Granfondo Whistler 2024

everybody to the Grand Fondo Vancouver Whistler 2024 [Music] [Music] thank you very much for volunteering in the grand fun of Whisler see you well everybody one more year on the records Grand fundo Whistler 2024 and this is the way the Riders check and they get their packages they get their Rider number so they can put on their bikes and it's ready to go as you can see we have a package with their numbers lucky numbers 4878 not for the lotto that's for sure thank you very much and here we are in the where where is this Canada place right it's been so long and I forgot the name of it oh well right here by Canada Place there's uh the founder of the grand funo Whistler and we have the fort the medial youth the military service and SRI scup it's pretty good always busy like always so yeah this is the area where a lot of uh Riders if they have questions they come over here but it's very early right now it's just around 10:30 in the morning and a lot of people come in a little bit early to get their packages and they're ready to go so a lot of people come over here first and then they register in in uh in their hotels so this is what they get they have a yba yba mate and we have the the bag right here with uh with with a package basically how are you doing today I'm doing really well thank you very much for volunteering in the grand fun though what is the best what is the best uh experience that you have had so far in the last 2 hours the best experience is basically meeting all the excited participants excellent well thank you so much and you guys take care thank you so we are here in the Vancouver Convention Center that's what I meant to say Canada Place well it's just around the corner anyway so we have different uh would locations different sponsors they're very important for the grand funo Whistler and for any kind of event as well we have the uh nutrition f2c it's actually pretty good they have a lot of them and they also have uh a car that is sponsored of the Vancouver Whistler as you can see right here anyway so we are going to the other side of the bu building I'm losing my voice but I am very happy to be right here a lot of riders you get to meet if you need a helmet you can come over here Aus security Tech Germany and you have the back check the back check is actually when you need to go to Whistler and you need your bag to take uh somebody to take care of it so you come over here anyway so I would like everybody to um enjoy the ride tomorrow and let's see what we have right here maybe I can be lucky or maybe not let's see what happens and you get spin again but I am running out of time so I am done with this thank you guys so anyway was not my best luck right here and we have a little bit of uh samples we we have cookies and forecast and Wilder cookies how are you doing today doing great how are you very well thank you for volunteering in the grand funo Whistler problem I'm happy to be here so are you expecting 6,000 people 8,000 8,000 oh wow that's great well enjoy all right have a great day you too so yes everybody's very friendly great environment we have uh the world's most comfortable uh pants right here how are you doing I'm good how are you very well thank you and we have a bicycle right here so if you have comfortable pants then you can ride this bike right here how are you doing I'm good how are you excellent so you're here all day all night uh we're here until 8:00 until 8:00 well thank you so much no wor have a good see you we have a lot of nutrition a lot of samples as you can see it's just a great environment right here in the grand fun of westler so we are expecting about 6,000 people and the volunteer guy mentioned 8,000 so in between there I think it's going to be about 6,500 people so good enough for the grand funo Whistler 2024 so I am very happy I am very excited I am not sure if I'm well prepared for the event 100% but I am going to try my best and um obviously the most important thing is to make it to the Finish Line no matter what the time is but I am going to try my best as I said so we have one of the sponsors this year mountain equipment quop thank you very much for volunteering hi guys how are you doing excellent so everybody's busy and we have tags tag cycling as well Obsession Bikes and we have decathlon kits and we have velop fix so if you have a problem with your bicycle velix will fix it for you and also we have another sponsor that's the YMCA how are you doing great nice to see you and over here you get the exit but before you get to the exit you can purchase anything that they have on sale anything like uh you can see right here they have gloves boots uh socks uh uh jerseys just about everything right here so thank you so much everybody for volunteering in this excellent and exciting event here in Vancouver British Columbia Canada everybody's ready uh to ride tomorrow so I hope that everybody as well takes care of yourselves and your your families as well and not only that remember there's riders that have a lot of experience and riders that do not have so everybody has to be safe that's for sure and I am checking out right now so thank you very much everybody and see you in a