Ron's story: Mammoth Gran Fondo

BaseCamp athlete Ron Hill shared his experience at the 2025 Mammoth Gran Fondo in California.

I did the Mammoth Gran Fondo this past weekend, 106 miles and 7,169 feet of climbing. It was not really meant to be a race for me, just a ride with the members of my local group. 748 participants on the long ride. As we left the start, too many riders took off like it was a sprint! Started downhill, so speed was high. I backed off to keep out of the melee! Unfortunately someone crashed hard during the opening miles. Stopped to aid him and ended up waiting for an ambulance for him for 30 minutes... Poor guy was a mess, broken hip, concussion, and very bloody from a headfirst dive into the road.

Once he was taken care of, I had to hoof it to catch my group. So much for not racing! Caught the group at about 40 miles and rode with them for a bit, but they were dying about 50 miles in. Still finished in 6 1/2 hours, even with the delay at the start and slowing down for the group (170 out of 748 riders). A great place to ride even though there were several fires in the area (lots of smoke). Will definitely do this again next year.