For the third year in a row, I've written up my Levi's GranFondo experiences and continue to be amazed at where my bicycles and passion for cycling have taken me...
A Deeply Satisfying Event
Wow, where to start? This has been an incredible event for me over the past four years. Life-changing? Yes, in a sense, life-changing. I've experienced such warmth, generosity, support and love from friends and family, I can't help but think it has changed the way I look at things and it has definitely brought me a lot of happiness. Additionally, I have made a lot of friends along the way, rode my bike quite a few miles and raised money and awareness for some very worthy charities.
Retired From Fundraising - Or Not
After two years of successful fundraising (2010 & 2011), I had officially retired from GranFondo fundraising. My rationale? How can one go back for a third time to an empty cookie jar and expect cookies? Funny thing is, I have this "cookie jar" that never seems to be empty.
From 2011, I had a donation that missed the deadline and rolled into this year's tally. I was $100 in a week after last year's ride. Talk about indecisiveness..."I'm $100 bucks up for 2012. Do I walk away or go all in?" I had the better part of the year to think about...or not.
August Fundraising
I decided to mount a very feeble fundraising effort on August 7. I figured I'd post an announcement on my Facebook page and see if I could reel in $500-$1000 without making much of an effort. Yes, I know this sounds completely stupid (especially as I type this out...it's kinda embarrassing to admit and is not at all in the spirit of helping others.)
I immediately raised over $500 and was mildly pleased, but something wasn't there. I was overcome with sadness and felt an emptiness before deciding to abandon my efforts. I thought, "$500 is better than nothing and this will be a good way of easing out after a few great years of raising lots of money."
Actually, I was contemplating the ride as I had dedicated it to the memory of my father, Patrick S. Layne who passed away in May. His passing and the thought of riding for him became too much for me and caused me to fall into a period of sadness and loss. My dad and I were not close for many years and as I thought about riding for him, it became a painful reminder of time lost, what could have been and what wasn't.
The Motivator
August 23. My friend (since high school) Chris Marcoida sent me a message on Facebook regarding fundraising and I basically responded by telling her I wasn't really into it for various reasons.
Here's her response (click to enlarge and see entire text):
Everyone should have a friend like Chris - fun, full of positive energy, beautiful inside and out...and knows when to give you a kick in the ass!
Fundraising And Training
Shortly after Chris' message, I fully re-committed myself to going all out in a fundraising blaze of glory. I decided, " If I'm gonna put my name on this thing, its gonna get done right!" I sent out an e-mail blast, re-composed myself to my Facebook audience and asked friends and family in-person for a "little donation love".
Interestingly, my miles and numbers didn't look particularly impressive, but I felt myself getting stronger both mentally and physically and I knew it would translate well to the 103 mile Gran route with over 8,000 feet of climbing at Levi's GranFondo. Honestly, I ride year-round and "training" doesn't really describe it accurately. I'm in love with my bikes and I love riding...call it what you will.
Thank You All Very Much
The donations rolled in like crazy right through August and into September. I blew past $1000, then $2000 and unbelievably, $3000 came into view! One major difference from previous year's donations...the amounts were larger. I viewed this as a major vote of confidence in what I was doing and I'm deeply thankful to all of the following people:
Frank von Haunalter, Julia Zarcone & David Patmore,
Frances Schatz, Shari Krandel, Brian McElreath, Lynn Bowers & Dale
Lingscheid, Jim Phillips, David Link, Pam Carrico & John Larwood, Tim
Thompson, Sara Black, Cathy & Rob Thompson, Amy & Edmund Jew, Vanessa
Hauswald, Mark Olson, Kelly Wood, Jeff Kern, Jim King, Larry Fox, Jon Pulis,
Marian Sagan & Tony D’Esopo, Nesto & Abra De La Torre, Steve &
Linda Folkman, Adrienne Lovo & Steve Layne, Linda Rios, Christine Marcoida,
Kristi Waterland, Jeff Chambers, Christie Martin, Mark Maidenburg, Garett
James, Karin Parodi, Jason Kerner, David & Jill McFadden, Jerry Archer,
Shawn Hickey & The Valet Team, Levi Leipheimer, Robert Gudanets, Jesse
Dimond & Fernan Kalaw, Jane & Alan Kern, Amy & Kevin Kelly, Oren
& Debra Massey, Sal Rodriguez, Gina & Taylor Black, Angela Kitchen,
Kerrie Lambert and Eddie Mello.
Who Is This Levi Dude?
Approaching $3000 (I was somewhere around $2673) I received a donation from a guy named "Levi Leipheimer". I thought, "Funny, one of my friends donated as Levi. I wonder who the hell it is?" I quickly sent an e-mail to Stephanie at Bike Monkey (Bike Monkey are the awesome folks who produce the GranFondo) and asked if she could help me find out which one of my friends used Levi's name to hide their donation. A few days later, Stephanie responded, "I think it was Levi, but I can't tell for sure." I decided to forget about it. I figured I'd find out eventually, just as I had learned much later that "Anonymous" from 2010's fundraising effort was Jeff Kern.
