Machka 

2016 Randonnees

The 2016 Randonneuring season began on November 1, so if you're riding randonnees this year, tell us about them.


Are you riding a Super Randonneur series with the hopes of getting into a 1200K randonnee later this year? Or are you just riding the randonnees for the fun, challenge, adventure, etc.?



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Some Links ...

The "Les Randonneur Mondiaux" event calendar ...
les randonneurs Mondiaux

The "Les Randonneur Mondiaux" club links page ...
les randonneurs Mondiaux


BC Randonneurs Links page ...
Randonneur Links

Audax Australia's Links page ...
Links

Audax UK's Links page ...
Randonneur sites

Audax Club Parisien's Links page ...
Offical Web Site of Audax Club Parisien

Randonneur USA's Links page ...
RUSA: Links

Machka 

Sunday 1 November -- Ranelagh Ramble 100K - Audax Australia event

We started the new randonneuring season today with the Ranelagh Ramble 100K.

We rode this route two weeks ago as a test ride, in a howling gale, and yet still finished within the time limit. So a) I hoped that the wind would not be anywhere near as bad, and b) I had a small degree of confidence that we could finish within the time limit again.

Today was warm ... for a change. We started the ride at 9 am and the temp was already 19C/66F.

Up the main highway, that's uphill, and then a series of left turns to get us onto the backroads. We had three patches of gravel (several km long each) on the route, and hit the first one early in the ride. All was good until the rather steep descent. I'm not a confident descender at the best of times, but especially not on gravel. That was a very, very slow descent! But we were back onto pavement at the bottom and didn't hit the next gravel section until just before the first control. That one was OK because there wasn't much in the way of descending.

A comment about the gravel sections ... while they can be a bit of a pain for us road cyclists, they do help to reduce the amount of traffic, and slow the traffic a bit.

The ride organiser met us at the first control with bananas, lamingtons, and water. Very nice. Then we were on our own for the next 70 km.

The lumpy route took us into the next town where we had a quick pitstop, and then up another main highway for about 10 km before turning off onto a quiet road running along the foreshore. That's quite a pretty road, and there we encountered our third patch of gravel.

Just before we reached the next control, the temperature hit its high for the day ... 28.4C. But we could see storm clouds gathering.

We stopped at the control, and each had a Coke Zero and ice cream bar while enjoying the few drops of rain those storm clouds tried to produce. And then we were off again for the last leg of the journey.

That leg starts with a fairly steady climb for about 5 km, and then a series of descents and smaller hills back into the start/finish location. After that 5 km climb, it is actually a reasonably quick run into town. And while the storm clouds lurked, they didn't develop into anything.

We rolled up to the cafe with 45 minutes to spare! It was a good ride ... one of my fastest in a long time.


Stats
Distance: 98.5 km
Rolling Time: 5 hours 16 min (18.7 km/h average)
Total Time: 5 hours 58 min (16.5 km/h average)
Climbing: 1174 metres (3851 feet)
Temp High: 28.4 C (83 F)
Wind: 15 km/h gusting to about 25 km/h, with a few little gusts up to about 40 km/h.

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The first two photos were taken on our recce two weeks ago ...

RR3

Funny that you make this thread because I am trying to figure that out now. What is my "big ride"

I am considering the high country 1200km in Colorado, the Cascade 1200k, or maybe the 1200k in Japan but part of me wants to do the TransContinental but the other part thinks I am nuts especially since the route goes right thru the Alps and the organizer calls it a Grimpeurs TCR and I don't climb the best. I did two 1200km rides this year. One is probably enough since I did the second one like a tourist sleeping at least 7 hours a night.

clasher

I'm hoping to do a full series next year. The Rocky Mountain 1200 is the only one in Canada this year, I might give it a try if I manage the full series but we have a couple of 1000km rides in Ontario for 2016 so I might just do one of those instead.

znomit

We kicked off the season with a hilly 300k starting at midnight with 5 riders. One of the riders broke a spoke about 50k in, luckily about 500m from my house so I gave him a spare wheel, which he broke a spoke on about 2km later.


Rode the rest of the ride on my own. Got out the radio and had the footy on as the sun came up, magic. The 30 minute nap I had the night before obviously wasn't enough and I struggled a bit during the day. Finished in 19:30

ThermionicScott 

The phrase "...crowbar in a sandbox" comes to mind.

