Machka 

2015 Randonnees

The 2015 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? In preparation for the PBP? 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 2 November-- 100.9 km!! An Audax Tasmania event called the Ranelagh Ramble.

On the two previous days this area had some interesting weather ... wave after wave after wave of storm squalls including rain, wind, and the occasional bit of hail. In between these storm squalls, the sun comes out, the sky is blue, the wind dies down and it's a lovely day ... but 15 minutes later we're in the throes of another storm squall.

It has also been quite chilly. Saturday's high got to about 15C ... the overnight low was about 3C ... and today, while we were on the road it topped out at about 10C. And there was a lot of snow on the mountains and hill tops around ... quite low, but fortunately not so low we had to cycle through it.

So those were the conditions we spent the day cycling through.

In fact, when we were setting up the bicycles and gear, it was bucketing down and freezing cold, and we had some misgivings about starting the event. The idea of 100 km in those conditions was not particularly appealing. But it cleared shortly after and we started the ride under blue sky and sun. However, I lost count of the number of times storm squalls came over!

A group of about 13 or 14 of us met at the start ... I was a bit surprised to see so many out. We met and re-met a few, and chatted a bit before the event started.

Soon after the event started, we found ourselves at the back of the pack. No surprise there. I was having a little trouble settling in during the first 20 km or so. I suspect I need a bit more of a warm-up and must remember to use my inhaler before the ride starts. But about 20 km in, I felt ready to ride with a bit more energy.

We rode a variation of this route a couple weeks ago so it wasn't entirely unfamiliar. That helped with the climbing. I knew when the bigger hills were, and could plan for them.

Overall, the whole ride seemed to pass quite quickly ... probably helped that we took no long breaks and I was riding near my upper limits.

And at the end, we rolled into the finish with seconds to spare.

100.9 km ... and 1440 metres of climbing.


I have to say that our rain gear was good ... we were actually quite comfortable through all the storm squalls. I bought new rain pants a couple years ago from MEC and have worn them several times, but never for so long and never in so much rain. I was impressed!!


And about the photos ... these were taken taken on the previous weekend. I didn't have time to stop for photos on the actual weekend of the randonnee ... but imagine this scenery with a storm squall approaching ...

LWaB

We're aiming to ride a Greek 400 as a PBP qualifier, combined with a week's cycletouring and sightseeing.

The 600 qualifier will be in the Scottish border region and we're planning on AUK's National 400 up in the north of Scotland. Hopefully, climate change will bring us a fairly dry year in that part of the world.

t x

I have rather modest goals. This will be my first year attempting any randonnees (RUSA# 10195!), I'm excited and a bit nervous I'm just hoping to enjoy a couple of 200km brevets and perhaps a couple shorter permanents as well just to get my feet wet. I'm aiming to start with the Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve 200k in April.

znomit

The scene in NZ is taking off, over 40 rides planned this year, I hope to get a SR series in at least (200 and 300 done already).
https://www.kiwirandonneurs.org.nz/r...cheduled-rides

Machka 

Wow! Might be worth a hop across to take in one or two of those!

ThermionicScott 

If everything goes according to plan, I'll be doing my first PBP this year.

Backup plan is to keep the trip to France, but ride my bike a lot anyway.

bikemig 

My goals are modest. I'm looking forward to doing a randonnee with @ThermionicScott and my goal is to not get dropped! I'm tempted to bring a bungie strap just in case but no doubt it's forbidden somewhere in that long RUSA rule book that I turned into a first rate paperweight!

But I do want to do a 200 km and a 300 km. Not an "official" randonee but I also want to do a long gravel ride; planning on doing the Alamanzo 100:

strong | simple

Unlike @Machka who is no doubt enjoying her summer weather in the southern hemisphere and has the pics to prove it, it is around zero today. About the only riding, I'm doing are commuting miles on a bike with studded tires. I like to think of them as mini wannabee randonnees, :

skiffrun

^ What river is that? In Iowa, yes?

Ha! I can tell I've been in NC for quite a long time. That looks like a "river" to North Carolina eyes, but looks like a wide creek if I use my out-of-practice northwest Illinois eyes.

skiffrun

In the U.S., the 2014 ACP brevet season ended on Oct-15. And the 2015 ACP brevet season began on Jan-01.

I completed my first brevet of 2015 on Jan-03rd.
A 200k -- NC: High Point Region.
Not as a rider, though.
First time as a ride organizer (or as one friend, a former RBA put it, "surrogate RBA").
As far as I know, no one took any mid-ride pics due to the 47-52F temps in mostly drizzle & sprinkle conditions.

