bicycling
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Favorite Bike Rides Near Washington, D.C.
Because Felkerino and I are frequently asked for ride recommendations around the area, I thought I’d put together a post of some of our favorite local routes. All start in the city and I’ve included rides of around 80 miles up to 200. Note: For any rides that include White’s Ferry, you will need to… Continue reading
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The Secret Society of Randonneuring: Kit ‘n Kish 600K Permanent
3:30 a.m. Felkerino and I quietly maneuver our eight-foot tandem out of the hotel room, and Felkerino muscles it into the elevator, hoisting the front half of the bike into an upper corner, since it is too long to naturally fit the space. Our cycling cleats tap purposefully on the floor as we exit through… Continue reading
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Abandoned Turnpikes and 300K Pipedreams
Long summer days mean it’s time to ride bikes. None of this put on a bunch of layers, gloves, and booties, and go ride bikes. No. It’s toss a rain jacket in, and let’s go frolic in our short sleeves. Don’t forget sunscreen. Felkerino, Eric P., and I settled on a plan to check out… Continue reading
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Shenandoah 600K: Ride With What You Have Inside
While in the midst of final preparations for the weekend’s Shenandoah 600K in Virginia, a friend asked me how I was feeling about the ride. I raised my eyebrows and said, “I’m ready for it to be over.” “You need your face!” she responded. Ah yes, I was so proud of dialing in my 400K… Continue reading
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D.C. Randonneurs 4 States 400K: Bring Your 400K Face
Want a successful 400K ride experience? Bring your 400K face to the ride and no other. After over a decade of randonneuring, some lessons have begun to sink in, and I’m finally figuring out what a good 400K face looks like. My 400K face is one that begins a ride full of a week of… Continue reading
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Mother of All 300Ks and the Passage of Time
Fourteen years ago I rode my first 300K brevet with the D.C. Randonneurs, and this weekend Felkerino and I were back on that very same course, now fondly titled the Mother of All 300Ks given the gnarly 13,600 feet of climbing in 189 miles. One of the first weekends to give a clear indicator that… Continue reading
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Winter Park to Boulder via Rollins Pass
Have you ever dated someone you knew in your heart wasn’t for you, but they had potential and you wanted it to work? A thrill coursed through you every time you looked at them. You tried hard. When you spent hours together it started out awesome, but as time passed you always ended up arguing,… Continue reading
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Kremmling to Winter Park
All of the tension has been pedaled out of my body. I’m so relaxed that I could ride more miles or just as easily take a nap. Right now I have my feet up and wonder if we can buy a recumbent tandem before tomorrow, it feels so good. Today’s ride from Kremmling to Winter… Continue reading
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Carbondale to Kremmling
Public Service Announcement: If you pedal at a 4.5 miles-per-hour pace near mosquitoes, be assured they will have their way with you. We spent today crawling along the rises between Carbondale, State Bridge, and Kremmling. Our ride was unlike the last couple of days, which have been a big up followed by a big descent… Continue reading
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Buena Vista to Carbondale
Runaway train never going back Wrong way on a one way track Seems like I should be getting somewhere Somehow I’m neither here nor there… –Soul Asylum Ever since we started pedaling from New Mexico, “Runaway Train” has lodged itself into my head and essentially become my 2017 bike tour theme song. This is a… Continue reading
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Gunnison to Buena Vista
I would have written you sooner, but I had to return the fire extinguisher to the hotel lobby. I borrowed it when my shoes became so hot that they burst into flames before our arrival in Buena Vista. Believe me, it surprised me too, especially after our relatively cool and comfortable climb up to 11,300… Continue reading
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Montrose to Gunnison
Greetings from Gunnison! We’re on a rest day, which I’m quite happy about. I wish you were here so we could go grab a gluten-free muffin and chat about life over kombucha. Perhaps you could also help me look for my bike tour legs, which seem to have fallen out of the Carradice somewhere. My… Continue reading
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Durango to Montrose
Guys, we are in Montrose and I just can’t believe this day! 115 miles point to point with three big summits: Coal Bank Pass, Molas Pass, and Red Mountain. And all over 10,500 feet. Fortunately for us, the final 40 miles of our day trended downhill or I’d still be out there riding. Today was… Continue reading
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Chama to Pagosa Springs
Update: the banana bread is gone and for a while today, so was my positive attitude. We planned for our ride from Chama to Pagosa Springs to be 50 miles. However, because of some gambles we made on exploring dirt roads – in hopes of avoiding the main highway – we ended up with almost… Continue reading
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Taos to Chama
We’re in Chama, and I still have a few bites of Saturday’s banana bread left for tomorrow. Go me! This was our longest day so far, at 98 miles. We crossed over two, anonymous peaks on our ride from Taos on US 64 – possibly a third if you count the false summit of the… Continue reading
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Santa Fe to Taos
After a moderate ascent leaving Santa Fe, our route tricked me with 10 miles of downhill swoop and flat. But after leaving the frontage road and entering the Pueblo of Pojoaque, the road began to twist as the terrain undulated beneath us. Soon after, we rode our first surprise gravel section of our tour, followed… Continue reading
