The 2016 Alpine Loop Gran Fondo for Prostate Cancer Awareness is in the Record Books

by Robert Warren Hess

The last Sunday saw the completion of the 6th annual Alpine Loop Gran Fondo for prostate cancer awareness. Over 500 cyclists visited Harrisonburg, Virginia for this year’s gran fondo. And, for the 6th straight year, the weather was great. It was a little cool on top of Reddish Knob, but cool is better than hot on the climbs.

Bicycling Magazine rated the Alpine Loop Gran Fondo as one of the top Gran Fondo rides in the US and we couldn’t agree more. The four routes provide the perfect ride for everyone. We’re delighted that more families are are participating.

The event raised more than $6,000.00 for the Cancer Journeys Foundation and other local charities. Sarah Hynes was the top fundraiser, raising almost $4,000.00 for the Prostate Cancer Awareness Project in memory of her grandfather who passed away from prostate cancer in the spring.

The Gran Fondo donations will be used to support the operation of ProstateTracker, a free Internet tool for prostate cancer early detection.

A full set of photographs are available for download from Bruce Buckley Photography.

I want to thank Erin and Jeremiah Bishop of the Bishop Family Foundation, and the many volunteers, for staging another wonderful event. So many riders come back every year that the event is almost a family affair, and its a family that keeps growing every year.

We award King and Queen of the Mountain jerseys to USA Cycling age category winners for the timed section of the two major climbs – the Alpine Loop Gran Fondo and the Shenandoah Mountain Challenge. There’s always a lot of completion for these jerseys and many of our winners are back every year to defend their prior year win.

We love to award these jerseys and each winner is a rolling ambassador for prostate cancer awareness and prevention.

The Cancer Journeys Foundation awards the KOM jerseys for the two major climbs and this year we added an award of great cycling socks for the winners of the climb on the metric century. So, a big “Thank You” to RidgeSupply for providing those great socks.

For us at the Cancer Journeys Foundation, this event is all about stopping prostate cancer and giving men a simple and easy tool for knowing their prostate cancer risk and finding the disease early when it’s still treatable.

The funds generated by the event helps keep that critical ProstateTracker program running. Thanks to everyone who participated in the event; riders, volunteers, and sponsors. Thank you all!!

Cancer Journeys Founder and President Robert Warren Hess

Robert Hess

Robert Hess is an entrepreneur, business owner, CEO, senior executive coach, startup company advisor, and passionate cancer advocate. He is a 15+ year prostate cancer survivor dedicated to ending prostate cancer and helping cancer survivors have the possible possible quality of life. You can find him autocrossing or tracking his Mazda Miata, covered in cancer awareness messages; racing his Serenity in the velodrome; or walking and hiking with his wife. Earlier in life he had the honor of leading soldiers in the US Army – they even let him fly helicopters for a few years. Connect with him on LinkedIn @ RobertWarrenHess.