RBA Notes – Welcome to the 2012 Season
| February 25, 2012 | Posted by RandoRob under 2012, Announcement, Fleche, RBA |
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Welcome to the 2012 Minnesota Randonneur Season. Our first ride is just over a month away so it’s definitely time to get the training program in place and put your randonneur riding season plan into motion.
There are lots of new things going on this season, here’s a few highlights:
1. Our website has been updated! Kelly Hines has added more functionality, particularly around the ride registration features that make it possible for you to see all the rides you have registered for, and to see what other riders are signed up for brevets you may be interested in. To see these features, you need to have a Mn Rando login, which is easy to create from the main page of the web site (on the right side). Kelly is also putting together some features that will give us forum capabilities to share information on rides or discuss other randonneur topics. More information on this will be coming soon.
2. The Upper Midwest Fleche Get Together has been set up – our destination this year is Wisconsin Dells. A Fleche is a team event, with 3-5 riders completing a 360 km (minimum) route of their choosing, ending up at the same place as several other teams. This is a fun ride, with lots of chances to meet other randonneurs at the finish. More details are coming soon. Contact the Fleche Director, Dan Diehn, at DDiehn@DiehnLaw.com for information and to register your team.
The Importance of Riding Economy for Randonneuring
| February 25, 2012 | Posted by RandoRob under Ride Tips |
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Submitted by: Gary Bakke
As Randonneurs, we would all like to ride more effectively and more comfortably for our long rides. Joe Friel believes that the key to performance on long endurance events is Economy of effort. He identifies three markers of endurance fitness: aerobic capacity anaerobic/lactate threshold and economy. Each is an important physiological determiner of fitness but the relative importance of each depends on the duration of the event.
Friel makes it clear that riding economy is the dominant factor for success in long events such as Randonneuring. more…
The Silk Road 1200k – Uzbekistan, October 2012
| February 25, 2012 | Posted by RandoRob under 1200k, 2012 |
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If you are looking for something a lot more adventurous in a 1200k grande randonnee this year, this is your ride. The Uzbekistan randonneur club is sponsoring a 1200k event that follows a good portion of the famous Silk Road that has been used for centuries for trade between Europe and China. Riding in this part of the world would be classified as a fairly extreme adventure for most of us here, although there are tours and individuals that do ride in Uzbekistan and other countries along the Silk Road.
First: to get more information on this event go to:
http://xt-uz.com/brevet_1200km
Second: Before you book your flight, check out this:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/country_profiles/1238242.stm
Minnesota Randonneur Conference Summary
| January 11, 2012 | Posted by spokes under 2012, Minnesota Randonneur Conference, Randonneuring |
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The Second Annual Minnesota Randonneurs Winter Conference was held Saturday, February 4th, in the atrium of the Ceresota Building in downtown Minneapolis. 40 randonneurs and other interested people showed up for a great day of randonneuring topics, awards and a great Greek lunch, provided by Kafe 421.
more…
REI Bike U Presentation – The Art of Long Distance Bicycling in Minnesota
| January 10, 2012 | Posted by spokes under Randonneuring |
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Minnesota Randonneurs was given time on the REI winter calendar to present the topic ‘The Art of Long Distance Bicycling in Minnesota’at their Bloomington store (494/Lyndale) on Saturday, January 28th at 3p.
Nearly 100 people attended the session, with a good cross section of randonneurs, tourists, club riders and others interested in the topic. Gary Bakke and Rob Welsh presented a variety of topics relating to long distance bicycling and randonneuring, which was very well received.
Thank you to Mary Miller and TCBC for giving us the opportunity to present, and to REI for the use of their excellent facilities and support.
Nelson 200k Challenge – Saturday Oct 1
| October 3, 2011 | Posted by RandoRob under 200k, 2011 |
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Congratulations to the 12 riders that started out on the very challenging Nelson 200k on Saturday. It was 39 above at the start and never got above 60 for the day, but it was a great day to be riding the hills and coulees of Wisconsin.
The course took it’s toll as five riders did have various mechanical, tired legs and in one case running out of daylight without lights that kept them from completing the entire ride. All in all though, everyone enjoyed themselves and gave their legs terrific workout.
more…
