2018 Randonnees
#126
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Now that I've experienced a night start, I can safely say that I don't really like it very much. So if/when I sign up for PBP next year, I will definitely be choosing the morning start.
Here's my ride video of the event: https://tinyurl.com/ycrhltkd
Here's my ride video of the event: https://tinyurl.com/ycrhltkd
Agree with you on the night start... I can do it, but not preferred.
#129
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DC Randonneurs had a 600k this last weekend (yesterday, and the day before, that is) that I have had on my calendar since May when I DNF'd the Pennsylvania one. Even so, I didn't sign up for the DC one, and until almost the last minute I was thinking I'd pass on this one.
But on Friday morning I emailed Mario, and learned he had rented a car and would be driving fairly close to my home, and could pick me up on the way. So that's what we did. Arriving at our hotel after midnight Friday, we got barely two hors of sleep before the ride started. Thirteen riders (i think) started, as a group; I followed the group paying no attention to where we were going. It was cold-- Strava says 50 F at the start; and it was raining, though not very hard. Over the next five hours, the temperature dropped into the 30's and rose again, and the rain continued intermittently, never very heavy, always very cold. It wasn't much fun. By the time the rain stopped, my hands were painfully cold and I couldn't do simple things like open a ziploc bag to get at my brevet card or snacks. After that, it got better. The sky gradually lightened, first intermittent sunlight, ending with a clear sky at dusk.
Most of the afternoon we had headwinds or crosswinds, but temperatures rose into the 60's and my hands thawed out. We made some fairly long stops, much needed, getting back to our hotel around midnight.
One interesting anecdote: About 11 PM, on one of the last stretches of the ride, we had a group of six riders for a while, but when we got to the Potomac River bridge at Point of Rocks, we were down to five. It is a beautiful old bridge, very scenic, but dangerous, and I thought we should cross it as a group. I have ridden my bike over it countless times in the 70's and 80's, when there was a lot less traffic. So we waited. A deputy sheriff (who was making a routine check of the boat ramp under the bridge, which is closed after dark but sometimes used for illicit activity), saw us waiting and came over to see if everything was okay; and then our missing rider turned up, so the sheriff convoyed us across the bridge. Very nice of him! This took him out of his jurisdiction, so he immediately turned around and went back to Virginia.
A group of four or five of us tentatively agreed to leave together the next morning... but a little too tentatively, and we were unclear about when we were meeting. Worse, it appears I fell asleep WHILE setting my alarm; and failed. I woke up at 5 AM, rather than 3:30 or 4:00. Doh! I got ready to go ASAP, but Mario looked at the clock and said no, that's not enough time, I'm going back to sleep. I grabbed a cup of coffee and a couple little muffins from the hotel breakfast area, and got going. I really had to hustle to get on schedule. After about four hours I caught up with one of the guys I'd been riding with on Saturday, and we finished the rest of the ride together, with an hour to spare. We would have done it faster, but we made the mistake of stopping for lunch at a Wendy's that was unbelievably slow. We were there for almost an hour that we could barely afford.
All in all, a pretty tough ride! Very hilly, pretty cold, headwinds, &c. Nothing unusual, but I think I never really recovered from the five hours of rain on Saturday morning.
But on Friday morning I emailed Mario, and learned he had rented a car and would be driving fairly close to my home, and could pick me up on the way. So that's what we did. Arriving at our hotel after midnight Friday, we got barely two hors of sleep before the ride started. Thirteen riders (i think) started, as a group; I followed the group paying no attention to where we were going. It was cold-- Strava says 50 F at the start; and it was raining, though not very hard. Over the next five hours, the temperature dropped into the 30's and rose again, and the rain continued intermittently, never very heavy, always very cold. It wasn't much fun. By the time the rain stopped, my hands were painfully cold and I couldn't do simple things like open a ziploc bag to get at my brevet card or snacks. After that, it got better. The sky gradually lightened, first intermittent sunlight, ending with a clear sky at dusk.
Most of the afternoon we had headwinds or crosswinds, but temperatures rose into the 60's and my hands thawed out. We made some fairly long stops, much needed, getting back to our hotel around midnight.
