DC Randonneurs

Dear DC Randonneur,

Some of the information below has been posted to the DCR Listserve, but this blog entry consolidates it.

We are planning to place a group order for PBP-style safety vests with the DCR logo and club name.  These will be made by the same company that is supplying the PBP safety vests and they are identical with those vests, except for the DCR logo and name instead of PBP logos, etc.  We have ordered samples that will include all four colors (yellow, orange, pink, and green) and all of the sizes except XS.  The samples will include the DCR logo and name.  Photo-mockups of the vests are available here (colors may not be accurate–that’s part of why we’re getting samples):

All Vests

Yellow-Front.  Yellow-Back.

Orange-Front.  Orange-Back.

Pink-Front.   Pink-Back.

Green-Front.  Green-Back.

See below for more logistical details on sizing, the ordering process, etc.

Why get one of these vests now instead of just waiting until PBP?  The main reason I’m interested is that I’ve been burned too many times by making equipment changes at the last minute before a big ride.  Don’t want to do that again!  I want to get my “PBP safety vest” early enough that I can find out if there are any “issues” with it.  For instance, it has side-vents that you can use to get to your shirt pocket, but it might be really convenient to have a pocket on the vest, itself.  I’ll probably sew one onto my vest–but probably on the inside so that I don’t violate the EN1150 standard that the vest must comply with.

A second reason is that I think these safety vests look like they will be more visible than our current sashes or vests, so I’d like to buy one and improve my safety.

A third reason is to get a cool DCR-logo vest.  If I’m feeling rich, I might get a PBP-logo vest as well.

Some have asked how well the vests will work in our summer heat.  I have no way of answering until we see them.  They appear to have a vent at shoulderblade level as well as the side-vents.  So they may be cool enough for all but the hottest nights.  In any case, I expect they’ll be cool enough for at least 9 months of the year.  Maybe I’ll buy a somewhat-larger DCR vest for wearing over bulky clothing and a somewhat-trimmer PBP vest for warmer weather.

Nick Bull
President, DC Randonneurs
president<at>dcrand.org

Logistical details on sizing, the ordering process, etc.

We expect that samples will be here in a few weeks, and hope to be able to bring them to the Dart on March 19 and the Urbana 200Km on March 26th.  Assuming we’ve seen samples by then, the ordering deadline would ideally be soon after.

Costs for the vests will depend on how many are ordered, but we expect that they will range between $32 and $37.

The final deadline for ordering vests will depend on when samples arrive.  We’ll post updates to the DCR listserve (and those who have indicated interest to presidentdcrand.org) as they become available.  This is a group purchase, so if you want to get a vest, you’ll need to place your order and pay in advance.  DC Randonneurs itself is not involved in the purchase and will not have vests “for sale” at any later date.  So it’s a “Now or never” purchase (unless someone else arranges another group purchase in the future).

Not every size is available in every color. Here are the colors and sizes available in each color:

- Yellow : XS, S, M, L, XL, 2XL, 3XL;
- Green : S, M, L, XL, 2XL.
- Orange : S,M,L, XL, 2XL.
- Pink : XS, S,M,L,XL,2XL.

Here is a sizing chart:  http://www.l2s-shop.com/guide_des_tailles.php See below for conversion into inches.

Dimension A is height and B is circumference of chest just under your arms.  Figure out which size is indicated by your height and which by chest circumference and then take the larger.

Sizing in inches:

HEIGHT: to top of head

XS= 52.8 to 59.8,
S= 57.5 to 62.2,
M= 59.8 to 69.3,
L= 67.7 to 72.4,
XL= 69.3 to 74.0,
2XL= 71.7 to 76.4,
3XL= 74.0 to 78.7

CHEST: circumference of chest just under your arms

XS= 25.2 to 29.9,
S= 28.3 to 34.6,
M= 31.5 to 37.8,
L= 36.2 to 42.5,
XL= 37.8 to 45.7,
2XL= 39.4 to 47.2,
3XL= 40.9 to 48.8

Keep in mind, you pick the larger of the size indicated by either the height or chest.  Also, if you want to be able to wear  bulky winter clothes under the vest, you’ll want to get a larger size.