few minutes uh in the in the start line of the grand fun of Vancouver Whistler right in Stanley Park so I'm getting out of here thank you very much problem people keep entering and right there we got Stanley Park and I'll see you there wow this is amazing from 2010 the 4,500 riders in the grand funo Whistler all the way to 2023 are listed right there so if you have done this event you can check your name and last name in one of them let's check some of them from 20123 as you see right here all of them so all the writers are on these banners it's excellent wow Oh Canada our home and native land true patent love in all of us comeand with gloring hearts we see the rise the truth nor strong and free from far and wide Oh Canada we stand on go for thee God keep our land glorious and free oh can we stand on God for thee Oh Canada we stand on God for thee all right you ready for the countdown let's get ready 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 [Music] welcome everybody to the Grand Fondo Vancouver westler 2024 over 6,000 riders today I am very excited to be here the same as a lot of people there are more than 35 countries right here there's a Cilla bike right there and we are very very happy very excited to be here honestly it is one more year into the records one more year into the books so let's see what happens today the temperature will be about 30° in Whistler British Columbia it is a grand funer ride 122 km everybody's happy everybody's excited I am very excited as well and I will see you guys hopefully at the Finish line I got three water bottles one water bottle with uh water and two with coconut water for my Reserve plus I got electrolytes as well powder electrolytes so I should be okay a lot of people need to be hydrated 2 days 3 days before this event so I am ready for that everybody's riding everybody's going to Whistler and every everybody's going to have fun in this race right here from Stanley Park in Vancouver British Columbia so we are here very excited very happy and we have some music as well we are not doing any copyright because that is not our intention thank you very much YouTube and also I want to appreciate um the copywriters for this particular song or any songs so we have so many people right there obviously I cannot tell the RBC Grand fond The Whistler organizers to put the music down or shut it out because I cannot do that this is part of a cycling event this is part of the culture in Canada therefore I am not doing any copyright at all whatsoever I am just saying this just in case so everybody's writing everybody's happy and we we are going to do the best lots of clla bikes right there I actually have a specialized bike that I bought in 2011 uh in Port Moody and uh it was called secret cycles and unfortunately secret Cycles is no longer in service however my bicycle has just about 20,000 km on it a lot of a lot of you may say Ah that's nothing I know some people uh they have a bicycle that uh they have been riding for at least 30 years not 30 years 30,000 km but anyway that's how it is and we have the 4.5 hours all the riders that can make it in less than 5 hours going to Whistler later on we'll have 5.5 and then six plus how are you doing great everybody's happy everybody's positive saying hello everybody here [Music] well the temperature right now it feels a little cool about 14° so I am very excited very happy to be here I'm saying this all day long so yeah you can see all the Riders everybody is very very [Applause] focused we are here in s Park bianche bike how are you great great great nice to see you later on if you have time maybe tomorrow you can go on YouTube you can type Grand Fondo Whistler 2024 and my video is going to be there with you there thank you and the video is not going to be 2 minutes it's going to be more than maybe 30 or more it all depends take care and I'll see you then is this your second ride or your first ride 11 11 12 I beat you by one I've done basically everything I volunteer the first year with my family my family will probably give you guys medals over there in Whistler they've been doing it every every year that I come if I'm not here they're not here take care so yeah we are just interviewing some of the Riders and giving them a little bit of space and a little bit of time as well how are you doing very good thank you amazing rde eh yes is this your first time now first timer yes you are going to enjoy it a little bit of suffering going up the hills but you know what the the you know the adrenaline is going to be there you have stamina and you are going to make it take care and we have uh reporters we have cameramen for media radio television so everything is so nice here in West in Vancouver Whistler another Cella bike I'm actually searching for a bike that is pretty good uh specialized is nice but they're a little expensive I like CLL for some reason I've been doing a research on that so I hope that uh if you guys have any comments regarding this video or any bikes that you can suggest me please do it because I want to finish that bike right there I think this will be the last time that uh my specialized bike does the RBC Grand funo Whistler but it's not the the