One interesting anecdote: About 11 PM, on one of the last stretches of the ride, we had a group of six riders for a while, but when we got to the Potomac River bridge at Point of Rocks, we were down to five. It is a beautiful old bridge, very scenic, but dangerous, and I thought we should cross it as a group. I have ridden my bike over it countless times in the 70's and 80's, when there was a lot less traffic. So we waited. A deputy sheriff (who was making a routine check of the boat ramp under the bridge, which is closed after dark but sometimes used for illicit activity), saw us waiting and came over to see if everything was okay; and then our missing rider turned up, so the sheriff convoyed us across the bridge. Very nice of him! This took him out of his jurisdiction, so he immediately turned around and went back to Virginia.
A group of four or five of us tentatively agreed to leave together the next morning... but a little too tentatively, and we were unclear about when we were meeting. Worse, it appears I fell asleep WHILE setting my alarm; and failed. I woke up at 5 AM, rather than 3:30 or 4:00. Doh! I got ready to go ASAP, but Mario looked at the clock and said no, that's not enough time, I'm going back to sleep. I grabbed a cup of coffee and a couple little muffins from the hotel breakfast area, and got going. I really had to hustle to get on schedule. After about four hours I caught up with one of the guys I'd been riding with on Saturday, and we finished the rest of the ride together, with an hour to spare. We would have done it faster, but we made the mistake of stopping for lunch at a Wendy's that was unbelievably slow. We were there for almost an hour that we could barely afford.
All in all, a pretty tough ride! Very hilly, pretty cold, headwinds, &c. Nothing unusual, but I think I never really recovered from the five hours of rain on Saturday morning.
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Last edited by rhm; 10-15-18 at 10:58 AM.
#130
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sorry you waited for me at the bridge. I probably should have fixed that slow leak instead of nursing it along.
If I do that ride again, I need to come up with a food strategy for Sunday morning. By the time you caught me, I was starting to slow down a lot from lack of food. Same thing happened last year.
If I do that ride again, I need to come up with a food strategy for Sunday morning. By the time you caught me, I was starting to slow down a lot from lack of food. Same thing happened last year.
#131
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I have been away for a bit, but I'm back and just wondering... anyone planning on starting a new 2019 thread, or is it ok if I start it? (asking because traditionally, seems like it is Machka who starts these)
#132
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I would like to do more of the randonee series in 2019. my long distance cycling so far has been mostly the California Triple Crown series of double centuries I would like to ride more brevets going forward.
#133
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you don't have to have anyone's permission to start a thread. I think most places have published their 2019 calendars, so it's time to start planning. I would like to do a 1000k next year, haven't picked one yet though.
#134
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The Great Lakes Randonneurs full ride schedule can be found here: Great Lakes Randonneurs - Welcome
If you have any questions, just let me know. I'll be volunteering at the 1000K as well as helping to run several of the other events.
Regina
#135
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That was the only 1000k I know of that I want to do. Steve says 1000k's are for weenies, so I am going to have to work on him about that
#136
Senior Member
Did someone mention 1000K? The Million Meters of Milk is back for 2019! Great Lakes Randonneurs - Million Meters and Green Bay Getaway
The Great Lakes Randonneurs full ride schedule can be found here: Great Lakes Randonneurs - Welcome
If you have any questions, just let me know. I'll be volunteering at the 1000K as well as helping to run several of the other events.
Regina
The Great Lakes Randonneurs full ride schedule can be found here: Great Lakes Randonneurs - Welcome
If you have any questions, just let me know. I'll be volunteering at the 1000K as well as helping to run several of the other events.
