randonneuring
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Randonneur Q&A for Beginners
Over the past few months, people interested in dabbling in the randonneur lifestyle have asked me various questions about getting into randonneuring. After answering them, I thought I’d share some of my thoughts with you. Since I started doing brevets in 2005, I’ve realized that randonneurs vary widely in their approach to training and riding… Continue reading
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Five Things Friday: Randonneuring Edition
The D.C. Randonneurs have their annual meeting this Saturday, and they’ve also arranged a pre-meeting 106 KM Populaire out of Glen Echo, Maryland. Are you going? If so, perhaps I’ll see you there. The upcoming meeting got me thinking about some of the things I enjoy about randonneuring. I decided to list five of them… Continue reading
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Paris-Brest-Paris by Tandem
Have you heard enough about PBP yet? Well, hang on just a minute, because I’ve got one more story to share with you. Continue reading
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Rides for All Seasons
Or so it’s felt the last three days. From temperatures in the 60s, 40s, and today’s dip into the 30s with snow, it’s been quite the climate roller coaster here in the Mid Atlantic. Saturday – Last Train from Clarksville 201K Permanent Saturday’s too-good-to-be-true weather had anybody who ever pedaled out and about. Felkerino and… Continue reading
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More 2011 in Review: The Rides and the Photos
The past couple of years, I started photographing more of my rides. I like having the tangible memory of an outing. I’ve always written ride stories, but this year, I enjoyed capturing commutes, weekend touring rides, brevets, meetups with friends, and miscellaneous errand running. I spent a fair amount of time cycling in 2011, in… Continue reading
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2011 in Review: The Rides and Photos
January Our neck of the woods did not receive much snow this year, making January a rideable month. We did have below-average temperatures, though, so some rides were chilly. These two shots are from a sub-freezing sunny century Felkerino and I did in early January. My ankles felt so cold that I thought they could… Continue reading
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2011 in Review: All Rides Lead to Paris-Brest-Paris
Now that 2011 is coming to a close, I’ve been reflecting on the year, as many people do. For me, 2011 was all about Paris Brest Paris, not just because of the event itself, but also because of all the careful planning and diligent pedaling it took to get there. In early 2010, Felkerino and… Continue reading
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Bicycle Wayback Machine: My Second Year of Randonneuring
Chasing Mailboxes takes another trip in the wayback machine to 2006, my second year of randonneuring. I don’t even remember writing this one, but then again, randonneur Bob Casciato once told me that amnesia is one of the essential qualities of a good randonneur. It seems to be working for me. Hope you enjoy it! Continue reading
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The Randonneurs who Coffeeneur
Summer months can be intense for randonneurs. While the spring ACP Super Randonneur series’ have mostly been completed, summer is often when randonneurs take advantage of the long days and warm weather to ride their brains out. That could be through touring, more brevets, 1000K or 1200K rides, or other endurance rides. Coffeeneuring was born… Continue reading
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Bicycle Wayback Machine: Thoughts from a New Randonnneur and Long-Distance Cyclist
Recently, I was combing through some old ride reports and came upon a piece I had written from 2005, which was my first year of randonneuring. In it, I talked about my impressions of that first year of training and riding with Ed, the D.C. Randonneurs, and Chuck and Crista’s weekend century rides. Even though… Continue reading
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The Road Less Travelled 130K Populaire on the Rawland dSogn
Over the past weekend, Felkerino and I met up with fellow D.C. Randonneurs Chuck, Crista, and George to ride the recently approved Road Less Travelled Populaire. This ride, designed by George Moore, totals 130K/83 miles, with approximately 60 percent of featuring unpaved roads. It starts in Haymarket, Virginia, and takes a blend of back roads… Continue reading
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Weekend Roundup: Two Shorties, a 200K Brevet, and the D.C. Tweed Ride
If you were in the D.C. area over the weekend, you know that we had some choice cycling weather. A pinch brisk in the mornings, giving way to sun and warmth in the afternoon. Long-sleeve, no-jacket temperatures. With weather like this, who can stay inside? Not me. Continue reading
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Some Coffeeneuring and a Populaire
A big CONGRATULATIONS to all the people who completed the Coffeeneuring Challenge this weekend. Remember, you must e-mail me your submissions to gersemalina “at” gmail.com. Yes, even if I have been twitterspying on your adventures, you need to e-mail me your final submissions. Due date to send in your coffeeneuring trips is November 2. I… Continue reading
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My PBP 2011 Story: You Have to Go to Know
October, 2011 Pre-Ride Many people who start randonneuring already know about Paris-Brest-Paris (PBP), but when I joined RUSA in 2004, I only knew what a fleche was. I had no clue there were these events called brevets, a thing called a Super Randonneur series, or Grand Randonnees. After meeting my randonneur- and now real-life spouse,… Continue reading