Festa Del Fondo
As I arrived at Paradise Ridge Winery, I saw some familiar faces, stopped and chatted, then wandered in. It was a gorgeous setting and I was looking forward to the evening. I quickly realized this event would be unlike the atmosphere of most of Fondo weekend - it was a relatively quiet and intimate setting compared to the massive crowds that would descend on Finley Center in Santa Rosa over the next few days. An additional "bonus" for attending this event was the ability to engage interesting people in the bike community one-on-one without autograph/photo seekers and cordoned off VIP areas. In the case of the Festa, it was a VIP event itself. I was able to chat with pro cyclists, bike industry movers and shakers, my Bike Monkey friends as well as Levi and Odessa.
Levi
A few moments after I arrived at the Festa Del Fondo, I saw Levi talking to some people. I waited for a few minutes (not to interrupt) and much to my surprise, Levi got up, moved toward me with an outstretched hand and said, "Hey Patrick, good to see you. I'm glad you could attend this evening." I was happy to see Levi and even happier that he remembered me. We chatted for a bit when I presented a photo book that my wonderful wife Kathy made for me - it is a collection of photos of my GranFondo experience over the past three years. Kathy suggested I ask Levi to personalize it - which he graciously did:
Before I wandered off, I said to Levi, "Uh Levi, I'd like to ask you something...um, someone made a donation to my fundraising effort..." Levi responded with a smile, "Yeah, it was me. I appreciate all you have done to support our event and I wanted to help you reach your goal."
Nicely done Levi, nicely done.
The Invitation
Wednesday evening as I was packing my gear for the ride and was prepping for my Thursday afternoon departure for Santa Rosa, I received an email from Stephanie at Bike Monkey. I was invited to join the Friday morning VIP ride with Levi. Our destination? Forget Me Not Farm!
In 2011, I had put together an all-out plan to raise as much money as I could. I bugged friends, pestered family, crafted plans for an incredible fundraising assault. In all, I raised $3601 and was thrilled with my accomplishment. Unfortunately, I did not achieve top three (top five ain't bad three years in a row!) as I had the previous year and was left off the list for an invitation to the VIP ride with Levi on the Friday before the GranFondo.
After last year's ride, I ran into Levi and expressed my mild disappointment that I was not able to see the farm firsthand. During my fundraising effort, I had spent time researching the farm and it became a cornerstone of my fundraising. I found Forget Me Not Farm's mission so admirable - helping children and animals - that I was drawn in and wanted to see it close-up.
Friday's Ride
At Friday morning's pre-Fondo "VIP ride", I found myself in a familiar position. Two years earlier, I had hung at out the same location (Hyatt Vinyard Creek in Santa Rosa) waiting for the VIP ride to commence - nervous and excited at the prospect of meeting and riding with Levi and friends. However, this time was different; I was mostly excited to get to the farm and see it firsthand. Don't get me wrong, pedaling with the pros wasn't bad, but seeing our donations at work and visiting the farm would be my reward on this ride.
The Farm
MTB World Champion & 4x Leadville Trail 100 Winner, Rebecca Rusch at Forget Me Not Farm
To find out more: http://www.forgetmenotfarm.org/index.html
Hotel, Campsite or Church Floor?
Upon returning from the VIP ride, I raced back to my hotel room, took a quick shower and checked out. Checked out?! I know you're thinking, "Why were you checking out of the hotel - wasn't the big ride the next day?!"
Here's the lowdown...
At last year's GranFondo, after checking in at registration, I sat down down on the bench out front of Finley Center and proceeded to have a pleasant conversation with a fellow cyclist name "David." We chatted for quite some time about the GranFondo, cycling and various other topics (I can't remember what topics, but I'm sure they were interesting.) As it turned out, David was camping nearby. I thought that was a clever idea, especially if you've ever booked a hotel room in Sonoma County on a weekend - not always easy to find a room and it could be quite expensive. Now add 7,500 riders, their families and friends along with other assorted bike folks to the mix. To demonstrate, my Thursday night room for $110 jumped to $350 the following day.
A few weeks following last year's GranFondo, I was reading blog posts I'd found posted on the GF's Facebook page. Much to my surprise, I read a post by "Sierracanon" and quickly realized it was the nice guy whom I had met on the bench at Finley - David Link. We became "friends" on Facebook and kept in touch throughout the year.
With the GranFondo approaching quickly and my notorious lack of hotel-room planning, I messaged David and asked him if he was going to ride the GranFondo again this year and if he was going to camp out again. David had not yet signed up for the ride, so I guess I was a motivating factor in getting him to do the ride for the fourth year in a row. He also agreed to book a campsite at Spring Lake County Park.
