Carlos Perez Presents "Bike Monkey" and Levi's GrandFondo
Our speaker for March 7, 2024, was Carlos Perez, the founder and president of Bike Monkey. Carlos is also a co-founder along with Levi Leipheimer of the King Ridge Foundation, a 501c3 charitable organization. Carlos is a Sonoma County native and an avid bike enthusiast. After putting on his first road bike event, Carlos quite his job as a computer programmer and devoted his professional life to organizing bike events. He started Bike Monkey in 2005. Bike Monkey is the event organizer that promotes and operates Levi’s GranFondo, the seminal Sonoma County road bicycle event. Bike Monkey’s first project was the Boggs State Demonstration Forest event, an 8-hour mountain bike race. It is an endurance relay mountain bike race and one of the few such races alive and well today.
Bike Monkey’s second event was the Levi’s GranFondo in 2009. The Levi’s GranFondo was the first gran fondo in North America. The term “gran fondo” means “Big Deep” and generally refers to a long-distance road cycling ride that can be enjoyed by riders of all skill and experience levels. They have been a staple in Europe but were unknown in the U.S. before Levi’s GranFondo. Carlos and Levi Leipheimer created the King Ridge Foundation in 2009, which became the non-profit arm of the GranFondo. The goal of the King Ridge Foundation is to help at-risk youth break the cycle of violence and trauma. Since its inception, the King Ridge Foundation has donated $3.5 million for at-risk and also donated 50 bikes per year to at-risk kids. King Ridge also donated 100,000 tree saplings to the Boggs Forest for replanting after the fires decimated the forest.
Within a few years of Levi’s GranFondo’s first event, there were gran fondos all over the U.S. However, the number of road races such as the GranFondo has declined for several years. Levi’s once had up to 7,500 riders but now typically has about 2,000 riders. Nationally, the number of events has also seriously declined. Some of the problems include the difficulty of putting on such events, the complexity of traffic control, insurance increases, the recent increase in gravel and forest road events, and inflation. In an effort to increase ridership and interest in Levi’s GranFondo this year, Carlos has decided to push the “race” side of this road race by holding a 7-hour professional race during the GranFondo. The race will be called the “Growler” and will be the toughest race in North America. The route is 138 miles with a 13,000 elevation gain. Carlos already has over 25 professional athletes signed up for the Growler. The purse will be $50,000!
The next GranFondo will be held on April 13, 2024. Thank you, Carlos, for the great presentation and for all of your efforts to keep this signature Sonoma County event operating. We’ll see you on April 13!
Click HERE to view a limited-time recording of Carlos' presentation.
