel will host a free pre-ride concert at Lake Walk that will be open to the community.
When riders cross the finish line on March 22, the party begins. Food, music, merriment, and celebration — a celebration of life, wellness, and accomplishment.
“With this being our fifth year, we hope the community can continue to support the event,” says Way. “We hope our next five years will prove to be just as exciting.”
