In South Florida it’s easy to attract cyclists, just promise beer and burgers after a ride – even in a pandemic. That’s what the first ever Bill Bone Burger Fondo did on Sunday in West Palm Beach.

It worked.

With perfect spring weather including clear skies and a light tropical ocean breeze, 225 riders showed up to ride 80 or 90 kilometre routes, including two timed competitive segments for those who like to treat every group ride like it is the World Championships.

The competitive segments were each 25 kilometres long and flat, really flat, South Florida flat with only 11m of elevation change. So fast bikes and sprinters ruled the day with the top eight riders finishing both segments clustered within seven seconds. Luis Gonzalez was fastest with a total time of 1:07:30 at an average speed of 44.44kph.

With Florida having the fewest covid restrictions in United States, despite averaging 6000 new cases per day, afterwards riders were treated to a post-ride peloton party serving gourmet custom burgers, ice cold beer and cool slices of watermelon.

PHOTOS © Bill Bone Fondo

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