{"id":16,"date":"2012-05-21T15:18:39","date_gmt":"2012-05-21T19:18:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/floridarandonneurs.com\/wordpress\/?page_id=16"},"modified":"2012-05-23T09:36:59","modified_gmt":"2012-05-23T13:36:59","slug":"what-is-randonneuring","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/floridarandonneurs.com\/wordpress\/?page_id=16","title":{"rendered":"What Is Randonneuring?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<!-- Facebook Like Button v1.9.6 BEGIN [http:\/\/blog.bottomlessinc.com] -->\n<iframe src=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Ffloridarandonneurs.com%2Fwordpress%2F%3Fpage_id%3D16&amp;layout=standard&amp;show_faces=false&amp;width=450&amp;action=like&amp;colorscheme=light&amp;font=arial\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowTransparency=\"true\" style=\"border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height: 30px; align: left; margin: 2px 0px 2px 0px\"><\/iframe>\n<!-- Facebook Like Button END -->\n<p><em>Randonneuring<\/em> is long-distance, self-supported, noncompetitive cycling within prescribed time limits. \u00a0The events \u2014 called <em>brevets<\/em> or <em>randonn\u00e9es<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 are 200km (13.5 hour time cut-off), 300km (20 hours), 400km (27 hours), 600km (40 hours), and 1000km (75 hours).\u00a0 <em>Grand Randonn\u00e9es<\/em> are 1200km and riders must finish in 90 hours or less. \u00a0The original Grand Randonn\u00e9e, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.paris-brest-paris.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">Paris-Brest-Paris<\/a>, known as PBP, was first held in 1891 and inspired the modern Olympic Games and the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.letour.fr\/\" target=\"_blank\">Tour de France<\/a>.\u00a0 There are also <em>populaires<\/em>, rides longer than 100km but less than 200km, and the <em>fl\u00e8che<\/em>, a 24-hour team event.<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Brevets are sometimes called <em>randonn\u00e9es<\/em>, a word that<em> <\/em>has no precise English translation, but which is evocative of touring, adventuring, and wandering or rambling.\u00a0 One may also see the word <em>audax<\/em> in reference to randonneuring.\u00a0 Technically, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.audax-uaf.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">audax <\/a>rides are common-pace events where cyclists ride, rest, and finish together at a pace established by a route captain.\u00a0 More generally, \u201caudax\u201d is roughly translated as \u201caudacious,\u201d which certainly describes riding a bicycle 750 miles!<\/p>\n<p>Randonneuring began in Italy and flourished in France at the end of the 19th Century.\u00a0 Professional road racing, cycle touring, and equipment trials trace their early roots to randonneuring.<\/p>\n<p><em>Randonneurs<\/em> (women, who participate on equal footing with men, are called <em>randonneusses<\/em>) are hardy, resourceful cyclists.\u00a0 Once a brevet begins, the clock runs until the rider crosses the finish line. \u00a0There are no allowances for inclimate weather or mechanical or bodily breakdowns. \u00a0Eating, resting, navigation, bike repairs, and of course, cycling, must be done efficiently enough that the rider finishes within the time limit.<\/p>\n<p>Self-reliance is critical to a randonneur\u2019s success.\u00a0 Non-neutral support may only be taken at a <em>contr\u00f4les<\/em>, or checkpoints, which are typically about 60km apart and are designed to keep riders on the prescribed route, which must be followed exactly.\u00a0 At a <em>contr\u00f4le<\/em>, some of which may be secret, the rider has his or her <em>brevet card<\/em> stamped to show passage though the <em>contr\u00f4le<\/em> within the prescribed time limit.\u00a0 In addition to a cut-off time for the event, each <em>contr\u00f4le<\/em> has an \u201copening\u201d and \u201cclosing\u201d time and a rider must pass through the <em>contr\u00f4le<\/em> between those times.\u00a0 In keeping with the noncompetitive nature of randonneuring, official finishers are listed alphabetically, without reference to or recognition of finishing time or order.<\/p>\n<p>Brevets typically use tertiary roads through rural areas.\u00a0 Routes are hillier than most club rides or centuries.\u00a0 For example, PBP has about 30,000 feet of climbing on it and is considered to be of average difficulty for a 1200K.\u00a0 The ominously named <a href=\"http:\/\/users.rcn.com\/trosenbauer\/PA1200K.html\" target=\"_blank\">Endless Mountains 1240K<\/a> in Eastern Pennsylvania has twice as much climbing.<\/p>\n<p>There are as many approaches to training for brevets as there are randonneurs. \u00a0Most randonneurs do not ride huge volume, nor do they do great numbers of long rides.\u00a0 Rather, each brevet helps build the fitness and experience necessary to undertake the next one: i.e., the \u201ctraining\u201d for a 300K is completing a 200K.<\/p>\n<p>Although the time limits are generous (a rider must maintain about 9mph to finish within time), training to improve rolling speed will enable a randonneur to obtain more rest, deal with the unexpected, or just finish a brevet more quickly.\u00a0 That said, randonneuring favors the efficient, determined, steady rider more than the \u201cfast\u201d one.\u00a0 Using time off the bicycle wisely, figuring out and riding an appropriate pace, and maximizing comfort, both on the bike and off it, are at least as critical to success as fitness.<\/p>\n<p>Cyclists considering a brevet should not be deterred from participating by thinking that they need specialized equipment or a \u201crandonneuring bicycle.\u201d\u00a0 For a 200K, most riders travel pretty light.\u00a0 Supplies necessary to fix basic problems (a flat repair kit and good multi-tool), a variety of clothing items if the temperature might vary widely or rain is expected, and a couple of bottles are the basics.