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So You’re Interested in Randonneuring?

03.01.2012 by Ray Niekamp // 7 Comments

I woke up this morning to find a record number of page views of this blog on Wednesday. This surprised me, because I didn’t think the post — about two randonneuring-oriented websites — was one of my better ones. Apparently, a lot of Bike Noob readers are poking around, trying to find out more about randonneuring, or maybe just bike rides of longer distances.

Jan Heine, a member of the Seattle International Randonneurs and editor of Bicycle Quarterly magazine.

Actually, information about randonneuring — in which cyclists must ride a prescribed distance within a certain time frame — is very easy to find online. Start with Randonneuring USA, the governing body of randonneuring in this country. Its website has links to randonneuring (or “rando”) clubs all over the country, so you can see if there are any groups of like-minded folks in your neck of the woods.

It’s interesting to note that randonneuring is gaining in popuarity but that increased interest is not spread equally throughout the country. There seem to be pockets where interest runs high, and a potential rider can find lots of choices for brevets, permanents, or populaires. For my money, the most informative rando website is the BC Randonneurs in British Columbia. It’s got scads of info about their upcoming rides, results and ride reports from completed brevets, an extensive results page for permanents, often with reports and photos. Close by on this side of the border, the Seattle International Randonneurs are a very active group as well, and their website is almost as informative as their BC cousins.

Randonneurs seem to be avid chroniclers of their rides, judging by the number of rando blogs that are easily found. Try checking out some from the plethora of blogs linked here.

I enjoy reading rando blogs — I’m a “lurker,” because I haven’t actually ridden any brevets yet — and I have found several that I won’t miss. They’re either very well written, or very informative, or both. My favorite is “Chasing Mailboxes” by a member of the DC Randonneurs in our nation’s capital. It just so happens that she wrote an excellent guide to randonneuring just a couple of days ago. Take a look and see what the sport is all about.

I’m still not convinced that randonneuring is in my future, although I will be making an effort to do more longer rides, starting this weekend. Since Sunday is my birthday, I figure I have to ride my age, so I’m looking at something in the neighborhood of four hours (I’ll withhold the actual distance until Sunday evening’s post). Wish me luck.

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Categories // Odds 'n ends Tags // long distance, randonneuring

Comments

  1. Tim says

    March 2, 2012 at 12:30 am

    happy birthday to you

    and you should so do randonneuring…just ignore the whispers and odd looks from friends and family

    Reply
  2. Richard W says

    March 2, 2012 at 5:57 am

    I enjoy your blog – the draw for me yesterday was the Peter White Cycles link and reference to bike fitting. Is a great reference IMO, as it finally explains in real terms how the rest of us can be more comfortable on our road bicycles without dropping a load of cash for a one-time fitting from someone who doesn’t know anything about us. Thanks for linking it!

    Reply
  3. bgddyjim says

    March 2, 2012 at 8:23 am

    Rando looks like a ton of fun, but they really have to do something about the bikes and bags to cool them up a little bit. Woof!

    Reply
  4. Dean says

    March 2, 2012 at 8:40 am

    A lot of the hits may have been mine. I’m a cycling “noob” and I’ve been reading through the archives. It’s been interesting reading. And I’ve learned a LOT!

    Reply
  5. M says

    March 2, 2012 at 9:29 am

    Happy birthday, Ray! Have you been reading over my shoulder? Take a look here http://www.rusa.org/nletter.html scroll down to Vol. 13, Issue No. 1, February 2010, page 34 and read “11.Randonneuring: Achievable Hobby.” This man is my hero!!!

    Hey, bgddyjim, as far as the bikes and bags go, it is all in the eyes of the beholder!!! After you see the whys and wherefores, the beauty of the designs and functions all seem to merge… Honest!

    Reply
    • Mel Hughes says

      March 2, 2012 at 9:30 am

      That should have been Mel Hughes, not M… bad fingers…

      Reply

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