David Roderick - 6/10/2019

The Ohio Randonneurs ACP Brevet series wrapped up with a 600K that offered a bit of everything. The first 200K was dry with a downhill that had some riders reporting 49.1 mph the last time they checked their computer, only to find later that their max speed was higher. Ron Selby shared that at the first control, manned by Christine Graham, that it was the first time he had seen a horse and buggy tethered near the gas pumps at a service station. The second 200K had unrelenting rain the full distance. There was no riding out of it. The third 200K was dry, but the last 100K had a headwind. For those riders who are counting, the brevet covered two states.

Several riders qualified for their first PBP. All necessary numbers for completing registration are available at the RUSA website. Paul Bacho was training for his ninth trip to PBP. I knew he was all set when he pulled out a familiar long slender sandwich wrapped in foil.  Paul knows how to manage his time and nutrition. I hope all the other riders have figured it out.

Randonneuring is about self-sufficiency but, make no mistake, riders only have success if they have a strong team. It was nice to see some of the riders “teams” at the ride. Larry and Christine Graham are a team. Tim Argo’s team was there. The Vajda team was there and some members of the team were excited to go to the hotel pool. James is not going to PBP but, his year was a training year where he got to push himself. He is well on his way towards a future PBP. I hope the hotel has a pool.

The Ohio Randonneurs team of Dave Miller, Ted Meisky, David Buzzee, the volunteers who manned controls this season and the hotel clerks and managers was there as well. Being the RBA is easy when you surround yourself with good people and let them do what they do best. My wife Debi was there with her date bars. She is not a volunteer (she got drafted) and the season hinges on her loving support and patience. Just as your team does, she lets me go outside and ride my bike. Riders did the pedaling, the teams did the rest.

I would like to thank Jonathan Karpick for creating and sharing team pins. The design is great and the pin doesn’t leave a hole in my shirt.

Spring Training is over, Summer Camp is done. It’s time to crank it up, let’s go out and do some hill repeats or interval training.