Paul Bacho, RUSA# 472, passed away on Christmas Eve. Paul rode brevets with Central Florida Randonneurs for many years as part of the Ohio horde seeking refuge from long, cold, wet, dark winter days.

I first met Paul soon after he completed his Paris-Beijing tour in connection with the 2008 Olympics. What an amazing adventure! What an amazing guy! Sometime around then I found out that he — in a tie with two others — held the American record for participation in Paris-Brest-Paris. I recall riding with him a bit on one PBP (it might have been 2011? 2015? I can’t recall…). And I distinctly recall chatting with him in line (a wet, cold, and muddy line at a foul-smelling sheepfold) to check-in for the 2019 PBP.

Paul was a memorable guy because he was always smiling, happy, excited, interesting…. He was living life to the fullest, all the time, even when things kind of sucked. I remember on one difficult, hilly, and hot 400K (Route 555, for those who know), Paul was pulled off the roadside, having a rest and cooling off, just a mile short of the lunch control. I was really concerned — who stops a mile short of the control? A guy who really knows what he’s doing and knows his limits, that’s who. And a guy who was dedicated not only to getting the job done, but to having fun, too, and keeping things civilized while still having a grand adventure. That was Paul.

Sad news of Paul’s passing brought further revelations about him, about which I had no idea: Wine making? Lived in a log cabin? Carpenter? Trainer for a pro ball team? Marathoner? Diver? What an amazing guy!

Paul, we’ll miss your adventurous spirit, your good nature, your kindness, and your healing presence. Ride on, into the next great adventure!

All–

Audax Kansas City (Spencer Klasseen) is hosting the first-ever UAF-sanctioned audax 600K held in the United States on May 24-25, 2025. This is Memorial Day weekend, which may make travel easier for some. More info on the ride and an “interested riders” sign-up can be found here. Audax is a common-pace (22.5 km/h) group randonnee that is truly a civilized form of randonneuring. Ride together, eat together, rest together, finish together. It’s the best of randonneuring camaraderie. Several Central Florida audax alumni will be among those attending and we hope that you can make it, too! Questions? Holler at me.

Paul

We’ll organize a full ACP brevet series in 2025 and a few other events, too. Here’s what’s currently on tap:

ACP Brevets
300km — January 18, 2025
200km — January 19, 2025
400km — March 1, 2025
600km — April 26, 2025

Other Brevets
13th Annual San An 100km — June 7, 2025
Up! All Night San An 200km — July 18, 2025 (Friday, 8pm start)
What About UAF Audax brevets?  TBD. Stay tuned.

The 400km will start and finish in Dunnellon and be run on the Dunnellon-St. Augustine route that was the first day of the 2024 Cracker Swamp 1200. The 600K is out of Tavares and is Tavares Pine Island followed by Tavares-Flagler Beach. Registrations and information for all brevets are posted under the Events tab or by clicking the links above.

All–

Our French overlords — the ACP — have decreed that intermediate control times are . . . no longer a thing. The control itself IS still a thing–you’ve still got to verify passage through every control, including the intermediate ones without exception–but with this change you’re now allowed to arrive and depart intermediate controls (meaning, not the start and not the finish but every other control point on the route) whenever you want.

This really isn’t relevant to us. In 13 seasons of being an RBA hosting over 1000 riders on brevets in those years, I have never had a rider “out of time” at any control, including the finish control (one rider came within two or three minutes and several have been within 10 minutes, but I’ve never had an HD/ DNQ rider). I’ve also never had a rider (other than someone in a velomobile on the 2016 Cracker Swamp) able to “ride ahead” of a control opening time, even to the first control (one of you came within 4 minutes once, which was impressive). So, while there won’t be opening and closing times enforced for intermediate controls, I’ll still print those times on the cue sheet and brevet card to help in planning/pacing your ride.

