Notices
Long Distance Competition/Ultracycling, Randonneuring and Endurance Cycling Do you enjoy centuries, double centuries, brevets, randonnees, and 24-hour time trials? Share ride reports, and exchange training, equipment, and nutrition information specific to long distance cycling. This isn't for tours, this is for endurance events cycling

2017 Fleches

Old 02-02-17, 09:42 PM
  #1  
Machka 
In Real Life
Thread Starter
 
Machka's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Down under down under
Posts: 52,152

Bikes: Lots

Mentioned: 141 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3203 Post(s)
Liked 595 Times in 329 Posts
2017 Fleches

Is anyone riding a fleche this year?

Offical Web Site of Audax Club Parisien - General Flèches Pascales Nationales

"Flèches Nationales are annual events held in various regions or countries during the spring, whereby teams of cyclists all head to a common destination from various starting points. Teams ride during 24 hours to cover the longest distance possible (at least 360 km). After the ride, all participants meet and celebrate together.

The mother of those events is the 1947-created Flèche Vélocio, whereby teams head to the traditional Easter cycling rally in Provence (France). To respond to a growing demand by French or International randonneurs who want to meet in a location outside Provence, the Audax Club Parisien promotes and homologates team events patterned after the Flèche Vélocio: the Flèches Nationales (in France and abroad).
The Flèches Nationales can also be named National Arrow, Easter Arrow, or named after a country, a region or a famous person.

All ACP-sanctioned Flèches events must be run according to the rules of the Flèche Vélocio. The traditional event date is the Easter weekend, but for regions that have snow at this time, it may be held until the end of May."



And the rules:
Offical Web Site of Audax Club Parisien - Rules
Machka is offline  
Old 02-02-17, 09:46 PM
  #2  
Machka 
In Real Life
Thread Starter
 
Machka's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Down under down under
Posts: 52,152

Bikes: Lots

Mentioned: 141 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3203 Post(s)
Liked 595 Times in 329 Posts
Tasmanian Fleche Opperman

This year, Tasmania has a fleche on the schedule ...

https://www.facebook.com/events/737496186425689/


"As a brief bit of history, Fleches in Australia are named after Sir Hubert Opperman, one of Australia’s most accomplished human beings. He was a long distance cyclist who set all sorts of records, and later become a distinguished federal politician. The Oppy in Victoria finished each alternate year in Rochester where Sir Hubert was born in 1904. He died in 1996.

The Oppy Fleche will be held from 6am on Saturday 18 March to 6am on Sunday 19 March."


For further information about the Tasmanian Opperman, and to register:
https://www.audax.org.au/portal/inde...-opperman-2017

.
Machka is offline  
Old 02-03-17, 02:52 PM
  #3  
unterhausen
Randomhead
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Happy Valley, Pennsylvania
Posts: 24,364
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4 Post(s)
Liked 3,664 Times in 2,497 Posts
maybe. Eastern Pennsylvania's fleche isn't scheduled until May this year, so maybe the weather will not be as cold as it has been in years past. I'm not a big fan of riding all night in 30 degree temperatures. Last year's fleche was moved back a week because of freezing rain and snow.
unterhausen is offline  
Old 02-06-17, 01:38 PM
  #4  
jbithaca
Newbie
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Ithaca, NY
Posts: 73

Bikes: Fuji Jari Carbon 1.1, Honey Winterando (made by Seven), Litespeed Arenberg

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 11 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time in 1 Post
PA Fleche

Eric:

PA Fleche is listed on the RUSA site for April 7. I too wish is was in May. It was originally listed when they were making the schedule to be in May according to Joe Kratovil, NJ RBA but was changed back to original date.

Jim

I did the NJ Arrow in July last year. Much more enjoyable even with the downpour we rode in for a few hours.
jbithaca is offline  
Old 02-06-17, 11:17 PM
  #5  
unterhausen
Randomhead
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Happy Valley, Pennsylvania
Posts: 24,364
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4 Post(s)
Liked 3,664 Times in 2,497 Posts
ok, that's a bummer. I'm in better shape right now than I have been for a number of years, but an all night winter ride just doesn't do much for me. Pretty sure it's warmer in France at Easter than it is here.
unterhausen is offline  
Old 02-07-17, 01:06 PM
  #6  
seajaye
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: philadelphia, pa
Posts: 242

Bikes: 650b traditional rando, 700c SS rando, 700c fast rando..... plus a mountain, folder, and retired urban track in the basement