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Albuquerque to Santa Fe, New Mexico
We’re back on tour, everybody! I spent the initial miles out of Albuquerque today feeling guilty about leaving work for vacation, but eventually I yet again realized that my employer is a bureaucracy, designed to continue happily along without me. I then resolved to check my bank balance periodically to make sure I remain on… Continue reading
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RUSA Member Profile: Michele Brougher, Great Lakes Randonneurs RBA
Tough as nails is the phrase that comes to mind as I reflect on my recent RUSA Member Profile of Michele Brougher of the Great Lakes Randonneurs. Michele is currently the RBA for the Great Lakes Randonneurs, and has spent much of the last two years recovering from a serious accident during Paris Brest Paris.… Continue reading
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RUSA Member Profile: Seattle’s Theo Roffe
This edition of RUSA Member Profiles turns to the Pacific Northwest for a conversation with Theo Roffe, active member of the Seattle International Randonneurs in Washington state (Yes, that Washington!). A randonneur since 2010, Theo talks about the appeal of the flèche, volunteering, and the ways randonneuring opens up the range of what we think possible. How… Continue reading
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RUSA Member Profile: Greg Olmstead of San Diego Randonneurs
In today’s RUSA Member Profile, we head to San Diego to talk with Greg Olmstead of the San Diego Randonneurs. Greg shares how he first became a randonneur, what it’s like to ride around San Diego, as well as his diligent pursuit of the American Explorer Award on his custom Zinn 74 cm (!!) randonneuring… Continue reading
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Randonneurs USA Profile: Jerry Phelps
A little over one year ago, I began interviewing Randonneurs USA (RUSA) members for American Randonneur, the quarterly RUSA newsletter. I have the pleasure of talking with members from clubs across the country who not only ride brevets, but are active in their local randonneuring scene and volunteer for randonneuring events. In order for these… Continue reading
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Made-Up Me: D.C. Randonneurs 600K
The uncertain arc of a ride as long as a 600K draws me to it. So many factors define the ultimate experience: fitness, weather, terrain, traffic, and the bike itself. Moments where I wonder why the heck I’m doing this are almost a given over such distance. Frustrating as these times are, it intrigues me… Continue reading
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Enjoying Every Mile on the D.C. Randonneurs 400K
Stopped at mile 110 of our 252-mile ride, someone asks us where we started.”Frederick, Maryland,” we respond. When asked where we’re going we again say, “Frederick,” and then pepper in a few additional details about our day’s route. “Will you camp along the way?” our dining neighbors inquire. “No,” we answer. “We’re doing the whole… Continue reading
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Once in a Blue Moon: 2017 D.C. Randonneurs Fleche
That Jerry Seager sure is a charmer. After swearing off the flèche for the rest of my days, Jerry’s keen routing skills and thirst for adventure convinced Felkerino and me to join him yet again for the 2017 edition of the D.C. Randonneurs flèche with Team Once in a Blue Moon. This year our team consisted of… Continue reading
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Making the Experience Yours: Randonneuring
A while back, I wrote a post called Randonneur- and Real-Life Spouse, which attempted to articulate my frustration about feelings of exclusion from a particular brevet experience (the #randbro adventure). This piece also discussed some of the demeaning comments we have received over the years from men who think that my willingness to stoke a tandem was my partner’s… Continue reading
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Sierra Cascades Day 11: Detroit to Portland
If I don’t write about this day, I can pretend we will ride on to the next destination. Our tour won’t have ended, D.C. won’t be calling me home. But our final day on the road is over. We are in Portland now, our journey from Sacramento to Portland complete, and Felkerino breaks down the… Continue reading
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Sierra Cascades Day 10: Bend to Detroit
Leaving Bend was a surprisingly subdued experience, once the city streets were behind us. We followed one of the Oregon Bikeways for the first 15 miles- the best cycling miles of the day. In retrospect, we should have figured out if there was an Oregon Bikeway long cut to the town of Sisters because once… Continue reading
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Sierra Cascades Day 9: Crescent Junction to Bend
The small towns in Oregon have been good to us. They manage to survive with decent to good lodging options, a convenience store, and often a nearby restaurant that opens early enough for bike touring breakfast and late enough for bike touring dinner. I’m grateful these towns hang on, unlike what you might find in… Continue reading
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Sierra Cascades Day 8: Prospect to Crater Lake to Crescent Junction
“Adventureland, where you can ride the Tornado, see a family show, and hear a rock and roll band!” During my childhood in Iowa, an amusement park called Adventureland was the summer go-to place for families, second only to the state fair. When we reached the rim of Crater Lake, and that old Adventureland jingle began… Continue reading
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Sierra Cascades Day 7: Ashland to Prospect
Summer, where did you go? We rose away from Ashland, following the cerulean patches between the clouds, sure that we would find you and ride some miles in your company. But all we found was springtime. Blue disappeared and clouds blocked the sunshine. Temperatures hovered in the mid-40s to high 50s, making for comfortable climbing… Continue reading
Chasing MailBoxes 