Discussion: Wow!
in: iansmith; iansmith > 2020-08-29
Aug 31, 2020 1:33 PM
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Bash:
That’s a serious adventure! We’re in Palgrave, a bit to the west of your route.
Aug 31, 2020 5:23 PM
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Congratulations! You have probably noticed by now that completing a few of these longer rides gives a considerably greater level of confidence that you will be able to hold up until the end.
You had mentioned earlier in the summer that taking solo rides worked better for you partly because you didn't think there were a lot of people with focus on a similar set of goals in their bike riding. I'd been thinking at the time that you might find randonneuring (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randonneuring) to be a sport attracting quite a lot of people interested in moderate speed touring over 200K+ distances in a non-race format, with the primary goal of finishing long distance rides of usually nice round numbers of hundreds of Km, with bounds on the speed range, but not focused on the fastest time. It looks as if Randonneuring Ontario is centered around Toronto, so might be pretty convenient for you next summer if the COVID stuff is actually under control by then. It looks as if most years they have a few 200K events and a couple of somewhat longer ones. One of the big advantages with doing a bit of hanging out with other long-distance cyclists part of the time is that technique is much more important in cycling than in running, and experts are often very generous with giving useful tips.
You had mentioned earlier in the summer that taking solo rides worked better for you partly because you didn't think there were a lot of people with focus on a similar set of goals in their bike riding. I'd been thinking at the time that you might find randonneuring (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randonneuring) to be a sport attracting quite a lot of people interested in moderate speed touring over 200K+ distances in a non-race format, with the primary goal of finishing long distance rides of usually nice round numbers of hundreds of Km, with bounds on the speed range, but not focused on the fastest time. It looks as if Randonneuring Ontario is centered around Toronto, so might be pretty convenient for you next summer if the COVID stuff is actually under control by then. It looks as if most years they have a few 200K events and a couple of somewhat longer ones. One of the big advantages with doing a bit of hanging out with other long-distance cyclists part of the time is that technique is much more important in cycling than in running, and experts are often very generous with giving useful tips.
Aug 31, 2020 5:48 PM
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moderate speed touring
Reality is painful sometimes. Thanks for the reference, though. I am amenable to group rides, though there is a certain elegance to solo, unsupported expeditions that beguiles me.
One aspect of randonneuring that does not appeal is the arbitrariness of distance goals. This route, a 200 km randonneur scheduled on September 26, has no destination, nor does it go anywhere particularly interesting. While many of my training rides are similarly arbitrary, and there is merit in such random adventure, this route - with a literal 10-15 km out-and-back at its northern apex - is contrived solely to hit 200 km. It's only marginally more interesting than sitting on a trainer for 7 hours. Boston-Montreal-Boston is somewhat compelling, as it's about getting somewhere.
Reality is painful sometimes. Thanks for the reference, though. I am amenable to group rides, though there is a certain elegance to solo, unsupported expeditions that beguiles me.
One aspect of randonneuring that does not appeal is the arbitrariness of distance goals. This route, a 200 km randonneur scheduled on September 26, has no destination, nor does it go anywhere particularly interesting. While many of my training rides are similarly arbitrary, and there is merit in such random adventure, this route - with a literal 10-15 km out-and-back at its northern apex - is contrived solely to hit 200 km. It's only marginally more interesting than sitting on a trainer for 7 hours. Boston-Montreal-Boston is somewhat compelling, as it's about getting somewhere.
Aug 31, 2020 10:49 PM
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You don't have to ride with other people when you do a brevet. But I think you would probably find the maximum speed thing annoying.
This discussion thread is closed.