RR41 - Hot Off The Press!

The new Rivendell Reader, chock full of 48 pages of steel, leather, and wool goodness, is now available here.

Enjoy!

BTW, Peanut Farm tomorrow at 1:00PM Alaska Standard Time for the ATOC! See you there!

I Like to Watch

I'm not a sports fan...conventional, American-type sports that is. Stuff like football, baseball, basketball, golf, etc. And bars? I've never done the bar thing either. I mean, there was college of course... So the 'sports bar' is something I really never got. Sports + bar  = wrong. That was until today! Today I had a short e-mail correspondence w/ a cycling advocate here in town who asked if I knew of any place in Anchorage where a person could go to watch the Tour on television. Of course I was dumbfounded. How would I know any place like that?! TV?! Watch? I got rid of my TV back in 1982.

But the question reminded me of one of my favorite podcasts by Jack Thurston of The Bike Show. A couple of years ago one May, Jack recorded his weekly podcast whilst (d'ya like that?) watching the Giro from Bar Italia in London. They rode their bikes to the bar. It was a great show. They were really having a grand time, you could tell. Anyway, you can still download and listen to it.

So I reached for the phone book, flipped through the pages and immediately called the Peanut Farm. And you know what? The have Versus. AND...if you ask, they'll put it on for you! Right on! I'm heading to the Peanut Farm! Just like Chauncey Gardiner, "I like to watch."

Will they let you bring your trainer? It's a sports bar, isn't it?

(By-the-way, if you get a charge out of watching bicycle racing, check out this trailer for Road to Roubaix)

Here's the Versus schedule:

Tour of California

Feb 14 @ 5PM ET, Feb 15 @ 6PM ET

Feb 16 LIVE @ 12:30PM ET, Feb 17 LIVE @ 5PM ET

Feb 18-20 LIVE @ 4PM ET and Feb 21-22 @ 5PM ET

Paris Nice - Mar 8 and Mar 15 @ 5PM ET

Criterium International - Mar 29 @ 5PM ET

Tour of Flanders - Apr 5 @ 5PM ET

Paris Roubaix - Apr 12 @ 4PM ET

Liege Bastogne - Apr 26 @ 3PM ET

Fleche Wallone - Apr 26 @ 3:30PM ET

Tour de Romandie - May 3 @ 4PM ET

Dauphine Libere - Jun 7, 9, 14 and 15 @ 5PM ET

Tour de Suisse - Jun 14 and 15 @ 6PM ET and Jun 21 @ 5PM ET

Tour de France - July 4-26

Vuelta A Expana - Oct 11 @ 5PM ET

Paris Tours - Oct 11 @ 6PM ET

Tour du Faso - Nov 8 @ 6PM ET

Sheldon Brown

Sheldon Brown: 1944 - 2008

Folks, in memory of Sheldon, do something nice to your bike today.

Renew, Renew...It's Time To Renew.

Once again, your loyal RBA is making it easy for you. It's time to renew your RUSA membership. Click on the link, download the form, fill it out, mail it off, everything is good. Next thing you know, you'll be road-trippin' down to Homer w/ your friends for the End-of-the-Road 200K season-opener.

20 clams for a year-full of benefits:

 - Quarterly randonneuring journal.

 - Member's handbook (of which I highlighted in a previous post).

 - Fancy ACP commemorative finisher's medals.

 - Eligibility for yearly rando awards.

 - Groovy rando schwag from the RUSA store.

 - Entry to RUSA permanents.

Go ahead, support randonneuring in the U.S. of A. Renew today!

Homer is Certifiable!

We've heard the Sirens' call from the "cosmic hamlet by the sea!" Behold, Homer is certified!! ...The 200KM End-of-the-Road brevet course that is. The guy in the photo on the right with the red nose, however, looks like he's spent a little too much time at the Salty Dawg.

Anyway, I just got word this morning from the RUSA routes coordinator that the course is good to go. It's number 705. One down, a whole list of others to go.

Better hit the gym folks. Less than two months to go. We're starting early this year, and there are a few hills on the course. Bring the granny gear to this one.

What Are You Reading?

