The Festival is almost here!
The premier bicycle touring event in our parts is the Gainesville Cycling Festival, two days of rides of all distances, but highlighted by the full one hunred miles of the Orthopaedic Institute Santa Fe Century and the Horse Farm Hundred.
If you ride bikes in our area, you really should participate in this event. The Gainesville Cycling Club currently has 1,049 members, but only 159 of you have registered for the event! (as of mid-afternoon Saturday Oct 17)
Proceeds from the event allow us to make a donation of $10,000 to the Boys and Girls Club of Alachua County, and are an important source of Club operating funds. If this event doesn't do well, dues will go up!
On Saturday, we have a Gravel Challenge, a metric century that features lots of limerock roads, and even a bit of singletrack. You'll need a road-style bike with relatively fat tires to stay with the lead pack on this one; mountain bikes can do it also, but will be a slower go.
Also on Saturday, you have the opportunity to do a short ride from Providence that takes in the most scenic parts of the Santa Fe Century. If you've been living life riding out and back on Millhopper Road, this will be the perfect ride for you to change things up. The start is at 9:30 to give you extra time to travel to Providence.
And of course on Sunday, the Horse Farm Hundred departs from the First Magnitude Brewing Company south of downtown Gainesville. Located just off of the Gainesville-Hawthorne Trail's Downtown Connector, when you return you will no longer be faced with the Kicaid Hill climb! All Horse Farm event entrants get a free craft beer!
Use the button in the Members Area for expedited sign up. Direct your non-member friends to the main GCC page where they can click on the Festival banner for full information and to register.