Steve Sawyer

I live in SE Michigan, and am looking for long distance events somewhere in my area. I note that there are a number of Randonnees listed in the 2013 Randonnees thread located in Ohio, but nothing in Michigan. Besides, my longest ride to-date is only 38 miles and I'm not quite yet to the Randonee level.

I know of one charity event in the area (the Tour de Cure), but was hoping to find something more along the line of train, pay your entry fee and ride. I'll be attending the Amishland and Lakes tour again this year, which has both 63 and 100 mile routes. However my wife is going with me, and she's the kind of cyclist that considers coasting as a perfectly acceptable way of completing a ride! I hate to leave her to her own devices while I head out to do a metric or full century!

So what other resources should I be looking at to find organized distance events? I know that I can just head out from my house in any direction and turn around at the half-way point, but part of the fun is participating with a bunch of other cyclists.

Thanks for any advice.

10 Wheels

Check with your local bikes shops for riders that put in some heavy miles.

Get yourself in shape so that you can ride with them when you do find some.

Steve Sawyer

Heh, heh...

I've been in spinning classes all winter, and if we ever get any SPRING WEATHER around here, I'll get to that!

I am signed up for a 51-miler in mid-May.

I should be picking up a new bike sometime this week, and I'll ask about other distance-oriented individuals and groups when I go in for the fitting.

10 Wheels

Cool....You have a good plan.

Get in some 50 mile rides on your own.
You will be in better shape to join others on longer rides.

gfc781

https://www.heartlandtriplecrown.com/ her are a few good options not far from home

Steve Sawyer

Thanks. I've often thought of doing a 24-hour challenge. There used to be one years ago on Belle Isle. Too bad the Michigan (I assume that's where the "Metamora" event is/was located) links on the Ultra Midwest site all seem to be broken

StephenH

Look up the Ultra Marathon Cycling Association, they have a list of 24-hour races and whatnot.
RUSA has a list of all the rando rides in the area. If there's not an active local club, there may not be any.
Now, to me here in Dallas, Michigan is far far away, which means it's close to Canada, so check across the border, too. There should be links to the Canadian organizations on the RUSA website as well.
Here in the Dallas area, there are quite a few charity rides where you pay $30 or $40 and go ride a metric or imperial century (usually the metric). Check on the websites of local bike clubs and bike stores for such events.
The local randos do Dallas rides, but also drive to Austin, Houston, etc. I've done a 200k in Mississippi. So on occasion, don't be afraid to head off to elsewhere to do a ride, rando or whatever.

Bekologist

This may sound corny, but if i were living in your neck of the woods, a solo long distance ride to attend the little 500 race would be on the list. You wouldn't get to ride in the race, but riding to watch it would be a notch on the belt.

Machka 

Check out some of the links on my Links page ...

https://www.machka.net/links.htm

For example, in the 24-hour race section, there's the National 24-hour Challenge in Michigan.

But there are lot of other links to check too.

ldarlee

Good place to start is Mike Bentley's website: https://www.mikebentley.com/bike/mwrides.htm

Steve Sawyer

Heh...352 miles. To be honest, I don't see myself ever progressing to much beyond a 200-km brevet, but ya never know...

Steve Sawyer

My favorite local weekend ride is an out-and-back 28-miler, and could easily be doubled. I can see myself doing that a couple of times in the next month (weather permitting..)

Bekologist

I'd do it with an overnight both ways, add a full day hanging out watching the races, and make it a five day trip.

Road Fan

Machka, I just tried that link, too. It's broken.

Road Fan

Steve, I live in Ann Arbor. I don't rando but like you I want to. I checked out the rando organizations a few years back nearby and I found the Ohio Randonneurs, several societies in Ontario, and several near Chicago. I think there are only a handful of RUSA members in Michigan, and several are in the UP.

Have you gotten the ride lists from the Ann Arbor Bicycle Touring Society website, www.aabts.org? Click the "ride calendars and events" button in the stack on the left. It's a pretty good AA and regional list of rides offerred by various local clubs and the only complete (and updated) list of AABTS events. At least one century is set for each week (for when I work up to that distance). Notable is the One Helluva ride, organized and run by AABTS on July 13 this year. If offers moderate (39 mile) to long (65, 75, 100 mile) loops.

For the AABTS you might notice that if you're retired you can have a huge cycling life if you follow the weekday "fast codger and codgerette" rides. Nothing negative intended, they do a LOT of miles every year (the AABTS will track that for you) and are pretty darn fast. "B" means "we're really not going too fast, you're only problem will be to KEEP UP!" Speed is a matter of opinion ... I think they're fast.

There's also the League of Michigan Bicyclists (www.lmb.org), state branch of the venerable League of American Wheelmen. They compile and print a statewide directory of clubs, events, rides, tips, and key dates pertinent to Michigan, differentiating between road and off-road events. There are some traditional long-distance events: the Shoreline Tours, Wish a Mile (WAM), Pedal Across Lower Michigan (PALM) and others. Most have the setup of sponsored, supported tours, however. But we have ample training opportunities in Michigan, just no local brevets. You can get a copy of the LMB directory on their website either by downloading a .pdf or by requesting a mailed copy. They also do all the state-level advocacy.

I'm just starting out my training for this year. If you'd like to ride (road) together, perhaps in the Metroparks, PM me and we can get connected. There are some good after-work 30 mile loops or longer, in the area.

What's your 51 miler in mid-May?

Steve Sawyer

We're doing the Zoo-de-Mack - a one-day ride from Boyne Highlands to Mackinaw City. From what I understand it's a good combination of riding, drinking and partying!

Unfortunately, retirement is still about 4 years off for me.

We just did a short 17-miler on my favorite metropark run - Island Lake to Kensington to Milford and back, but we only looped around Kensington today as my sister hasn't been spinning over the winter, and hasn't been on a bike since last September and wasn't up to the full 28 miles. My plan is to work up to two laps of that route before the mid-may ride, so I shouldn't have any trouble doing the metric on the Helluva Ride...

Machka 

My link takes you here, to the events page:
https://www.n24hc.org/event.html

But if you knock the 'event' off the address, you'll have this: https://www.n24hc.org/ and that's the right page.

I just need to fix it on my site to take you to the home page.

Road Fan

Thanks, Machka!