Happy New Year and new brevet season to all!
1. The list of registered riders has been updated on the events pages and is current as of 7pm, Thursday. You’ve still got some time to register, so come out and ride with us. It’s going to be a good weekend! If your plans have changed and you can no longer make it, please let me know.
2. Please verify that your RUSA membership is current because RUSA’s insurer requires that all event participants be current, paid-up members of RUSA; no exceptions. Chasing folks down to renew or join RUSA is a drag and I’d rather be cooking and brewing for you guys. So, please take a minute and take care of it now.
3. Also a reminder that anyone riding any of our events without registering for them or without being a current RUSA member will be DQ’d and permanently banned. That means no “ride alongs” and no having friends meet you anywhere on the route other than at a control. This is the warning.
4. The 200K workers’ ride took place Wednesday. The cue sheet is now current and final. Here are some notes from the workers’ ride: (1) Although lights and reflective materials are not required, they are STRONGLY recommended; it was very foggy and you should expect the same conditions this weekend; (2) the Howey bridge is still under construction; be careful!; and (3) there is construction on US 301 north of Coleman; be careful!
5. The 300K workers’ ride is taking place as I write this. Any notes from that ride and the final cue sheet will be posted on Friday.
6. Although you’re on your own for food during the events, plan on dinner following each ride. You can check-in for the 200K on Friday evening at the hotel or on Saturday morning, before the start, and for the 300K following the 200K on Saturday or on Sunday morning. Reminder that there is no on-route SAG on these rides. If you DNF, your plans for returning to the start/finish should not involve an event volunteer. We will never leave anyone out there, but you will wait many, many hours for a ride.
7. Other events and news: Remember that we have a full audax series this year as well as 400 and 600km ACP events. We’ll also be putting up information on the Cracker Swamp 1200K very soon, so watch for that; registration will open in February. Speaking of 1200s, get with me ASAP if you’re interested in riding PBP-Audax this year. I’ve not forgotten your 2019 brevet cards; they’re coming soon, as are the last of the 2019 audax medals – I am awaiting the last of them from France and will send them all out together. While the insurance snafu and the suspension of the permanents program may have some of you feeling down or like we’re all lost at sea, I can’t stress enough how much excellent, selfless work the RUSA Board has done to ensure the continuation of randonneuring in the United States. In particular, when you see Dave Thompson this weekend, please be sure to thank him for keeping the ship afloat with a wise, confident, and steady hand on the tiller and congratulate him on his very deserved elevation to the RUSA presidency! We’re lucky to have him and his leadership; thank you, Dave!
8. Dude, where the are the GPS files? There are not any. The official routes are the cue sheets. I can’t vouch for any GPS files that people put on the internet or share among themselves. Navigation is a fundamental part of the self-sufficiency that is a key pillar of randonneuring. I’m glad to help teach you to navigate and read a cue sheet if they are unfamiliar or confusing to you; just get with me, anytime. However you navigate, please remember that staying on route is your responsibility – not your computer’s or your friend’s – and pay close attention to where you are, ensuring you’re on route and oriented. Every year we have multiple navigational DNFs due to GPS failures or misprogramming or because someone’s (not very good) plan was to follow the group or a friend and they got dropped or the “friend” DNF’d, leaving the person with no idea where they were or where they were going. Please don’t let this be you!