Bruce Rychlik's season goals always include a few long cycling tours
with lots of climbing and his last tour/camp was no exception. He
attended Levi's Pro Camp which included 7 days of riding in Sonoma County, culminating in Levi's Gran Fondo on October 4th 2014 in Santa Rosa California. Bruce went into this event ready to take on any challenge put forth. On day 2, 50 miles into the ride after 5 climbs, the first challenge
presented itself: Sweetwater Springs Western Ascent, the KOM - to the
top! In true race-like spirit, the field was whittled down to Bruce and
another very strong rider. When the road got really steep, Bruce punched
it, got a gap, and was the first to the top. When recalling the effort,
Bruce felt like it was the "GREATEST achievement on two
wheels!" He went on to say, "That 18 minute climb is the
culmination of my years worth of training with Karen. It's why I do it - so I
can have fun, so I can test myself and see what the human body and mind is
capable of. "
As Bruce continued his post-event de-brief with his PCG Coach Karen
Mackin, he went on to say,
"One of my favorite part of cycling is community and giving
back." He explained that one of the lesser experienced riders on the
trip was having trouble and falling back, "I have been helped so
many times in the past - so I dropped off and drafted him along Route 1, along
the ocean and half the lead out to the Sweetwater climb." Bruce
helped him get up the hills as well, and the rider made it a lot longer than he
would have and was psyched! Bruce added, "So I won a Road ID MVP
badge and KOM for Sweetwater (see photo). Can't get better than
that!"
The camp finished off with the 2014 Levi's Gran Fondo where Bruce had a great
ride finishing 39/1,320 in the
GRAN Male Category with an elapsed time of 5:54:58 over the
entire 102.4 miles and 8,955 ft. Congratulations Bruce!
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