At 6:30 on Sunday morning, October 18, the start area for GFNY Bahamas opens at Goodman's Bay Park on West Bay Street. Corrals close at 7:15, and the race starts at 7:30. Once the field leaves Baha Mar Boulevard and John F. Kennedy Drive, it turns south onto a loop of western New Providence. That loop runs past Primeval Forest National Park, the cliffs near Clifton Heritage National Park, South Ocean Beach and Jaws Beach.
This is the third edition of the race. It is also the first held in October. The 2024 race ran on November 3, and the 2025 race ran on November 9. For a household near Albany, the useful part is a short timetable in the official race guide. It shows how often the coast road will carry riders and when they will be gone.
Why the Southwest Coast Sees Some Riders Twice
GFNY Bahamas has two distances, and both start together. Medium-course riders do the western loop once, then turn left off John F. Kennedy Drive toward the finish. Long-course riders make a full turn at the end of that stretch and ride the loop a second time. Then they head back along Baha Mar Boulevard to the finish on West Bay Street.
So the southwest coast gets two passes. The whole field comes through on the first lap, and the long-course riders return alone for the second. The long course is 60.8 miles with 1,392 feet of climbing, and the route is listed as fully paved. GFNY's course page calls it "flat and fast." It describes the loop as "the more remote and wild side" of the island and warns that the windy conditions will be a challenge. Riders should expect "a lot of group riding and pace lines."
Only the long course counts as a race. Long-course finishers are eligible for category rankings and podium awards. Medium-course riders get their start-to-finish time, but they are not ranked, and their times are listed alphabetically. In practice, the second pass near Clifton and South Ocean is the racing part of the morning.
The Clock That Matters Is Printed at Goodman's Bay
The race guide, dated September 23, 2026, doesn't give arrival times for any point on the course. But its Sunday schedule sets the limits of the morning.
| Time | What happens | Where |
|---|---|---|
| 6:30 a.m. | Start area opens | Goodman's Bay Park |
| 7:15 a.m. | Start corrals close | Goodman's Bay Park |
| 7:30 a.m. | Race starts | Goodman's Bay Park |
| 9:30 a.m. | Recovery zone and post-race meal open | Goodman's Bay Park |
| 9:50 a.m. | Cutoff to start the second loop | On course |
| 10:30 a.m. | First award ceremony for finishers | Goodman's Bay Park |
| 10:45 a.m. | Junkanoo rush-out and awards ceremony | Goodman's Bay Park |
| 12:00 p.m. | Course closes | On course |
| 1:00 p.m. | Festivities end | Goodman's Bay Park |
Two of those times matter on the southwest side. The 9:50 cutoff means no rider starts a second lap of the loop after that time. Anyone on the coast road later in the morning is finishing a lap already underway. The noon course closure marks the end of the event's hold on the route. The schedule says nothing about exactly when the first riders reach South Ocean, so treat any minute-by-minute estimate as a guess.
The 2025 results give a sense of pace. Flavio De Luna of Mexico won the men's race in 2:21:27. Bahamian Kami Roach won the women's race in 2:32:19. If this year's leaders ride at a similar speed, the front of the race would be off the course roughly two and a half hours after a 7:30 start. Riders further back fill the time up to noon.
What the Guide Says About Roads, and What It Leaves Open
The race guide's road guidance is short. It tells riders to stay as far left as possible, never to cross the centerline, and to stay behind if there is no room to pass, because the course uses several sections of road in both directions. It also bans private support cars and explains why:
"Imagine all riders having their own personal support car - the traffic it would create, the bad rider experience, and above all the unsafe conditions."
The same section says that "several parts of the course are fully closed to cars." It doesn't say which parts. We found no police or ministry traffic notice listing specific roads and hours for this year's race or for the 2024 and 2025 editions. Watch for an official traffic advisory in the days before October 18. Until one is published, the organizers' sentence is the only statement on road closures. Anyone driving to an early tee time, a Sunday brunch reservation or the airport that morning should check the official advisories before leaving.
Riders keep to the left, the same side as car traffic.
Watching From the Southwest Side
The guide welcomes family and friends at the expo, the start and the finish. For anyone watching along the course, it gives one practical instruction: go to spots on the course with parking spaces, cheer from there, and don't drive along the course with the riders.
Clifton Heritage National Park, South Ocean Beach and Jaws Beach are the landmarks the organizers name on the southern part of the loop. They are also the stretch that long-course riders pass a second time. If you watch from that side, you see the race twice, and the second pass is the racing one. The finish-line ceremony is a separate trip. The Junkanoo rush-out and awards start at 10:45 a.m. at Goodman's Bay Park.
GFNY's official host hotels are Grand Hyatt Baha Mar, Breezes, Sandyport, Margaritaville and British Colonial. Albany is not on the list. On the southwest coast, the race is something you see from the roadside.
A Bahamian Name at the Front of the Field
The 2025 women's race ended in a sprint. According to GFNY's race report, 19-year-old Kami Roach of Enjoy Cycling Club outsprinted Rachel Liberatore of the United States to win, with Brazil's Adriana Maciel Mendes Vilela a few seconds behind in third. Earlier that year, The Tribune reported that Roach was the women's under-23 national champion and had been selected with Grand Bahamian Livingstone "Launy" Duncombe for the 2025 Pan American Road Championships. Bahamian Kevin Daley, also with Enjoy Cycling Club, rode the 2024 edition.
Enjoy Cycling Club is listed on the website of Cycles Bahamas. The shop trades as Cycles Unlimited, a Bahamian family bicycle and motorbike store founded in 1979, in Harbour Bay Shopping Plaza on East Bay Street. The club page lists Tuesday and Thursday rides at 5:30 a.m. from Harbour Bay to Caves and Blake Road. It also lists westbound weekend rides at 6 a.m.: 43 miles on Saturdays and 40 to 50 miles on Sundays. The page has no date and doesn't name the roads on the westbound routes, so confirm the details with the shop.
The Weekend Before the Race
Race week at Goodman's Bay Park starts before Sunday. The expo and registration run from 1 to 5 p.m. on Friday, October 16, and Saturday, October 17. A two-hour group ride leaves the park at 9 a.m. on Friday. On Saturday, a group ride leaves Cycles Bahamas at 6 a.m., stops at Goodman's Bay at 6:30 to collect riders, and a second group ride leaves the park at 9 a.m. The guide doesn't give routes for these rides. Expect more cyclists than usual on New Providence roads over the weekend, with the most on Sunday morning.
What Follows on Albany's Calendar
Six weeks later, Albany's own event takes over. The Hero World Challenge returns to the Albany golf course from November 30 to December 6, 2026, with a 20-player field. A limited number of grounds and hospitality tickets are on sale. GFNY passes along the coast near Albany and is over by noon. The Hero takes place inside the community and lasts a full week.
We're happy to talk about race mornings, tournament weeks and the rest of the calendar on the southwest side of the island, whether you live at Albany now or are thinking about what a year there involves. The Hillier Team is always glad to talk, and a free home valuation is a simple place to start.
