bicycling
-
Writing Your Way to the Ride You Want
Throughout my time randonneuring, I have gone through different phases. My primary goal during my first series of riding brevets was to finish within the time limits. This was also a time of intense learning about fueling and fitness, melding as a tandem team with Felkerino, as well as getting to know the randonneuring community. After starting this blog in… Continue reading
-
Randonneur Crazy People
How many miles does one have to ride to meet the minimum crazy threshold? Has anyone figured it out? Continue reading
-
In Pursuit of Bliss
If you ever decide to dabble in the randonneuring arts, it’s likely going to be of benefit for you to work on your patience. In randonneuring, all parts of the ride unfold in their own time. No matter how furiously you pedal, the top of the climb will be reached when the road resolves to… Continue reading
-
We Interrupt This Brevet for …
Sometimes when riding my bike, I feel like I’m inside a video game that’s throwing all manner of obstacles my way, and I have to react and deal with them in order to move on to the next level. Last weekend’s 600K had a fair number of these– enough that I began to take notice.… Continue reading
-
Don’t Look Back, Keep Your Eyes on the Road: 2014 Super Randonneur Series
After a year away from the 400K and 600K brevets, 2014 has been a year of re-learning the brevet ropes. Unfortunately for me, this process has also had me on the ropes at various times throughout the spring rides. I’m happy to say it’s all done and behind me. Felkerino and I got out there, did the work,… Continue reading
-
The Last Ride of My First Super Randonneur Series: A Hilly and Hot 600K Brevet
In an effort to put all my old ride reports either on this blog or The Daily Randonneur, you’ll notice that I’m sharing a few “vintage” pieces. This one is the story of my first 600K experience from 2005, and is also the first story I ever wrote about randonneuring. I never intended to become… Continue reading
-
Figuring Out the 400K Brevet
After rolling into the finish of the D.C. Randonneurs Northern Exposure 400K, I heard myself enthusiastically discuss our ride and revel in the adventure shared by Felkerino, Matt, and me over the last 20 hours and change of riding. Incredible valley vistas and invigorating climbs! The cutest dog chasing us! A sublime night ride! Clouds… Continue reading
-
The Gray Ghosts Riders – Flèche April 15-16, 2006
Today I was reading through some of my pre-blog randonneuring rides and came upon this story of the Gray Ghost Riders flèche from 2006. It was my second flèche, and one of my favorites. Given that our club, the D.C. Randonneurs, just ran its 2014 flèche over the weekend, I thought this an ideal time… Continue reading
-
Devil’s Daughter 210K Permanent
The emerging warmth and green of spring days tempt us. Long days at the office interrupted by relatively brief spates of outdoor time urge us to spend weekends actively exploring. This weekend Felkerino and I joined bicycling friends Andrea and Jerry to revisit the Devil’s Daughter 210K permanent, a ride carefully crafted by RUSA permanista Crista… Continue reading
-
Pure Bliss: D.C. Randonneurs 300K
The ride begins with warmth in the air. After a couple hours of darkness, the sun rises and bounces down the road with us. It must sense that we’re in for a 190-mile day of play. Continue reading
-
Why Ride Brevets?
Randonneuring requires a certain level of commitment (no, not that kind of commitment). Early rises, car rides, bike maintenance and tuning, convenience store dining, and long days and even evenings in the saddle are all part of the randonneur lifestyle. Given that most of us do not have unlimited leisure time, what is it about the… Continue reading
-
Old Rag 200K Permanent: Hills, Vistas, and Math Word Problems
This weekend Felkerino and I hightailed it out of the city to escape the crowds that have descended on Washington, D.C., and arranged to do the lovely Old Rag 200K out of Warrenton, Virginia, with bicycling buddies Andrea and Mike. Continue reading
-
Lessons Learned From My First Tandem Bicycle Tour
This week I had the opportunity to reflect on my very first tandem bike tour with Felkerino, an eight-day, 775-mile excursion from Rockville, Maryland, to Niagara Falls. I wrote about our 2005 tour experience on The Bicycle Story (an excellent blog, and not just because I have a guest post on it). You can see… Continue reading
-
D.C. Randonneurs Wilderness Campaign 200K Brevet
A summary by the miles of the D.C. Randonneurs Wilderness Campaign ACP 200K Brevet. Continue reading
-
Repast at Rocco’s 200K Permanent: A Winter Ride that Felt Like Spring
With temperatures taking an unusual leap into the 50s this weekend, Felkerino and I committed to our first 200K distance of 2014, meeting up with a few others in Urbana, Maryland, on Saturday for the Repast at Rocco’s RUSA permanent. Continue reading
