Pete's story: Levi's Gran Fondo

BaseCamp athlete Pete Chargin shared his experience at the 2026 Levi's Gran Fondo bike race in California.

When most people think of The Russian River and Sonoma Valley, thoughts to turn lazy warm summer days floating down the valley or cool evenings drinking chardonnay or pinot noir.

Not cyclists. For hard core riders, this is the home of the world's single largest purse: $25,000 for the winning man and winning woman, with a total purse of more than $125,000. Moto cameras, drone filming, YouTube streaming, and serious bikers whizzing past -- the whole works.

Plus one of the best run competitive rides at five different distances all through some beautiful countryside, with climbing up to 13,851 vertical gain. More than a thousand entrants all in.

I chose the Geysers, which combines 60 miles of rollers with 26 miles of climbing (a total of 86 miles and 6,357 feet, most of it in two hills) for a fun morning full of pace lines, chasing, and pushing up a few 14% grades.

This was my second real competitive race in my life. Last year's Geysers was my first, and I was able to improve from 18th in my age group to 10th, through the wonderful coaching of and the fantastic program that and the whole staff have put together. I even organized a four-person paceline to try to catch a leading group. While we were swallowed up by an even-larger peloton, it was exciting to work hard toward a result goal set last November.

I didn't hit my goal of top five, but I didn't crash, either. :-)

Three other people yelled out, "Hey, BaseCamper!" as we passed each other, and it's great to feel the support of our community even when you're in the thick of a hard effort.

My main learning: Don't ever give up. Never. Never. Never. Never. Always keep pushing. For me, harder than I think I can. I was pretty sore on Sunday and Monday, but I'm back into training already for my next race.