All this said, nothing changes with the start and finish of the brevets: You cannot start early (brevets are mass-start at the designated time) and you cannot finish late. Doing either of those things = DNF. Otherwise, enjoy the additional freedom in how you pace yourself around the course. Personally, I’m looking forward to more rest and sleep on the 600K and longer events, especially on the last night of a 1200K. I’d rather finish in 88-89 hours with 8 hours of sleep that last night than in 85 hours because I had to leave out early to make it to some gas station at 1050km by 6am. Woo hoo!

Paul

All y’all–

Here’s some news on the impending brevet season:

(1)  Big picture: We have 11 events on tap in 2024, including a full ACP brevet series, the San An 100K, the San An night ride, a UAF audax brevet, a fleche, and — wait for it … — the Cracker Swamp 1200 (with a 1000/200 option).

(2)  COMPLETED – Event registration for the 2024 season is being posted over the next few days; the 300/200 on MLK Jr weekend is already up. We’re sticking with the format of running the 300 first, based on a lot of success with that last year; the shorter ride on the second day is just … nice. The 300/200 will be run out of Tavares.

(3)  COMPLETED – The fleche is returning this year; it’ll be the first one held since 2019. Details are on the event page for that ride. It’s an event with unique rules, so if you’ve got questions about it, shoot me a note. The fleche is perhaps my favorite randonneuring event. Of all the randonneuring “stories” I tell, it seems like a disproportionate number of them are from the fleche.

(4)  COMPLETED – We’ll offer just the one audax brevet this year on 2/3/2024 — from my house to Tarpon Springs and back — but if you miss it, you’re really missing out. An audax brevet is like a big fleche: everyone riding together, very social, good food. Audax brevets count toward RUSA awards and the medals for them are just fantastic.

(5)  After an eight year absence, the Cracker Swamp 1200K is returning, November 7-10, 2024. Stuff that’ll be the same: the clover-leaf route design, interesting roads, great community and camaraderie, BBQ, scotch, and a 1000/200 option for those needing those rides for a RUSA cup or ACP 5000/10000 award. Stuff that’ll be different: the start/finish location. More info and registration information will be posted this Winter.

(6)  Look for your brevet cards and a year-end letter in the month of November.

See you on the road,
Paul

All–

Our neighbors over in the brand-new Florida region — Northeast Florida Randonneurs — are hosting two randonnees this upcoming weekend — a 200K on 11/12 and a 100K populaire on 11/13. Head over to their website (linked above) and check it out! They’re also hosting a brevet week in February, which is a great way to get some additional riding in or meet some or all of the PBP qualification requirements.

See you on the road,
Paul

All y’all–

After two years of relative dormancy, here’s where we’re at:

(1)  Our first proper brevets were held over the MLK Jr. long weekend. We had 27 complete the 200K and 9 hardy randonneurs completed a seriously wet, windy, and cold 300K the next day.  100% finish rate on both rides. You guys are awesome!

(2) Next up for the ACP brevet calendar are the 400K in March and a 600K in April. Registrations are either up on the website or soon will be.

(3)  We’re also playing host for the Gainesville club this year, administering their 200, 300, and 400.  Thank you to Scott Manning and Susan Gryder for stepping up and being the boots on the ground to run these events. Please support them by riding those events and offering your help to them if you can spare it. Florida is best served by having three independent, healthy randonneuring clubs offering brevets and whatever we can all do to help keep it that way, the better off we — and the sport — will be.

(4)  We had our first audax brevet in two years earlier this month.  Seventeen folks including some brand-new to randonneuring enjoyed a glorious day and even some ouzo in Tarpon Springs. Next up on the UAF (audax) calendar is a 400K in March and a 600K in May.  Those are special rides. The 400K rides like a large fleche. We did one three years ago and it drew 16 people. It was a total blast. There has never, ever been a 600K audax held in the United States (and I believe one has not been held outside of France).  So that will be a very special ride. It’s 2x300K, with a legitimate overnight and meals, all in under 40h.  If you miss this, well . . . you’re doing randonneuring wrong.