last time that I I do this ride I have been telling people oh I want to quit riding but they encourag me to do it again so that's the reason I am here thank you very much everybody pardon me and we are going to be ready for the [Music] ride so here we are in Vancouver Stanley Park and I'm ready for an exciting time I am not the last one obviously there's at Le least 2,000 Riders behind me thank you grand funo for your [Music] support honestly I I think the well with this speed I don't think I'm going to have a great record anyway a lot of riders here about 6,000 plus 35 different countries a a lot of them from Mexico I met a couple of them in my hotel today and a couple uh on Thursday afternoon actually so it's very very nice some people from Sonora Mexico uh one girl from guara and one guy from Mexico City and a couple of girls yesterday that I met in the in the convention center picking up their package first time in Vancouver from Mexico City and very close to where I live so so it's very nice very exciting hola amigos de Mexico okay we're going to start seriously now take care guys and I'll see you in the next frame thank you so much for your support beautiful Stanley Park and the Lion's Gate Bridge facing west Vancouver and North Vancouver as well [Music] Taylor way I'm done with [Music] [Music] that good job good job Mr mexic way to [Music] go after the heel I can have a little drink Taylor way was easy for me in the last few years but today I found it a little tough I don't know why I may have my days as well so if you like the video you can put a like and we're going up a hill in a few seconds [Applause] just about 15 km from the Finish Line a lot of riders behind me and obviously some of them pass me but then later on I catch up thank you everybody for your support I have been training part of the year I work with the WHL the Western Hockey League and the NHL so sometimes it's not easy during winter time to do training but I have a threadmill I can go to the gym I can go swimming in winter time I have met a few Riders hi good day so far good day yeah absolutely yeah a lot of people say Viva Mexico and they pass me via Mexico viva Mexico one more talking about the devil so far it's been a safe ride for all of us so we're happy [Applause] going to have uh a little bit of speed right now so I will finish doing this momentarily video gracias Amigos thank you for your support a lot of people remember me from my videos so I'm happy if you like it you can put a like but I guess you have to subscribe on YouTube to do that but yeah we're going uphill just about 15 km from Stanley Park hello to my friends in Saskatchewan It's a small world I did the Grand Fondo a few years ago and a friend of mine in Mex from Mexico we went to a restaurant in the evening in Alberta and we bumped into two Filipino riders that did the Grand Fondo and they recognize me so it's a small world just about 27 28 km from the start line thank you we're by Lions Bay Avenue we're going down the hill my maximum speed right now so far 64 km and a half [Music] I used to remember that they had a grandmother 75 years old doing the Grand foundo and they would have banners saying my Grandma will kick your butt at 75 but that doesn't mean 75 km at 75 years of age doing good in the grand fer Whistler via Mexico for the most part I AG like from an outside perspective beautiful Inlet over there just about 20 m above sea level here thank you it's nice to say thanks to the supporters on the road that's a value for everybody actually [Music] meico same lady as every single year wow incredible I have some downhill but still beautiful morning here in Vancouver and the temperature is just about 18° right now a little bit of wind but it's very fresh so far so good we'll wait another 4 hours and see how it goes last year A friend of mine did the Grand Fondo and he did it in like I can't remember 5 hours something like that and he passed well he was he didn't pass but he was just about to pass Trevor lynon the captain of the kuber canox so Trevor had a tough time a year ago but that's how it goes sometimes you have good days sometimes you have bad days just like in hockey or in your everyday life got to be positive for sure that's King of the mountain it's not as bad as a lot of people think but you got to be ready for it it's just around kilometer 44 approximately it's just around 9:15 in the morning if I am not mistaken just around there I'll focus on King of the mountain I did not see the the Raider that times you on the kingdom of the mountain I'm not sure if they have this year but I never saw anything take care guys thank you up with this camera taking a picture of you so we got some Riders just on my left side and they are participating on this video as well that's right well I passed the king of the mountain I stopped for about 40 seconds just to change from water to coconut water at the front so I can get more electrolytes right now and it's almost 45 km in the grand found of Whistler we're heading to the second stop I may not stop too too many minutes but I'll try my best it's good to text people and your family to let them know how you're doing this is something that you can do