I'm a little jealous of those whose best riding weather is coming up now -- here in Iowa, the rides are getting shorter, more clothing is being worn, and the words "spin class" are starting to be spoken.

znomit

New Zealand schedule here...
https://www.kiwirandonneurs.org.nz/r...cheduled-rides

craigofnz

Has anyone compiled a list of Big Brevets i.e. 1200km (or greater) in 2016?

Any expansions on?

2016

18-21 February: Tour Tasmanie *Tour de Tas Australia
23 April Okayama Japan
29 April Saitama 2400k Japan
11-15 May: Texas Rando Stampede https://sites.google.com/site/texasstampede1200/ USA
17 June The Wild Atlantic Way 2100k Ireland
1-5 July Vologda-Onego-Ladoga Russia
11-14 July Colorado High Country 1200 USA
15 July Hokkaido 1200 Japan
24-29 July Rocky Mountains Canada
25-29 July Le Douze-Cents France
16-20 August Miglia Italia
14-17 November GSR Australia

2017

12-15 March Kiwi Chase 1200 Queenstown, New Zealand

Machka 

The BC Randonneurs links page has a reasonable list of 1200Ks. They aren't sorted in order by year, but all or most are listed there.

Randonneur Links

antimonysarah

Have said this before and not succeeded, but have high hopes for this year being my first full SR series. (Plan to just do my local one, the Boston one.) The Cleveland-Cincinnati-Cleveland 1000k looks really tempting, as I have family near the start so it could be a low cost destination ride, plus the way it's scheduled looks like a nice way to do a 1000k -- half-day 200k, 300k, 300k, half-day 200k, rather than 400/300/300. But it's before my local 600k, so I wouldn't have the confidence of that under my belt. Next year, maybe.

I'm also organizing a ride for the second year running; that was a blast last year and I expect it will be again.

EDIT, since this has bounced to the top: unexpected health issues were unexpected; I'm going to be hitting the start of the season with almost zero training (but hopefully be back on the bike and able *to* train), so my goals are more modest: ride a few 200ks, do some other fun-looking centuries/other events, see what happens.

downtube42

Thinking about Cascades 1200 as the big ride of the year. I have an R-12 going, I'll almost certainly do an SR between Indiana and Kentucky, and I'd like to hit a few new states.

We're tentatively planning a trip to South Korea in 2016. If that happens I'll see what could work out there.

Machka 

Saturday -- Rowan and I rode the Audax Tasmania "I Will Ride 100 Miles" event.

Online Ride Calendar
I Will Ride 100 Miles in Glenorchy, 06, Australia | MapMyRide
Description:This is a 163.85 km route in Glenorchy, 06, Australia. The route has a total ascent of 1837.08 m (6027 feet) and has a maximum elevation of 492.46 m.


Rowan and I turned up the start location early, got everything ready, and then waited. Shortly before the start time, the ride organiser arrived to inform us that we were the only riders! Oh well, no problem.

At 8am, when we set off, it was a cool 13C and reached a high of 19C up where we were. But not long after we started, we had wave after wave of rain. We had it all! Heavily overcast and rain, wind and rain, sun and rain at the same time ... some combination of overcast, wind, rain and/or sun all day long. On with the jackets, off with the jackets. On with the jackets, off with the jackets. But that's Tasmania in the spring.

The route climbed gradually with lots of little ups and downs. One of those "ups" was a Cat 5 climb, and I thought that might be the hardest climb. I learned differently! Then at about the 30 km point, there was a Cat 3 climb which, for some reason, I can't remember. Probably the next climb blocked out all previous climbs.

The next climb was a Cat 2 climb that just never ended. It was a curvy climb, one where you can see a couple hundred metres ahead, and you think that that's the top, then you round the corner ... and there's more! But you can only see a couple hundred metres ahead and when you round the next corner ... there's more! I think I moaned, "You have got to be kidding!" about a dozen times.

My legs were fried by the end of that climb, but that wasn't the end of climbing. There were 2 more Cat 5 climbs, plus a whole bunch of smaller climbs ... a never-ending stream of them! This is not a flat ride. But that's Tasmania!

And the wind ... not bad most of the way, but fairly decent headwind during the last 60 km.