(5)  Speaking of special stuff, PBP is next year. It sounds like it’s far off, but it’s not.  Your ability to participate will be determined, in part, by the longest ACP brevet you complete in 2022. So if you want to do PBP, I recommend that you ride at least a 300K this year to ensure yourself a spot on the ride.

(6)  I know I have a ton of stuff to send back to you all.  Medals, brevet cards, … it’s an impressive stack on my desk.  The weather sucks today and so I’m diving into that. It’ll take weeks to get through it, but it’s coming. I’m going in; wish me luck!

Y’all–

Long time, no events. Some good news, all around:

(1)  San An 100K this Saturday, 8am. No fee; registration required. Hope to see you there. This likely didn’t make it on to many of your calendars and that’s fair. So we’ll do it again toward the end of the month.

(2)  Up! All Night ACP 200K registration is also posted. Hope to see you there.

(3)  Cracker Swamp? But of course. Registration and Details coming June 15, 2021.

(4)  What about other brevets? Make-ups likely in the Fall. Stay tuned.

(5)  Audax? Yes, returning in January 2022. And it’s not just a Florida thing anymore.

Here’s where we stand as we approach a year into pandemic life here:

(1)  This upcoming weekend’s 400K is postponed. We’ll host it later in the year when we have a better chance of more people feeling comfortable with overnights, night riding, and when we’ve all been riding distance a bit more than most of us have been lately.

(2) In it’s place, we’ll host a 200K RUSA brevet on March 6. Registration here. If this is successful, we’ll host more 200Ks this Spring to get folks back into the swing of things.

(3)  Plan on the 600K in April not taking place in April. Plan on another ride(s) that weekend. If we’re lucky, it’ll be a 200/300.  If not, it’ll be one of those rides for certain (unless things take an unfortunate, and unexpected turn for the worse with the pandemic). We’ll reschedule the 600K later in the year, if we have time and if/when more folks are more comfortable with that distance (many of us have not been riding as much) and with the overnight and, hopefully, for when we can confidently offer support.

(4)  What about the Cracker Swamp? Keep holding the dates. It’s looking like it’ll be good-to-go. We’re waiting for some better intel on what the lay of the land will look like for what overnight accommodations and support can reasonably be (and thus how to price the ride so we’re both fair yet don’t go broke). Good news: if you want to ride, you’ll be in the ride: no queues; no waitlist; no nonsense. We’ve all had enough stress lately.

(5)  Where’s my stuff from 2020? In a pile on my desk. Mea maxima culpa.

Stay safe and healthy,
Paul

We are sad to report Jacquie Schlitter’s recent passing after her fight with cancer. Jacquie became a randonneur in 2011 and completed a full series that year, culminating in a joyous and successful, if somewhat sleep-deprived, Paris-Brest-Paris (a result of “Too many French cafés”). That little vignette, which she shared with me as we approached Villaines-la-Juhel, typified Jacquie’s awesome nature. Jacquie would be in the middle of doing something really tough, really extraordinary, and totally wiped out and yet there she was, despite being on the edge, with a huge smile on her face and not only having a good time, but spreading positive energy to everyone she came in contact with no matter who they were. Anytime you saw her pig-tails flying in the breeze (usually up the road!), you knew you were witness not only to one of the strongest riders ever to put a bike on the line, but to someone who knew how to have a great time and always supported others.

Several years later, Jacquie completed the infamous beer-and-wine-soaked loop-style 1000K we ran in October 2014 to gauge interest in such a route design. Would returning to the start/finish each night be too boring? Or would riders enjoy having a basecamp and starting each day together? Leave it to Jacquie to prove the concept of an event that emphasized camaraderie (see above, taken after Day 2). The ride and route design were huge successes in no small part thanks to Jacquie and John whose enthusiasm for ultracycling and sharing its joy with others were positively infectious. Jacquie completed the 2016 Cracker Swamp in the same grand, enthusiastic style.

Jacquie, we sorely miss your spirit, your speed, and your hugs. May all your roads from hereon out be freshly paved and the wind forever at your back.