jlippinbike

Interesting. With all the talk of PBP and how long it has been running I would have thought 1200k is the classic randonneuring distance. All other rides supposedly are just training for the big 1200k. 100k rides don't really count. 200k are newbie rides. 300k's are the ideal. And 400k is about as far as one can typically ride within a day and without rest. I don't understand why the 600k was even invented. I certainly don't like riding them much. I'd much rather ride a 1000k brevet than a 600k brevet. In fact, I enjoy 1000k's more than 1200k's, go figure. What's the big deal riding a wimpy little 200k tacked onto a 1000k brevet? I just don't see it.
Why do I like 300k routes so much? Well, if you have three of them that depart from the same location and add a 100k route to the mix that starts there too, then it's pretty easy to put together a 1000k ride. And 1000k rides are probably my favorite. They are especially neat because riding just one when classified as a brevet (rather than a string of perms) will typically qualify you for a 1200k event at some future date. Ride the 100k first followed by one of the 300k perms all in day 1. Get as much sleep as you like since you are stringing perms together. Then in day 2 ride the second 300k. And on day 3 ride the 3rd 300k. Can't get much more rando than that. Unfortunately not many members of RUSA share my like for the 300k and routes longer than 300k. Therefore I pretty much have to design all my routes. Oh well.
Designing routes is a definite skill set. And there is no book out there that does a good job explaining how to design a good brevet. And the longer the route, then typically the more skill is required to make it a good one. If you have trouble designing a simple 200k brevet, then you have little hope of being able to design a good 300k route or longer.