What with the hills and wind, there were times I wondered if my legs were going to make it. Last year, and for about 5 years prior, my lungs have given out before my legs. Today my lungs were handling things quite well (only used the inhaler once in the middle of the hardest climb), but my legs ....!!! Of course, last year, and for about 5 years prior ... I wouldn't have attempted something like this.

There were several highlights ... one was the ongoing chorus of sheep! This route passes by field after field of sheep, all with different voices, and very chatty today.

Another highlight was the fact that we cycled to Bothwell. We've driven there, and spent a weekend there, and for whatever reason, I've always had the impression that Bothwell is quite a distance away. And yet, today, we cycled there. ... and back again!!

And a third highlight was that I rode Machak. This is the first time I've ridden him this distance since he was recovered. I've ridden him shorter distances, but after doing a few recent shorter rides, I decided to give him a go on a longer ride. Rowan rode his Merlin, and kind of wished for lower gearing a few times.


Stats
Distance: 163.4 km (101.5 miles)
Total Ascent: 1837.08 m (6027 feet)
Total Time: 9:59:48
Moving Time: 8:55:40
Average Speed: 17.95 km/h

Machka 

Photos ...

At the start ...



At the 93 km point ...

craigofnz

Added my attempt here: https://www.kiwirandonneurs.org.nz/r...national-1200s

Rowan

Finished the Campbell Town Canter 200 in Tasmania, Australia, yesterday in 11 hours 18 minutes... with Machka.

Her ride report in Road Cycling is here. Thanks to organisr Chris Edie; without volunteer organisers going the extra mile by organising food and lodging (the Campbell Town Girl Guides Hall), these events would not be quite the same.

I am very happy with all outcomes from the ride!

Machka 

I'll put the ride report here as well ...

200.2 km randonnee put on by Audax Tasmania.

On Friday, we were a bit concerned about the weather conditions. The area where we were planning to cycle was flooded with 100+ mm of rain. One town just south of our destination/turn-around town received about 370 mm of rain, and the town we were cycling to was thigh deep in water. At one point about half the roads on our route were closed.

Nevertheless, we still drove out to our start location on Friday night. By the time we got there, the rain was letting up, and we drove part of the cycling route to determine how bad the situation was ... and it was actually pretty good. Only one spot with a small river running over the road, and that was already showing signs of drying up by the time we drove back.

We set up our bicycles, chatted with some of the others there, and headed to bed early, in our van.

5:30 am we were up and making final preparations ... and at 7 am, we were off.

We had a choice of routes ... 4 riders chose one, Rowan and I chose another.

Our route started with a lovely downhill and bit of a tailwind for the first 11 km ... then a headwind, and a general trend upward, to the flooded destination town for the next 75 km. Lots of ups and downs, but the terrain generally rises in that direction. So that was a bit of work. Two rivers run along beside the route and both had overflowed their banks and flooded the fields ... in some cases, right up to the road. Lots of water!

I was rather concerned that the wind would die or change on our way back (that has happened more than once) ... and just as we were leaving, the wind did appear to die for a moment ... but then it picked up again and we had a wonderful tailwind for the next 75 km!! That combined with the generally descending terrain made for a FAST return to the main highway.

The 11 km back into the start town was a slog. I had actually not realised that there had been a descent at the beginning of the day. I thought we just had a tailwind. But going back, I fully realised we had a descent in the morning, and now we were climbing ... with a headwind. That bit was slow.

Because our distance had not yet added up to 200 km, our route took us out onto a quiet country road for 15 km and then returned to the start location. That was a lovely road, and again we had a beautiful tailwind. But of course, that meant that we finished the ride with a headwind ... a very slow 15 km ... and I was tired and sore by that point too!

Nevertheless ... we made it!! We did our first 200K randonnee in years!! Last one was March 10, 2012. And we did it in 11 hours 18 minutes (total time). I figured we might do it in 13 hours (with half an hour to spare). If the planets aligned, we might possibly be able to do it in 12 hours. But I didn't think there was any chance at all in doing it in less than 12 hours. So 11 hours and 18 minutes was GREAT! I was stunned!

I rode Machak, my Marinoni Ciclo. Very nice to be doing long rides on him again. Rowan chose to ride his titanium bicycle.

