Re: [Classicrendezvous] Re: PBP-RAGBRAI etc.

(Example: Racing:Jacques Boyer)

Date: Wed, 25 Oct 2000 14:06:00 -0400
From: Jerry Moos <moos@penn.com>
To: Ron Cooley <cooleyr@duke.usask.ca>
CC: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
Subject: Re: [Classicrendezvous] Re: PBP-RAGBRAI etc.
References: <CATFOODZ3LstPGtPrPr000002b4@catfood.nt.phred.org> <39F708E6.36FB2F04@duke.usask.ca>


Well, Dale can step in if he likes, but this thread seems pretty "classic" to me in that PBP was first held in 1891. Also, today's Audax bikes are extremely similar to classic road bikes (at least those before 1970) in that they are capable of high performance but have fender clearance and eyelets for fender attachment. They are also usually steel, and often lugged, so if they aren't strictly "classic", they are certainly "classic"-type bikes, just as are Baylis, Sachs, Bohemian and Rivendell frames which have always been deemed appropriate to discuss here. Also, audax/ randonneur riding seems to me to be just the type of cycling activity reported and promoted by the great now departed French and British cycling magazines like Le Cyclist. Can't imagine anything more classic than discussion of participating in a cycling tradition over 100 years old.

Regards,

Jerry Moos

Ron Cooley wrote:
> I keep wanting to jump in on this thread and then stopping myself because it's not
> really a VINTAGE BIKES topic (though I do my randonnee rides on a 79 Raleigh
> supercourse). But I wanted to assure people that its possible (though hard) to
> qualify for PBP in a short cycling season. Some of my fellow Prairie Randonneurs
> from Saskatchewan Canada are veterans of 2 or 3 PBP rides, and we NEVER hit the road
> (without studded tires) before April--more often the season begins in May. The trick
> seems to be in doing the qualifier series the year before PBP (i.e. in 2002), when
> the schedule is not so compressed. That way the series in the year of the event is
> more a matter of maintenance and confirmation than acquiring the necessary fitness.
> I'm aiming for PBP 2003 and my plan is to do one longer ride each season. This year
> I rode 200, 300 and 400 km brevets: next season I'll go for a 600 as well. I'd also
> Love to do RAGBRAI, and maybe bring a few friends. Should we perhaps continue this
> discussion off list?

>

> Ron Cooley