RUSA Cup and American Explorer - 2 New Awards!

RUSA has launched two new challenging awards!

The RUSA Cup is earned by completing all the types of RUSA events, and riding 5000km in total RUSA events, within two years.

You must complete a 200k, 300k, 400k, 600k, and 1000k brevet, a 1200k-or-longer grand randonnée, a RUSA team event (Flèche, Arrow, or Dart), and a Populaire.  Permanents and foreign events (e.g., PBP) do not count. The award is retroactive.

The RUSA Cup has some of the flavor of the ACP Randonneur 5000 award, as it encompasses all of our event types and you can take multiple years to earn it.  It's a nice combo of a challenging volume of riding with a wide variety of events. 

And while two years may seem a tight squeeze, it's two years starting with the first counting event, so you could actually have parts of three seasons to earn the RUSA Cup.

The RUSA American Explorer is earned by completing RUSA-sanctioned rides (including permanents) in different US states and territories. Initial recognition is achieved at the 10-state level and additional states are earned as you explore the nation. This award is also retroactive.

The philosophy behind the American Explorer is that randonneuring is about "ranging around."  This award is a nudge to riding farther afield, exploring new places, and meeting new riders.

If you choose to purchase the physical award, it's engaging in its own way.  You get a metal US highway-sign plaque and your initial ten or more magnetic state tags, which you can arrange as you see fit.  As you ride in or through more states, you get more state tags.

And yes, all states through which an ride passes count.  That's two states for the Last Chance and two for the Colorado High Country, for example ... and five for the Shenandoah 1200, four for BMB.

Have a look at the RUSA Cup awardees and American Explorer awardees who've already applied.

A big thanks to the RUSA volunteers behind these awards: from the original concepts, to the physical awards, to the Web and database design.  Nicely done! 

I hope that these awards will suggest new goals for you to pursue!

-jle