The Condor Classic Bicycle Ride is returning to San Benito
County on Oct. 22 after a hiatus in 2010. This year’s event will
feature the 100-mile Coastal Challenge, the 75-mile San Juan Trek,
the 40-mile Santa Ana Valley Ride and a 10-mile family-friendly
ride.
The Condor Classic Bicycle Ride is returning to San Benito County on Oct. 22 after a hiatus in 2010.
This year’s event will feature the 100-mile Coastal Challenge, the 75-mile San Juan Trek, the 40-mile Santa Ana Valley Ride and a 10-mile family-friendly ride. All rides will depart and finish at San Benito High School, near downtown Hollister.
Jeannie Retamoso, of Silentium Events, is the ride director this year and has worked on such bicycle events as the Sea Otter Classics, the Big Sur Ride and the Great Western Bicycle Rally.
The San Benito County Chamber of Commerce & Visitors Bureau committee that is planning the event hired Retamoso’s company to help organize the bicycle ride. The 2008 and 2009 Condor Classics were organized with a volunteer group, but it took a break in 2010.
“It’s always challenging once you get a ride going and established, which they clearly did with an average of 500 participants. It poses challenges when you bring it back,” Retamoso said. “They just had some changes in the chair who was going to be running it. I think it was a good decision on their part to take off 2010.”
Retamoso has 10 years experience organizing bicycle events. She has been advertising the San Benito event in Cycle California, through online calendars and in Northern California bicycle shops.
“We had some good pick-up the last couple of weeks,” she said. “Hopefully, folks who rode in 2008 and 2009 will be back.”
Registration is open and those interested in signing up can visit www.condorclassic.com. The cost for the family-friendly ride is $50 per person and the other three rides are $80 per person. The price did increase for the rides, due to the increasing cost of putting on the event.
“Everything in the last year has gone up,” Retamoso said, “from fuel to food to renting cones and port-a-potties. We wouldn’t be able to cut it with our old prices.”
The registration includes the ride, a T-shirt, a post-ride meal, a raffle and rest stops stocked with water and snacks. The race will also raise money for a local cause.
“From the get-go, the committee talked about how they really wanted to integrate the local community and we were looking for a group to donate to,” Retamoso said. “We were trying to think of something local to Hollister – very San Benito.”
She said they heard about the Baler Backers raising money for San Benito High School athletics because of recent funding cuts.
“It made sense to start and finish there,” she said, of using the high school as a staging area for the event, “and have them involved in some aspects of the ride.
“And it’s there in downtown Hollister and we really wanted to showcase Hollister.”
The routes for the ride have been adjusted, specifically the 100-mile ride.
“From the feedback from the first two years, we were looking at how to address concerns about the headwinds coming back,” she said, of the ride that in the past looped out to Pinnacles National Monument. “After 100 or 75 miles of riding, it can be tiresome so we are trying to alleviate some of that.”
The 100-mile ride will go west into Monterey County out to Elkhorn Slough in the hopes that the riders will have a tailwind for the last 20 miles of the race.
The Condor Classic committee has been meeting once a month as they plan the event. Scott Fuller, a committee member and Jessica French, the president/CEO of the San Benito County Chamber of Commerce, also have a phone conference with Retamoso once a week.
“It’s really their ride,” Retamoso said. “They are recruiting volunteers and getting local businesses involved for support. My primary role was to really help with most of the registration, the ride-day logistics and getting the course set up.”
Some of the sponsors include Santana Ranch, the San Benito County Chamber of Commerce, Teknova and the Free Lance and Pinnacle.
Volunteers are still needed for Oct. 21 and 22, the day before and the day of the race. Some of the volunteer jobs include manning rest stops at Fox Creek Ranch, off Cienega Road, and in Monterey County, as well as helping at San Benito High School. Volunteers can find out more by e-mailing or calling Retamoso.
As for registration, Retamoso said the group is hoping to hit the 500 mark as they have in the past. At least 60 percent of those who have registered have selected the 100-mile ride.
“If you are only riding a little while, 100 miles can seem daunting,” Retamoso said. “But on a scale of 1 to 10, this ride is a 5 or 6 in terms of difficulty.”
INFORMATION
The Condor Classic is Oct. 22, leaving and finishing at San Benito High School. Routes include a 100-mile Coastal Challenge; the 75-mile San Juan trek, the 40-mile Santa Ana Valley ride and a 10-mile family friendly ride. The fee is $80 per person for the three longer rides or $50 per person for the family ride. Registration will be open the day of the event at 6 a.m. or cyclists can pre-register online at www.condorclassic.com. Those interested in volunteering, can call Jeannie Retamoso at 408-540-7719 or e-mail [email protected].
