Gran Fondo in NYC May 8, 2011!

Ciao Ragazzi (Italian for "get your cycling gear on"):

On May 8th, 2011, NYC will host the first ever "Gran Fondo" ... Legendary in Italy, the Gran Fondo is a huge organized ride, more structured than events like the North Fork Century because it includes timed sections, but it's still not a pro-am race...

In any case, I am considering participation, as should you!

For more info on what a Gran Fondo is:

http://granfondousa.com/what-is-gran-fondo/

And

http://granfondony.eventbrite.com/?ref=ebtn

The link to the NYC Gran Fondo site:

http://www.granfondony.com/index.php

More details...
Cost: $195 + $9.75
Gran Fondo New York starts with a bang by crossing the iconic George W. Bridge towards the Jersey side of Hudson River. Enjoy magnificent views of Manhattan during this once in a lifetime car free stint. Following Hudson upstream on rural roads and through scenic towns, riders will compete against each other and themselves on two timed climbs which will count towards the King and Queen of Mountain competition. The feature climb of the event and Cima Coppi (highest point of the ride) is the nearly four mile climb up to Bear Mountain in Harriman State Park. After descending, the course will wind its way back to where it started, hitting another short but steep timed climb.

An Italian friend of mine (who owns a winery in Montalcino) mentioned to me he will be sponsoring this... I will look deeper into the situation and post more info as I have it.... ENJOY!