-
On Writing & Riding: Kent’s Bike Blog
If you read blogs about bicycling, it is quite likely that you know of Kent’s Bike Blog. Kent is based in Issaquah, Washington, and his was one of the first blogs I turned to when I first became interested in long-distance riding. I wanted to read others’ stories of long rides and learn from their… Continue reading
-
PBP Memories: Drew Buck and his 1900 Peugeot
This week BBC News ran a feature about Drew Buck, a long-distance cyclist from Somerset, England, who is famous in the randonneuring community for completing Paris-Brest-Paris (PBP) multiple times on vintage bicycles. The article prompted me to search through my own set of photos from the 2011 edition of PBP, and I realized that Felkerino… Continue reading
-
Harvest Time and 200K Brevets
Growing up in rural Iowa, the harvest was always an intense and busy time. Tractors constantly moved through the fields, and it was not unusual to catch sight of the lights of a tractor shining over the dirt clouds raised up by someone working into darkness. Kids missed school to help their families. Crops had… Continue reading
-
Tara and Simon’s RAGBRAI Part 4 of 4: Unexpected Joys, Lessons Learned, and a Look Ahead
What better way to spend a Friday than spending a few minutes with Tara and Simon as they wrap up their RAGBRAI trip. Read on to find out the unexpected joys they encountered, lessons they learned through the week, and their pondering of the question– would we do it again? Continue reading
-
Tara and Simon’s RAGBRAI Part 3 of 4: Other Riders and Unexpected Challenges
RAGBRAI is a sprawling event with more than 10,000 riders criss-crossing the state of Iowa over seven consecutive days of riding. Today’s post features Tara’s observations about some of the other RAGBRAI riders as well as unexpected issues that Simon and she confronted. Continue reading
-
Tara and Simon’s RAGBRAI Part 2 of 4: The Ride
What is it like to be a rider on RAGBRAI, the largest cross-state bike ride in the country? Tara takes us there with her vivid recount. The Ride Continue reading
-
From the Captain’s Perspective: Our Colorado Tandem Tour
This week it’s all happening on The Daily Randonneur. Felkerino breaks down our recent Colorado tour by day and also discusses how our tour took shape. He includes links to our GPS files that show the routes we followed each day. I know some of you had asked about the exact location and routes, and you… Continue reading
-
Seeing Changes
Instead of riding brevets and doing a 1000K or a 1200K this year, Felkerino and I focused on a weeklong Colorado bike tour, which included two days of riding around Boulder and a seven-day loop rich with hills and mountains. (Felkerino is writing a post of our routes and the gear we took over at… Continue reading
-
Final Day: Oh My God Road and a Rainstorm
We were loathe for our scenic week in Colorado to be at an end, so when we met a cyclist at the top of Loveland Pass who recommended we route back via Oh My God Road rather than suburban roads we were intrigued and routed our 72-mile return from Georgetown to Boulder accordingly. Continue reading
-
Fremont and Loveland Passes: From 58 Miles Per Hour to Carnivorous Flies
Rain falls steadily in Georgetown, Colorado, as I write. It feels lovely to be clean and dry in a hotel room after a sweaty warm day of 71 miles out in the sun. After a tasty coffee in Leadville, Felkerino and I warmed up the legs with a steady climb up Fremont Pass, which tops… Continue reading
-
100 Miles: Cottonwood Pass to Leadville
Yesterday’s ride was an excellent reminder that not all centuries are created equal. It was also the first day where I settled into “tour mode,” where I did not worry about the miles or how often we stopped. I was just in the present moment. Continue reading
-
Kebler Pass: 10,000 Feet High with Neil Diamond
I loved listening to Neil Diamond when I was little. My parents owned Tap Root Manuscript, which I was pretty certain was a kid’s album. In early elementary school my musical tastes changed and that Neil Diamond album began to collect dust. This morning I had the chance to make up for decades of not… Continue reading
-
This Bike Fueled by Eggs and Espresso: McClure Pass
I’m glad I wrote those sentimental notes about how wonderful tandeming with my partner can be, as I had to remind myself of them this morning. I woke up famished with only the thought of scrambled eggs and breakfast in my mind. Felkerino, on the other hand, awakened to an equally powerful urge for espresso.… Continue reading
-
When the Ride is the Destination: Following the Colorado River
At its core, today’s ride was a 90-mile tour of several roads flanking the Colorado River in the hills between Kremmling and Glenwood Springs. Continue reading
Chasing MailBoxes 