The iconic character, the landmarks, the melting pot of cultures, and an endless list of superlatives—New York City needs no introduction. The cult status of The Big Apple is undisputed. The same can be said for the GFNY World Championships NYC. It’s the only chance to complete a gran fondo in the iconic setting of New York City and State.
And you do it with thousands of others from over ninety countries—truly a melting pot of cultures. Still not enough? It’s also the only gran fondo in the world where you get to race the same course as the pros—a mere 10 minutes after them.
Still hesitating to mark May 18, 2025, in bright green on your riding calendar? Let yourself be convinced by the experiences, tips, and tricks of two participants from the Low Countries. Both bring their own stories and different backgrounds, yet share many similarities. In part 1: Emma Drabbe.
Leaving the Dutch province of Brabant for PhD research in Miami. Making your first rides on a road bike through friends. Discovering you enjoy it. Getting support from ZIEL Concept Store. Winning the first gran fondo you participate in. Earning a ticket for GFNY NYC. And ending up on the podium between two Italian riders.
That’s the riding fairy tale of Emma Drabbe in a nutshell. The Dutch biomedical engineer left for Miami in the middle of the COVID pandemic to conduct research on Fluidic Platforms for Optimizing Retinal Organoids and Eye Transplants. Cycling? Yes, she could do that—on a city bike. But on a road bike, she had never ridden before.
Photo: Emma in the middel with number 94.
“Yes, it’s a bit of a strange story,” Emma begins during our video call. While winter has set in across the Netherlands, she has just finished her daily morning ZIEL group ride before starting her workday at the University of Miami. "Riding is a niche sport in the US—a small but tight-knit community," Emma tells us. "Training is almost always done in groups, and it often gets intense. It’s like a kind of all-out street race."
Emma immediately recognized the same community vibe at the GFNY events in Miami and New York. “In New York, it was really fun with lots of encouragement and everyone wanting to hear my story. It felt a bit like the Dutch Brabantian coziness from home, but with a delightful Latin American twist.” That atmosphere was especially noticeable at the expo/festival area at the finish in Fort Lee. In the park on the banks of the Hudson River, people chatted over a tasty BBQ with a beer in hand and good music. And everyone had a hero story. “Americans are good at that,” says the cheerful Emma.
In the Netherlands, she had never ridden a race bike, let alone completed a European gran fondo. Emma says, “The race here in New York is truly unique. In the US, it’s a bit of a cult thing. You have to experience it at least once. I’d make a trip from Europe for it. So I will definitely come back.”
Want to know more about why GFNY NYC should be on your bucket list in 2025? Read our article again.
In part 2, we hear from Filip Vanden Bulcke. As an avid rider, he knows all the ins and outs of New York—or is it because of his special job? Check out part #2.
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