Splendid weather for 1,000 riders at the 2023 Cheaha Challenge Gran Fondo
The Cheaha Challenge Gran Fondo was the only option for riders in North America to qualify for the UCI Gran Fondo World Championships this season
The race in Jacksonville, Alabama has ben part of the UCI series since 2017 and attacted over 1,000 riders to the start line this year.
In the 12 miles time trial on Saturday, Brock Mason renewed his win from last year in a time of 24m 5s and an average speed of 47.5 km/h (29.5 m/h), 36 seconds faster than Matt Winstead with Andrew Knight in third at 53 seconds. It's the third consecutive time that Mason wins the Cheaha time trial. He also beat the course record by 13 seconds.
The female overall win in the time trial was for Annick Isabelle Marcoux in a time of 30m 32s and an average speed of 37.3 km/h (23.1 m/h), just 4 hundreds of a second faster than Leigh Ruston and 34 seconds to Jennifer Lesser.
On Sunday, the traditional century ride over the Cheaha Mountain had a small change on the course around the turning point, but the challenge remained the same with a lot of elevation on the course.
The fastest overall time was for the M45-49 age group with Andrew Knight, already third in the time trial on Saturday, winning in a time of 4h 28m 52s and an average speed of 35.7 km/h (22.2 m/h), a bit more than 3 minutes ahead of Owen Shott who won his M40-44 age group with youngster Josiah Chalmers (M19-34) as overall third.
Stefanie Young and Lanier Nichols battled for the female win with Stefanie finally winning in 5h 23m 49s in an average speed of 29.6 km/h (18.5 m/s), exactly 4 minutes faster than Nichols who won her F35-39 age category. Steph Anderson joined them on the podium as overall third.
The event allows competitors finishing in the top 25% of their age/gender category to qualify for the UCI Gran Fondo World Championships taking place next August in Scotland.
Proceeds from the Cheaha Challenge & ULTRA go to maintain the Chief Ladiga and Black Creek Trails as well as the Coldwater Mountain Trail. It also funds a grant program for local High School Mountain Bike Teams. These trails became a lifesaver for local community during the pandemic when staying local, socially distant and maintaining your mental health.
Link to 2023 UCI Cheaha Challenge Gran Fondo and ULTRA Results