David Roderick - 5/3/2016
April is known for its Spring Showers and, but for a few days, it was mostly wet. We did have a nice day for the Brevet though but ended the month with a rain soaked day for our Flèche. I just hope that we have good weather for our May 300K coming up on May 14th. We had a great turnout for our 200K which, by a stroke of bad planning, was scheduled the same day as Bill Watts’ Indianapolis 200K. He rode as captain of one of the Indiana Flèche Teams that participated in our Ohio Flèche. He reported that he had a decent turnout for his 200K. I guess there were riders who wanted the hills south of Indianapolis, and other riders who preferred the flat Ohio 200K that had more wind turbines than hills. We had some Indiana Randonneurs and he had some Ohio Randonneurs.
It’s nice that we have other brevets available nearby, including Tom Dusky’s Detroit Randonneurs 200K the following week. I remember when I started randonneuring in 1999 that there were not as many choices. Riders could do the Ohio rides, the Kentucky rides, or travel out to Chicago to make up a brevet in the Great Lakes Randonneurs’ series.
We had two outstanding local randonneurs volunteer to man controls for our 200K. Scott Elliot from Michigan manned the turnaround control at Blissfield since it was only eleven miles from his house, and Jacqueline Campbell volunteered for the first control since it was literally in her neighborhood. She mentioned the fact that our having manned controls the last few years was a real plus and that she basically wanted to “pay it forward”. Jacqueline Campbell has volunteered to help out with our 300K if we need her. She says she can drive to the control. We may see her in Ft. Wayne with yours truly at the turnaround picnic. People can be great if we just let them be, and recognize their sacrifice. Just like my Brain Trust.
The Flèche, staged by our “Flèche Master” David Buzzee, was a success. We originally had five teams registered, including one from Canada, but the weather got the better of two teams. Still, the three remaining teams seemed to be in good spirits at the Delaware Hamburger Inn for breakfast Sunday morning. One of the three got sprayed by a skunk and had a few mechanicals but managed to finish, even though they were a bit odoriferous. Look for a summary of our Flèche in the American Randonneur magazine published by RUSA. There are a lot more stories to share.
That wraps up April, now we are on to May and our 300K. I hope to see you there. We’re heading to Indiana this brevet. Yes, you got credit for two states on our 200K, and will likewise get credit for two states for our 300K. Stay tuned, in June we ride “to Hell and back”.
Be safe out on the roads.