Gran fondo preparation
Plan it. Fuel it. Pace it.
Put your race on one page: the course, the weather when you get there, your pacing and your fueling, each built on the one before. Every number is explained, and your data stays yours.
- Your finish time, from your power and the course
- The watts to ride on every climb
- What to eat and drink, and when
- The wind and heat on every stretch, when you get there
Example rider5 h · 72 kg
400
grams of carbs
- Fluid
- 3.7 L
- Sodium
- 2983 mg
- Caffeine
- 325 mg
In your cages and pockets: 5½ × 750 ml bottles of mix (220 g of mix powder) · 8 gels See the full plan →
Your race, stage by stage
Each race gets its own tabs, in the order the numbers flow. Pacing sets the clock: the forecast is read where you will be, and fueling is timed to your feed stops.
Race calendar
Gran fondos with their course, elevation profile and feed stations. Plan one in a click, or add your own.
Race weather
The forecast at each point of the course, at the time pacing says you will be there, with wind per segment.
Pacing
Finish time and power targets per segment, from your profile, the course and the forecast.
Fueling
Carbs, fluid, sodium and caffeine for every feed station, timed by pacing and sized by the temperature on each leg.
The rider
Rider profile
Your weight, FTP, position and bikes, entered once. Drag area and rolling resistance estimated from published measurements if you have not measured them.
Tests
A sweat test, a ride test and a fitness test. Each one swaps an estimate in your profile for your own measured number.
Calculators
Quick answers from the same physics and research as the race tools, each showing its working and its sources.
Guides
- Mur de HuyHow Bad Do You Want It? What a great book teaches about suffering on a gran fondoMatt Fitzgerald's book argues that your head, not your legs, sets your limit. What it gets right, what the science says, and how to use it on a fondo.
- CaubergHow many carbs per hour on a gran fondo?60, 90 or 120 grams an hour? What the research says about carbohydrate on long rides, and how to set your own target.
- CaubergHow much should you drink on a gran fondo?Enough to keep losses under about 2% of your body weight, but never more than you sweat. How to find your amount, and why not to overdo it.
- CaubergMeasure your sweat rate with a bathroom scaleThe simplest accurate way to know how much you sweat: weigh yourself before and after a ride. A step-by-step protocol and the sum.
- CaubergMental training for a gran fondo: self-talk, goals and a fresh headHow hard a ride feels limits how long you can keep going. Self-talk and goals can change that feeling; a tiring day at work can make it worse.
- CaubergRiding in a group: where the shelter is, and how to use itDeep in a big group you push 5–10% of the air you would alone. Where in the group the shelter is, what the front costs, and how to ride a fondo with that.
How we work
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Every number has a source
Each constant in our tools cites the research behind it, or says plainly that it is our own default. See how the planner calculates.
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Your data stays yours
Every rider gets their own private database. Download it as a file or delete it, any time, from your account.
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Hosted in the EU
FondoLab runs on a server in Germany, with no advertising trackers and no third-party analytics.