Want to ride 200K? How about 1,200K?
If you are interested in new adventures in the great outdoors, you may want to consider bicycle randonneuring. Randonneuring is loosely defined as long-distance, unsupported bicycling.
The sport appeals to a wide audience, has many enjoyable and challenging aspects, offers participants the opportunity to work toward goals and earn awards, and there are many opportunities to participate in the upper Midwest.
To provide some background on the sport, I contacted Rob Welsh, regional brevet administrator for the Minnesota Randonneurs, one of the largest randonneuring groups in the region. Riders have randonneured in Minnesota since the 1980s.
“Randonneuring appeals to a wide range of active people that really enjoy riding their bikes,” Welsh said. “The age of the riders varies from riders in their 20s to riders in their 70s. Although we get some faster riders, many of our new randonneurs come from the B/C ranks as randonneuring is increasingly seen as a way to enjoy riding longer distances without feeling the pressure to keep up a fast pace.”
If you participate in one or more randonneuring rides, known as brevets, you may come to appreciate the same aspects as Welsh, such as:
• riding with a group of friends, enjoying their company and working together to accomplish a common goal
• pushing yourself to go farther than you think and perhaps faster than you believe you are capable
• learning how to keep your mind and body focused over a very long haul
Growing interest
While randonneuring has its origins in France in the late nineteenth century, with groups also forming in Great Britain, Italy and other European countries, it is a type of riding with which most bicyclists are not that familiar. Yet participation in the sport is growing.
“In 2014, the Minnesota Randonneurs grew by 36 percent over 2013 in terms of total riders at all events,” Welsh said. “In 2014, we added eight new routes, several of them more urban based. We have many traditional, rural randonneur routes that continue to be popular. But utilizing the great bike trails and traffic friendly environment around the Twin Cities has really worked out well.”
Half of the Minnesota group’s rides are 200K or shorter, and this year, for the first time, they will offer four gravel rides of 100K to 150K. The latter rides are expected to tap the increasing of younger riders and experienced road riders to explore the state’s backroads.
Randonneuring groups in the upper Midwest primarily offer rides of 100K, 200K, 300K, 400K and 600K, and riders can participate at different levels according to their interest.
Scroll down for a list of brevets taking place in the upper Midwest this year.
“You can get as deeply involved in the spirit of randonneuring as you want,” Welsh said. “Many riders are comfortable with 100K to 200K events. That is as far as they want to go and they really enjoy the challenge.”
Other riders want to stretch themselves after they have gained some experience to see how far they can go.
Super Randonneurs & Grand Randonnees
“The 300K, 400K and 600K events get you to the ‘Super Randonneur level, where you really begin to understand randonneuring. You learn to deal with night riding, nutrition, mental focus, challenging routes and weather,” Welsh said.
In 2014, 33 Minnesota Randonneurs completed a Super Randonneur series, with rides of 200K, 300K, 400K and 600K in one season, and ten of those riders did it for the first time. Completing a Super Randonneur series is significant achievement for many randonneurs. Some randonneurs are able to complete multiple Super Randonneur series in a single season, which is a another level of accomplishment and persistence.
A Super Randonneur series is one of a long list of goals that riders can take aim at. There are awards for other randonneuring accomplishments, some of which can take years to years to earn.
The next step beyond the Super Randonneur level, for example, is to complete a 1,200K Grande Randonnee. These events are held at several locations around the world. To qualify for most of these events, completion of a Super Randonneur series in the same year as the Grande Randonnee event is required. 1,200K brevets test a rider’s fitness, equipment, persistence and ability to overcome a wide variety of obstacles
The ultimate randonnee is the Paris-Brest-Paris 1,200K held once every four years. This event started in 1891 and it’s 17th edition will be held this year.
Most 1,200K events have 30 to 100 riders, while Paris-Brest-Paris sees 7,000 randonneurs from all over the globe.
In 2011, 13 Minnesota randonneurs participated in PBP brevet. This year 20 or more are expected to participate, Welsh said.
People interested in trying randonneuring for the first time this year, may want to start getting in shape this winter with cross-training, spinning and riding outside.
There are many randonneuring opportunities in the upper Midwest, including in Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois and Michigan. (Many are included in the calendar of long and multi-day bike tours on the following pages.)
For more information on randonneuring, riding groups and ride schedules, visit the Randonneurs USA website and click on “Rides.” For information and rides in Minnesota, visit minnesotarandonneurs.org.