And the people we encountered along the way were very friendly and chatty. I was actually quite surprised how nice the people of the poor flooded destination town were. One was an older Italian gentleman who talked with us about his Baum titanium bicycle ... apparently he races in the Veteran class.

The traffic was also really good. The roads were decent too ... you could see where the flooding had affected the roads in places, but it wasn't bad.

The weather ... I've mentioned the wind (gusting to about 40 km/h); the temp got to 20C but the humidity was high around 70-80% and so I felt hot the entire time. We did get some rain, but it was occasional, short-lived, and sort of misty/drizzly. So it was just mildly annoying. It was kind of funny, we were pursued by the rain all the way back from our turn-around town. Of course, our lovely tailwind was also pushing the clouds the same way. So when we stopped it would catch us and then we'd be off again, and get ahead of it.

Overall it was a good ride, and I enjoyed it. So pleased to have ridden a 200K again.

znomit

600k last weekend. Pretty good weather and a great course. Forecast rain didn't eventuate but probably would have been more welcome than the 30°C heat Sunday afternoon. Managed an hours sleep at the overnight control, really need to muck around less there! That my 2016 SR done already, might put my feet up for a bit now.
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1043353506

Machka 

March Madness aka April Animation 300K
An audax event held each Easter in Queensland, near Brisbane.


On January 30th, Rowan and I rode the Campbell Town Canter 200K in Tasmania. When we finished, we decided that we needed to find a 300K event to ride. Since 300K events are scarce in Tasmania, we started looking further afield. We considered an event in South Australia and then on a whim, I looked at what was available in Queensland ... and there it was the March Madness.

Neither of us had been to Queensland in years (I cycletoured there for a month in 2004 and Rowan lived there back in the early 1990s) so we decided to sign up for the event and make a holiday of it!

Brisbane, Queensland is at about the same southern latitude (approx. 27 degrees south) as Orlando, Florida or Corpus Christie, Texas are at a northern latitude (approx 27 degrees north), and it is sub-tropical. So it can get quite hot and humid here. Fortunately it is autumn, and is marginally cooler. It is also a part of the world where the sun drops fairly quickly and early. So much of the ride would be in the dark.

We flew in on Wednesday and had an enjoyable and relaxing couple days getting last minute things and making some attempt to acclimatise. Tasmania, these days, is rather chilly by comparison. We also did some exploration to find the starting area and familiarise ourselves with the first few kilometres of the route.


At 6 am on Saturday 26 March, we cycled to the start of the event where we met the other 4 riders doing the event and the organiser. All was well with our lights and equipment ... safety is a consideration with these events ... and at 7 am, we rolled out under lightly clouded early morning skies, with birds singing all around us.

The ride to the first control was quite pleasant in terms of weather and the route ... except for the fact that we hit just about every traffic light getting out of town! That segment also included quite a bit of climbing, and I wondered a couple times if we had reached the first big climb we were promised. But no, those climbs were relatively small.

I had been wearing knee warmers and arm coolers because it had been just a bit cool at the start, and for sun protection, but just before Dayboro, I shed them. Arm coolers are a great idea for temps under 30C, but not so much for when it actually gets hot.

We were met at the edge of Dayboro, our first control, by Brian who pointed the way to the bakery which was the official control. Brian had been riding with the faster group ahead of us, but then decided to drop back and ride with us.

While we ate and drank, Brian informed us that we would start climbing the big climb almost immediately out of Dayboro, and that it was an approximate average 5% grade climb that went on for about 7 km to the top of Mount Mee. Then we would ride lumpy terrain across the top and do a sharp descent just before Woodford.


A jam donut and coke later, and Brian, Rowan and I were on our way again. Sure enough, we climbed. When it indicates a 5% average, that doesn't mean it is 5% all the way up ... there are some flatter bits, but then there are also some steeper bits. Our ride data showed as much as 16% in one or two places. By this point, the day was also warming up and our on-board computers were showing temps over 30C. I tend to overheat on climbs, so I was feeling quite warm and just a little queasy by the time I got to the top. Electrolytes and more water seemed to settle things a bit.

At the top there was a spectacular view of Brisbane CBD and surrounding area. There were some great views on the way up too, and with my new-found confidence in climbing, I was able to actually look at them briefly instead of remaining fixed on a spot about a metre in front of my wheel.