Some more details on the vests:  These are made by the same company that is supplying the official vests you can order when you sign up for PBP, see
http://www.paris-brest-paris.org/pbp2011/index2.php?lang=en&cat=preparation&page=habillement

The manufacturer product brochure PDF is at http://www.l2s-shop.com/pdf/47.pdf

or see their website at

http://www.l2s-shop.com/product_info.php?products_id=47

A DC Randonneurs Dart will be held on March 19, 2011. A Dart is a team event in which each team rides different routes toward a common finish location, like arrows toward a target. The minimum ride distance for a Dart is normally 180 km, which must be covered in a period of 12 hours. However, we have established a minimum distance of 200km for this Dart so that it will qualify toward the R-12 award. The allowed time is also increased to 13.5 hours for the 200km distance.

We have also scheduled a Fleche team event for the weekend of April 15-17. The Fleche is twice as long, with a minimum distance of 360km over 24 hours, and our Dart is scheduled approximately one month before the Fleche so that it can be used as a training and shakedown for that longer event. The Dart is ridden almost entirely in daylight and will be a much more forgiving event on which to discover problems with organization or rider pacing. So it would be a good idea for all Fleche teams to also ride the Dart, but especially any new teams.

The target for the Dart is Appalachian Brewing Company in Gettysburg, PA, where the teams will join together for a post-ride dinner at 7PM. Sunrise will be at 6:26AM and sunset at 6:11PM, so teams wanting to use the full 13.5 hours will include some night riding. For any riders that plan to stay in Gettysburg on Saturday night and ride back to the DC area on Sunday, there are many hotels within a few blocks of the Appalachian Brewing Company.

The Dart has its own set of rules that are somewhat different, and perhaps even more arcane, than those for a standard brevet. Some of them are summarized here:

• Each team must consist of three to five bicycles. (Note that a tandem counts as a single bicycle, so teams will sometimes contain more than five riders.)
• The traditional Dart/Fleche route starts at some distant location and then heads for the target, but a loop route is also allowed, as long as the start location is far enough from the finish to be considered as a different postal jurisdiction.
• As in a standard brevet, the routes must contain control locations chosen so that the shortest bicycle-legal route through the controls is equal to at least the minimum distance of 200 km. However, the Dart has an additional requirement that one of the controls must occur exactly 10 hours after the start and be at least 25 km from the finish. Note that this requirement, as well as the one that states that no rest stops can be longer than 2 hours, ensures that teams take nearly the full 12 hours to complete the ride.

Additional information about the 10-hour control will be provided to all registered team captains, since a full understanding of the rules for this control is essential for achieving a successful finish. And this will be excellent practice for the similar 22-hour control on the fleche.

Our schedule this year is quite short. Each team must have a captain who is responsible for designing the route and submitting it for approval. Captains should carefully read the rules first. The schedule will be:

• March 4: Applications from captains due to RBA including 1) captain’s application form, 2) start date, time, and location, 3) map of route, 4) cue sheet, and 5) names, addresses, and phone numbers for the controls. The route information can be submitted electronically to cba@dcrand.org in PDF, MS Word, or MS Excel format. Route files from DeLorme Topo, Garmin Mapsource, or MS Streets and Trips will also be appreciated, but not required.
• March 10: Final rosters, rider applications, and waivers due from team captains to RBA. Deadline for final route approval.
• March 12: Control cards sent to captains
• March 19: Dart

The application form is available here. Team captains are responsible for collecting applications and waivers from their team members and getting them submitted on time. The information part of the application is a fillable PDF form that can be emailed to cba@dcrand.org, but the waiver parts must be signed and snail-mailed to the address on the form.

Please contact Bill Beck ( cba@dcrand.org ) with any questions. We also have many experienced fleche captains in the club who would be excellent sources of advice. If you are thinking of forming a team or looking for a team to join, the dcrand listserve is one good way to connect with other riders.

The cue sheet for the Tappahannock 200K Brevet, starting at the Ashland Coffee & Tea at 7:00AM on February 19, 2011 is now posted at Cue Sheet - 20110219 Tappahannock 200K Brevet.

Registration opens in the parking lot behind the Ashland Coffee and Tea at 6:00am. There are a limited number of parking spaces behind the Ashland Coffee & Tea. Once those are filled, park along Railroad Ave.

