Granfondo Ottawa done

So my first cycling event is finished and let me tell you, if this is any indication of how an event of this style is put together I won't be doing one anytime soon.

I'm trying to keep the negative stuff out of my life but road cycling is dangerous if not done Properly.That's where triathlons are much safer on the cycling part of the event, there is no chance of wrong turns or getting lost, there is first aid on the triathlons with radio communications, the intersections have police at them closing them off, this race had very few of anything. This weekend at the granfondo Ottawa it was chaos, I didn't see any officials starting the race no announcer starting or giving any direction, people were just aimlessly doing this event in any fashion they pleased, at one point I was with about 30 riders on the side of a busy road trying to figure out where to go!

And road cyclists trying to draft with no training in drafting have no business being that close to others, our team of triathletes did some drafting but we ride together every weekend and know how each other rides, we tried to stay away from people, the groups who were riding properly were good to ride with but still very dangerous when someone new just pops into their group.

We saw one good crash on the side of the road that was a direct result of bad road riding ! To many people going to fast to close together! I'm very surprised no one got killed with the total disregard for road safety. Now we were instructed to follow the rules of the road on the riders memos and through emails and on Facebook but no formal speech was given with course rules.

One of my friends was in a group of riders when they were stopped and warned by police about the cyclists and their dangerous riding tactics which make it difficult for the rest of the cycling world to ride safely and without harassment.

The post race meal was terrible they had sausages that were cold and dried out with no condiments, with cold pasta that would make my Italian friends cringe, I'm glad the hotel was cheap but the Brook street hotel was very nice !

Our friend that put this whole weekend together did a great job at planning it out which is what made it a huge success for our group! It was magnificently organized, with a group of that size the weekend just skipped along perfect ! My family had one of our greatest vacations so far ! Thanks Fran!!!!

The ride itself was spectacular being able to experience such beautiful country side like the Ottawa valley was great ! My time was 27.9 average my fastest time ever on a long ride !

We received nice bike jerseys from this ride but the rest of the swag wasn't to good, there was also a problem with something to do with the timed sections of the race, they didn't have them due to debris on the road but I find that hard to believe I think something else went wrong and they blamed it on the weather.

All and all a sub par event due to the lack of organization from the race director, but a great weekend had buy team drinkle thanks to our teams organizer and her amazing planning skills !