We bobbed up and down and up and down across the top of Mount Mee for the next 20 km, and then there was the descent. I'm getting much better at straight or sweeping descents, but I'm still not so good at steep, curvy descents and I tend to ride the brakes. I stopped a couple times on the way down to let my blistering hot rims cool!

Once down, we rode through Woodford and onto the out-and-back to Kilcoy. And that's where we hit the hottest part of the day. In that section, on-board computers were registering 36 and 37 degrees. We met the faster riders on their way back from Kilcoy and stopped to chat for a moment, which gave me an opportunity to apply more sunscreen in the hopes it would provide a cooling effect.

When we got to Kilcoy, I was queasy again and figured I needed salt and something that would sit well ... potato chips it was! I also bought a package of four chocolate chip cookies and had one of them. The rest I put into the empty potato chip bag to take with me. Salted caramel has been all the rage ... now it is salted chocolate's turn!


Still really hot all the way back to Woodford, and unfortunately Rowan started having issues with cramping leg muscles. He was just managing the situation with electrolytes, magnesium, lots of water, and standing a good portion of the way.

We headed north, and soon we reached the second big climb of the day. This was a shorter but steeper climb. As I started, I called back to Rowan, "I'm going to give this my best shot, but I'll probably have to walk". My back was starting to give me trouble again, and although I have improved my climb skills, I wasn't sure how I would manage a steep climb. We did stop once for a short break, but otherwise, we cycled all the way up!

When we got to the top, thankfully we were into a bit of forest which provided shade, a light breeze had come up, and the temperature was starting to drop. We stopped at a little grocery store in Peachester for a quick bite to eat and then descended to the relatively flat area near the coast. Relatively flat, I say, because there were no more large climbs ... just a whole lot of little ones.


It was just about dark when we rolled into the next control at Mooloolah at the 192 km point. We were riding about 1.5 hours ahead of the cut-off time and Brian predicted that we might get in by midnight ... a 17-hour 300K!

Next, the route took us through the Glass House Mountains. The Glass House Mountains are eleven volcanic cores that rise of the coastal plains . We had caught glimpses of them throughout the ride, which was fortunate because it was now completely dark. However, we could just make out one large one next to the road. They look a whole lot bigger when you're right in among them!


I had been fighting queasiness most of the day, so I had been nibbling on a bit of this and a bit of that, but with about 70 km to go, I started to feel really hungry. I wondered if I could make it to the next control, and then remembered that I had three of the cookies I had purchased earlier in my handlebar bag. As we cycled along in the dark, I unzipped my handlebar bag a little bit so I wouldn't accidentally drop anything, and then I began working away at the bag I put the cookies in to see if I could get at one. I had folded the bag over so it took a bit of doing until, at last, I could touch a cookie! Then I began working it loose and finally managed to snap it in half and extract a piece ... success!

About this time we started noticing flashes of lightening in the distance. At first, I thought it was just Rowan's headlight. I had my mirror set up so I could see his light behind me, and I figured, I was just seeing the changes in his light as we went up and down little hills. But then a particularly bright flash confirmed the lightening theory!

The lightening went on for quite some time without seeming to come any closer and I hoped we'd pass by the storm system without incident. But then, all of a sudden, I felt a rain drop ... and then another ... and then another ... and then the sky opened up and it poured!! Within minutes we were as soaked as we would have been if we had jumped into a swimming pool. The wind came up as the storm system moved into our area, and we were soon quite cold. Almost funny after all the heat earlier in the day.


We splashed our way into the next control at Morayfield with a vague idea of warming up inside the BP, but they had the air conditioning on full blast and it was just too cold to remain inside for more than a few minutes. However, Rowan and I did put on our rain jackets, more to block the wind than anything else because we were already drenched. Unfortunately Brian didn't have one because we really weren't expecting rain.

Fortunately, although the rain didn't stop the rest of the way, it did ease up so the riding was a bit more comfortable. We were into the flattest section of the route and making really good time despite the darkness and rain. Maybe there was a bit of fast riding to keep us warm!

And again, I started feeling really hungry. I knew we still had about 40 km to go and I wouldn't make it to the end without more to eat. So I started working away at the cookie bag again, and managed to extract the last two cookies. Of course, as soon as I got them out they started to become soggy from the rain, but I didn't care. Soggy or not, I ate them.


