Wiggle Amy’s Gran Fondo – our eighth edition
Our festival of cycling commenced early Saturday 15 September with our Surf Coast Shire Gravel Fondo, incorporating the Cyclist ‘Gravel Nats’ National Gravel Championship.
With ever-changing weather from blue sky to misty rain, competitors tore off up the muddy course to enjoy the remarkable Otway terrain over the next 2 hours to cover the exhilarating and technical course.
For an Amy’s Gran Fondo first and to highlight the tragic statistics on our roads, we held a memorial service for the 31 cyclists who have died on our roads so far this year. Following this service, the elite NRS Women conducted a neutral memorial lap of the Criterium course wearing pink armbands, as a sign of respect and reflection for those cyclists no longer with us.
In similarly cooler conditions Amy’s Wall did not disappoint with lights, thrills, spills and action! Spectators were entertained by a pair of penny farthings tackling the 110m 20% course with rapturous crowd applause – everyone clearly in awe of their accomplishment.
Sunday morning presented blue skies and bright sun for the start of the women’s and men’s NRS Amy’s Otway Tour followed by the UCI age and recreational categories tackling the 120km course with 1,870m of climbing. Despite the warming conditions, there was actually snow in the road verges at the Mt Sabine QOM/KOM!
This year in another first, an inspiring team of 7 visually-impaired cyclists rode on tandem bicycles on the Medio and Gran Fondo courses. Assisted with pilots and support riders, Tandem Up was an impressive outfit with one rider making this open-road ride his first non-spin ride since losing his sight 10 years earlier.
On return to Lorne, all riders enjoyed the Wiggle Recovery Zone which included a European-themed refueling zone with pasta or pommes frites, a French band and a yoga/stretching area to fully unwind and recharge.
With around 4,500 participants, the 2018 Wiggle Amy’s Gran Fondo was another action packed weekend with something for everyone. Our thanks go out to all our event partners, supporters and sponsors and suppliers who made it all possible, and of course to all of our fundraisers, donors, participants and families who support our important work. |