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Rando Q&A with Rob Hawks on The Daily Randonneur
Hi, all. I’ve been doing a little work on that “other” blog, The Daily Randonneur. It’s Rando Q&A time again. About time, right? This week we feature Rob Hawks, the RBA of the San Francisco Randonneurs. Read all about it here and enjoy! Continue reading
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Post-PBP Funk and New Challenges
Felkerino and I spent the past year gearing up for Paris Brest Paris, and the ride was definitely one of the great highlights of my summer. Since PBP, Felkerino and I haven’t been doing much riding. We unpacked, put the bike back together, and tried to catch up on sleep and stuff at the office. Continue reading
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Paris-Brest-Paris Training
If you’ve been following this blog (or another fine blog I know called Chasing Mailboxes) you’ll know that PBP training is in high gear. Randonneurs across the country, including Felkerino and me, have been heading out regularly to put in miles for the main event. It’s been a fun summer of riding our brains out.… Continue reading
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D.C. Randonneurs 600K Brevet
Hi, everybody. I’m still trying to catch up on sleep from the excitement of the weekend, but I put together what I believe is a coherent summary of Felkerino’s and my 600K adventure. Find it over at The Daily Randonneur. Check out my photos here. Long story short, the ride was killer gorgeous and we’re… Continue reading
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D.C. Randonneurs: Frederick, Maryland 300K
Saturday was a beautiful day to be a randonneur, and today I am still riding the post-brevet high of this ride. The D.C. Randonneurs 300K out of Frederick, Maryland, is one of my favorite rides for a few reasons: Continue reading
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Bikes to Like: Bill B.’s Trek Madone SSLx
That’s right, people. It’s a double feature of Bikes to Like this week on Chasing Mailboxes. Today, I highlight Bill B.’s Trek Madone. Bill, the excellent RBA for the D.C. Randonneurs and our head photographer, has completed many MANY brevets on his Trek Madone. I was curious how he managed to make a randonneuring bike… Continue reading
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D.C. Randonneurs Old Rag 200K Brevet
I know Felkerino will be doing a roundup of this brevet on my favorite news source, The Daily Randonneur, but until he does, here’s a quick summary from the stoker. Continue reading
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D.C. Randonneurs 300K Brevet: The Contrary Mother
The D.C. Randonneurs “Contrary Mother” 300K is an epic knee-breaking excursion through the sawteeth of eastern West Virginia. Rather than regale you with a blow-by-blow of our day-into-night trip, I jotted down some of the brevet lessons I learned over our 192-mile journey. Pay no attention to the forecast. Just wear wool and hope for the… Continue reading
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D.C. Randonneurs Urbana 200K Brevet
I had a great time this Saturday, making my way 128 miles from Urbana, Maryland, around the Catoctins and South Mountain on the D.C. Randonneurs Urbana 200K (full route description here). Felkerino and I had not ridden a brevet since November so it was fun to carry a card around on an official event with… Continue reading
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Darts and Fleches and Things
This weekend was largely spent on the bike, as Felkerino and I embarked on a couple of back-to-back rides that took us far away from our housework. Saturday, we checked out part of our fleche route, pedaling from D.C. out and about to: Brunswick, Md.; Harpers Ferry and Shepherdstown, WV; Waynesboro, Guilford, and finally Gettysburg, Pa. We… Continue reading
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South Mountain X3 Populaire – 84 miles
This past weekend, Felkerino and I ventured out with friends to ride the South Mountain X3 Populaire, which was designed by Crista Borras. South Mountain X3 is an 84-mile ride that starts in Thurmont, Maryland, and takes you three different ways over – you’ll never guess- South Mountain. If you’re looking for a ride that… Continue reading
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Weekend Riding and Randonneur Hijinks
It was a fine weekend of riding for the MG/Felkerino household. We skipped the Saturday miles due to the crazy high winds beating up the Mid-Atlantic, but made the most out of Sunday and Monday. Felkerino wrote up a nice report of our weekend here. However, there were a couple of things his writeup did not… Continue reading
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What to like about the RUSA P-12
Randonneurs USA (RUSA) recently introduced a new domestic award called the P-12. To qualify for this award a person must ride a sub-200km randonneuring event for 12 consecutive months. You cannot qualify with an event that is longer than 200km. This award is modeled after the popular R-12, where riders must complete an event that is… Continue reading
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Raceyatarocco’s Populaire
Joel and Chuck Originally uploaded by Gersemalina What an awesome day in the Mid-Atlantic! Felkerino and I decided to take full advantage by riding a 102.8-mile populaire out of Frederick, Maryland. Our ride was an out-and-back course that took us on fairly gentle terrain through Frederick County and into Adams County, Pennsylvania. That means… Continue reading
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2nd Annual TDR Rando Photo Contest
Brrr! Did you get outside this weekend? If so, extra credit. It was not that nice out there! This week, it’s all happening on The Daily Randonneur as we reveal the winners of our 2nd Annual TDR Rando Photo Contest. Check it out. I think you’ll like it. Continue reading
Chasing MailBoxes 