I realize that many of the Alaska brevet rides are dedicated, serious athletes with their sights set on high-profile competitive events such as the Fireweed 400 or RAAM. That's great, and I'm delighted they ride the brevets. I believe they bring a lot to randonneuring that's important. As they say, randonneuring is a big tent, and there's plenty of room for all sorts of riders. To be sure though, I'm not ignoring the dedication and training necessary to finish the longer brevets or any of the big 1200s. It's just that there are a lot of other brevet riders up here who are just out for a personal challenge and a fine adventure. And they may find that challenge and adventure in the shorter rides, just as many others do in the longer ones.

For many of the latter type of riders, questions regarding training and preparation, especially when you're just starting out, can be pretty confusing. Where do you begin?! What's Chris Charmichael's phone number? Do I need that carbon fiber dog dish?

There's a whole sag wagon of information out there in the way of books, websites, forums, magazines, etc. And adopting any one of the sophisticated training and nutrition programs many of these sources offer can be, for many of us, more challenging than the rides themselves.

Listen...I'm going to make it simple for you; bordering on too simple. Maybe 'streamlined' is a better term. For the most part, you can ignore all of that stuff. Cancel that appointment to have your VO2Max tested. Stop worrying about what your composition of fast-twitch vs. low-twitch is. If you're looking for a solid place to start, something really digestible, get yourself the two booklets in the photo: Randonneurs USA Members' Handbook and the UMCA's Preparing for Long Rides. These two will get you as far as you wish to go in randonneuring. They'll provide you with an excellent base of realistic, distilled training principles, nutrition advice, and equipment choices. Read 'em. Then...if you find you still need more, or you want to put yourself on one of those programs, then you'll know just that much more when you go out and collect all those other books.

Looking Forward to Brevet Season

Our new website hasn't had it's official debut yet, but it's picking up a little traffic, guessing from the feedback I'm getting from some of you. I'll make the formal launch soon. Just working on the finishing touches.

From the sounds of it, the schedule is going to work. I think it's a good one; lots of variety, some new stuff, some familiar gems... I'll keep it as tentative for a few more weeks, make some changes if necessary, then lock it in.

My aim for this season is to pack as many rides in as possible, while not conflicting with any of the other major events going on. My fear, however, is for a spring snow that will eliminate the Homer ride. Last year's snow was really a drag. But, that happens sometimes. At least it wasn't a volcano erupting! Anyway, I'm hoping the warmer average temperatures down in the Banana Belt (Homer) will work in our favor. Personally, I'm really excited about the Homer ride. I think it'll be one of the most beautiful 200Ks around.

Happy New Year! & 2009 Brevet Schedule

Happy New Year  Alaska Randonneurs!

How are those garage spin sessions going?

Here's a suggestion...between workouts, do some active resting in front of your computer and upload your photos of your Alaska brevets to our Flickr site:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/alaskarandonneurs/

Well, I've been working on a zillion new brevets and permanents all around the state (Kodiak 200KM, Cordova 200KM, Glennallen...). I've got loads of exciting, scenic, and challenging new routes submitted, and I'm just waiting for final approval from RUSA.

Our calendar is shaping up nicely, but if we hope to actually put all of these events on, we're going to need more volunteers on event days. So, if you or someone you know is interested in spending a nice day out on the course this spring/summer, please pass their contact info on to me, or just have them get in touch with me directly.

Here's the tentative brevet schedule for 2009:

March 28 Homer 200KM
http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/ak/homer/349942891000

April 11 North Kenai Peninsula 200KM
http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/ak/kenai/131361979930

April 18 Matanuska Valley 200KM
http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/ak/palmer/495929327825

May 9 Anchorage/Palmer 300KM

May 23 Bread & Water 100KM populaire (Great Harvest to the Moose's Tooth)

May 30 Anchorage/Seward/Anchorage 400KM

June 20 Gakona/Delta Junction/Tok/Gakona 600KM

July 18 Denali Dirt Road Randonnee 300KM
http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/ak/-denali-park/465987705182

August 1 PBP (Potter-Birchwood-Potter or Palmer-Birchwood-Palmer) Populaire

September? (When the leaves change color) Chugiak/Talkeetna/Chugiak 300KM

Please stay in touch. Let me know if you have any ideas, suggestions, questions, etc.

Bonne Route!