Saturday, the 17th will be my second go at ride organizer.
A 200 & a 300 -- NC: High Point Region.
I'm also planning to ride the 200.
Hoping the temperatures moderate a bit, and that it is dry.
AND that no one DNFs.

skiffrun

Jan-17: see immediately above &

riders checked-in & sent on their way (2 or 3 checked in after the official start -- they started late).
1 day of ride registration.
1 pre-reg rider did not show.
1 pre-reg rider came to check-in to let me know that he woke at the motel to find that he was ill & not riding.
--> 39 riders in the 2 events.

1 DNF in the 200 -- broke a spoke and waffled his rear tyre ~ 17 miles into the ride.
1 DNF in the 300 -- had to turn back after ~ 12 miles.

Started the 200 with my friend after we had cleaned up the check-in area & changed our shoes, etc.
Elapsed time from actual start to finish: 10h00.
In-motion time: 8h54.
Approx 12 of the 66 minutes not-in-motion were due to ride-organizer-related phone calls and texts related to the DNFs & some lost equipment.

I was very out-of-shape & slow on a quite flat course.
Sunny day.
More of a breeze than a wind.
Mild temps for mid-January: near freezing at the start, high of near 60 F, still ~ 47 F when the last 300 riders finished @ 2350 (16h50).

There are some photos, but I didn't take them, so not posting them.
========================================================
Next brevet?
Feb-07.
See RUSA, NC: High Point Region for details.

delcrossv

April 18 is the start of the local season for us (Great Lakes Randonneurs), I expect the daughter and I will try something in May though. Unfortunately they all line up on the Saturdays before TT's that I do with my son.

unterhausen

I want to ride PBP again, have to see how that lines up. I want to ride either the NER 1000k or the DC randonneurs 1000k since I DNF'ed last year's attempt at the Appalachian Adventure 1000k

az_cyclist

The 2015 season in Arizona kicked off on Jan 3, with the Saguaro Lake 200k brevet, which I rode. I missed the next 200k, but I may be able to ride the Vulture Mine 300k on Feb 14.... hmmm Valentines Day...

azbrevet.com

Machka 

Were you able to do it?

az_cyclist

no, unfortunately I missed the Vulture Mine 300k. I did finish the Spring Solvang Double Century last weekend, 193 miles, in Solvang, CA. Great ride. I hope to have a video from my GoPro completed by the end of the weekend

Yankeetowner

I had never of Randonneuring until two months ago. I saw there was a local 200K, and since I completed 5 centuries last year, I figured I could go the extra 25+ miles. I got a RUSA #10101 (great number by the way), and met some nice people and had a great time. I signed up for a 300K, but 85-90 miles in I had the worst blow out ever, and the tube was pulled into the cassette and hub of my real wheel...my ride was over. I rode a "hilly" (for Florida) 400K (6800+ feet of climbing) in March, and while it was physically tough, I finished thanks to the group's support. I couldn't find any more 300K's close by, so I rode another 400K (flat) a week later in south Florida. Again, a great group of people and a pretty fast ride.

I am really enjoying the long rides, and I'm signed up for a fleche (400K) on Good Friday, the Cross Florida Bike ride (170 miles) on April 12, a south Florida 600K the following weekend (April 18-19), the central Florida 600K April 25-26, and the Florida 1200K (Key West-Jupiter-Lake Wales-Ft. Myers) May 13-17. I don't plan on PBP, mainly because I can't figure out the logistics. How can I get my bike to Paris without spending a fortune on a bike carrier...where would I store a bike carrier/box while I rode...how would I ever get my bike put together in Paris if I took it apart to transport...etc. Also, I'm not sure I can justify a trip to Paris, even though I have plenty of FF miles, since we're going to New Zealand for 3 weeks in November.

My only goal for the year was to push myself as much as possible since I am pretty old and my window of opportunity is rapidly closing. If I complete the rides listed above, plus 4-5 other century rides for the year, I will be satisfied. If not, I'll still have given it my best. Cycling makes me feel young...that is of course until I see photos of myself and reality hits me right between my wrinkled eyes.

bikemig 

This is a great post and an inspiration to the rest of us. Thank you, @Yankeetowner.

ThermionicScott 

You doing the April 11th 200k, bikemig? I'm planning on it.

skiffrun

I don't know about bikemig, but I'm doing the 200 on April 11th.
But of course I refer to the NC: Raleigh Region 200, not an Arizona (?) event.

Hmmn, I know Alan has to put in a detour from the route used since a year before RUSA was birthed.
Guess I better catch up with Alan to confirm the route -- I make the RWGPS maps for him.

