Hi Gang,
At the end of this (long) weekend, I'll be signing off the list for a time so that the e-mails will not pile up while I am in France to participate in the Raid Pyreneen.
The Raid itself only lasts for 4 1/2 days - 100 hours is the time limit - but I'm going over a week early then hanging around for a week afterwards.
A group of 20 Randonneurs Ontario club members are participating and we've arranged a charter flight plus accommodations and sag support through Pyreneen Pursuits.
After much mulling about with what bike to use, I've elected to take the new Mariposa that Mike Barry recently completed for me. Nine speeds + a granny on the front (Daytona triple group) offer peace of mind for this old fart.
This bike is in the traditional French rando style with fenders and racks, but with modern mtb rims instead of 650B. The historic content here is that my new bike is one of the 30th anniversary batch the Mike made (is making - others are still being completed) this past spring and, mtb wheels aside (Mike's had 700c wheels), is a pretty close replica to the bike that Mike rode when he tackled the Raid Pyreneen 20 years ago to the month.
Lots of my randonneur friends have dropped tons of dough this past spring on titanium this and carbon fibre that in an effort to stem the effects of old age on climbing performance, but ever the romantic, I went for the Brooks saddle, Petit Jean fenders and TA style racks. I intend to stop and take pictures, too. Hope I don't suffer too much for my extravagance!
If anyone is interested in knowing more about this event, our hosts in France have a pretty thorough website: http://www.geocities.com/
Cheers,
Larry -already can't sleep at night - Strung Toronto