Ready to Ruck

I did a search. I only came up with products that name themselves after randonneur stuff. After reading the Kogswell thread I looked into randonneurs and lo and behold there are some rides coming up that I think I'm going to participate in.
Has anybody else here done these before on a fixed gear?

el twe

You mean like a charity ride? Or a full on tour?

zerobug

The whole thing with randonneuring is... you spend a LONG time in the saddle and for me I feel just that much more beat up after riding just a century on my track bike versus my road bike. While coasting may be overrated in the short term when you're half way into a 300 or 400km brevet, I would imagine standing and coasting for a while is a much welcomed rest for your body.

Ready to Ruck

Yeah I'm pretty sure I'd like to ride a road bike the more I think of it. I was curious if anyone has done it fixed and also what it's like to ride with others on such an informal but organized ride. It's got checkpoints and no specific course. It's like the longest alleycat ever! haha

BostonFixed

I'm pretty sure randonneuring, by definition excludes both of these.



But yea, I thought about doing some brevet events fixed, but I missed the 200k earlier this season, and jumping into a 400k, basically cold, and fixed doesn't sound like that good of an idea, even to a dumb ass like me. I sould probably get pretty good at doing 100k and 100mi fixed before I should try to hop into a 200k or 400k fixed brevet.

I'll probably ride it fixed, because I don't own a suitable geared bike yet, and I'm too stupid to know better. I toured last year fixed, so it shouldn't be that bad.

Although there is a 400k on saturday....hmm..

el twe

I wouldn't be surprised. I was just under the impression that randonneuring was a transportation (ie touring) ride, but the OP seemed to mention an organized longish ride, so I assumed charity.

BostonFixed

Here's sheldon's definition:

https://sheldonbrown.com/gloss_ra-e.html#randonnee

Basically: Long, semi-organized ride, but not a race. I bet that charity rides came from randone events.

chzman

i did back to back 105 mile days on the fixed gear two weeks ago... and i was lusting for just 60 seconds of coasting

it would take quite the animal to do 300 and 400k brevets fixed!

dmg

It has been done. I recently did a 200K brevet with a freewheel and was pretty happy for the opportunities to coast, but otherwise was as fast as those with gears. I would think it wouldn't make that much difference if it's mostly flat.

Eatadonut

Man, there are some steel-balled people out there doing the 508 (that's miles, not km) fixed every year. And that IS a race. AND there's rules against taking your feet out of the pedals while moving, so no "fixed coasting".

So I'd say a randonnee is doable.

stuckey

Here is a link... https://www.ultracycling.com/about/obrien_profile.html
The Circle A I am waiting to get built will most likely be a fixed gear randonneuring frame based on old Rene Herse geometry. For some reason the idea of gears just seems silly.

pitboss

oytie did something like this???

freddiesan

Two guys (one was Boe here on BFSSFG) participated in a 200k Randonneur race on fixed gear here in Sweden. A few conservative roadie guys didn't like it and wanted them disqualified becuase of their missing brakes. In the end their fixed entry in the race was accepted and recorded but no more fixed riders are welcome in the other randonneur races here in Sweden.

Boe

freddiesan, we would be welcome back if we rocked some brakes on our randonneur rigs.

200k was nice. Riding with gearies is not so cool though, kind of unmatched going up/down a hill...

silversmith

Randonneuring fixed = Icefishing Naked

jfmckenna

So I guess Randonneuring is just an endurance torture fest then? I don't know if I'd even want to ride 400K on a motor cycle nevermind a fixed gear. But when I do go for long fixed gear rides, usually 50 miles tops, I will some times unclip on the shallow down hills and put my feet on the rear wheel nuts or DT shifter mounts and relax a bit.

eyefloater

If you have time to change your gearing a bit, maybe think about that (if you're geared high right now). I've found that 70-74 gear inches is good. Spin for all you're worth on downhills, sprint the short uphills and good luck on the long climbs. Your ass will be in serious pain after that distance, so maybe it's time to be absolutely certain your position on the bike is ideal and invest in some chamois cream (aka: ass butter). Ya, ass butter. I know, but it works (cue Last Tango in Paris image).

LWaB

You don't have to be too tough to do randonees on fixed. I did a 400km last weekend and a 300 the fortnight before, both on fixed.

American Kent Peterson https://www.63xc.com/kentp/kentrand.htm and Brit Phil Chadwick https://www.fixed.org.uk/ do lots of fixed brevets. There are plenty of others. Audax UK even have a couple of awards purely for fixed riders https://www.audax.uk.net/fwc/index.htm

mrRed

Randonneuring fixed = No Ended Grin, A Fix Run.

Angrams!

Ready to Ruck

That's cool. I read up on the rules and apparently the only rules I could find dealt with visibility at night and that the vehicle must be human powered. Pretty broad rules.

Oh and eyefloater, I'll be doing this around Houston which has no hills. I figure it will be a welcome relief considering I live in the Texas hill country right now. I do push 80gear inches though so I'd most likely want to tone it down just because of the distance.

drbianchi

I read the Kent Patterson 400K story a few days ago. Amazing ride, especially if you are familiar with the area. Me, I'm lucky to make it to work and back, but then again, my IRO was delivered on Monday.

Machka 

Randonneuring, the definition:
https://www.machka.net/rand.htm
(complete with links to events etc.)

Just to confirm ... Randonneuring is NOT touring. Randonneuring is NOT a charity ride. Randonneuring is NOT just any long ride. Randonneuring is also NOT racing because everyone who finishes within the time limit "wins".

It is a sport sanctioned by a couple of groups out of France (ACP and BRM) and is basically long distance riding on a specific course, for specific distances, over a specific length of time for each distance. You can read more about it on the website I posted above.


As for doing brevets and randonnees on a fixed gear ... I have not done that, but a good friend of mine has. He's done everything from little 100 km populaires to the full 1400 km LEL. You might want to especially check out the Audax UK link ... the English tend to do their audax events (brevets and randonnees) on unusual pieces of equipment such as fixed gear bicycles.

max-a-mill

i did philly to pittsburgh in 3 days a month or so back with a guy who was riding fixed. he kicked my @ss and was ahead for most of the ride (except the really big DH's).

we did 3 days of 190-100-110 miles. so it is definitely possible. it was pretty freakin hilly too!

but i rode singlespeed and was really happy to be able to coast, especially on the big downs.

jeremywhitehorn

randonneuring on a fixed is quite possible. i've done a 200 on a fixed and ride with guys who do all manner of rando distances on fixies. the benefit of doing rando rides on a fixed is less possibility of mechanical troubles. because some of those rides leave you out in the sticks at all hours, you don't want to be condending with any of the problems shifting bikes offer. and no, riding a brevet is not like riding a century, or a tour, it is more like rally car racing on a bike. except it's not a race. check out my local clubs website (there are a few members who ride fixed on brevets; besides that there are articles on randonneuring to get you aquainted) or the RUSA website for you americans.

oytie

Yes, a 200k at 49x17. The distance wasn't so much of a problem as the hilly terrain (and the rain and 25+mph headwind). If you can scope the course out ahead of time, at least the general topography, and select your gear ratio appropriately (maybe even use a fix/fix hub) undulating terrain should not be too much of a menace. But reconnaissance takes a little excitement out of the experience. I also did this with a messenger bag, which I plan on leaving at home next time. Personally, for 400k and over I'd be strongly inclined to using gears, as the sense of accomplishment of doing distance fixed seems to diminish in direct proportion to the aggravation of doing distance fixed.