Patterson and Scheid Win Highlands Gran Fondo

Sold-out for the 2nd year in a row, nearly 750 riders and 30 teams escaped from the New York Metro area to ride through the stunning New Jersey Highlands last weekend!

Located just outside the New York City metro area the Highlands Gran Fondo, staged from Butler NJ, featured great climbs including an assent over High Point, the highest point in New Jersey. Hundreds of riders from across North America enjoyed miles of quiet country roads, challenging climbs, and great support in beautiful weather.

“It’s great to sell-out for the 2^nd year in a row” said Gran Fondo National Series founder and director Rueben Kline. “We’ve always aimed to keep our events intimate and personal and share our passion for the sport with our cyclists.  I have no intention of increasing our rider cap on this event. It’s a great size and energy atmosphere are awesome. Additionally, I would not want to impose on the communities who support us by increasing the event size, we promote cycling and stress the important of respecting the communities where we hold events. We look for the event to sell-out even faster next year; and the rider experience we are known for will not change. We pride ourselves on our personalized approach, where I as the director along with our core staff, who have assisted me in producing over 65 gran fondos since establishing the Series in 2012, are able to connect directly with our riders in an intimate and sincere capacity. We do not what the event to grow any larger.”

The event offers 3 distances to suit all abilities. The 100-mile Gran Route crosses the Appalachian Trail eight times and showcased some of the best riding around, and contains 4 timed sections with 7,400 feet of climbing. The Gran Route proved even more popular this year with over half of the field participating!

The 60-mile Medio Route had 3 timed sections and 4,300 feet of climbing, whilst the 35-mile Piccolo Route had 2 timed sections and 2,450 feet of climbing.

In the Gran Fondo Jeremy Scheid from Newton NJ was fastest over the 4 times sections with a time of 43m 59s, just 0.5 seconds ahead of Dan Montgomery from Andover NJ with Jeffrey Watts from Coatesville PA in third place.

In the women’s category, 2022 GFNY New York 3^rd placed ride Jill Patterson from Alexandria VA was fastest in a time of 47m 57s ahead of Galen Bolard from New York and Elena Wu-Yan from Princetown.

In the 60 mile Medio Fondo, Alexandr Andreev from Harrison NJ was fastest over 3 timed sections in a combined time of 36m 27s, ahead of Edward Frederick from Brooklyn just 7 seconds behind and Eric Stein from Deer Park NY again just 7 seconds behind in third place.

In the women category, Olga Grishina from Dumont NJ was fastest in a combined time of 40m 44s ahead of Meagan Weas from Brooklyn NY and Linda Brown from Rye NY.

In the 35 mile Piccolo Fondo, Aaron Engelhardt from Flemington NJ was fastest over the 2 timed sections in a combined time of 33m 49s, ahead of Christian Verzosa from Union NJ and Tim Doyle from Johnson City NY in third.

In the women’s category, Joan Dyer from Towaco NJ was fastest in a combined time of 38m 38s ahead of Natalia Grishina from East Windsor NJ and Carol Tong from New York.

This year’s team competition was fierce with a record 30 teams fielding at least 3 riders! Local team Highlands Velo fielded 3 teams and regulars Blue Bell Wealth Management p/b Cannondale fielded 3 teams too.

It was a close call, it looked as if Blue Bell Wealth Management p/b Cannondale had won again, but with time bonuses taken it consideration, they were pipped to post by Highlands Velo by just 30s to win with Blue Bell Wealth Management p/b Cannondale Team 2 in third place.

A big congrats to the Over-All Male and Female winners, who won a Stay & Ride experience with Movich Cycling in Colombia.  While all Highlands riders are eligible to receive a 10% discount on the Cycling Camp those who placed top three in their age group receive a 20% discount. Click HERE to learn more about the trip with Movich Cycling in Colombia October 28^th to Nov 6.