Regina
#137
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Last Saturday, my local randonneuring club held a dinner and Super Randonneurs ceremony where they handed out the SR2018 medals, certificates, as well as fancy display cases to those who ordered them. Here's a video that I made of the event:
https://tinyurl.com/ya236hun
https://tinyurl.com/ya236hun
#138
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While I'm not done riding for 2018, I did do my last brevet of the year, the Indianapolis Story 200K which got added to the calendar when RUSA temporarily suspended the permanents program. This 200K was fun in spite of it being only 18 degrees at the start. I had most of my gear already on the bike as to minimize fumbling in the dark and the cold. There was no lighting in the parking lot but one of the ride volunteers who came out to take pictures positioned his car so we could see what we were doing when we unloaded our bikes. There were 6 of us who rose to the challenge of a winter ride! I made a rookie mistake of leaving my Clif blocks in my feedbag on my bike so they were frozen when I unloaded my car. Oops. I also had problems getting my cycling boot to zip up in the cold. That got my hands all cold. But once I got all that stuff sorted out, it was time to gather for a quick meeting with the ride organizer before we took off. The 6 of us stayed together for about the first 7 miles. It was really beautiful riding towards downtown Indianapolis as the sky started to brighten. The sky was clear.
Soon the 4 guys pulled ahead and my friend Lydia and I were riding alone. I met Lydia back in 2017 at cycling event where I volunteered and then I interacted a lot with her during the Mac & Cheese 1200K ride where I also volunteered. When we got out of the Indianapolis metropolitan area, we were more easily able to chat as the miles passed by. At some point, Bill, the ride organizer dropped back and the 3 of us were together. Eventually Bill got behind us when he had a minor issue with his chain on a long climb. Lydia and I continued on to the turnaround in Story, which is a very tiny town (https://www.storyinn.com/) located Brown County State Park. We got a table for 3 and Bill showed up a few minutes later. By this time the temps had gotten above freezing.
Lunch was good. I had scrambled eggs, bacon, and home fries along with a Coke for some caffeine. It was a nice change from the typical gas station fare. My water bottles had frozen during the first hours of the ride so I was able to finally get them unfrozen while we had lunch. Lydia and I departed Story around 1:30pm. With the long time spent at this control, we needed to hustle to finish on time. Bill told us to go ahead as he wasn't quite ready to go yet.
The ride back was nice even though neither Lydia nor I were successful at getting up the ridiculously steep hill on Greasy Creek Road (it's the country, the road names are interesting!). Even walking up the top section of the hill was hard. My inclinometer said it was an 18% grade. Then it was a long descent into the next control in Bean Blossom (yes, that is the town's name!). The control was a Dollar General and they were busy for a Sunday afternoon. I waited in line for what felt like at least 15 minutes. Now we really were needing to hustle since we lost time with having to walk up that hill.
There were more hills, but not too insane for the next 20 miles or so. Lydia started to fall behind but I could always see her in the distance. I missed a turn on a descent so gave myself a bonus mile which allowed her to catch up for a while. The sun was now starting to set and we still had another 25 miles to go. About 20 miles out from Indianapolis, the roads got a lot busier and there were sections that didn't have any shoulder. That was nerve wracking in the dark. At one point I was going up a short hill and swore that an oncoming car was in my lane. They weren't, it was just an optical illusion in the dark. But that really got my adrenaline going and I just wanted to be done with this section of road and back to the bike paths that started downtown and took us to the finish. I completely lost sight of Lydia. I stopped when I finally made it to the bike paths to mess with one of my headlights and to text my husband. I waited about 10 minutes but didn't see her. I was getting a little worried as that section of roads that I had just gotten through were tricky in the dark.
I got back to my car at 7:50pm. Official cutoff was 8:30pm. I got my bike loaded up, put my brevet card in Bill's car (he left the window cracked), and put on my heavy coat. At 8:12pm Lydia came in. I was so relieved. She had an encounter with a dog that chased her and grabbed her ankle. Fortunately no injuries since her feet & ankles were well padded with all the cold weather gear but she yelled at the owner about leaving her dog unleashed. She also had to stop and pull over a few times to let traffic pass plus had an idiot driver try to pass her on the right as she was crossing railroad tracks that crossed the road at an angle. That could have ended very badly. Then she had run into a little problem with her GPS and took a couple wrong turns on the bike paths. The paths were confusing to follow in the dark and I nearly ran into a curb a couple of times myself on them. We got her bike loaded up and waited for Bill. Right at 8:30pm we finally saw his headlight! Whew! Everyone had completed the day safely.
Completing this 200K has me at an R-11. It has also put me over 5000K for RUSA events so I can claim that award. And it also gave me my 13th state!
