Dudelsack 

I joined RUSA in December and have been looking forward to my first randonnee. Fortunately I was not able to do the populaires in January or February due to family obligations. Although the winter has been mild, the populaires just happened to be on the two coldest days of the year.

The next populaire is in March, and even though the brevet series goes marching off, they are still offering populaires over the next few months. It might be possible even to do a P-12 series without having to drive out of state. I think they will be fun. It will probably rain torrentially on the pop dates.

Anyone else doing pops? I'm particularly interested in feedback from the n00bs and the inexperienced.

drmweaver2

I assume you are including "all permanents" in this topic though you wrote "populaires" - the difference solely being the distance of the ride route (<100 km vs 100+ km).

Keys to populaires/permanents, for me at least:
1. It's YOUR ride, just like brevets. The difference is you get to schedule the date.
2. You can ride the same populaire/permanent 7 days a week for credit. RBA's tend to schedule brevets on weekends.
3. For populaires/permanents, getting receipts, initials AND "time stamp" at control points (or some other form of proof as detailed on the RUSA site and in agreement with the pop/perm owner) is required. On brevets, it's mostly initials/times on the brevet card or info controls where I ride.
4. You can get your "populaire/permanent card" and cue sheet prior to the date of the ride. You've got 10 days to return the card to the route owner after the ride. Brevet cards are issued at the ride start and turned in at the end of the ride. Brevet cue sheets may not be available prior to an hour before the start of the ride.
5. I tend to always view populaires as solo rides despite riding a few entirely as part of a group. Even if I start with the group, I am not "wedded" to riding with them. Brevets, by their organizational structure, start off as group rides and evolve into whatever as the ride progresses - groups form & reform, riders get dropped from groups, some ride solo the entire ride. No one rides "sweep" on pops/permanents; might happen on brevets.
6. Taking #1 and #5 in combo, self-sufficiency is more of an issue with populaires for me. Tools/emergency equipment and possible emergency pickup are something I triple-check/co-ordinate more consciously beforehand than for brevets. Shouldn't be that way, should be equal. But, it's the way I am.
7. I'm much more likely to ride my own pace on a solo populaire than on a brevet - even when riding that brevet solo. The fact that my time will be "public" and available for comparison with others on the same ride/same day tends to be an influence. Though the timing allowed for the particular distance covered may be the same, my ego becomes a factor.

FWIW, I've ridden more unofficial populaires/permanents than official ones. That is, I just decide to go out and ride a particular route that has been officially certified as a pop/perm/brevet. This is due to my tendency to last minute decision-making - relevant because I'm lucky enough to be able to "schedule/arrange" to ride an official local pop/perm in 24-48 hours. Deciding to ride one the next day, however, is a bit inconsiderate to the pop/perm route owner imho. So, the way things have worked out for me, I'm probably about 70:30 unofficial to official rides over the same "certified routes" this year. The unofficial ones just don't count for awards.

unterhausen

it's probably a good way to break into randonneuring. Otherwise I've never really seen the point. I've been told a lot of times on 200k brevets that I drive a long way for such a short ride. I can see the point in such statements, but since it's at least 2 hours from me to the closest permanent, I'm stuck. In this part of the country, a P-12 seems like a lot of effort and just as annoying in winter as an R-12, so I'm not motivated enough to do it. Maybe I would feel differently if I got off my duff and made some permanents. Then I would have to be a perm owner, and I'm not sure I'm cut out for that.

Carbonfiberboy 

Seattle International Randonneurs (SIR) has this year become excited about putting on more populaires. They see this as a way to attract new people to the sport. It's like a mini-brevet. It's publicized on the website, you can preregister, the club takes care of the paperwork, even mans some controls, so it's all done for you. All you have to do is show up and ride. Much simpler to figure out than how to get into riding permanents. Plus they're timed, SIR puts your name and time up on the site, so it's just like the brevets they put on, only shorter, 100k-130k and free. It's a good way to get involved, meet other crazies, try out that riding with no real breaks thing, see if you like just moving your bike over the landscape while perhaps occasionally sighting another bike. They're not group rides, in that mostly no one waits for anyone else, unless they think there might be some utility to it, IOW you're a big Diesel guy and there's a headwind on the next 20k of flats, so they'll wait for you after the series of short steep climbs . . .

I think they're great fun and a good way to get through the winter. If things are really bad, these rides aren't long enough that you're going to die. I have missed a couple of them, but did the same route on a better weather day, about the same ride but no card. I think it's kind of silly to do them when it's gusting 40 and raining an inch an hour, even if I won't die, so I'm not interested in a P12. We're doing some SIR rides on the tandem this year, the first long organized ride series for Stoker. So far, so good. We'll re-evaluate after the first 200k brevet in early March. Without SIR's efforts, I doubt she would have found a good entry point into the sport. Chapeau.

