By Scott
The DC randonneur fleche 24 hour
event is this coming weekend. I'll be taking part as one of the four
members of Team The way we W &OD'd (we use part of the
Washington and Old Dominion trail for the last part of the ride).
This will be my 6th fleche- I've completed 4 and failed to
finish one.
The Fleche is a unique randonneuring event. Here in the US, they are organzied by Randonneurs USA. The basic premise is that it is a team event- at least 3 bikes per team, but no more then 5 bikes per team. You must ride at least 360 km (223 miles) in 24 hours and you cannot stop in one location for longer then 2 hours. For full rules, you can go to the RUSA site and read through them-
Due to the nature of the
ride- you must use up all 24 hours and you can design your own route-
rides tend to be flatter then a regular brevet. So one can end up
eating/hanging out in restaurants/cafe's to kill time. In some
places, this is easy. In Northern Washington state, there are small
town cafe's where one can have a long dinner or breakfast. Wide,
cushy booths are great to sit on after 20 hours of riding as is the
waitresses with endless cups of coffee or tea. On the other hand, in
small town Australia, where no 24 hour facilities exist, we had the
son of the team leader cook up spaghetti in the village
green late at night to help stave off hunger, as nothing was open.
(photo by Bill Beck)
One of the common themes is
the breakfast after the event. In British Columbia, we would all
finish at the Harrison Hot Springs resort for a banquet. Some teams
would finish on the Saturday night and relax in the hot springs after
finishing their ride. In Australia, our ride ended in
Rochester,Victoria, the birthplace of Sir Hubert Opperman, one of the
greatest endurance riders of Australia and winner of PBP back when it
was a professional race. There the cycling club used the local
Football (Australian Rules) club house for the breakfast and for us
to clean up. My club mates in San Francisco have rented out a crepire
as a meeting point for the riders and here in DC, we use the Marriott
hotel by the Key Bridge, just across the Potomac from Georgetown as
the end point for all the teams
(the Oppy statue in Rochester Vic, Australia)
What is your favorite food stop during a ride?
(the Oppy statue in Rochester Vic, Australia)
What is your favorite food stop during a ride?
2 comments:
Great title!
Scott,
Great post - very much looking forward to riding with you tomorrow!
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