Rando Rambles

   Route / Event:   Refined Sons Foolish 300  / 300km Brevet [  Ride Log  ] The four pre-riders: Michel, Fred, Chappy, John Image credit: Chappy The birth of a beer -vet Good Friday 2023, and what a good Friday it would be -- because here I was unloading my bike in a dark parking lot; signs that another season of randonneuring is here. Today four of the Huron Chapter's finest (or most foolish) would be scouting a new route ahead of it's use in a brevet event the following day. The route was a 300km loop from the west side of London, out to Sarnia, then Chatham, and back to London. For a ride this distance to go on the record, a rider has to run the course, passing through all the checkpoints, in under twenty hours. To date I had completed only one 300km brevet in my randonneuring past and it remained my longest to date. Yet here I was kicking off a new season with a ride of this magnitude. Foolish indeed?    Uncharted territory I felt attache...

Route / Event:   Erie-Oh 300  / 300km Brevet [  Ride Log  ] Lightning pierced the dark sky several times as we approached the city of Windsor. While amazing to behold, and a perfect compliment to the Metallica riffs that were streaming through the Android Auto system, Michel and I agreed it was rather unwelcome. So far this year I'd managed to dodge inclement weather on four individual 200km brevets. Now that I was attempting my first 300km, I was wondering if the Mother Nature was coming to collect her debt. The sky as steely gray and threatening as we pulled into the departure point, with just enough chill to remind me to throw on my reflective gear.  Fred, Valerie, Dija, Michael, Ben, Michel (out of frame: Dick) I'd volunteered to act as ride organizer for this event, so as fellow randonneurs arrived, I ensured they had lights and a vest and handed out each their brevet cards. For this ride we had myself, Michel, Ben and Dick from the local Huron crowd, and V...