in the grand Fondo as long as you have reception sometimes you don't have very good reception in different areas in the SE to sky highway or high way 99 going to Whistler my fitness level on my heart rate 153 what did I have for breakfast in the hotel I had a banana and I had a Premier Protein vanilla shake before getting to Stanley Park everybody's different but that's what I had just to start this event oo that looks like a potential downhill it is a downhill all the way to Squamish so so I'm going to end my recording now otherwise if I go down the hill and I crash I'll be considered the Mexican tortilla chip video guy I don't want that just the video guy via Mexico I'm a little tired but everybody in the same level beautiful mountain sceneries I SC I can smell a little bit of a breeze from the ocean which is on our left side but we're going down the hill so we'll be level rest stop number two just after the king of the mountain we have some goodies right here we got bananas oranges they just about everything Hi how are you doing I'm great thank you how are you today very well thank you not tired today sorry I'm not tired today that's excellent so far so good exactly well enjoy the rest of your right I will thank you so you can have some goodies as well this is something prepared by the volunteers here in the grand Fondo Whistler cycling event there's 6,000 people a lot of people stop here and some of them do not so I'm just going to be very very brief and get ready to go beautiful sceneries here in uh close to Squamish just before Squamish so everybody puts their bikes around they pick them up after going to the washroom having a a little bit of a snack that's about it hi guys how are you doing okay how are you I'm doing very well thank you so much I haven't seen you for a few years for a few years well you have seen maybe you haven't seen my videos every year I have to start looking for them YouTube Grand funo Whistler 2024 my videos are not 5 minutes long Lots yeah there's lots of videos but mines are very nice I show what we have here the atmosphere what people can expect for the first ride you know and uh sceneries around oh we even have snow in the mountain I never saw that over there wow well you're from BC right yes well I'm from Alberta so I can say that you can keep the rain I I'll take the rain over the snow how's the ride for you today awesome awesome yes it's amazing and we get this is my favorite Pit Stop really lots of space lots of food that's right yeah a lot of people coming from Mexico actually I saw a lot of them already passing me and saying Viva Mexico I remember this shirt every year yes absolutely this is sorry this is the shirt this is actually the shirt that I have for the grandfather Whistler cycling event so thank you so much for your time and I'll see you on the ride good I'll see you at the finish line that's the most important thing take care you too cheers station number three I just had a couple of snacks just water and I'm ready to go so now we have to go up the hills Hi how are you how are you very well there's a lot of riders getting getting out of here and some other Riders arriving so have to get going so see you guys later Mexico Mexico almost 77 km from Stanley Park another 40 and we are in wler but I have to walk my bike for a moment [Music] [Applause] doing okay a little bit tired already but it should be okay 84 km in the grand fund The Whisper how's it going are you tired I really couldn't resist that remember you paid for this yes I think they should encourage us better than saying you paid for this it's like a punishment yeah what exactly I don't know if you guys agree with me but yeah we paid for this but it's a double meaning you paid for this like yeah we paid for the event yes but we paid for for [Applause] this it should be better to encourage us to say keep going you can do it something like that to encourage people because like this is a double meaning to me I'm not sure if you guys agree with me yeah we paid for this we paid the price St number four at this time in the grand funo Whistler we have some sandwiches and we have some goodies and chocolate hey how are you doing kamaka I'm good thank you that's very good where's everybody everybody left everybody left me here how are you doing good that's nice I'm tired now man I know it's been it's been a while yeah hot but it's okay we can keep it going yeah well thank you very much and say hi to your family oh we will good good luck okay thank you hello hi how many km another 32 30 km yeah going up okay everybody thank you very much and see you [Music] later 23 km at this time oh some Riders over there if they have a little ID in the middle they're done for the grand Fondo doesn't look like they have anything [Applause] but we have our designated line okay I have to go just about 15 km to get to the Finish Line in the grand Fondo Vancouver Whistler is just around 3:30 but consider that it has been very hot going up those Hills at least it's not it's not going to be too bad just a couple of Hills and then everything should be smooth thank you guys thank you thank you for your support regards to all of you and the founder of the grand Fondo