Mentioned: 6 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 37 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Captained for the first time last year. I hope my all-young-guns Philly team can return for 2017 but I already have heard of one or two members potentially not being able to make it. Will have to scrounge up some new blood....
seajaye is offline  
Old 02-13-17, 10:28 AM
  #7  
unterhausen
Randomhead
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Happy Valley, Pennsylvania
Posts: 24,364
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4 Post(s)
Liked 3,664 Times in 2,497 Posts
looks like "Now You've Gone Too Far" will be trying again this year. Hard to think about it right now, when it's cold enough that I'm riding my trainer in the basement with full-fingered gloves on.
unterhausen is offline  
Old 03-02-17, 04:28 PM
  #8  
thebulls
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 1,009

Bikes: SOMA Grand Randonneur, Gunnar Sport converted to 650B, Rivendell Rambouillet, '82 Trek 728, '84 Trek 610, '85 Trek 500, C'Dale F600, Burley Duet, Lotus Legend

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 8 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 3 Times in 3 Posts
FWIW, DCR fleche is a little later, for most riders it's the weekend of April 22/23 (teams can start as early as Thursday under the fleche rules).

Nick
thebulls is offline  
Old 03-03-17, 06:09 AM
  #9  
unterhausen
Randomhead
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Happy Valley, Pennsylvania
Posts: 24,364
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4 Post(s)
Liked 3,664 Times in 2,497 Posts
where is the finish? Crista has a perm that gets within 20 miles of here, so I could follow that route. But I think it would be too far.
unterhausen is offline  
Old 03-03-17, 08:07 AM
  #10  
seajaye
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: philadelphia, pa
Posts: 242

Bikes: 650b traditional rando, 700c SS rando, 700c fast rando..... plus a mountain, folder, and retired urban track in the basement

Mentioned: 6 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 37 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Team name: "Now You've REALLY Gone Too Far"
seajaye is offline  
Old 03-03-17, 10:49 AM
  #11  
unterhausen
Randomhead
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Happy Valley, Pennsylvania
Posts: 24,364
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4 Post(s)
Liked 3,664 Times in 2,497 Posts
tempting to do the DCR fleche, but I already committed to do NYGTF and it conflicts with the Eastern PA 300k

I keep hoping to get down and do one of the DCR 200k's. Hasn't worked out yet though
unterhausen is offline  
Old 03-10-17, 05:39 PM
  #12  
rhm
multimodal commuter
 
rhm's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: NJ, NYC, LI
Posts: 19,852

Bikes: 1940s Fothergill, 1959 Allegro Special, 1963? Claud Butler Olympic Sprint, Lambert 'Clubman', 1974 Fuji "the Ace", 1976 Holdsworth 650b conversion rando bike, 1983 Trek 720 tourer, 1984 Counterpoint Opus II, 1993 Basso Gap, 2010 Downtube 8h, and...

Mentioned: 584 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1908 Post(s)
Liked 574 Times in 339 Posts
I'm doing the eastern PA flèche. I'm captain, not sure why. We haven't chosen a team name yet, but I submitted a route this morning. I'm embarrassed to notice: the route I submitted is very similar to what we did last year, though the this year we'll go clockwise, so we'll have daylight for the part that was dark last year.

A question for those of you who use battery powered lights: what do you recommend? One of my team asked me that, and all I could think of was "get a dynamo hub..." which isn't what he wants to hear.

@greg3rd48, you following this?

Last edited by rhm; 03-10-17 at 05:49 PM.
rhm is offline  
Old 03-10-17, 09:20 PM
  #13  
unterhausen
Randomhead
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Happy Valley, Pennsylvania
Posts: 24,364
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4 Post(s)
Liked 3,664 Times in 2,497 Posts
one of my perennial fleche team members uses two Cygolyte Expillions. That's my backup battery light. I'd feel stupid trying to ride all night without a dyno.
unterhausen is offline  
Old 03-11-17, 12:26 PM
  #14  
Steamer
Zircon Encrusted Tweezers
 
Steamer's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: high ground
Posts: 1,344
Mentioned: 5 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 260 Post(s)
Liked 127 Times in 82 Posts
Originally Posted by rhm
We haven't chosen a team name yet, but I submitted a route this morning.
How about "To Be Determined"?

