Yunnan Gran Fondo

The Yunnan Gran Fondo

China 16 – 22 November 2014

Colourful Yunnan Gran Fondo to give it its full name is a five stage tour of Yunnan province, starting in the city of Kunming and ending in Lijiang. Hotels and bus transfers between stages are all part of the deal, organised by Nicholas Hellquist of Nordic Ways. There was no more than 12-15 laowei (look it up) out of 240 entrants for the 5 day event with a total of over 2,000 people taking part in the event overall including day riders. The whole event is at high altitude, with elevations ranging from 1,600 to 3,200m. Plus every stage takes place on closed roads. Which I could get used to.

Stage 1: Kunming. 114km around Lake Dian.  My attempt on the over 50 category GC podium got off to a bad start: The written instructions said that there would be a pace car to guide riders the 10km from the hotel to the start line. The start time was at 08.30 and so I waited outside the hotel at 07.30 for the advertised guidance. A steady stream of riders left the hotel and headed up the road, but I waited. Time went by. Eventually I spotted one the local organisers, and I asked him when I could expect the pace car. The answer was that there wasn’t one. Not the answer I was looking for, and it meant that I arrived at the start line 20 minutes late, followed by a long solo effort of trying to catch the groupetto by chasing into a head wind. Which was never going to happen, although I crucified myself trying. GC hopes over before the race even started. Hey ho, nothing left to do but to enjoy the ride day by day.

Stage 2: Yuxi. 181km around Lake Fuxian, the largest freshwater lake in China (or maybe it's the one at Dali… whatever). I got this one right, at the start line in good time. The gun went and it was a flat out sprint for the first 5km. This did what was intended and the race rapidly shook out into 3 ability based peletons. This was a pattern that repeated itself all week. As was the same half-dozen riders on the front who did all the work. Yours truly included natch.

Stage 3: Chuxiong. A 24km Individual mountain time trial aka Ride up a big hill as fast as you can. Simples. Got to the top at 2,400m in 59 minutes and then spent 15 minutes coughing Shanghai out of my lungs.

Stage 4: Dali. The start line was at 2,000m and it was 0 to redline (again) right from the gun for a circuit of Lake Er Hai, the largest freshwater lake in China, unless it was the other one. The familiar routine of the 3 peletons established itself, and it was a long head wind haul back the finish line in the town of old Dali. 1km to go, and all of the wheel suckers came miraculously back to life and started jockeying for position. The whole peleton was heading into what I thought was a 90 degree bend before the final straight at an adrenaline-fulled rate of knots, when it turned out that the 90 degree bend was actually 180 degrees. Cue carnage. My mountain bike skills kicked in, I hugged the inside line and was third in the sprint to the finish. Proper racing, great stuff.

Stage 5: Lijiang 85km. The start line was in the old town. Very atmospheric with a mix of numerous ethnic minorities doing their traditional dances. Most dramatic was a group of mountain man drummers clad in what looked like leopard skin hats and polar bear cloaks. The first couple of hundred metres was a road surface of large, rough pave. Uphill natch, added together meant that the sprint from the gun splintered the starting mob rapidly. The course was two laps of the town, which included a nice big hill which wound up through some outlying villages, before heading up to the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain pass at 3,000m. A peleton of 30 or so riders formed and by now I could see many familiar faces, including of course the usual half dozen big-hearts who rotating at the front driving the pace. Big-hearted or dumb? You choose. The peleton disintegrated the second time up village hill and then it was every man for himself. I found a manageable gear and churned it, and re-discovered the thin air “blow and recover” grunt breathing low oxygen management method from my army diver training. It seemed to work and I passed a steady stream of riders before reaching the finish line at 3,400m. And then it was over, with lots of hugs and smiles among the pace making elite. A fast downhill run back into town to the local sports stadium for prize giving plus an impressive gratis banquet provided by the town followed and the all that was left to do was to manage the massive comedown after a fantastic week of great racing, superb scenery and good comradeship. And who knows, somewhere in a parallel universe, I did make the start of stage 1 on time and the Podium for the GC. But, as they say in France if my aunt had balls she'd be my uncle.

David Clark