Gran Fondo Cycles, Nashville, TN

Monday (Labor Day), September 6th

7:30 AM Grassland Middle School Parking Lot (Longest Ride)
2390 Hillsboro Road; Franklin, TN 37069

8:30 AM Hillsboro Elementary School Parking Lot,
5412 Pinewood Road, Leiper's Fork, TN 37064

The route roundtrip from the Hillsboro School (8:30 start) will be 55 miles and we've got some great stuff in here - a line up of our favorite roads - Milton Fox, South Lick Creek, Pigg Schoolhouse, and Mahon. There will be a water stop at Mr. Fly's store about 20 miles in. This is a fantastic loop. Pigg Schoolhouse is steep; it will separate the men from the boys and the girls from the women, but it's epic and fun and you'll laugh about this for a long time. We've never been out there that we didn't come back with a good story. When we pull off our gran fondo, it will have this road in the route. If you don't ride this with us on Labor Day, then get yourself out there soon to take it in on your own.

If you start at the Grassland school and commute to the ride, you will have a little better than 85 miles. This one is fun, but tough. The ride from the 7:30 start will be brisk, more of a commute than anything.

If you are looking for a 35 mile or so route, let us know at the 8:30 start and we can give you a variety of turn back options to get you the mileage that you are looking for. I'll post in a Map My Ride map below, but be careful with these. They sometimes leave out key info in their route sheets...

As always, no sag or sweep, but we have a lot of cycling ambassadors in our club and we try to make sure that everyone is safe and generally happy.

Sunday, October 3rd
10:00 AM Arrington Vineyards, Arrington, TN

Gran Fondo Cycles would like for you to join us on Sunday, October 3 when we combine a wine tasting event with a bicycle ride in the country. We plan to start a group ride from Arrington Vineyards in Arrington, Tennessee. We will host two rides of varying lengths and plan for everyone to return to the parking lot about 2:00. Type 10:00 in your calendar as a Start Time and we will refine the details one week out.

Post ride we plan for everyone to change into their picnic clothes and head to the hills surrounding the tasting room to listen to some jazz while we drink a little wine and share some good food.

You can plan to pack a picnic basket just for yourself or you can bring something to share and we will do a bit of pot luck, your choice. Wine can be purchased at the tasting room, even though it is Sunday.

Here's a link:

http://www.arringtonvineyards.com/our-story

Sunday, August 15th
8:00 AM Hillsboro Elementary School Parking Lot,
5412 Pinewood Road, Leiper's Fork, TN 37064

Two routes are being offered. The distances are 32 and 45 miles. The routes share the same roads for twenty miles, plus the rest stop. The longer ride will also finish on the same 10 miles of road as the shorter route. We hope that people can have a lot of group togetherness and/or support, regardless of the route chosen. We thought based on the heat, a 45 mile option was plenty long enough. It will be very easy to add on additional miles in the area if interested. Also, you can ride out from the Model Airplane Field and you would have a 75 mile day.

Both loops are very shady and don't have any nasty climbs, but they have some big downhills... Go figure. Please do not question if your definition of "nasty climbs" is different from ours.

Also, if you need a new road... The 45 mile route uses a cool road called Mahon. It's beauty is that it is long and straight and is quite a bit different from the feel of the other fantastic roads past Leiper's Fork. It bears South at the end of Knob Creek and shoots you out to the far reaches of Carter's Creek (so far out that there are no rumble strips...) If you are a map nerd or someone just looking for a new connector road, check this one out.

The Excel file with the route is posted below, but it isalso copied in at the bottom of the page for those nonspreadsheet types.

Great Loops Aug 15.xls

Gran Fondo in the country

Go	Turn	Road	At
	Start	Hillsboro Elementary Sch	0.0
0.00	Turn Left	SR 46	0.0
0.16	Turn Right	Leipers Creek Rd	0.2
1.48	Turn Right	Garrison Rd	1.6
3.80	Stay straight at 4 way	Name change - Greenbriar Rd	5.4
4.17	Turn Right	South Lick Rd	9.6
0.30	Turn Left	Doug Thompson Rd	9.9
1.80	Bear/turn Left	Old Natchez Trce (not marked)	11.7
0.55	Turn Right	Vestal Hollow Rd	12.3
		CAREFUL ON DESCENT!!!	12.3
1.40	Stay Left (No Turn)	Skelley Rd	13.7
0.40	Turn Left	Leiper's Creek	14.1
3.10	Turn Right	Sulphur Springs Branch Rd	17.2
2.80	Turn Left	Les Robinson	20.0
0.10	Left	Old Store for Rest Stop	20.1
	Exit Left	SR 247 (Snow Creek Rd)	20.1
		CAREFUL ON DESCENT!!!	20.1
1.40	Turn Left	Fairview Road	21.5
3.15	Turn Left	Mobley's Cut	24.6
1.60	Turn Right	Leipers Creek Rd	26.2
5.60	Turn Left	SR 46 (Pinewood Rd)	31.8
0.16	Turn Right	Hillsboro Sch	32.0

Go	Turn	Road	At
	Start	Hillsboro Elementary Sch	0.0
0.00	Turn Left	SR 46	0.0
0.16	Turn Right	Leipers Creek Rd	0.2
1.48	Turn Right	Garrison Rd	1.6
3.80	Stay straight at 4 way	Name change - Greenbriar Rd	5.4
4.17	Turn Right	South Lick Rd	9.6
0.30	Turn Left	Doug Thompson Rd	9.9
1.80	Bear/turn left	Old Natchez Trce (not marked)	11.7
0.55	Turn right	Vestal Hollow Rd	12.3
		CAREFUL ON DESCENT!!!	12.3
1.40	Stay left (No Turn)	Skelley Rd	13.7
0.40	Turn Left	Leiper's Creek	14.1
3.10	Turn Right	Sulphur Springs Branch Rd	17.2
2.80	Turn Left	Les Robinson	20.0
0.10	Left	Old Store for Rest Stop	20.1
	Exit Right for LONG	Leaving Store	20.1
0.50	Exit Left	Knob Creek	20.6
4.30	Bear Left	Theta Pike	24.9
		no turns, road changes name
		to Mahon
3.85	Turn Left	Carter's Creek	28.7
5.10	Turn Left	Les Robinson (TN 247)	33.8
0.75	Turn Right	Fairview	34.6
3.15	Turn Left	Mobley's Cut	37.7
1.60	Turn Right	Leipers Creek Rd	39.3
5.60	Turn Left	SR 46 (Pinewood Rd)	44.9
0.16	Turn Right	Hillsboro Sch	45.1

Gran Fondo Upcoming Group Rides

Future Ride

Past Ride, Good Cue Sheet

32 Mile Loop for Sunday, August 15, starting from Hillsboro Elementary, Pinewood Road, Leiper's Fork, TN

45 Mile Loop for Sunday, August 15, starting from Hillsboro Elementary, Pinewood Road, Leiper's Fork, TN