Has a nice double meaning.
Steamer is offline  
Old 03-11-17, 01:09 PM
  #15  
rhm
multimodal commuter
 
rhm's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: NJ, NYC, LI
Posts: 19,852

Bikes: 1940s Fothergill, 1959 Allegro Special, 1963? Claud Butler Olympic Sprint, Lambert 'Clubman', 1974 Fuji "the Ace", 1976 Holdsworth 650b conversion rando bike, 1983 Trek 720 tourer, 1984 Counterpoint Opus II, 1993 Basso Gap, 2010 Downtube 8h, and...

Mentioned: 584 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1908 Post(s)
Liked 574 Times in 339 Posts
Originally Posted by unterhausen
one of my perennial fleche team members uses two Cygolyte Expillions. That's my backup battery light. I'd feel stupid trying to ride all night without a dyno.
That sounds like a guy I did the NJ Arrow with last year!

Originally Posted by Steamer
How about "To Be Determined"?

Has a nice double meaning.


I like! But isn't it supposed to include a bad pun in French? Hmmm...
être déterminé

Last edited by rhm; 03-11-17 at 01:40 PM.
rhm is offline  
Old 03-13-17, 01:36 AM
  #16  
joewein
Senior Member
 
joewein's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Posts: 642

Bikes: Elephant Bikes National Forest Explorer, Bike Friday Pocket Rocket

Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 56 Post(s)
Liked 230 Times in 82 Posts
@rhm, I use a Volt 300 as a backup light. I have the set that comes with the light, a charging cradle and a spare battery. So I can double the burn time by just swapping the battery with the spare.

Having dynamo lights on both my bikes, I have never seriously used it though - I just carry it because the organizers here require a second light on night starts and brevets over 300 km.
joewein is offline  
Old 03-13-17, 07:24 AM
  #17  
jbithaca
Newbie
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Ithaca, NY
Posts: 73

Bikes: Fuji Jari Carbon 1.1, Honey Winterando (made by Seven), Litespeed Arenberg

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 11 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time in 1 Post
Suggested battery light

I use an Ixon IQ Premium as my backup light. If you buy from Europe they are pretty reasonable. Use lithium batteries.
jbithaca is offline  
Old 03-14-17, 10:22 AM
  #18  
seajaye
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: philadelphia, pa
Posts: 242

Bikes: 650b traditional rando, 700c SS rando, 700c fast rando..... plus a mountain, folder, and retired urban track in the basement

Mentioned: 6 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 37 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Originally Posted by rhm
I'm doing the eastern PA flèche. I'm captain, not sure why. We haven't chosen a team name yet, but I submitted a route this morning. I'm embarrassed to notice: the route I submitted is very similar to what we did last year, though the this year we'll go clockwise, so we'll have daylight for the part that was dark last year.
Why is this embarrassing?? I'm SO glad that my route from last year will go 99% unchanged, as it was a lot of work to start from scratch. I just changed some of the controles (across the street or down the road from the past ones) and should be set.

The clockwise change will mix things up for you. It'll be fun! Are you going to do another early start like last year? We all missed seeing your team at the finish on Sunday.
seajaye is offline  
Old 03-14-17, 11:16 AM
  #19  
rhm
multimodal commuter
 
rhm's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: NJ, NYC, LI
Posts: 19,852

Bikes: 1940s Fothergill, 1959 Allegro Special, 1963? Claud Butler Olympic Sprint, Lambert 'Clubman', 1974 Fuji "the Ace", 1976 Holdsworth 650b conversion rando bike, 1983 Trek 720 tourer, 1984 Counterpoint Opus II, 1993 Basso Gap, 2010 Downtube 8h, and...

Mentioned: 584 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1908 Post(s)
Liked 574 Times in 339 Posts
Originally Posted by seajaye
Why is this embarrassing?? ....
Are you going to do another early start like last year? We all missed seeing your team at the finish on Sunday.
Well, I'm often heard to say that what I like about long distance bike riding is that I like to ride roads I've never ridden before. Like the Beach Boys sang, "I'm getting bugged riding up and down the same old strip." So here I am, doing 24 hours of familiar roads. Yup, call me a hypocrite, I admit it.

But no, no early start this year, unless weather demands it (and all team members agree, which seems a stretch this year). Currently hoping for an 8:00 Sunday finish.

