Platteville Poke-Along

January 18 in Colorado USA. Platteville Poke-along Permanent. 200K. For route details visit: this link.

A group of us met for a fun 200K permanent ride called the "Platteville Poke Along."

I personally struggle agreeing to ride a route with the name "poke-along" in it. Seems there are many other possibilities for a name - the Platteville Plenty-o-time or the Platteville Pleasure Party.


Ok, Ok, we'll stick with the current name and by the way, this ride never seems poky once you get going.



A coldish start. Andrea and John to the Left and Leslie and Brent below




Do these people look poky to you? NOT!




Here are Brent and Beth.


After Platteville, which is the lowest point in the ride, things warmed up a bit. The layers went into the bags or back pockets.


Several of us are working on our R-12s. The R-12 is where you ride one 200K, or longer, a month for 12 straight months. It has to be a brevet so the Permanents are a good way to get in that 200K during the winter months. Some of us are repeats and doing it again.




A quick birthday picture taken at Masonville (yours truly). Plus, this photo proves we were there.




Leslie is always smiling! She makes it look easy.







Andrea cruises along, effortlessly.
The powerhouse tandem.



John, the ringleader, keeps us on task throughout the day.

A wanna-be brevet rider joins in for a portion of the ride.

We had a nice tailwind on the return.


Catherine, Andrea and John at the finish. Andrea's first finish in the daylight.

Great ride everyone! Looking forward to the next one.
Cheers,
Catherine

Super-Randonneur Jerseys!

Super-Randonneur (SR) status is a classic mark of accomplishment in randonneuring. There have been a number of local SR awardees over the years.

RUSA is now introducing a new, more visible way to commemorate your SR status - the RUSA Super-Randonneur jersey.

• Jersey available later this year.
• Design contest going on now, open to RUSA members.

Design Contest - Have a great design idea? Submit it by e-mail to souvenirs@rusa.org in a PDF, JPG or TIFF format. Deadline is Feb. 1, 2009. But first check out the contest details.

SR Jersey - Riders who have completed a Super-Randonneur series (200k, 300k, 400k, and 600k brevets in one year) are eligible to purchase a jersey.

• You can use an SR series from a past year.
• RUSA Domestic brevets (not just ACP-sanctioned ones) count.
• Longer events can be substituted (e.g., a 250km brevet for the 200k requirement, or a 1000k for the 600k requirement).

Earning SR Status using the Colorado Brevets - The 2009 schedule gives you several ways to earn the ACP SR award (based on ACP-sanctioned brevets) or qualify for a RUSA SR Jersey (as described above):

• 2 ACP 200k's, 300k's, 400k's, and 600k's.
• 3 ACP 1000k's (the 1000k doesn't count towards an ACP SR award) - This includes the Last Chance 1000k option.
• 2 RUSA domestic 200k's.
• The Last Chance 1200k of course.

So start making your riding plans, and if you have a design idea, send it in!

-jle

New RUSA Online Award Options

RUSA has added more awards that can be ordered online. Here are the details ...

1. Effective immediately, applications for the following awards will be accepted online:

Super Randonneur
RUSA Distance
R-12
American Randonneur Challenge
RUSA Coast to Coast

An online application process for the R5000 and Ultra Randonneur awards will be forthcoming.

Go to the RUSA website 'Awards' or 'Online Store' pages to learn how to apply for these awards.

2. In most cases, your award application can be approved automatically and the award can be purchased immediately through the online store. (In other words, it’s a two-step process.)

3. If you have already submitted a paper application for any of these awards, DO NOT SUBMIT A DUPLICATE APPLICATION ONLINE.

RUSA Distance Award deadline extended

RUSA has extended the deadline until the end of the month, mainly to accomodate those who may have ridden a Permanent brevet at the end of December that would figure into the final tally. See post below.

-jle (aka RUSA Awards & Medals Committee chairperson)

Jan. 31 (was 15) Deadline for RUSA Distance Awards

Welcome to the new year, and hopefully a great year of riding for you!

If you completed over 1000km in randonnées in 2008, you may be interested in a RUSA Distance Award (which come in 1000km increments). You can see your total credit towards a distance award by looking at your RUSA results. You can then read about and apply for an award.

Deadline to send off your submission is January 31 (was January15). An online application / payment option is also being considered - if that is put into effect, I will let you know.

For now, bonne route dans l'année nouvelle!

-jle