Team Results Top 10

1. Highlands Velo
Jeremy Scheid, Dan Montgomery and Stefan Tessoun

2. Blue Bell Wealth Management p/b
Jeffrey Watts, Mark Detweiler and Lee Sobotkin

3. Blue Bell Wealth Management p/b 2
Brent Butler, Brent Vollrath and Nelson Rivera

4. CRCA / Skratch Labs / Ostroy
5. Fif Cycling
6. Highlands Velo2
7. CRCA / Skratch Labs / Ostroy 2
8. CRCA/Dave Jordan Racing
9. Team Mondongo
10 La Grupetta All Star

100 mile Gran Fondo Winners

Custom “Race Winner” cycling kits by SUAREZ cycling were awarded to all Gran Route age group category winners

60 mile Medio Fondo Winners

35 mile Piccolo Fondo Winners

Click here for the full 2022 Highlands Gran Fondo results: https://my.raceresult.com/204866/results

The SUAREZ Gran Fondo National Series would like to send a special thanks to Boca Bowls and their great servers for providing wonderful fresh meals for riders throughout the day. Not only was it great on its own, but it also paired wonderfully with Ramstein Beer!

Prize Raffle

The popular SUAREZ Gran Fondo National Series Raffle was after the podium awards. The Highlands Gran Fondo raffle featured more than $5,000 of prizes from Series sponsors, including:

4-night Stay at Garda Bike Hotel in Italy
Wahoo ELEMNT Rival GPS Watch
Wahoo KICKR smart trainer
Lazer three helmets
Industry Nine hubset
Cane Creek components 
Swiftwick socks
Bike Flights travel vouchers
Shimano products
CTS Trainright Memberships
Jittery Joe’s Coffee
UNDRBUDR anti-chafe cream
Ride with GPS Premium Memberships

Next Up: Gran Fondo Asheville p/b Applewood Manor

Mark your calendar for July 17th, 2022 in Asheville, NC.

The 2022 USA Cycling Gran Fondo National Championships will be held in concurrence with Gran Fondo Asheville p/b Applewood Manor this July!

A USA Cycling Gran Fondo National Championship title, complete with a national championship jersey and medal, will be awarded to the winner in each age-group category at the annual USA Cycling Gran Fondo National Championship event.

Cyclists who have already qualified to enter the 2022 Gran Fondo National Championships event are listed here. Qualification is based on results and participation at Gran Fondo National Series owned events and select partner events over a rolling 18-month window. Complete qualification criteria can be found here.

The age groups for the USA Cycling Gran Fondo National Championships event will match the USA Cycling age groups used for other National Championship events, offering more opportunities to compete with those closer in age. This is a change from the age groups used in 2021 for the Gran Fondo National Championships and is different from the age groups used for Gran Fondo National Series events.

New for 2022, riders that win their individual age group at nationals will automatically qualify for the 2022 UCI Gran Fondo World Championships.

Register NOW to Secure a Place!

Registration is open - but you'll need to hurry to secure a place on this epic challenge.

For more information, please visit: https://www.granfondonationalseries.com/gran-fondo-asheville

2022 Gran Fondo National Series Calendar

Starting in central Florida on March 20 with the Gran Fondo Florida, the 2022 Gran Fondo National Series includes eight events:

At Partner Events, cyclists can earn points toward the season-long Gran Fondo National Series Championship point’s competition, as well as qualify for the official USA Cycling Gran Fondo National Championship event.

Registration is now open for all Series events!

Register Early For Guaranteed Entry

Multiple SUAREZ Gran Fondo National Series events sold out in 2021 and 2022, so sign up now and secure your entry early! As an added bonus, you'll save money because entry fees increase closer to the events. 

Save money with 3-day Series Pass!

Register for any three 2022 SUAREZ Gran Fondo National Series events at the same time, and get the lowest-possible price on all three. Can also be used anytime during the season, even after single-entry prices have increased.

About the SUAREZ Gran Fondo National Series

About Gran Fondo National Series (granfondonationalseries.com)

Founded in 2012 by event director Reuben Kline, the Gran Fondo National Series is the largest and most competitive series of gran fondo cycling events in the United States. Gran Fondo National Series was the first series to implement timed-segment racing into US gran fondo events and has crowned Gran Fondo National Champions and Gran Fondo National Series Champions since 2012. Starting in 2020, the organization entered into a partnership with USA Cycling to bring the existing Gran Fondo National Series events into the USA Cycling portfolio including the presentation of an official USA Cycling Gran Fondo National Championships event. 

For more information, or to register for an event, go to www.granfondonationalseries.com.