We'll see you at the after party
rhm is offline  
Old 03-14-17, 12:10 PM
  #20  
unterhausen
Randomhead
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Happy Valley, Pennsylvania
Posts: 24,364
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4 Post(s)
Liked 3,664 Times in 2,497 Posts
I like most of my route. There are a couple of stretches I would change if I could
unterhausen is offline  
Old 04-05-17, 08:07 PM
  #21  
rhm
multimodal commuter
 
rhm's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: NJ, NYC, LI
Posts: 19,852

Bikes: 1940s Fothergill, 1959 Allegro Special, 1963? Claud Butler Olympic Sprint, Lambert 'Clubman', 1974 Fuji "the Ace", 1976 Holdsworth 650b conversion rando bike, 1983 Trek 720 tourer, 1984 Counterpoint Opus II, 1993 Basso Gap, 2010 Downtube 8h, and...

Mentioned: 584 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1908 Post(s)
Liked 574 Times in 339 Posts
The day approaches!

I decided to call my team "Flèche Mob!" (Pronounced "Flash Mob") for no particular reason. We had a team of five, but two dropped out in the last few days. In a mad scramble another rider was drafted (I take no credit for this; one of my team took the initiative) and it looks like we have four riders.

The weather outlook is gradually improving, too. Should be a good ride
rhm is offline  
Old 04-10-17, 10:11 AM
  #22  
unterhausen
Randomhead
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Happy Valley, Pennsylvania
Posts: 24,364
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4 Post(s)
Liked 3,664 Times in 2,497 Posts
Fleche Mob is a great name. Glad to get to meet you finally.

Our ride was mostly uneventful. We found out that there was a bridge out 1 1/2 miles before our 22 hour control, which caused us to suffer from a fairly bad case of catastrophizing. Seeing "bridge out in 5 miles" when you are 6 miles from your next stop is not a great feeling at 4:30am. It turned out that there was a road right next to the one we wanted to take that was really nice and only added about a mile to the route. Thank goodness for google maps. Doing an internet review of road construction is not foolproof, that's for sure.
unterhausen is offline  
Old 04-10-17, 04:33 PM
  #23  
seajaye
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: philadelphia, pa
Posts: 242

Bikes: 650b traditional rando, 700c SS rando, 700c fast rando..... plus a mountain, folder, and retired urban track in the basement

Mentioned: 6 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 37 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
DNQ for us, unfortunately. I'll work on a proper ride report and pictures for the club blog, but basically: two flats for me (including one less than 3 miles from the start), a loose rear hub (also me), cross and direct headwinds the entirety of Saturday, a broken rear shifter turning a teammate's bike into a two-speed, tons of traffic, and plenty of moments of broken morale.
seajaye is offline  
Old 04-11-17, 08:39 AM
  #24  
rhm
multimodal commuter
 
rhm's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: NJ, NYC, LI
Posts: 19,852

Bikes: 1940s Fothergill, 1959 Allegro Special, 1963? Claud Butler Olympic Sprint, Lambert 'Clubman', 1974 Fuji "the Ace", 1976 Holdsworth 650b conversion rando bike, 1983 Trek 720 tourer, 1984 Counterpoint Opus II, 1993 Basso Gap, 2010 Downtube 8h, and...

Mentioned: 584 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1908 Post(s)
Liked 574 Times in 339 Posts
Huh, sorry to hear that, CJ!

My route worked out pretty well. There were two sections riding straight into the teeth of the wind, both about 15 miles, and the first one was pretty brutal, but by the time we hit the second one, the wind was dying down. When we submit our routes, of course, we can't know the weather we'll get. But at this time of year we can be pretty confident of a strong west wind during the day. If I do another fleche, I'm going to try to take that wind pattern into account.

Riding through the night, with the nearly full moon bright overhead, was really nice. I should have brought more warm clothes, though.
__________________
www.rhmsaddles.com.
rhm is offline  
Old 04-13-17, 09:57 AM
  #25  
greg3rd48 
Senior Member
 
greg3rd48's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Bronx, NYC
Posts: 1,941

Bikes: '19 Fuji Gran Fondo 1.5, '72 Peugeot PX10, '71ish Gitane Super Corsa, '78 Fuji Newest, '89 Fuji Ace, '94 Cannondale R600, early '70s LeJeune Pro project

Mentioned: 87 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 293 Post(s)
Liked 218 Times in 101 Posts
I rode on @rhm team and must say that the route planning was meticulous. I do not see how I would have done that. That was my first Fleche and first randonneuring event and it left me fatigued and begging for sleep but it was a great experience and I look forward to participating in many others.
greg3rd48 is offline  

Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.