randonneuring – Captain Overpacker

For many randonneurs, Easter weekend is the time for a 360-km ACP 24-hour team event, known as the Fleche (French for “arrow”). Ideally, several five-bike teams ride from different origins, departing Saturday morning, and converge on a single point at the finish, often ending with Easter morning breakfast. It’s a really cool idea. A Dart is another team ride in the form of a 200-km RUSA 13.5-hour event. Tidewater Rando hosted its inaugural Dart on April 4th. We originally had two teams that were going to ride separate routes and meet at a common finish point. Unfortunately, personal schedules shifted and we fielded only one team of five. Continue reading “RUSA Dart 200 km (128 miles)” →

20150321_Start-Keith — Photo by Keith Sutton

It’s been 11 months since my last rando, be it a permanent, brevet or anything else. In fact, I haven’t ridden more than 30 miles at one time since October. I had hoped to ride through the winter, but the comfort of a warm home got the better of me. Southeastern Virginia got a lot more snow and ice than usual, too. The area nearly shut down after each snow event and the roads were a mess for days on end. We’re not equipped for heavy snow removal or suppression. Plus, our local drivers aren’t that safe on dry roads, much less roads with weather-related “challenges.” As a result, this ACP event caught me under-trained. I had a few 25-milers under my belt this year; that wasn’t even close to what I needed to prepare for a 200-km ride. The lack of training has never stopped me before. Bring on the pain! Continue reading “ACP Suffolk to Skippers 200 km (128 miles, Run #3)” →