The link to the GPS files is posted below. But please read this information before downloading them. Always get a copy of the final cue sheet. That final cue sheet contains the official route, so in case there is a conflict with the GPS file, you should resolve the conflict in favor of the cue sheet. Use the GPS as a handy-dandy adjunct. Keep your wits about you, as the GPS cannot notify you of road hazards — it is up to you to ride safely.

We strongly recommend that you set your GPS to the settings below. We cannot guarantee that these will keep you on the official route, but if you have your GPS set some other way, it is entirely possible that it will take you off route, possibly onto unsafe roads. Go to the Setup->Routing page and set as follows:

Guidance Method: Follow Road
Follow Road Method: Shortest Distance
Next Turn Pop-Up: On
Follow Road Options:
Off Route Recalculation: Prompted
Calculation Method: Best Route
Calculate Routes for: Car/Motorcycle
Avoid: (set to none – the route itself should control this)

By the way … make sure that your GPS either has maps already downloaded, or select the relevant maps around the routes. The GPS files are posted at GPS Files - 20110219 Tappahannock 200K Brevet. Note: This GPS file has been revised and matches the cue sheet.

Approximately 45 members in attendance, well more than a quorum.

Meeting started at roughly 4:08pm.

President’s Report: Nick Bull reported that last year went very well; this year–being a PBP year–should see even more riders; and our RBA, Bill Beck, is doing a great job.

RBA’s Report: Bill reported that 168 DCR members participated in rides in 2010, up from 128 riders in 2009.  There were 507 event completions, adding up to 131,572Km (up from 450 event completions and 124,000Km in 2009).  Bill described the ride schedule (see the calendar).  Bill thanked all of the volunteers who make our events possible, especially thanking our co-webmasters Bill Arcieri and David Ripton.  The webmasters do a considerable amount of behind-the-scenes work that makes it possible for members to get the information that they need and to conveniently pay online, while taking a huge administrative load off the RBA.

Volunteer Recognition: Mary Gersema, DCR’s volunteer coordinator, recognized our 2010 volunteers.  As a token of thanks, ride organizers were given Ibex wool balaclavas, and all other volunteers were given DC Randonneurs coffee mugs.  Outgoing Board members Steve Ashurst and Bill Clayton also received balacalavas — we will miss their good counsel.  And outgoing co-webmaster Jeff Lesperance also received a balaclava — it’s thanks to Jeff that we have online payment.

Budget:  George Winkert summarized the 2010 results.  Despite a 2010 budget that projected a small net operating loss, we ran a substantial surplus.  Our reserve fund is now somewhat larger than our projected annual expenses.  Nick Bull reported on the 2011 budget.  As we have done for the past several years, we will respond to the prior year’s surplus by reducing brevet fees again for 2011.  After looking at 2010 event income, we noticed that the 400Km event expenses are roughly the same as 300Km event expenses, so we have reduced the 400Km event fee.  We are keeping the fee for the 200Km at $5 and for the 300Km at $10, and reducing the 400Km to $10 and the 600Km to $15.  The membership voted to adopt the budget.

Kelly Smith asked what we plan to do with the reserve fund.  Nick Bull said that we had talked with another major randonneuring club, who thought that having a reserve fund about equal to expenses is reasonable, and that this is appears consistent with other nonprofits.  Further discussion ensued, including several suggestions that we have a large party later in the year.  Leslie Tierstein opined that it’s reasonable to keep a reserve fund roughly equal to expenses. Ed Felker suggested that we put the question to the listserve for broader input.

DCR Board Elections: The membership voted to keep Bill Beck as Club Brevet Administrator, and Paul Donaldson as an At-Large Board member.  Carol Bell will replace Bill Clayton as an At-Large Board member, and George Moore will replace Steve Ashurst as Secretary.

Member Accomplishments: Bill Beck reported on the new Super Rookie award, which is given to all new randonneurs who start randonneuring after the prior year’s DCR 600Km and who complete a Super Randonneur series in the subsequent year.  There were three Super Rookies in 2011, John Mazur, Cindy Piotrowski, and Charles Thomas; and there was an honorary Super Rookie, Cheri Grubbs, who would otherwise have qualified except that she rode one brevet before the 2009 600Km.

