Randonneuring
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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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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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Real Life Lessons From Randonneuring
I started randonneuring because I wanted to see what the distances beyond 100 miles held for me. I hoped randonneuring would make me fitter and stronger, and help me see new places. What I did not realize, though, is that randonneuring was stealthily strengthening me in other ways, too. Over the past two years, other life… Continue reading
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Beyond Fun: D.C. Randonneurs Frederick, Maryland 300K
As I set out my gear for Saturday’s 300K, I noticed the 2015 cue sheet for the same ride still in my bag. One year later, back again. For a while Friday evening and into the next day, I wondered yet again why I thought of randonneuring as a worthy pursuit. Early ups, questionable weather… Continue reading
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RUSA Member Profile: Bill Beck of D.C. Randonneurs
While some of you may already have read this feature in the most recent issue of American Randonneur, I like to repost pieces I do so that those who may not subscribe to the newsletter or who prefer to read it in a blog format may do so. I hope you enjoy. I’m rolling out a… Continue reading
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Randonneur- and Real-Life Spouse
As one of a small group of women who likes to ride long distances, I’m often exposed to conversations about “the wife.” I almost hate to write “the wife,” since I feel so strongly about it, but I’m writing what I hear and there you are. Sometimes “the wife” is referred to in other ways,… Continue reading
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Out of My Gordonsville: D.C. Randonneurs 300K
For the second year in a row, Felkerino and I couldn’t get our acts together to fit in a 200K, so we began our brevet season with this weekend’s D.C. Randonneurs 300K out of Warrenton, Virginia. Continue reading
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Dedicated to the Cause: Calista’s Road to PBP 2015
I recently had the pleasure of talking with D.C. Randonneurs and RUSA member, Calista Phillips, who had a great year on the bike. Some of you may have already seen this feature in the latest edition of American Randonneur, but I present it again in full here. In 2015, Calista completed three 1200Ks (including PBP), and… Continue reading
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D.C. Randonneurs 2016 Flèche: The Only Way Out Is Through
Thanks Felkerino, MG, Jose, Steve and Kip for the ride. I sure enjoyed all those gravel roads and the 20 percent hills and the hail and snow squalls and the crazy wind situation and all the tree debris littering the roads and trails the whole night and the cold and the moaning and drama and the… Continue reading
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The Road to the Flèche: Team If We Lived Here…
One of the many motivators behind Felkerino’s and my increased riding miles in the early months of this year was our decision to take part in the D.C. Randonneurs flèche, which kicks off this coming weekend (April 1). The flèche is a rules-laden team event, many of which make no sense to me, but that I follow anyway… Continue reading
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Nick’s 2015 Paris-Brest-Paris: Had We But World Enough and Time
We’re heading into the spring riding season, and as we do the dreams of big rides take shape. To help stoke the flames of our big ride plans, I’m featuring friend and fellow D.C. Randonneur Nick Bull’s PBP story, “Had We But World Enough and Time.” Nick’s story gives the reader an inside look at PBP,… Continue reading
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Riding in Search of Brevet Legs
In an attempt to avoid gutting it out like it seemed we too often did on many of last year’s brevets, Felkerino and I have been taking advantage of snow-free roads to build our endurance for the upcoming randonneuring events. While it gave me confidence to know that Felkerino and I had the experience to successfully complete brevets on less-than-ideal… Continue reading
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Strava For the Unracer (and Randonneur)
As I recently wrote, I began using Strava this year as part of the Freezing Saddles challenge. So far, I have really enjoyed using it as a training log. I know Strava can do more than serve as a virtual log and space for kudos (although I will never tire of kudos!), but those other features… Continue reading
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Bon Courage: Theresa’s 2015 Paris-Brest-Paris
Sometimes when conditions conspire to limit my ability to be outdoors, I turn to the stories of rides gone by for inspiration. Today I’m honored to post one such story, Theresa Furnari’s 2015 recount of riding Paris-Brest-Paris (PBP). As I read “Bon Courage,” I remember the dedication and tenacity one needs to take on a ride like PBP,… Continue reading
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Friends Don’t Let Friends Sit on the Couch: Horsing Around Sugarloaf 200K
Lately I’ve had the uncomfortable sensation that my life is on top of me, its everyday demands pushing me into the cushions, reducing me to a sedentary state. It hasn’t felt good. Continue reading
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John and Lynne
When I began riding bikes with the D.C. Randonneurs, I didn’t imagine the significant role this activity, as well as the people involved in it, would have on my life. But the randonneuring community is small and the rides are long. Preparation for events leads to pick-up rides through the countryside with other randonneurs. Continue reading
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From Randonneur Rookie to PBP 2015: An Interview with Eric Williams
This brevet season Felkerino and I had the great pleasure of getting to know Eric Williams, member of #BikeDC and the D.C. Randonneurs. In Eric’s first year of randonneuring, he completed a Super Randonneur series, a 1000K brevet, and Paris-Brest-Paris (PBP). And he just keeps on riding. He has the rando fever! Continue reading
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Training for Randonneuring Rides on a Tandem
Those of you who receive American Randonneur– a quarterly publication of Randonneurs USA– may find this article about randonneuring tandem basics familiar, as it is a piece that was recently published in the Summer edition. I’m reprinting it here. Thanks to Mike Wali for the pics in this piece. Continue reading
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Eat If It Looks Good? Not So Fast: Fueling on Brevets
This year, I began to be more deliberate about how I eat during brevets, especially the 400K and 600K distances. I’m not the best eater nor am I a nutrition expert, but I have ridden a fair number of long rides up to 1200K distances employing both good and regrettable fueling strategies over the years. Experience has been a fine teacher. Continue reading
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Finding Your Randonneur Superpower
When you begin to dabble in the randonneuring arts, you may have an inkling of what your cycling strengths are. You may develop additional skills for riding long-distance. However, it is only through doing brevets over time that your randonneur superpower will reveal itself to you. Continue reading
Chasing MailBoxes 