I don't see how riding a route on an unscheduled day is inconsiderate to anyone, while riding a scheduled route in a snowstorm would definitely be inconsiderate to me and to Stoker. No one "owns" a route. They're public and one can ride any route one can devise whenever one wants, in any direction, with any modifications one feels like making as it unfolds. I have probably 200 routes I've devised, ridden, and stored in public databases. One just can't ride as part of a scheduled permanent/brevet without being a RUSA member and signing up, while one can ride a scheduled populaire without the RUSA membership, though one does have to sign up. Hence the difference in nomenclature. However, being a RUSA member means you can register in advance, which makes things easier for everyone.

Dudelsack 

Well, I signed up via an email to the pop organizer. It was cool to sign my name RUSA #7302. Made me feel like I know what I'm doing.

The way I see it, it will br a club ride that I'm more or less committed to. I'm not sure about the whole "just finish the damn ride" ethos, not when it's driving rain and even motorists shouldn't be out. The February pop was right after a freezing rain all night with travel advisories up. I suppose some brave souls did them, although no one posted the ride yet to the usual places I check out: ridewitgps, mapmyride and Strava.

drmweaver2

What I meant by inconsiderate relates to making a "short notice" request of the route owner to have paperwork and cue sheets ready because I got a "wild hair"/whim to ride a particular route for RUSA distance credit. After a couple times where things came up and I was unable to ride at the arranged time, I realized I'd cost the route owner time and a small bit of money to prepare that paperwork.

So, I've backed off making really short notice (<48 hour) perm/pop requests and just go when I want now.

pmt

Some route owners are cool with short notice; I have the package available for download, so somebody just needs to get me a signed waiver with enough time for me to see it and confirm receipt. They can customize the control card with date/times themselves.

skiffrun

According to the RUSA website, there are currently 7 Permanent Populaires in Kentucky, so [edit] you would be able to get permanent populaires without driving out-of-state, EXCEPT ... see below.

Location Free-route? Km Climb (ft.) Name Organizer
KY: Grand Rivers no 100 3600 LBL Multi-Surface Populaire
KY: Hopkinsville no 102 Mortons Gap Populaire
KY: Hopkinsville no 103 Princeton Populaire
KY: Hopkinsville no 111 2900 Lake Malone
KY: Hopkinsville no 125 Hustle to Russellville
KY: Murray no 120 Big Sandy
KY: Murray no 128 Big Dipper

I should have known that the format from the RUSA website would not copy-over.

Strange -- I just noticed that the organizer names are NOT showing for those seven populaires. ???

Apparently, whomever created / organized / "owned" those routes, has not renewed their RUSA membership (I'm making an educated guess) -- each of those routes is currently "(unassigned)".

Your RBA may have information as to what happened to the route owner / organizer, and as to the likelihood that s/he will re-up with RUSA and the routes thus re-open. OR perhaps someone in the KY-rando group is working to assume "ownership", OR ... .

I just checked for all Permanents in KY. ALL of them with a start location in KY are currently "(unassigned)".
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[serious edit]
Looking at the "Permanents Map" on the RUSA website (also with a link on this blog site -- which is NOT maintained by RUSA, but is the idea of, and maintained by, a Durham, NC rando -- Andy also created and maintains the RUSA Permanents Map) ... definitely not a surplus of permanents near Louisville.

tonyjaja

take a look

Sekhem

Hi Dudelsack! Welcome to randonneuring! I've only been riding for a few years and unlike the folks who are the black belts at the sport I'm still learning with 'beginners mind'. The primary focus of our club is providing challenging rides for folks interested in the SR and 1200K. Since it seemed to me that new riders were being unfairly ignored, I make a point to start the populaires and a number of the easier 200ks for the club. Populaires were conceived to be meet-n-greets to help new riders enter the sport. I try to match up new riders w/ seasoned folks (and to encourage those seasoned rabbits to not to treat the ride as a hammer fest). We have a few big-hearted folks who willingly mentor new riders- and this has been helpful to folks interested in eventually doing the longer rides (400K and more). Shorter rides are a great opportunity to dial in the essentials- like strategy, pacing, nutrition and dealing w/ a whole variety climate and ride conditions. So if your local organization isn't giving you the help you need, why not step up and create your own support? Bonne route!

Dudelsack 

I forgot about this thread. I finished my Populaire as scheduled: https://app.strava.com/rides/5339067

I don't know if I can do the next one, as it is just a week prior to the Redbud Ride, which will be about 115K with some very tough hills. The April Populaire is also supposed to be very hilly.

I barely limped in on Saturday, but I seemed to have recovered well and did a 36 miler on Wednesday without problem.

lhbernhardt

In British Columbia, a "populaire" is basically a 100-km brevet that's open to everyone (i.e., don't have to join the BC Randonneurs). Everybody starts together, there's one manned controle with food out at the furthest extremity of the course, and everybody gets a time. There is an entry fee, but food, route sheets, and route cards are provided. In Vancouver, the Pacific Poplaire has pretty much become the cycling community's (racers and cycletourists inclusive) Season Opener. The racers just hammer the course, the tourists have a nice social ride, and people get introduced to randonneuring.

Luis