The rubber hit the pebbles under the sun for the 2023 Sea2Sky Gravel Fondo on the first weekend of October.
Separated into three distance categories—beginner fondo, medio, and full—the second annual gravel fondo drew over 200 finishing riders on Sunday, Oct. 1.
Of those, more than 10% were from the U.S., an organizer told The Squamish Chief.
The start and finish was at the Squamish Days Loggers Sports grounds.
“The courses were designed to be challenging and showcase the gravel roads and trails in around Squamish and the Sea to Sky Corridor,” said Dean Stanton, CEO and founder of the Tri1Events, in an email to The Squamish Chief.
The Top 3 finishers for the full fondo were Ben Sigston, Oaken Work, and Shane Savage. The North Vancouver-based Sigston finished the 90-kilometre distance with a time of 2:41:59, equating to an average speed of over 33 km/h.
Work finished just over a minute behind at 2:43:28 and Savage finished just minutes later at 2:47:14. The top Squamish-based rider, Brian O’Rourke, finished in seventh and under three hours at 2:49:22.
The Top 3 finishers for the medio fondo were Jack Spinks, Davyd Funk and Jason Stewart. Spinks finished the 50-kilometre race with a time of 2:05:15, more than five minutes ahead of Funk and Stewart.
Funk ultimately finished with a time of 2:13:54 and Stewart ended just a minute behind him at 2:14:54. The top Squamish-based rider, Jeffrey Paulson, finished 10th with a time of 2:34:56.
Lastly, the Top 3 finishers for the beginner race were Jordan Thomas, Chris Jansen and Rolando Valenzuela Jr.
Thomas finished the 25-kilometre race in nearly a half-hour, finishing with a time of 30:10. Jansen followed with a 32:51 finish and Valenzuela finished at 34:25.
Stanton said organizers were “absolutely thrilled by the overwhelmingly positive feedback” they received over this year’s event.
“With that in mind, we're already hard at work planning an even more exhilarating and unforgettable experience for… 2024.”
Check out all the finishing times online at startlinetiming.com and learn more about the race at sea2skyfondo.com.
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