> Jerry Moos wrote: Thus the popularity of randonneuring in Europe, an
> activity focued more on participation and comradeship and less on
> competition.
>
In Italy there is a new form of cycling that has taken off like a rocket,
the "Gran Fondo". These are century( +) rides, with shorter distance options
available, that are very competitive. Every finisher's time is recorded.
Some are very large in terms of participants (thousands). One is sponsored
by Campagnolo (I understand it to be very difficult-lots of climbing, and
long), another by Pinarello, etc. Some of these events make up a "series" in
which individuals accumulate time (points?) in each event towards the total
for the series. Last year was also big year for the evolution of the Gran
Fondo in Spain. More info available at this nice website:
http://www.biciveneto.it/
Interestingly, Campagnolo has come out with a triple targeted for the Gran Fondo rider: a Record triple in 30-40-50 (good to know for 20 years from now....)
I sure would like to do one of these! I was cycling in Italy for two weeks last year (but no Gran Fondo) and I was impressed with the number of strong Italian cyclists. On weekends there are out in force in their club jerseys and favorite team jerseys.
Angel Garcia
Long Valley, NJ