Whistler Neil McKinnon finally 122 km the grand fond The Whistler I had a tough time but I'll I'll mention it after [Music] ah finally I made it to the finish line RBC Grand Fonda Whistler thank you very much RBC Grand funo Whistler very nice metal thank you thank you very much everybody for enjoying my video in the grand fun The Whistler 2024 nothing really much for me to celebrate um I want to thank everybody all the sponsors organizers uh also I want to thank the volunteers they were just amazing uh it was not the best ride for me I made it to the Finish Line in about 9 hours or so just before 4:45 approximately but I'm not very happy there's only one thing that I would like to mention when you are a partic participant you get to the Finish Line with your chip your um number ID right on in front of the bicycle um there were some organizers when I was going up the hill with about 14 kilm to go maybe 13 uh one of them stopped me and said okay you have a choice we're going to start closing the well opening the the the road uh in Whistler and you have a choice whether you stop here and you get to the Finish Line with us or you keep writing but uh you have to go on the right side because you're going to be on your own and you have to sign a waiver which I did sign a waiver later on a lady stopped me and another girl who was uh competing with me uh we were not the last ones there were like about 25 people behind me way way way behind that I guess they did not finish or they didn't even cross their um the finish line and what happened is that that this lady removed the girl's um number from her bicycle and she kept it and then she started doing the same for me and I said what are you doing oh I'm taking your number away I said why I'm still in the competition oh we have to open the road and I said to her no what are you going to do with my number oh I'm going to throw it away away in the garbage I said no if you throw it in the garbage and I cross the finish line it'll show that I did not finish it doesn't matter whether I get there in 10 hours or 5 hours or 2 hours you still have to compete so if they remove your number from your bicycle you're just like anyone out there riding a bicycle nobody knows that you're in a tournament or something if something happens to me a heart attack or if I get into uh into an accident with somebody a vehicle or whatever how can they identify who I am who am I in other words so if I get in an accident oh he's doing the grand found the Whistler he has he has the tag with a number they can contact the organizers family or whatever without it who are you you can be just anybody so that is something that I did not appreciate and I'm not sure if they have done this in the past but this has never happened to me uh there was only one time that um I crossed the Finish Line after like 7 hours something like that and they told me oh we're going to close the road that's like about maybe six seven years ago and they respected my number as an athlete they have to respect the number because you're still in the competition whether they open the road or not you still have the ID from the grand Fondo at least that somebody can identify if something ever happens that you were there competing trying to make it to the finish line and for example I understand the organizers but at the same time my family that Volunteers in Whistler they give them medals they gave you guys medal as well uh one of my aunts went to the um to the finish line and talked to the guy that does the play-by-play basically and said hey um are you guys closing he said yeah no more competitors and she said like Roger is missing he's down there somewhere and they said no there's no more competitors we were told that there's no more competitors but there's like about 20 competitors when that happened trying to make it to Whistler whether they made it or not I made it to the line like you guys saw the video but I don't think it's fair for somebody to come over and remove your number from your bicycle when you're still trying to get to Whistler that is a no no and for example in the Olympic Games when you have a marathon of 42 km the last competitor that is trying to get to the Finish Line after an hour then when the last competitors crossed and you're still running and you still have about an hour to go do they remove their numbers just because they have to open the um the streets of course not they have to wait for that competitor to get through because otherwise what's going to happen right but that's a different story but still they should never remove the number of a bicycle because they have to respect the athlete that's something that I really want to emphasize right so hopefully this doesn't happen to me again I can make it in the next 5 hours when I get another type of bike my bicycle is a specialized bike like I mentioned from the very beginning and uh it has had already 20,000 km so I'm looking for something better so if you guys have any suggestions write me a little note on the video on YouTube thank you very much everybody anyhow but we are going to be more positive for next year take care and thank you for joining Vancouver Whistler Grand funo Event