The second annual Whistler Gran Fondo. http://www.rbcgranfondowhistler.com/ 7000 riders left Georgia street at 7:00 AM on Saturday morning, September 10th. I made it to Whistler at almost exactly 12:00 noon, about five hours (the official time will be posted shortly). I could have done a bit better but I took my time early in the ride as I rode pretty slowly with a friend who was having difficulty with his heart rate monitor, until we got separated on one of the hills leading up to Horseshoe Bay. At any rate, we both made it, and had a wonderful ride! The route on this map here adds a return trip, made the next day. Only a few Gran Fondo riders did this - I saw lots of bikes on car racks heading back to Vancouver in the afternoon! I took my time coming back, stopping to take photos and chat with the few riders who did the same. Although not part of the Gran Fondo, the return ride to Vancouver was very enjoyable - beautiful scenery, and a warm sunny day. Traffic was another matter, as this is a well traveled highway, however, the road is much improved with room on all but one or two short, narrow sections to ride on the shoulder. Looking forward to next year! Update 20110912: The official ride results are in. According to http://rbcgranfondowhistler.com/sites/rbcgranfondowhistler.com/files/2011GFWResults.pdf , my time was 4:51:25, which placed me at 467th place out of 1221 riders in my age category (50-59), and 1985th out of 5247 riders who placed overall (over 7000 riders participated). My time was last year was 5:00:15. A terrific event. For photos of the ride, click on the URL below: http://goo.gl/86P4y