For those who know me well, camping, or more specifically, sleeping on the ground is something I detest. I often tell people, I've slept on the ground enough times in my life, it could fill several lifetimes of most normal people's ground sleeping quota. I was imagining waking up GranFondo morning in the cold and darkness fumbling around while getting prepared to ride 100+ miles - not something I was looking forward to doing!
A few weeks before the ride, David sent me the following message:
"So, my friend Chris (aka Velopriest) who is a repeat Fondo rider, scored free accommodations in the parish hall at Incarnation Episcopal Church in Santa Rosa. I remember that he did this last year. The advantage of this location is that it's right downtown, about ten minutes riding time from Finley Park... walking distance from Russian River Brewing... and free parking. He has invited us to share the parish house floor with him on Friday night."
Jackpot - sleeping on a church floor the night before the big ride instead of bumbling around in a campground sounds great! I quickly agreed, then began to count off the benefits of the church floor over camping. I ultimately decided the most important factor I should consider is that the "higher authority" would probably keep a closer eye on me in His house than some dusty, dark and cold campground.
As it turned out, the church floor worked really well and when I awoke at 5:30 AM on ride day, I was completely rested and was thankful for a good place to spend the night.
I'd like to offer a big THANK YOU to Church of the Incarnation for letting us sleep on your social hall floor. Thanks to my pal David Link for suggesting and arranging the accommodations through his friend Fr. Chris Rankin-Williams (Velopriest). Thanks Chris for hooking up a couple of cycling buddies; I slept great and was quite comfortable. I especially enjoyed hanging out with two super-nice guys throughout the evening and next morning (and didn't miss the campground!)
The Levi Effect
It was the first public showing of the film and included a personal introduction by Levi and afterwards a panel discussion with the filmmakers and assorted others including Levi's pal, Patrick Dempsey.
The film was really good as it guided the viewer through Levi's early years in Butte, Montana to his eventual home of Santa Rosa, California. I found it particularly interesting in conveying its main focus; Levi's positive impact on his Santa Rosa/Sonoma County community.
However, I was left a bit ponderous over the doping allegations that have dogged cycling for years and where Levi would eventually land in the mess as the film did not address the possibility that Levi would be implicated in the scandal as was being widely reported.
Additionally, there were some seemingly out-of-context comments that Levi made at the premiere alluding to the next generation of riders and how he hoped they would have better choices to make in regard to rejecting the use of performance enhancing drugs - doping.
I turned to David after Levi made his comments and whispered, "Is that an admission of guilt of some sort?" We both agreed there was something there, but the message wasn't crystal clear - until now.
If you care to read Levi's admission, follow the link below to the Wall Street Journal:
Eventually, it had been clarified that the version of the film that I watched the evening before the GranFondo was a slightly different version that would be released nationwide on October 23; it will address the doping issue, so I'm eager to re-watch the updated release. Knowing the guy who put his heart and soul (as well as the last two years of his life) into it, I'm sure it will be great - admissions included (shout out to Carlos Perez at Bike Monkey - you are one incredible dude and I admire your heart).
So here's where I stand: I support Levi. I know he's a good guy and I believe he deserves his shot at redemption.
Riding
This year I staged up front with pro's and assorted VIP's at the very front of the 7,000+ participants. I enjoyed it as I got a close-up view of some famous people and was able to ride out quickly and stay ahead of the masses. Yes, I saw Patrick "McDreamy" Dempsey stroll in and Barry Bonds stood next to me waiting for the ride to begin...kinda cool.
I'll spare you the details of the ride, but it was really nice. Good weather. Good legs. No mishaps. Levi's GranFondo "Gran" route is a fabulous ride. It's challenging, scenic, fun and worth the effort.
Post-ride Relaxation
I enjoyed the festival after the ride and hung out with a few friends. I was happy to see my buddy Forrest and relaxed with him for a while while recovering. My good pal "Super (D)" Dave Oliver and his co-worker Josh checked in with a great ride report. I was especially happy to see Jane Kern post ride. Jane and I had a beer together and smiled profusely as we compared notes from our epic rides...nice ride Jane!
Jane & Me!
Exhausted and Headed For Home
Unlike past years, when I had stayed in Santa Rosa through the entire weekend, this year, I was ready to head home. Having arrived on Thursday afternoon, by Saturday evening (and 103 bike miles later), I decided to call it a weekend. I hopped on my bike one last time and slowly rolled out of the finish line festival area, back to the streets of Santa Rosa and pedaled to the church downtown where my car was parked. I loaded up, pulled out of the parking lot, drove slowly to the freeway and happily headed home having enjoyed an awesome weekend that left me feeling completely satisfied.
Thank You
Many thanks to my friends and family for your support, encouragement, donations and love. I am blessed to have so many incredible people in my life. It makes pursuing my passion and living my dreams so much more fulfilling. Thank you all.
A special thank you to my amazing wife Kathy who provides me with lots of love and happiness - I love you immensely.
Thank you all & much love,
Patrick