Mary Gersema presented member accomplishments for 2010–there were 48 members who completed SR series and 35 who completed an R-12 (many are multiple-R-12 earners).  Five members completed their R-5000 in 2010.  Thirty members rode a 1000Km and seven completed a 1200Km.  A PDF of the member’s accomplishments was prepared by George Moore and will be posted to the website.

PBP Preview: Ed Felker discussed the changes to PBP for 2011.  Key changes: Registration will be handled entirely through ACP.  Riders can pre-register according to a schedule depending on their longest 2010 ride.  Pre-registered riders must finalize their registration by June 19th or lose their pre-registration priority.  There are quotas, but we think that they will probably not prevent anyone from riding who wants to.  There are new vest requirements for PBP.  There is also a new sleep control.  All PBP aspirants should read the new brochure. posted on the PBP website

The meeting was adjourned at 5:02pm.

The Populaire is cancelled, but the meeting will go on as scheduled at 4 pm at the Glen Echo Town Hall.  Please park at the Glen Echo Park parking lot, which has been cleared.

Please show your randonneuring spirit and come to the meeting, even though we can’t have the fun of a ride beforehand.  The business part of the meeting will be as brief as we can make it so that the emphasis will be on celebrating our members’ achievements in the last year, honoring volunteers, and giving a preview of the coming year’s rides, particularly Paris-Brest-Paris.

George Moore has reported back to me from a checkout drive of the first portion of the Populaire course.  The roads just sound too unsafe to continue with what is just supposed to be a “fun ride”, not Deathmatch 2011.  In particular, he reports that there are numerous spots where the shoulders are unuseable owing to snow & or mud (which will be frozen mud, tomorrow morning)–this is on roads that potentially have a fair amount of traffic.  Usually these roads are not a problem because of the wide shoulders, but if you’re forced into the traffic lanes by a pile of snow, it could be unpleasant.  Numerous spots with large puddles that will be sheets of ice tomorrow.  And numerous trees down in and partially-across roads, some at places with bad sight lines, and some where cyclists will be forced into the oncoming traffic lanes.  Also, utility trucks are out, presumably to fix downed electric lines.  And at the time he reported, he had mainly been on the more “major” roads in the first fifteen miles and only on the small roads for about five miles.  After that, there are numerous steep descents into shady, twisty turns that were somewhat icy last year, and will only be worse this year.  Thanks, George, for scouting the route.  George promises to entertain you all by posting some photos.

Look forward to seeing you all tomorrow,

Nick Bull
President, DC Randonneurs

Populaire: starts at 9 am from the Glen Echo Park parking lot.  For details: Click Here.  Please email me if you’re riding the populaire so that I have some sense of how many cards/cue-sheets to make and how much food to buy.  The populaire is free and DCR membership is not required.

Annual meeting: starts at 4 pm at the Glen Echo Town Hall.  But you’ll need to park in the Glen Echo Park parking lot, a mere three blocks from the Town Hall.  There’s a map on the web page referenced above.

Why park “so far away”? There is limited parking in the neighborhood, and we don’t want to tick off the residents and possibly lose the privilege of using the Town Hall.  Our use of the Town Hall is courtesy of Andrea and Steve Matney, who are Glen Echo residents.  It’s a very nice place to meet, convenient to get to, and provides a good ride start and finish.  We hope we’ll be able to continue to meet there, so please show courtesy to the Glen Echo residents.

And another thing … no bike shoes or greasy bike parts (let alone bikes) in the Town Hall.  The floor is specially-finished wood and we do not want to mar it, for reasons just stated.

Directions to the Glen Echo parking lot.

From Maryland, take DC Beltway south toward American Legion Bridge, Exit 39, MD190 (River Rd) east toward Washington.  Continue 2.2 miles to a right onto MD614 (Goldsboro Rd).  At MacArthur Boulevard, make a right then a quick left into parking lot for Glen Echo Park and Clara Barton House.

From Virginia, at Maryland end of American Legion Bridge, take exit 41 onto Clara Barton Parkway east toward DC.  In 1.5 miles, bear right on ramp leading to Cabin John overpass.  Turn left onto overpass to MacArthur Boulevard.  Turn right and continue 0.7 mile to lot for Clara Barton House and Glen Echo Park on right.

