In 2024, the North American racing scene will be treated to a one-day race with big climbs, big "personalities," and big prize money to rival the European Spring Classics The Growler will be held on April 13 in Windsor, California, with professional and amateur racers competing for $20 The Growler will be held on April 13 in Windsor, California, and will feature professional and amateur competitors competing for $20,000 in prize money.

The Growler is one of seven ride options in Levi's GranFondo, founded in 2009 by former World Tour pro Levi Leipheimer, 139 miles of "road bike singletrack" with 13,500 feet of climbing. This is the first time in the four-year history of the event that professionals and amateurs will compete for prize money on this longest route, which has 13,500 feet of climbing. The $10,000 will be split equally between the top five male and female finishers. Also new is that the winner of The Growler will be determined at the finish line of the full course, rather than at the top of the final climb.

While the trek across Sonoma County wine country in northern California is idyllic, Sonoma native Peter Stetina, one of the first professionals to participate in the race, said the rough roads and tough terrain have already been compared to the Liege-Bastogne-Liege

"The local race was a great success.

"The local excitement is already palpable. It's definitely the hardest one-day course in the US," Stetina told Cycling News.

Among those confirmed to stand on the start line with Stetina are former World Tour riders currently dominating the Progravel circuit, including Petr Vakochu, Lachlan Morton, and Ian Boswell. All but Boswell are participating in the 2024 Lifetime Grand Prix off-road series.

Stetina describes the event as "proper road racing," but it is nontraditional in many ways, including the fact that team cars are not allowed on the course. In keeping with gravel racing, aid stations will be set up along the route and rolling closures will be implemented.

"Here in SoCo, we call road riding the "Sonoma County Singletrack." The roads are winding, pitchy, and often ragged. It makes the riding very dynamic and I always train on 30c tires. Think of it as the gravel bike handling of a road bike.

The Growler's calendar and geographic location make it an attractive event for off-roaders competing in the North American gravel series, with the Waffle Ride Utah in Belgium the weekend before on April 6, followed on April 19 by the Monterey, Calif. The Sea Otter Classic Fuego XL will be held on April 19.

In domestic road racing, Gravel overlaps with the Redlands Bicycle Classic, but avoids the Tour of the Gila, the first UCI stage race in the United States, which begins on April 24. On the international calendar, the Gravel Earth Series will race in Spain on the same weekend as The Growler.

"Last year it was held on the same weekend as the Otters and we realized that. It's really hard to avoid overlap, like in Redlands. But there are some big names in gravel, and they are probably the fastest bike riders in America these days," event founder Leipheimer told Cycling News.

"It's a great opportunity to give back to the sport that has given me so much, and a place for up-and-coming young American road riders to test themselves and experience what it's like to race on a challenging course.

How challenging is the course? He went on to list the ingredients that create a one-day race similar to the Tour of Lombardy: "distance, elevation gain, holes, cracks."

"In the backwoods of rainy Sonoma County, the roads don't get paved much," he laughed. 'These roads have character and are far from pristine. That's one of the things that makes this ride so great. You have to stay focused, and you can't use light road race tires.

The King Ridge Road climb, with an average grade of 10.7% for over a mile, is a signature of the event, used for the 120-mile Grand Ride route and the 139-mile Growler. It is also a featured climb in the 2016 Amgen Tour of California, a stage race that Leipheimer won three times before retiring in 2012, and was part of the 1988 Coors Classic.

The King Ridge climb is only 30 miles from the start of Growler, where the route heads north in a clockwise direction, followed by two long, steep climbs on Stewarts Point Road; Growler also has a 3,000-foot elevation gain on Geysers, a 12-13% 15 miles to the highest point, including a pitch, and a roar on a round-trip loop to Windsor, a few miles north of Santa Rosa.

The Growler also invites amateurs, who can share in the prize money if they finish in the top five overall male and female finishers. Unlike previous years, there is no eligibility requirement, but instead organizers will set a strict cutoff time at the start on Gaither's Road.

"The Gran Fondo was born out of my love of road racing in my career. Over the past few years, American bicycle racing has shifted away from road racing. Leipheimer is working with Bike Monkey in California to produce the event.

"There is no road race in the U.S. that is a single lap of 136 miles and 13,000 feet of climbing. Thanks to Bike Monkey, a local Sonoma County event company, we were able to gain a lot of expertise, knowledge, and relationships with landowners and local agencies to actually put on a 136-mile race. That is really not an easy thing to do, especially in the United States. What we want to do is give athletes the opportunity to demonstrate their endurance and strength on a course like this."

Proceeds from all Levi's Gran Fondo events have raised over $3 million for the King Ridge Foundation, which supports at-risk youth organizations since 2009.