Cracking the Perfect Ride Code
This is an article I wrote for the March 2021 edition of American Randonneur. It evolved from a piece about our club’s fall 200K that I wrote here. Enjoy, and […]
Enough
This is a piece I wrote for the December 2020 edition of American Randonneur. People have asked about reading it, so I’ve posted it here as well. It’s been slightly […]
Old Rag 200K Fall Edition: Time Sandwich
My. Feet. Are. So. Cold. Even though Felkerino and I waited to start the Old Rag 200K with the sun, it’s one of the first chilly mornings of fall. I […]
Escape into Fall: Northern Virginia Randonneurs 400K
Over the last couple of weeks, Fall has been trying to catch my eye. The tumble of a golden leaf, a surprise wave of red from a tree. These gestures […]
Ride Your Own Ride
Ask a randonneur what it takes to tackle a big brevet and you’ll get a million pieces of advice (at minimum!). Most of this wisdom can find a home under […]
N-1 Right Sizing Resulting from N+1
Years ago, I wrote about n+1, the silly philosophy that people should perpetually aspire for their bike stables to have one more bike. I called the piece The Truth and […]
Message in a Bottle: Stillness
Back in April, I wrote some initial thoughts about the pandemic and cycling in a column for American Randonneur – the quarterly newsletter of Randonneurs USA. Like sending a message […]
Tired is Not an Emergency
“Tired is not an emergency” reads the note on my D.C. Randonneurs cue sheet. “But please do let us know if you abandon.” Unlike club centuries or event rides, randonneuring […]
Digging Deep with D.C. Randonneurs: Kelly Smith
This year our local cycling club, the D.C. Randonneurs, added two new categories of recognition to its 2019 awards. The first of these was the Digging Deep award. Criteria for […]
PBP 2019 Ride Reports and Stories
Ride reports have been popping up all over since the conclusion of Paris-Brest-Paris (PBP) 2019. These stories come from various parts of the world, and I’ve been enjoying seeing the […]
Paris-Brest-Paris 2019: Sleep Stop Serenade
Paris-Brest-Paris (PBP), Day 3. Around 30 miles to reach Mortagne-au-Perche, and my watch says it’s close to midnight. Despite momentary jubilation over a math miscalculation where I thought we had […]
Journey to Paris-Brest-Paris
We wrapped up our final prep ride for Paris-Brest-Paris (PBP) with a 600K permanent and I went out to get a new haircut the next week. Our last big training […]
D.C. Randonneurs Shenandoah 600K: Out of My Comfort Zone
After last year’s 600K, where I showed up physically ready but mentally underprepared, I spent much of this year’s series of brevets assembling my 600K face. As I said in […]
The Answer to All My Questions: D.C. Randonneurs Northern Exposure 400K
The past couple of years have been oversaturated with persistent questions. What am I doing with my life? Where do we go when we die? Am I doing the “right” […]
D.C. Randonneurs Warrenton 300K Pre-Ride
Today features a guest post from D.C. Randonneur and brevet organizer Bob C., who we accompanied this past Saturday on the Warrenton 300K checkout ride. Bob’s summary encapsulates our day […]
