Monday, July 20, 2015

Axel Merckx Granfondo 2015 Trip



We love the Okanagan region of British Columbia, and try to get in at least a little bit of time there every summer. Before we had our son, this usually meant trips to wineries and restaurants as well as camping, but more recently, it has mostly been camping, with a few stolen moments at a winery or two while the little guy gets in some ipad time. This year’s trip was a little different; it was focused on a race - the Granfondo Axel Merckx.

My husband was the person in the family who first got into cycling, and it was his influence that led me to buy my own road bike. I wasn’t as enamored with two wheels as he was, nor was I ready to give up on running, so I went the tri route. Racing for me is a way to ensure that training actually happens. But he had no desire to race. Criteriums with old-guy weekend warriors are insanity for a person who makes their living with their head (and has a young child to be a father to). And we’d heard about enough crashes on the local Granfondo course that he didn’t want to do a fondo either. But for some reason this past winter he changed his mind (I suspect that like me, he’s more likely to put in the training efforts if there’s a race to look forward to), and decided he was going to race the Granfondo Axel Merckx in Penticton. So he signed up, and when registration for the Piccolo Fondo (the kids’ race) opened, our little guy got signed up too.

I won’t give you the play-by-play on our whole trip to the area, nor will I write much about husband's race (he likely will do that on his own blog), but I will note a few highlights (and low-lights), places worth going (or not) if you happen to hit the area yourself.

We headed into Penticton on Friday afternoon in time to drop our stuff off at the place we were staying (a private rental on the Naramata Bench) and get back to the race expo/registration site.

Our view for the weekend.

Husband got his package and set off to see what he could spend his money on. I headed for the bouncy castle with the boy. (Yes, they had a bouncy castle set up at the expo – pure brilliance.) I’ve never bought anything at a race expo before, but even I bought something at this one – my first pair of bib shorts. Husband purchased some nutrition stuff, and headed into the racers’ briefing. He found it very useful, and so was glad we left early enough to get into town in time for it. He wanted pasta for dinner so we headed off in search of some, and happened across the Pasta Factory. It was awful. I won’t go into details, but suffice it to say, we won’t go back. Luckily we found the local Safeway later and got a few things to eat to tide us over until the next day.

The next morning we stopped by The Bench Market for breakfast, a place we always go when in town. It’s a great place for very casual small meals, take out, coffees, local specialty grocery items, things of that nature. Then it was off in search of some new tires for Husband. (There was a decent chance of rain on the Sunday, and he wanted to have his other bike prepped and ready just in case.) The details of this search could fill a page, but I won’t bore you with them. Eventually he found what he was looking for (thanks to the Trek guy at the expo). Back to the condo for some lunch, to pick up the boy’s bike for his race later in the day, and to sneak in a quick hill running session.

Off to the race area for the Piccolo Fondo. It was craziness. Loads and loads of kids, all riding around on their bikes, bubbling over with excitement, barely managing not to end up in crashes. And this was just the waiting around time! The actual races were great! They raced in age groups, with the youngest kids going first. Axel Merckx led each race, so the kids were trying to catch him. Riders who were part of his development club accompanied the kids, so even the child at the end of their race was not alone. There was so much joy on the faces of most of the racers it was so much fun to watch. My son was in the 6-7 year old race which was won by a very fast girl (who seemed to be at the end of 7). It became very clear to us during the race that he needs a new bike. He turned his tiny cranks as fast as he could, but they’re so short he couldn’t go very fast. Anyway, he had fun, and is excited by the prospect of a new bike, this one with hand brakes and he is insisting on gears as well. After the race it was time for some more bouncy castle fun, this time outside at the race site.

Smiles at the start.

Second lap almost done!


I have no idea how they managed to make that many waves with that many kids seem so organized, but it all seemed to run pretty smoothly, and I thought having AM there to start each of the kids’ races was a really nice touch. From my perspective as a parent it was nice to have a day that seemed to be about the kids. It wasn’t just the races; there were also some activities in the park for the kids. My son certainly had it in his head that we were in Penticton for 2 races, his and his dad’s, and that Saturday was all about him. The set up and organization on the Saturday really reinforced this. Partly this meant that he was a bit crazy in the morning (busting with excitement) but it also meant that he was quite happy to have Sunday be about his dad. It was a real family sort of race weekend, at least, it could be if you wanted it to be.

On the way back to where we were staying we hit La Frenz winery, one of husband’s local favorites, tasted a few wines and bought a few bottles. Later, we were about to head into a different winery for dinner when some friends who were in town for the race too called us on their way to the Bad Tattoo Brewing Company, so we changed plans and joined them there. My son thought this was great. I had noted that they make their own root beer the previous day, and he had been promised some if we went there during our visit. He’s never had pop before, at least, that I know of, so this was a grand treat from his perspective. Warning, it doesn’t taste like most root beer (the server warned us about this), but since he had nothing to compare it to, he didn’t notice. Their pizza was great, we all had radlers (which it seems they make to order) and plenty of water to drink. We left much more satisfied with dinner than we had the evening previous.

The next day we all got up very early and headed off to dad’s race. Parking was a ways away from race venue (start and finish and activities area) but that was fine, since me and the little guy had a few hours to burn. We got to see the racers all heading out of town, which was fun. We rang our cowbells and looked for the people we knew in the race. Got to see Husband go past, as well as our two friends who were also riding. We eventually got to cross the street, and headed off in search of coffee. The local Starbucks near the finish line was open, so we hung out there for a bit, mostly playing some games I’d brought along to entertain the 6 year old. While we were there the winners of the Corto Fondo raced past. Man they were fast. And young. But mostly fast. Eventually we made our way into the park that was the race area. There was a bouncy castle there, waiting to be set up, but it didn’t get blown up until the afternoon. (If I could make one recommendation to the organizers, it would be to get the kid’s activities up and running earlier on the Sunday. People who come in from out of town for the race often have to all come to the race together, and the rest of the family needs things to do from the start of the race, not just after 10 am.) But once it was up and running, we spent some time there, as well as a stint on the climbing wall.



While the boy was up on the climbing wall the first Granfondo finishers came through. It was very cool to see how fast that group was moving. We eventually made our way to the stands to sit and try and watch husband/dad finish. (We know we had a bit of time from when the first finishers crossed.) We cheered a bit, played swordfighting with the noisemakers, cheered some more, rang our cowbells. I saw husband finish (thanks to a friend, who’d already finished her race, who spotted him as he was coming up by the stands). He was exhausted, but really enjoyed his day. He was at the faster end of his predicted finishing window and is already plotting how to improve next year.

I had a great time spectating, the atmosphere was fun, and it was actually pretty easy to spend the day there was the 6 year old (who is not a sit around kind of kid). But I have to admit that I was a bit jealous of the riders. It looked like a great day. The whole event weekend was really well run, and we plan to be back next year if we can. But this time, if we can figure out what to do with the boy on Sunday, all three of us will ride.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Comments are moderated, so it might take a little while for your comment to show up.