Whistler Gran Fondo: Riding a Century from Sea to Sky in Canada

I ride 100 miles and 10,000 feet of elevation from Vancouver to Whistler with a detour up Cypress Mountain in a Canadian Gran Fondo. I was in Canada on Saturday, September 9th, 2023 along with 5000 fellow cyclists riding in the RBC GranFondo Whistler. It starts from Stanley Park in Vancouver and ends at the Whistler ski resort. I opted for the "Forte" option which tacks on a ride up to the Cypress Mountain Ski Area. The Forte ride officially clocks in at 97 miles and 10,100 feet of elevation gain, so just shy of a Century. The ride from where I was staying in downtown Vancouver to the starting line at Brockton Point in Stanley Park was over four miles so add that to my mileage for the day and it does clock in at a Century. I drove up on Friday and left my car at Whistler. I took a bus back to Vancouver on Friday night. I stayed in an Airbnb in downtown Vancouver. My "room" was tiny; it was the walk-in closet in a guy's condo, but it was the cheapest place I could find near Stanley Park. The 500 Forte riders started just before dawn at 6am (the main Gran Fondo group started at 7am). The weather was absolutely perfect; warm, sunny, and no forest fire smoke! After eating lunch at the finish line, I still had to drive back to Seattle. I was wiped out the next day. It was my last cycling objective for 2023. After the Whistler Gran Fondo, I was able to ride my bicycle for fun again without having to think about training goals. GranFondo Whistler https://www.rbcgranfondo.com/whistler/ Whistler Gran Fondo route on Ride with GPS https://ridewithgps.com/routes/12137614 Epic Rides bus service between Vancouver and Whistler https://epicrides.ca/ Music & Foley Tracks The Best Of Myself (Tigerblood Jewel Remix) (Instrumental Version) Daniel Gunnarsson https://www.epidemicsound.com/track/3... The Devil's Cup (Instrumental Version) Conditional https://www.epidemicsound.com/track/T... Face The Fact (Instrumental Version) Daniel Gunnarsson https://www.epidemicsound.com/track/3... Flag Flap 1 Sound Effects/Misc. Foley https://www.epidemicsound.com/track/R... Still Raining (Instrumental Version) Wellmess https://www.epidemicsound.com/track/H... Haul You Down (Instrumental Version) Wellmess https://www.epidemicsound.com/track/P... Stays The Same (Instrumental Version) Gloria Tells https://www.epidemicsound.com/track/D... Kite Lines (Instrumental Version) Mike Stringer https://www.epidemicsound.com/track/d... A Time To Let It Go (Instrumental Version) Sven Karlsson https://www.epidemicsound.com/track/4... #Cycling #Whistler #GranFondo