Hard to believe that last week at this time I was still riding my bike through the French countryside on Paris Brest Paris. Where does the time go, ha! Finally, after a canceled flight to Dulles that required a re-route and a mighty drive from Boston (in a tropical storm, […]
After months of prep, PBP 2011 is now in the books and so are Felkerino and me, successfully completing the adventure in about 81.5 hours.
80 and 90 hour riders began to a warm and sunny send-off. The energy from the riders and the event enveloped this suburban town. Festive, excited, nervous, twitching with anticipation… The start was amazing. I have never seen an international cycling event like this. Unforgettable! One of the riders told […]
Today was our day for the 84-hour bike inspection and it went just the way we like it… uneventfully. We’re now checked in and ready to roll tomorrow morning. The gymnasium was much more low key this morning, in part because we went early and also because all the 80- […]
Excitement is reaching a fever pitch here, as the 90- and 80-hour riders gathered up their bikes, vests, and lights for official inspection. Felkerino and I went over to be part of the action, even though we inspect tomorrow. Check-in was teeming with randonneurs. How cool this event is, attracting […]
Another sublime day on the bike. Today Felkerino planned a group ride to Chartres, a 77 mile round trip over gentle rolling terrain. Our outing included randonneurs from D.C, Seattle, New Jersey, Tennessee, and Chicago. It was another great day to be a bike rider and I am still just […]
Today Felkerino and I went out to test our bike assembly and turn a bolt or two. Our test ride took us out of the Paris suburbs and through the Rambouillet Forest to the town of Rambouillet, about a 20-mile ride from our hotel one way. Having never been to […]
A big first day, spent jet-lagged and with the main activity being bile assembly. Felkerino and I also had a great time talking with randonneur friends old and new. Here is a quick summary of the day in pics.
Wow, the weeks are flying by, and it’s time for Felkerino and me to get off our bikes, take our hands off the keyboards, and pack pack pack for Paris-Brest-Paris. First, though, a quick five things Friday to reflect on life of late. Thanks to everybody who helped Felkerino and […]
Washington, D.C., is an exciting city for bike commuters. Every day we get to navigate our way through cars, potholes, pedestrians, and tourists(who are often also pedestrians). That sounds like lots of other big cities, I suppose. But in Washington, D.C., another aspect distinguishes our commute. Motorcades!
This week I’m featuring a PBP-bound bicycle, Gary’s Independent. This bike gets in a lot of long rides with Gary, as he is fond of keeping an active brevet and permanents schedule. Gary seems to really enjoy the ride of his Independent and he makes sure it gets lots of […]
This weekend Felkerino and I met up with our friend Alec for a final ride on the tandem before the big trip to Paris. For a nice change of pace, the day started out sunny with temps in the 80s. It was a well-timed reward for all the hot long […]
Last year I watched as Lowell and Cheri completed a Super Randonneur series on their beautiful Santana tandem. It was pretty cool to see, as Cheri had recently started randonneuring, and not only completed an SR series, but went on to complete an R-12, too! Their Santana always looks so […]
With Paris-Brest-Paris quickly approaching and the bulk of our training in the books, I decided to reward myself with a new cycling cap. Where did I turn for the perfect cap? Why, Little Package, of course! I learned about Little Package via one of my cycling friends. After seeing his […]
Recently I went to the Randonneurs USA (RUSA) website to take a peek at the most recent membership information. According to their data, RUSA currently has 2,848 active members. To my mind, 2,848 is not a large membership given our nation’s current population. Also, the number of women compared to […]
