Anthem Sports and former professional cyclist Floyd Landis today announced the courses for the debut Gran Fondo Catskills scheduled for June 1-2 in New York's Catskill Mountains. A 2.3-mile, 1,200-vertical-foot climb on Saturday will be followed by 40- or 90-mile gran fondo rides on Sunday.
The two-day event features a Saturday hill climb and a Sunday gran fondo where participants can choose from 40 or 90 miles rides.
The hill climb, an individually-timed event, tackles the Devil's Kitchen Hill climb, which is featured in the Tour of the Catskills each year and hits a maximum pitch of 23 percent.
Sunday's Gran Fondo Catskills features three timed sections with nearly 8,000 feet of total climbing. Starting at the Hunter Mountain Resort in the Village of Hunter, riders will descend into Ulster County and Phonecia. The first timed climb is 5.7 miles long at an average grade of 3 percent. It starts at mile 25 in Shandaken as the course heads north. In Lexington, the 40-mile and 90-mile courses diverge, with 40-mile riders heading east along the Schoharie Creek back to the Hunter Mountain Resort finish. Riders on the 90-mile route will continue west to Prattsville, where the second timed climb starts at mile 37. This climb is only 1.5 miles, but it kicks up to a max grade of 11 percent. After a descent of the Susquehanna Turnpike into Durham and the Hudson River Valley, riders will push through 35 miles of rolling terrain before hitting the final and most difficult timed climb in Palenville. This 4.2-mile climb has pitches as steep as 20 percent with switchbacks along the Kaaterskill Creek Ravine. From there it's just a few short miles to the finish.
The Catskill Mountains in upstate New York will host the Anthem/Landis gran fondo in June
The Gran Fondo Catskills will have course marshals, police support and feed zones, as well as mechanical support by vehicles throughout the event.
The Gran Fondo Catskills is the second in a three-event New York series of gran fondo style events that also includes April's Tour of the Battenkill Gran Fondo and September's Tour of the Adirondacks. Registration and more information are available at greatamericancycling.com/granfondo.
