Cache Gran Fondo Builds on Four Year Success

The open roads and green fields of Cache Valley have become a major draw for bicyclists, and one of the area’s newest events is drawing riders from around the globe.

Last Saturday’s Cache Gran Fondo, now in its fourth year, included nearly 1,000 riders from seven states and three countries. Fondo race director Troy Oldham gives a prize to the rider from the farthest away, and the first year that person was from Atlanta. The next year it was a rider from Vancouver, Canada, and last year it was someone from Trinidad and Tobago. This year it appears the prize went to Sven Doerfel of Berlin, Germany, who told Oldham that he is coming to Utah to visit family this weekend.

“Before coming here I was looking for some rides in the area,” Doerfel wrote to Oldham. “I was super happy when seeing that the ride is during my vacation time. A couple of years back I was standing on the sidewalk when riders passed me and I was sad not being one of them. This year luck is on my side.”

The Gran Fondo has been operated by Logan Regional, but this year Oldham, a former communications director for IHC, left the hospital for another job, and took over ownership of the event. The Fondo offers 56-mile and 102-mile routes, and draws a wide variety of cyclists because it combines elements of racing with a more casual atmosphere, according to Oldham. Certain parts of the course are timed, and many individual and team riders go all-out over the longer route. Others prefer to ride at a recreational pace and stop to enjoy the many support stations. And, afterwards all riders get to enjoy the festival atmosphere, with food vendors and other shops, in downtown Logan, where 100 North will be closed west of Main Street.

“We try to make the finish line feel like you’ve ridden in a major race, with a podium and medals,” Oldham said. “We try to make if feel like a major accomplishment, and it is — it’s a challenging course.”

He noted that although much of the route is relatively flat, both the long and short course offer “challenging but doable” climbs up Weston Canyon and Trenton Hill, respectively.

Oldham said more people are riding in the Fondo, and more people in Cache Valley are riding in general.

“The numbers sure have grown as far as the number of people out riding,” he said, noting that about half of the field this year will be locals. “Our own community is growing and getting into cycling, and there are particularly a lot of people from Idaho this year. We’re excited to see a lot of people come in from outside.”

Oldham added that he has seen “a lot of people come into cycling that weren’t before, and that was a goal of the Fondo.” Some of that interest may also stem from the fact that this year Logan, for the first time, will host a stage of the Tour of Utah, a professional race that features some of the world’s top riders.

“I feel the energy that the Tour of Utah is bringing to the Cache Valley area is driving interest to our event,” Oldham said. “One of the other events we produce is the Bear Lake Classic in mid-May and despite a bad weather weekend, we had a lot of riders who wanted to ride some of the same roads as the pro cyclists during the Tour of Utah.”

Another goal of the Fondo has always been to raise money to provide mammograms for uninsured women in the area through Logan Regional Hospital, and Oldham said so far the event has raised around $100,000 for that purpose. The ride also has more than two dozen local sponsors, an all-time high.

Cache Gran Fondo Builds on Four Year Success