From downtown DC, go west on Massachusetts Ave.  At Westmoreland Circle, continue on Mass. Ave into Maryland.  Turn left onto Goldsboro Rd at the T, then in ½ mi. turn right onto MacArthur Blvd, then quick left into parking lot for Clara Barton House and Glen Echo Park.

Directions from Parking Lot to Town Hall

The meeting itself is in the Glen Echo Town Hall at 6106 Harvard Ave.  From the parking lot, walk up to MacArthur and turn left (northwest) and walk three blocks up to Harvard Ave.  Turn left again.  It’s the big white building on the right.

Agenda:

We’ll have an “official business” part of the meeting, followed by the “social” part of the meeting.  We’ll try to speed through the more-potentially-boring parts of the official business (while still leaving plenty of time for questions/concerns/etc) so that the more fun parts (upcoming brevet season, awards to volunteers, member recognition, PBP) can get more time.

4:00 pm, Glen Echo Town Hall

“Official Business” part of DCR Annual Meeting (an hour, more or less)

1. President’s report
2. RBA report
3. Volunteer coordinator report–awards to volunteers
4. Treasurer report
5. Approve budget for 2011.
6. Elect Board members.
7. Recognition of members–Super Rookies; cycling achievements.
8. PBP Presentation.
9. Adjourn.

“Social” part of DCR annual meeting:

* PBP Question — informal, but once the formal part of the PBP presentation is over, hang around and ask questions of PBP anciens.
* Swap meet — no greasy bike parts allowed!
* Pizza (and anything else people might want to bring).

Look forward to seeing you there!

Nick Bull
President, DC Randonneurs

The cue sheet for the Glen Echo 106km populaire, starting at the Glen Echo Park at 9:00AM on January 29, 2011 is now posted at 2011_dcr_glen_echo_106k_populaire rev2.doc

Registration opens in the parking lot at 8:00am. Be sure to park at the indicated location in Glen Echo Park and NOT along the residential streets next to the Town Hall.  Directions to the parking lot:

From Maryland, take DC Beltway south toward American Legion Bridge, Exit 39, MD190 (River Rd) east toward Washington.  Continue 2.2 miles to a right onto MD614 (Goldsboro Rd).  At MacArthur Boulevard, make a right then a quick left into parking lot for Glen Echo Park and Clara Barton House.

From Virginia, at Maryland end of American Legion Bridge, take exit 41 onto Clara Barton Parkway east toward DC.  In 1.5 miles, bear right on ramp leading to Cabin John overpass.  Turn left onto overpass to MacArthur Boulevard.  Turn right and continue 0.7 mile to lot for Clara Barton House and Glen Echo Park on right.

From downtown DC, go west on Massachusetts Ave.  At Westmoreland Circle, continue on Mass. Ave into Maryland.  Turn left onto Goldsboro Rd at the T, then in ½ mi. turn right onto MacArthur Blvd, then quick left into parking lot for Clara Barton House and Glen Echo Park.

The link to the GPS files is posted below. But please read this information before downloading them. Always get a copy of the final cue sheet. That final cue sheet contains the official route, so in case there is a conflict with the GPS file, you should resolve the conflict in favor of the cue sheet. Use the GPS as a handy-dandy adjunct. Keep your wits about you, as the GPS cannot notify you of road hazards — it is up to you to ride safely.

We strongly recommend that you set your GPS to the settings below. We cannot guarantee that these will keep you on the official route, but if you have your GPS set some other way, it is entirely possible that it will take you off route, possibly onto unsafe roads. Go to the Setup->Routing page and set as follows:

Guidance Method: Follow Road
Follow Road Method: Shortest Distance
Next Turn Pop-Up: On
Follow Road Options:
Off Route Recalculation: Prompted
Calculation Method: Best Route
Calculate Routes for: Car/Motorcycle
Avoid: (set to none – the route itself should control this)

By the way … make sure that your GPS either has maps already downloaded, or select the relevant maps around the routes. The GPS files are posted at GPS Files - 20110129 Glen Echo Populaire.