Richard Mueller is a two-time Super Randonneur, six-time finisher of GRABAAWR and one- time finisher of SAGBRAW. He has also finished the Ice Age 50 mile trail run 10 times.
2015 Upper Midwest Brevets
The following randonnees – brevets and populaires – are long-distance, largely self-supported bike rides. The dates provided are the days these rides start. But depending on a rider’s pace, it could take more than a day to complete a 300K to 600K route (and, possibly, several days more to recover).
Contact information for specific events is included in the full calendar listings at the back of this and every issue of Silent Sports and online at www.silentsports.net.
APRIL 11
ESCAPE TO WISCONSIN POPULAIRE, 120K, Stillwater, MN
TRIPLE DIP BREVET, 200K, Quality Inn, Ames, IA
April 18
GREAT LAKES RANDONNEURS BREVET, 200K & 300K, Delevan, WI
CITY SLICKERS BREVET, 200K, Minneapolis, MN
April 25
ROSEMOUNT GRAVEL POPULAIRE, 100K, 9 a.m., Starbucks Coffee, Rosemount, MN
WEST BREVET, 200K, Canton, MI
May 2
ROCHESTER-WYKOF BREVET, 200K, Walmart, Rochester, MN
TRIPLE DIP & THREE RIVERS BREVETS, 200K & 300K, Ames, IA
May 9
APPLE VALLEY POPULAIRE & BREVETS, 100K, 200K, 300K, Apple Valley, MN
APPLE VALLEY WANDER, 100K, Apple Valley, MN
WILLIAM DODD ROAD RAMBLE BREVET, 200K, Apple Valley, MN
THE LONGEST DAY BREVET, 300K, Commerce Township, MI
May 16
GREAT LAKES RANDONNEURS BREVET, 200K & 300K, Delevan, WI
MONEY CREEK BREVET, 300K, Walmart, Rochester, MN
May 17-21
WEST UNION BREVET WEEK, 200K, 300K, 400K, 600K, West Union, IA
May 23
TRIPLE DIP & AMES TO AUDUBON BREVETS, 200K & 400K, Ames, IA
May 30
GREAT LAKES RANDONNEURS BREVET, 200K, 400K 600K, Delevan, WI
THUMBS UP BREVET, 400K, Port Huron, MI
APPLE VALLEY CLASSIC BREVET, 200K, 300K, 400K, Apple Valley, MN
June 6
ROCHESTER TO DECORAH BREVET, 400K, Rochester, MN
June 13
APPLE VALLEY-WINONA CLASSIC BREVET, 600K, Apple Valley, MN
TRIPLE DIP, THREE RIVERS, AMES TO AUDUBON & CENTRAL IOWA SAMPLER, 200K, 300K, 400K & 600K, Ames, IA
GREAT LAKES RANDONNEURS BREVET, 200K, 400K & 600K, Delavan, WI
LECLAIRE-VIROQUA, 600K, LeClaire, IA to Viroqua, WI
June 20-21
HOTTER THAN A PEPPER SPROUT, 400K & 600K, Canton, MI
June 27
ROCHESTER BREVET, 600K, Rochester, MN
VIA VIROQUA BREVET, 200K, Richland Center, WI
July 11
SAKATAH HILLS SINGING BREVET, 200K, Apple Valley, MN
19 GOLDEN PANCAKE NIGHT RIDE BREVET, 202K, Minneapolis, MN
August 1-2
DAIRYLAND DANDY & OLD ABE’S PARADE BREVETS, 200K & 300K, Black River Falls, WI
BLACK RIVER FALLS POPULAIRE & BREVETS, 100K, 200K, 300K, Black River Falls, WI
August 2-3
COULEE CHALLENGE BREVET & WHITETAIL WANDER POPULAIRE, 200K & 100K, Black River Falls, WI
September 19-20
TWIN CITIES TOUR, 600K, Brooklyn Center, MN
September 26
AAA 200K BREVET, Adrian, MI
October 3
HILLS OF WISCONSIN BREVET, 200K, New Richmond, WI
October 10
VIA VIROQUA BREVET, 200K, Richland Center, WI
October 17
TRAILS TO TRAILS POPULAIRE, 100K, Minneapolis, MN
For more details about these and many other events, check out the full Silent Sports calendar here.