Gran Fondo Cyclists Pass Through Brentwood

Hundreds of cyclists invaded Brentwood on Sunday morning as participants in the first Gran Fondo Colnago Los Angeles passed through not once, but twice, to complete the course.

The cyclists began their ride on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills and traveled west on San Vicente Boulevard through Brentwood on their way to the Pacific Ocean and onward through the Santa Monica Mountains. Cyclists then cruised east on Sunset Boulevard for the return journey to Beverly Hills.

Gran Fondos are long-distance, mass-participation cycling events—not races—that are popular in Italy. The rides are open to cyclists of all abilities and most people enter for the challenge and satisfaction of making it to the finish line.

For the Los Angeles event, riders could choose either the long course, which consisted of  7,000 feet of climbing over 72 miles, or the short course, which consisted of 2,600 feet of climbing over 39 miles.

Joe Pooler, a Marine stationed at Camp Pendleton, thought the short course would be enough of a challenge.

“The hardest part was the start, because we were all just jacked up to go and they controlled everything we did,” Pooler said. “It was much better when they just set us loose.”

Although he didn’t know any of the other cyclists when he started the ride, Pooler made friends along the way, he said.

“There were a lot of good people. We’re all from different areas, but we just all worked together as a team,” he said. “It was a lot of fun and I’ll definitely do it again next year.”

Colnago, the Italian bicycle manufacturing company that sponsored the event, held a Gran Fondo in San Diego in April and has Gran Fondos scheduled for August in Philadelphia and November in Miami.

Colnago owner Ernesto Colnago said that the Los Angeles event was a tremendous success and he hopes to bring the event back again.

“It was wonderful. We would be very happy to come back here again,” Colnago said in Italian through a translator.