Upcoming Rides & Stuff

If you will look to the left, at the “Tour Calendar,” you will note that there are a lot of new entries.  We’ll be posting more on these at an appropriate time in the future.  For now, let’s hit the high spots.

Dawn Patrols:  Once upon a time I started doing this kind of thing in order to prepare for long RUSA brevets.  I knew I’d be riding at night, and when fatigued, so I wanted to simulate the experience.  Now, I’m not sure I’ll be doing any of those particular events any time soon.  But, like a lot of things in life, there was a sort of serendipity to them.  Turned out that it was a lot of fun to get up stupid early and ride when no one was about.  Naturally, I wanted to share the fun.  (Some would say the motivation was “misery loves company.”)

Well, a format sort of grew up.  It’s really very simple.  We start in the parking lot of a pancake restaurant, and go riding.  Because we’re doing it at a ridiculous early hour on a Sunday morning, there is no one else on the road!  That permits, or even encourages us to ride in places where we would ordinarily not feel welcome or safe.

So that’s what we do.  We start off riding on roads that are ordinarily high traffic.  By the time the early birds begin to wake up, we’re off of the heavier roads, and making our way toward the dawn, along the less traveled byways.  We usually make a coffee stop just at dawn.  The combination of a cuppa java, and the rising sun is a real lift!

After that coffee stop, we’ll ride for another hour or so, returning to the start.  A post ride pancake breakfast is entirely optional, but usually pretty good.

The Penance 100+ :  What can I say?  By the first of the year, almost all of us have “suffered” from less riding, and too much “Holiday Fun.”  This is a way to dedicate ourselves to the new year.  We get up, meet, saddle up, and ride.  It’s a bit over 100 miles for the whole magilla.  There is a “metric 100” option, that’s about 65 miles.

This is a self-supported century.  There will not be a SAG wagon.  Each of us will be responsible for our own food and water.  There will be a few stores open along the way.  It’s likely to be a bit cool.  This is a ride that simply requires, not speed, but rather fortitude.  The whole point is to show (mostly ourselves) that we’ve been around, and we still are.

Audax Rides:  We’ll talk about these in the future.  The Tune Ups are fun in and of themselves, but they are preparation for a long and happy day in the saddle.  Enough said for now.