[CR] Cyclos Montagnards

(Example: Production Builders:Frejus)

Date: Fri, 20 Mar 2009 12:39:58 -0800
To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
From: "Jan Heine" <heine94@earthlink.net>
Subject: [CR] Cyclos Montagnards


Not about classic bikes, but a classic way of riding. (And of course, KOF bikes often are best suited for these types of riding.)

Cycling used to be a challenging endeavor. Early bike races often left for the unknown, and riders confronted vast distances on mere paths. Similarly, randonneuring started started as a self-sufficient sport without organized events, time limits or medals. Led by VĂ©locio, the editor of the magazine Le Cycliste, French cyclotourists of the late 19th century visited distant places by bicycle. On familiar roads, they rode at high speeds during so-called "transport stages." Once they reached their destination, they visited the sights at a leisurely pace, before returning home with another "transport stage." From these transport stages originated the idea to see how far a randonneur could ride in 24 hours. Le Cycliste published the rider's tales, which inspired others to try and seek the limits of human performance. Some riders challenged themselves to ride from their hometown to a distant place, often the top of a mountain, and back, in less than 24 hours.

We took inspiration from these pioneers and formed Cyclos Montagnards to promote these types of challenges. The Cyclos Montagnards promote unsupported long distance cycling inspired by the French pioneers of randonneuring. We've come up with two interesting rides in Washington State that you can read about here:

http://www.cyclosmontagnards.org

We are hoping to expand the list to other interesting challenges around the country.

Ryan Hamilton, Mark Vande Kamp, Jan Heine