Rando Rambles

   Route / Event:   Railway City 200 / 200km Permanent [  Ride Log  ] "When the snow falls and the white wind blows, the lone wolf dies but the pack survives."  -- A Game of Thrones Is author George R. R. Martin a randonneur? I'm guessing he isn't. I mean I wish he was. I'd love to ride alongside him for 600km and chat about his Ice and Fire series. Nevertheless, the above words were etched in my brain as Marc Deshaie and I pulled into the Railway City Brewery, closing out the first 100km of our 200km permanent.  It was late November. The two of us had scheduled a permanent late in the riding season. The Radonneurs Ontario club's scheduled events were all done for the season but a permanent is a self-scheduled ride along one of the club's prescribed routes. I still had this ridiculous notion that I could finish a 200km ride in twelve consecutive calendar months. This route was ideal for a few reasons. Firstly, both of us being from London, this St. Th...

  Route / Event:   St. Thomas-Paris 200  / 200km Permanent [  Ride Log  ] "Hey Google, what will the weather be like in St. Thomas on Monday?" " Monday in St. Thomas there will rain from 4a.m. until 11pm, and a high of 25 degrees. There is a severe thunderstorm warning in effect. " Shit.  "Hey Google, what will the weather be like in Paris Ontario on Monday?" " Monday in Paris there will be scattered thunderstorms with a high of 27 and a low of 19 ." Sigh.  I did not want to cancel this ride. Nevermind the fact that both Michel and I had taken the day off work -- we needed this ride completed for a specific designation we were working toward called the O-12.   The O-12 is an Ontario-specific version what our American counterparts call the R-12 . Like the R-12, it requires a rider to complete a club-sanctioned 200km (or more) ride in twelve consecutive months. Sanctioned rides include either a brevet on the club's calendar, or an individual ri...

Route / Event:   Much Ado About Nothing  / 200km Permanent  [  Ride Log  ] It was still dark, and already raining when Kim and I set off for the departure point; my bike strapped to the hitch rack of the SUV, and all my gear in the back. I couldn't help but think that I should have done this yesterday when the weather was cool but dry. This was not just a casual bike ride that I could decide to do another day, however. When you register a ride through a club like Randonneurs Ontario , the date is logged and there's insurance involved. And besides, battling through discomfort is a core tenet of the randonneur. Kim steered us through the drive through where I picked up two farmer wraps; one of which I ate immediately, and the other I stowed away for later. I thank her for the ride and told her that if I could maintain a pace of about 20kph, I'd be about 10 hours. She initialed my brevet card, we said our farewells, and I set off just before 8AM.  Ride Start: ...