randonneur tips

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I am back to riding I am enjoying it very much in my new home of San Francisco
Where the riding is great and safe too ,I like to be in events ,I once was a cat 3 but since my accident and t.b.i. My reactions are slowed down I have to face the realities that Crits and road racing may not be in the cards for me ,t.t.'s could be but I don't enjoy t.t. Bikes but that could change in the future .
So I am thinking I might gravitate randonneur riding ,I have a bike that is suitable for that type of event .
Here is my question anyone do this type of riding ?
If you could share with me some of your randonneuring / adventures
Or ride pictures or events that I might use as a goal for motivation
I am a dreamer and like to have a goal
Cheers thank you

[oddsaabs]

Make contact with these folks: http://www.sfrandonneurs.org/ Great bunch with a ton of rides. Jump right in, the waters fine.

My best advice is to go out and try a few rides with SF Randonneurs. Being a fellow former competitive cyclist, I find riding brevets both liberating and frustrating. The tempo is more relaxed and the camaraderie is fun. However, don't expect the riding to be efficient or your fellow travelers to have very many skills in a group. Adapting to this change in skills and culture has been the most challenging and rewarding thing about riding brevets for me.

[pinkshogun]

here and there

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Make contact with these folks: http://www.sfrandonneurs.org/ Great bunch with a ton of rides. Jump right in, the waters fine.

My best advice is to go out and try a few rides with SF Randonneurs. Being a fellow former competitive cyclist, I find riding brevets both liberating and frustrating. The tempo is more relaxed and the camaraderie is fun. However, don't expect the riding to be efficient or your fellow travelers to have very many skills in a group. Adapting to this change in skills and culture has been the most challenging and rewarding thing about riding brevets for me.

Thanks just signed up it will be nice to have someone to ride with I have been riding alone since I started riding again
Thank you for the link :)
Cheers

[plattyjo]

Make contact with these folks: http://www.sfrandonneurs.org/ Great bunch with a ton of rides. Jump right in, the waters fine.

My best advice is to go out and try a few rides with SF Randonneurs. Being a fellow former competitive cyclist, I find riding brevets both liberating and frustrating. The tempo is more relaxed and the camaraderie is fun. However, don't expect the riding to be efficient or your fellow travelers to have very many skills in a group. Adapting to this change in skills and culture has been the most challenging and rewarding thing about riding brevets for me.

Yeah, I just started riding with SFR this year and am aiming to do PBP2015! Fantastic group and there's tons of events. Plus Davis, Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz and in the near future, Fresno all have randonneur clubs as well.

I used to race track/CX (but not road), but I had a different experience; I found overall group riding to be non-frustrating. There were only 1-2 exceptions where I found folks who didn't know how to paceline, although the pace is generally slower. (Especially on the longer rides when you're carrying more stuff.)

But it's now attracting more folks who like to hammer through (my husband included) as fast as possible; sometimes he'll ride with me at my pace, or I'll give him a pass to go have a hammerfest and meet me at the end. He also won't ride anything over 300k as he hates sitting in the saddle that long. :)

I'll be at Del Puerto 200k next month!

[andys]

In addition to SF Randonneurs check out Box Dog Bikes. They participate in the rando scene in SF.

[modernfuturist]

There's something for everyone with the San Francisco Randonneurs.

Some join and ride for the camaraderie, and some hammer the entire way and strive to challenge themselves, and there's an even growing amount of adventure randonneur rides that incorporate mixed terrain riding.

A great place to start is at the San Francisco Randonneurs google group (https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/sfrandon).

Read some of PlattyJo's ride reports (http://www.plattyjo.com/category/cycling/randonneuring/), or maybe watch some of my randonneur videos (the Populaire (http://vimeo.com/72496050), the Fleche (http://vimeo.com/63507534)) to get a feel of what you're in for.

I'll also be at the Del Puerto 200k this upcoming Saturday, should be tons of fun. :banana:

[plattyjo]

Ooh yeah, as modernfuturist mentioned - the Populaires are a great introductory event as they're shorter distance (115k) and usually draws the biggest crowds, plus there's a picnic afterwards!

[downtube]

Plattyjo,
Wow you have a great site. These sound like extreme events, and looks like a fantastic personal challenge. Thanks for sharing
chuck

[rwsaunders]

Follow this Paceliner's stories as he has some great Rando/Brevet tales.

http://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=112865

[palincss]

Some excellent descriptions of brevets on Jan Heine's blog (http://janheine.wordpress.com/).

[etu]

also planning for a fun day out with the SF Randonneurs next weekend at the Del Puerto 200K! :banana:

[hokoman]

These posts are making me feel lazy... I need to get on my bike.

[Fixed]

Thanks I am learning a lot
Cheers you guys rock :)

[rcnute]

I haven't ridden with the randos in awhile but am thinking of 2015 PBP and so have to get to it. Somehow I'd formed the impression before getting involved that randos were slow but they are definitely not.

Ryan

[plattyjo]

Plattyjo,
Wow you have a great site. These sound like extreme events, and looks like a fantastic personal challenge. Thanks for sharing
chuck

Thanks!

[plattyjo]

also planning for a fun day out with the SF Randonneurs next weekend at the Del Puerto 200K! :banana:

Come say hello! I'll probably be on a Ti El Camino road bike.

[RudAwkning]

I roll with SFR folks as well. Since I rode my first brevet in 2008 (SFR 300k), the club has gone from hosting just 2 events (it was our current RBA's first year on the job, so they only allow a 200k and 300k to make sure things run smoothly) to over 20! Everything from a 100k Populaire to a mixed terrain 600k (and we host a 1000k every 4 years).

There really is something for everyone. There is a clock, so those who wish to race them can. Or you can just soak in the sights and sounds (and meals!).

There are always some folks who fall short in terms of cycling "etiquette". But I've run into these same folks in a few crits as well (just because you're a "racer" doesn't mean you know how to "race"). But unlike a crit, you're not forced to ride shoulder to shoulder with them. It's as easy to not ride with someone who's making you nervous as...well...not riding with them! :)

And if you dig it, there are 4 other brevet clubs in the area. Santa Rosa, Davis, Santa Cruz and the newly approved Fresno club. We're pretty blessed to have so many rides in the immediate area.

[Fixed]

Thanks for the great info like my pal Steve said I landed in a
Good place
I have been riding for a month now and I am starting to feel like a cyclist again ...it feels good .from where I live I can be at the Golden Gate Bridge in 10 minutes then I ride to the legion of hornor and back up to rob hill it is an amazing place to ride I don't know the area very well so I do repeats on those hills ..I don't have a car are there ever any events that start near Chrissy field or the bridge ? I would love to ride with a group sometime I miss the fellowship of other riders ..
Cheers :)

[modernfuturist]

Most of the SFR rides start at the Golden Gate Bridge Plaza, but this upcoming Del Puerto 200k is one of the handfull of rides that start elsewhere.

Best to check the route archive (http://sfrandonneurs.org/route-archive.htm) to see where the routes start from.

[559Rando]

You're supposed to pee while you ride. That's either tri or rando. Can't remember. :banana:

[zetroc]

"Randonneurs do it in the bushes" :banana:

[plattyjo]

I'm pretty sure the Roasters Ride (http://www.teamroaringmouse.com/calendar/rides) (which is not limited to the Roaring Mouse team) still goes on.