\u00a0 I don\u2019t carry much more for a 200K than I would for a club ride and I can fit it all in jersey pockets and a small seat-post bag.<\/p>\n<p>For rides longer than 200km, lights are required.\u00a0 Riders also must wear reflective ankle bands and a vest when riding at night.\u00a0 Some of my most memorable randonneuring memories are from night riding, especially climbing the Feather River Canyon in the Sierra Nevada by the light of a full moon on the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.davisbikeclub.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">Gold Rush 1200K<\/a>.\u00a0 Whether to use a hub-generator lighting system or a battery powered light is as personal as the wool\/synthetics clothing debate.\u00a0 Both have zealous advocates, but no one approach offers any substantial performance benefit over the other.\u00a0\u00a0I use a battery-powered system to enable easy transfer between bicycles, but many prefer generator systems for their aesthetics and to avoid charging or replacing batteries en route.<\/p>\n<p>A \u201cgood randonneuring bicycle\u201d is any bicycle that fits and on which the rider is comfortable. On Paris-Brest-Paris, one will find every conceivable human-powered machine on the road.\u00a0 I have completed brevets on bicycles as diverse as a full-carbon racing bike, a cyclocross bike with 32C knobby tires, a tandem, a fixed-gear pursuit bike, and a fixed-gear bicycle designed for urban riding.\u00a0 The carbon bike and the urban fixed-gear have done three 1200Ks apiece.\u00a0 While many randonneurs gravitate to classic bicycles in the tradition of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.renehersebicycles.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Ren\u00e9<strong> <\/strong>Herse<\/a> or other constructeurs with steel frames, relaxed geometry, and ample clearances for racks, fenders, and wide tires, such a bicycle is by no means a requirement nor is there any evidence that riders on \u201crandonneuring\u201d bicycles achieve any better results or somehow have more fun.\u00a0 Randonneurs describe their sport as a \u201cbig tent,\u201d and one will find riders of every age and ability \u2014 and bicycles of every age and design \u2014 under the roof.<\/p>\n<p>The 600K and longer events present randonneurs with the issue of how to manage sleep and rest.\u00a0 Some ride without sleep.\u00a0 Some take cat naps where and when the need arises.\u00a0 Park benches, churches, post offices, and 24-hour convenience stores are havens for the tired randonneur. \u00a0I even saw a rider on PBP \u201907 stuffed into a phone booth, fast asleep.\u00a0 On the other comfort extreme, some will check into a hotel and shower up, change clothing, and get a full night\u2019s sleep before setting off the next day.\u00a0 If you tend toward roughing it, carry a bivy sack or foil emergency blanket.\u00a0 If you like your beauty sleep, remember your credit card.<\/p>\n<p>Randonneurs also need to address nutrition and hydration.\u00a0 Some riders carry all their own food, but most will provision themselves along the route.\u00a0 Many brevets provide food at\u00a0some of the\u00a0<em>contr\u00f4les<\/em>, included in the entry fee.\u00a0 Riders who require particular sport drinks or gels, or have dietary needs that might not be addressed in the countryside, will carry those items with them.<\/p>\n<p>Try to enjoy the trial-and-error process of figuring out what you like to eat and drink on long rides.\u00a0 I\u2019ve fueled brevets with homemade GORP and surf-and-turf and just about everything edible in between.\u00a0 What tastes good in your kitchen may be unappealing after you\u2019ve been riding all day.\u00a0 Many find sport drinks to be too sweet later in rides.\u00a0 Ibuprofen and acidic foods can upset even the most iron stomachs on Day 2 of a 1200K.<\/p>\n<p>Intrigued by PBP?\u00a0 You\u2019ve got some time to plan for it: the 18th Paris-Brest-Paris will not occur until August 2015.\u00a0 Originally, PBP was held only once a decade because the thinking at the time was that to ride it more frequently would be too harmful to one\u2019s health.\u00a0 Today, some randonneurs do several 1200Ks in a season, but PBP remains a quadrennial offering to permit planning a quality event (moving 5,000 riders and organizing volunteers across rural Northern France is no simple task) and, perhaps, to add to its allure and mystique.<\/p>\n<p>To ride PBP (and most other 1200Ks), one must first qualify by completing a <em>full brevet series<\/em> (200K, 300K, 400K, and 600K) in the same calendar year as PBP.\u00a0 Qualifying helps to ensure that randonneurs are prepared to meet the challenge and that their experience will be not only successful, but enjoyable.\u00a0 Historically, between 70% and 90% of those who start PBP finish within time.\u00a0 <em>RBAs<\/em> \u2014 regional brevet administrators \u2014 design their brevets to ensure that their riders have the greatest preparation and chance for success on PBP.\u00a0 Complete PBP, and you\u2019ll forever be known as an <em>ancien<\/em> (<em>ancienne<\/em>, for the ladies), a distinction bestowed by the French with pride, gravity, and honor.<\/p>\n<hr width=\"70%\" \/>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">A version\u00a0of this article, authored by Paul Rozelle,\u00a0appeared in the April\/May 2012 issue of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bicycletimesmag.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Bicycle Times<\/a>\u00a0at pp. 40-41.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Randonneuring is long-distance, self-supported, noncompetitive cycling within prescribed time limits. \u00a0The events \u2014 called brevets or randonn\u00e9es\u00a0\u2014 are 200km (13.5 hour time cut-off), 300km (20 hours), 400km (27 hours), 600km (40 hours), and 1000km (75 hours).\u00a0 Grand Randonn\u00e9es are 1200km &hellip; 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