We cycled right along the foreshore, and I could hear the waves, and over a long pedestrian cycling bridge which was quite nice. And then my computer seemed to go into slow motion ... ticking over the kilometres at a glacial pace. I was soaked and tired, various things ached, and I was really looking forward to being done. 30 km to go ... 29.5 km to go ... 29.2 km to go ... don't look at the computer! ... 28.7 km to go ... think about something else! ... 27.3 km to go ...

And then, finally, my computer was telling me that we should be within a kilometer or two of the finish but I didn't recognise anything around me until, suddenly, there was a sign by the side of the road indicating a "next left" that I did recognise! We were, indeed, almost finished. A couple corners later, and we were done.

Amazingly, we arrived 6 minutes after midnight, completing the ride in 17 hours and 6 minutes. Not bad for a 300 km ride with 3100 metres (10170 feet) of climbing ... through the extremes heat and chilly rain ...


We really appreciated the organisation of the ride and our "tour guide" Brian ... without whom the dark and rainy portion of the ride would have been much more difficult.

unterhausen

did my first 200k in quite a while, since last summer sometime. I was having sciatic nerve irritation, which I'm now convinced is due to lack of abdominal strength. I was worried it was due to crash damage, so I wasn't riding long distances in the hopes of a rest cure. It was a nice mental break anyway.


Steamer and I rode Happy Valley to Buffalo Valley 200k. It's a nice ride, the weather was great. Ok, except for the headwinds both ways. It was a gentle headwind on the way back though. Rode the old version for the last time. When I designed the route, I had my mind set on adding 5k at the end, but didn't need that distance. Since it looped out of the way, I had an info control and some choppy little unpleasant hills. Getting rid of that is going to make a much nicer ride.

gecho

Looks like I'll have another chance to get my first complete series in this year since a guy in the local club is training for a 1200. I just need to get my fit set early in the season, then stop tinkering with it. I've also got enough long rides in since the fall to know how much and how often I should be eating. One of my biggest mistakes in the past has been not eating if we were upwards of 30 minutes from a meal stop. Since we head out as soon as we were done eating, I'd be in an energy deficit for the next 45 minutes until that meal was sufficiently digested.

The weather has been unbelievably good here since the end of January. I've gone 1,600 km further than I ever have at this point, more than double my previous best. I've been avoiding the paved roads and mostly riding my touring bike on gravel roads, which with just a bit of rain transform into packed clay smoother than most pavement.

JFuller

Finally getting the last pieces on my bike tonight hopefully, I'll be participating in some BC Randonneurs events in the lower mainland this year, plan is the PacPop 100, Three Hump Camel 200K, CanPop, and maaaaybe the Whatcom Wamble 300K (may just stick to 200K's this year) - and three 200K's happening in the late summer / fall

gecho

Hoping to see the last of the chilly mornings soon. For the first 200 last weekend the starting temperature was -3 °C, so I had to wear my winter boots, winter tights, winter jacket, heavy gloves and balaclava. Tomorrow the morning low will be 0 °C and warm up to just 10 °C, so I'll wear the same stuff. But with wind gusts forecast to hit 60 km/h most of the day we may not do the full 200. My winter clipless boots require a saddle height adjustment so I dislike alternating footwear, but its better than having my feet go numb. The weather is all over the place this time of year. Earlier in the week we were up to 25 °C.

gecho

So many weather related event cancellations this year have wreaked havoc with the brevet schedule. Two of those cancelled days being for winds gusting to 70 km/h. On the first of those wind days we did a short ride where we were doing 12 km/h in the drops. Only 2 rides took place this year with the last being the better part of a month ago so I'll probably write this season off. Hot weather doesn't agree with me so once the temperature starts approaching 30 °C I can't be on the bike all day.

clasher

Finally got my first 200K of the season done, did the big chute route up in Barrie Ontario... high was 31C today and it was pretty humid at times too. Took it easy and had some long breaks. It's a lovely route that goes from the rolling farmland of Southern Ontario across the edge of the Canadian Shield and to the shores of Georgian Bay.

jhaddad8

I trying to finish my first R12 (started it Sept. 2015) and am working on my first SR series. I just have the 600k next weekend and then the July and August 200k's left to go. This has basically been my first season of randonneuring (I did one 200 June 2014) and I've been learning a lot and getting a lot stronger and having a great time.