With farms of all sorts, forkfuls of food both during and after the ride and three lengths of fondo it is difficult to argue that the Farm to Fork Fondo series does not live up to its name.

The start from a drone's-eye view. Credit: Wrenegade Sports
The Hudson Valley event in Warwick, NY made the most of the beautiful rolling farmland with its black soil and the steep ridges that punctuate it.

With its whimsical logo of chickens on a distinctly un-aero bike, focus on food and farmers (an emphasis that I'd heard mocked in the past: "whatever next") and no timing, Wrenegade Sports is clearly not aiming for the hard-core racer wannabe trying to "be a pro" as so many events promote.

The Farm to Fork Fondo logo atop the start gantry against a cloudless sky.
The irony being that organizer Tyler Wren's connections from his pro career mean there are actual pros riding — among them the women of the Colavita Bianchi Team and Ian Boswell, just back from his Giro campaign with Team Sky, as well as former pro and USAC CEO Derek Bouchard-Hall.

Overall, while there were plenty of serious amateur riders on the start line— both men and women, more women than usual I would guess — the sold-out field of 500 was diverse in cycling terms reflecting the route options on offer. The Gran Fondo route was 87 miles and 6,000 feet, the Medio Fondo 54 miles and 3,000 feet, the Piccolo Fondo 36 miles and 1,700 feet and rounding things out was a 12 mile Ramble Ride.

The sold-out field readies itself. The Fintek riders were to push the pace after around 10 miles.
The vibe was more relaxed than many events and could not have been friendlier.

The Farm to Fork formula certainly appears to be working.

The Hudson Valley ride, around 50 miles northwest of Manhattan and just north of the New Jersey border, sold out in early June up from 462 riders at the inaugural event in 2015. The second running of the Vermont edition is on July 17 and the series has expanded to four stops in 2016 with PA Dutch and Maine rides on August 6 and August 28 respectively. On social media, Tyler has hinted at further expansion in 2017.

Sadly, after a glorious start it turned out to be a wretched day on the bike for me.

It was my first ride in 10 days due to illness and for the first few miles I was almost euphoric to be back on the bike in the middle of the pack bunched behind the Colavita Bianchi pros.

As opposed to the usual cavalry charge, the start was pretty restrained. The pros at the front controlled the pace and for the first 20 minutes or so everyone sat behind them as we rolled along. Two guys went off the front on their own (including the guy who at the start had been anxiously asking everyone how fast it would be ...), but it was not until three riders in blue Fintek kit moved up and chased down the original two that the floodgates opened and the pace picked up substantially.

The course started out heading northwest, parallel and very close to the border with New Jersey over some of the same roads as the GFNCS Highlands Gran Fondo. After 12 miles it turned north past the first of six food stops and over the first climb of the day at mile 20 before heading back south at 30 miles/rest stop 2 and then wiggling south and east through the a middle flat section. The biggest and steepest slopes of the day came in the last 10 miles as the course curled round to the west to return to Pennings Farm.

The country along the route is gorgeous and the black soil in the valley bottoms is exotic in its appearance.

Rune, my riding buddy, and I hung in pretty well and were in the second group when, to my surprise, we all pulled in to the first food stop at Kezialain Farm after just 15 miles. The leading few had also stopped and were pulling out.

Rest Stop One set the tone with great food and bubbly volunteers.
In keeping with the relaxed vibe, riding fast and then taking a break seemed to be the order of the day and the food stops were a distinct cut above the normal offering and staffed by enthusiastic volunteers.

The Maradona does Dolomites had cheese and prosecco but I have never seen pizza on offer mid-race before.
I was still feeling a bit bunged up from my lingering cold and it was hot and got hotter as the cloudless day went on.

I could have dealt with one of those, probably, but the combination put me in a very bad spot towards the end. Many thanks to Rune for riding at my pace and the continuous encouragement.

He took it on himself to organize pacelines when we could and we teamed up with Brooklyn restaurateurs Phil and Jared for a good stretch. We covered the mid-section of the course at a decent clip with between three and seven of us taking minute-long pulls before rotating to the back of the line before I started to fall apart.

By the time I reached the vicious climb of Kain Road at mile 77 of 86 I had already stopped once for cramp and once to retch. After 200 yards of the climb the cramp started to return and I called it quits. Admitting I was not going to make it around, I pointed my front wheel downhill and took a straight line back to the finish line at Pennings Farm.

It was the first time I had failed to complete a course.

Through the shame and remorse as I headed back to the finish, I realized that I had made the right decision when the next slight incline reduced me to close to walking pace. Rune, who is 40lbs lighter than me and built for climbing, admitted it was the hardest slope he'd ever done and that he'd needed two stops, including a lie down, to make it to the top.

The ice cold towels being handed out at the finish were most welcome and a reflection of the many great details and features of the event - before, during and after.

The shade of the tent was welcome as riders and friends and family dined and drank post race.
That said, in the spirit of constructive criticism there were three areas that to my mind let down the event and could be — and probably need to be — improved.

The biggest one was signage on the route. It was okay at best and I heard numerous comments from people who had strayed off course. It happened to us when we -- as we worked out in hindsight -- followed twin white arrows from a previous event and Rune, Jerry, Phil and I did an extra five miles as a result. There were markings on the roads from at least three other rides or runs which was enough to create doubt given the quality of the Farm to Fork signage. Confirmation arrows after the turn would have helped as well.

The other related problem was late notice -- the signs and arrows were often too close to the turn. The worst example of this may have been the turn off Route 17 onto Cascade Road at the base of the last climb. Riders bombing downhill were given virtually no warning of the left turn across traffic and most of the group Rune was with missed it and had to double back.

Marshaling and the newly laid road at the start/finish line also need work.

The volunteer marshals leapfrogging the ride on motorbikes were great as were a good number of the cops, but there were certainly some intersections towards the end that could have done with control and there were some police officers or deputies just sitting in their cruisers letting riders get on with it.

I am sure it is not news to anyone involved that the specially laid road at Pennings Farm was not a great surface. Despite additional work on it in the minutes before the start and it was a nervous roll out down the slope until we hit proper tarmac.

I am sure all three will be resolved for 2017.

I think he likes Rapha.
When Tyler Wren called time on pro cycling in late 2014 he told Cycling News that his plan for retirement was to "create innovative and sustainable events that offer achievable challenges for riders of all abilities."

He has done that and then some and it looks like Farm to Fork Fondos will be providing great biking experiences and donations to local causes for many years to come.

And if climbing the wall of Kain Road is an achievable challenge for you — Chapeau!

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