#139
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I rode 200k's the last two weekends. Nobody can explain why. It was colder than forecast. I need some glasses with plastic frames.
I was smiling because I just said something horrible
.
I was smiling because I just said something horrible
.
#140
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I actually asked him if I had signed a waiver to allow the club to use my picture
#141
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I rode a 100 km populaire last weekend, and a 200 km brevet the weekend before, which will probably be the end of my randonneuring for the year.
I'm kinda torn between trying for the P-12 award and a mild distaste for riding permanents. I'd much rather ride calendared events; but there are so few calendared populaires. In fact the RBA on Sunday told us this was NJ Randonneurs' first ever calendared populaire in December. Which confuses me; they did a populaire for their holiday party a few years ago, but maybe that was technically a permanent.
Anyway, it was cold. Not much sun, but also no wind and no rain. Riding from home gave me a total of 106 miles. Riding 106 miles is so much easier than a 200 km brevet!
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#142
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Congratulations!
I'm kinda torn between trying for the P-12 award and a mild distaste for riding permanents. I'd much rather ride calendared events; but there are so few calendared populaires. In fact the RBA on Sunday told us this was NJ Randonneurs' first ever calendared populaire in December. Which confuses me; they did a populaire for their holiday party a few years ago, but maybe that was technically a permanent.
I'm kinda torn between trying for the P-12 award and a mild distaste for riding permanents. I'd much rather ride calendared events; but there are so few calendared populaires. In fact the RBA on Sunday told us this was NJ Randonneurs' first ever calendared populaire in December. Which confuses me; they did a populaire for their holiday party a few years ago, but maybe that was technically a permanent.
#143
Kamen Rider
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Congratulations! I can't imagine myself riding in that kind of cold as to have the water in my bottles freeze -- that must take a whole new level of conditioning that I don't get the chance to experience, so well done!
#144
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It was 20F at the start of our ride an my bottles didn't freeze. I use insulated bottles, don't know if uninsulated bottles would have frozen at those temperatures. I always feel strangely disconnected from my surroundings on a cold ride like that, at least for the first hour or so.
#145
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Yeah, on Sunday each of my water bottles froze to a cylinder of ice with water inside. Cold water. I filled them with hot water at the first controle. They didn't freeze again after that, with the temperature right around freezing for the rest of the day.
The last controle was a McDonalds. I got two a Big Mac and a Quarter Pounder With. The guys I was riding with were looking at my meal with either envy or disgust, I wasn't sure which. Hey, I'm hungry! I said. And I reminded them I had to ride home after the ride.
The last controle was a McDonalds. I got two a Big Mac and a Quarter Pounder With. The guys I was riding with were looking at my meal with either envy or disgust, I wasn't sure which. Hey, I'm hungry! I said. And I reminded them I had to ride home after the ride.
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#146
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I probably need to consider some insulated bottles if I'm going to do extended periods of riding below freezing. In hindsight, I should have added some hot water when we stopped at mile 20 (first control was 45 miles from start) to use the bathroom. Once the temperatures finally got to freezing, I was able to start getting some liquid out of my bottles. I had added some room temperature Mt. Dew at mile 45.
@rhm - that meal at McDonalds sounds about right for the conditions! My belief is that we need more calories when it is below freezing as our bodies have to work harder to maintain our core temperatures.
@rhm - that meal at McDonalds sounds about right for the conditions! My belief is that we need more calories when it is below freezing as our bodies have to work harder to maintain our core temperatures.
#147
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We had really great BBQ at the turnaround in Dillsburg, too bad they didn't mention that place on the 600k. It was fast too, unlike the Wendys or the Sheetz
I should have had a burger at the McDonalds at the 80 mile mark, I got 2 holiday pies instead. And their hot cocoa machine was being cleaned so I had coffee. I managed to eat one of the pies, but that was the last thing I ate until the finish because I couldn't stand the thought of eating after that experience.
I should have had a burger at the McDonalds at the 80 mile mark, I got 2 holiday pies instead. And their hot cocoa machine was being cleaned so I had coffee. I managed to eat one of the pies, but that was the last thing I ate until the finish because I couldn't stand the thought of eating after that experience.