========================================

Looking back up the thread, I see I posted three times about the NC: Highpoint Region brevets in January.
To complete that series of posts:

Feb-07/08, I organized the 300/400 (again starting in Lumberton, NC).
13 people started & finished the 300.
23 started & 22 finished the 400.
[My friend BobB, who was volunteering with me, and I did a permanent-populaire, starting 2 hours after the brevets started.
We encountered some tough southerly winds on two separate 10-mile sections dead-on into the the wind.
I did NOT envy the brevet riders!]

Feb-28/Mar-01, I organized the 400/600 (again starting from Lumberton, NC).
There were 3 pre-riders for the 400 (incl RBA Tony, who could not be present on the event weekend).
2 riders did the 400 on the event weekend.
Five riders started the pre-ride for the 600; one bailed in Sunset Beach (after ~ 132 miles).
[Jerry, one of the other pre-riders, later told me that if he had realized that Steve was calling a friend that lived in Sunset Beach to bail, he would have snatched the phone from Steve's hands. It was Steve first 600 & his first series attempt, so he was experiencing new things.]
One other pre-rider crashed out (with a broken ankle).
[I'm rather glad that happened during the pre-ride instead of the event proper.]
14 riders finished the 600 event proper.

Oh, we did have a couple interesting things happen Feb-28/Mar-01:
First, one of the volunteers, MikeD (current RUSA prez), got a call about 9:30 am on the 28th during which he learned that his son's house had burned down the night before. So much for carefully orchestrated volunteer assignments; Jerry and I worked out a modified plan on the fly.
Second, my award for toughest rando of the Winter Series, probably for toughest rando of the year, entire US, was/is JeffS, lantern rouge of the 600. He rode the entire 600 solo in not the nicest of weather. He told me after about 102-miles that he had done the course in 36-hours, but he was already worried about completing the ride within the time limit. I checked on Jeff at a couple of the controls, and at several intermediate points, encouraging him, kicking him back onto his bike, etc.. At one location, he noticed that he had several messages or texts from his wife and thought he should call -- I verified that his wife was his in-case-of-emergency-contact & told him to get back on his bike and ride, dammit, he needed every minute available to cover the final ~ 45 miles & I would call his wife. Jeff is a very nice guy; he has certain chronic back and leg issues, but he loves doing the rides; I had fast riders and others contact me during and after the event inquiring as to Jeff's progress / success.

One more word about Jeff: he was lantern rouge on each ride of his series & rode most of the series solo (he had some company the last 80-miles or so of his 300 & had company for much of his 400). That takes mental toughness.

LWaB

Last Saturday's 400 qualifier for PBP went well. After a few days cycletouring, the brevet started west of Athens and headed across the Corinth Canal for a rather hilly loop of the Peloponnese. Gorgeous views and quite a few long tough hairpinned 10% climbs and descents - total climbing was well north of 5500m. Dry and clear but temperatures stayed in single figures Centigrade throughout. Any Greek who qualifies with this brevet is well up for finishing PBP.

Ardo

Started the year as a randonneur-rookie, completed my first 200K in Anderlecht, near Brussels, quite hilly but met really friendly and nice people there.
A month later I did my second 200K in Ostend, lots of headwind and drizzling conditions, but again a really nice group of randonneurs. Yesterday I entered my first 300K, again in Ostend, all the way to Boulogne sur Mer. Completed it in 13hours so I'm really pleased with the results and progression so far.

rhm

Is anyone on this forum considering the Pinelands 300k April 25 (https://www.njrando.com/)? I'm tentatively planning on it, but haven't registered yet. Gonna wait and see what the weather forecast looks like before I commit myself.

unterhausen

I'm doing the fleche this weekend and Pa. Randonneurs 300k the next
I rode the NJ randos Catskill 600k a couple of years ago, and it was tough. Headwinds for 100-odd miles will have that effect.
I am always curious what the pinelands rides are like, but it's a bit too far for me to travel

RR3

I wanted to but have a prior commitment that weekend and am doing a 600k the week before but the Pinelands route will be really flat on fairly low traffic roads in the Pinelands. I suspect many of the controls will have volunteers to stamp your card (at a WaWa or other similar food stop) and offer water whereas most/many Brevets require convenience stores to stamp your card or you can use a receipt. There were about 70 riders on Saturday's NJ 200K. They kind of coddled the riders. I liked their preride report (similar high quality to the Eastern PA Preride report). Energy bars and water at manned controls. Pizza and drinks at the end. NJ Pinelands 300k will probably an easy one since there are no hills but the wind and weather could always be a little factor. Seems the RBA has a strategy of starting the year with easy Brevets to encourage new riders and then offering tougher 600K and 300K leading into Paris-Brest-Paris to give a more realistic challenge/preparation. Kind of makes sense.