Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Eric Peterson on July 15, 2014 at 3:35pm

Lon just rode over 400 miles in the National 24-hour challenge (55 to 59 age group).

Overall
Rank   Miles  Rider               City       St  Na
12      411.1 LON HALDEMAN HARVARD IL US

Link

Permalink Reply by ilter on July 16, 2014 at 12:19pm

Lon H. is still amazing though what I find interesting here is that several riders completed this condensed SR series with him. I see about 30 riders in 2003 results., they came from as far as West coast :

http://www.rusa.org/cgi-bin/resultsearch_PF.pl?regid=49&date=20...

2003 was not the only year. 1999, 2000, and 2007.. There might be another one next year, who knows, if anyone here wants to give it a try :)

Of course 1500 km in 8 days is not as hard as PBP itself, but still.

Permalink Reply by Eric Peterson on July 16, 2014 at 3:06pm

I read somewhere that Lon felt that if you could complete his "brevet week", it greatly increased your chances of being able to complete PBP. I believe that this worked out to be pretty true - a high percentage of riders that completed brevet week also were able to complete PBP.

Just doing the SR series over a few weeks is not the same as doing them in one week. In 2007 I was a pretty strong rider, yet at PBP after completing just over 400K, it sank in that I had to do that distance two more times in succession to complete PBP. Sobering.

Permalink Reply by Eric Peterson on July 26, 2014 at 1:20am

According to Twin Cities Brevets, this brevet week is being revived for 2015, with rides out of the QUad Cities area: Here is the text of a PDF sent from Rob Welsh (MN RBA): 

Dear neighboring RBAs and friends,
As I have been out on rides this season, I'm already overhearing and taking part in conversations about
PBP next year. You are all aware that everyone who plans to participate must complete a SR series and
participation in brevets see a significant boost. Many riders are looking for more early season miles to kick
off their training and they want to complete their qualification well before the deadline to secure their
spot. With that in mind, the QC Randonneurs would like to host a brevet week in 2015. I have in mind to
encourage participation from all of the regions represented in the recipients of this email. Matt Levy and I
will do all of the "boots on the ground" preparations (route development and approval, hotel
arrangements, etc.). However, I'm sending this email to solicit your input in the following areas in order
best make this event accessible and enjoyable for all participants:
1. Start location/"Base Camp" -- All brevets will start from the same hotel. Riders will make their
reservations for the whole week our whatever portion of the week they choose to participate in. Here are
a few suggestions for the start location that we've been kicking around: a) Galena - lots of great roads in
the area and easy access to SW Wisconsin roads. Being a resort area it offers attractions for families
that might come along and for the riders on rest day(s); however, lodging costs could be a hindrance for
some. By my calculations, Galena is ~5 hour drive from the Cities and 3+ hour drive from Ames so not the
most centrally located position. b) DeWitt - former host site for many ultra cycling events and very
convenient for QC organizers and riders. DeWitt would offer affordable lodging in a "small town Iowa"
setting and we could feature some great NE Iowa roads. c) West Union -- this is the location I'm leaning
toward at the moment, but I want to hear from you! West Union is a very central location to all of the
regions and its the overnight town for the Rochester 600k (when it was offered). West Union is a small
town on the edge of the hilly region in NE Iowa and I'm quite familiar with the area. From West Union, I
could easily feature much of the terrific riding from Robert Fry's brevet routes as well as some of the old
Rochester 600k route down in that area. The downside is that isn't much in the way of attractions in the
area.
2. Dates for the brevet week -- I'm looking at the second half of May to hold the Brevet Week. This gives
riders some time to build up some miles after things thaw out, but allows riders to complete their
qualification well in advance of the deadline. This means either the week before Memorial Day or the
week of? Any preferences here? Do I need to stay away from Memorial Day weekend altogether to
avoid riders' having other obligations?
3. Schedule of events -- Here are a couple possible scenarios... a) Sun-200, Mon-300, Tues-Rest, Wed-
400, Thur-Rest, Fri/Sat-600. b) Mon-200, Tues-300, Wed-Rest, Thur-400, Fri-Rest, Sat/Sun-600. Both of
those schedules have two rest days. Does anyone think we should have one rest day (after the 400)?
I appreciate you taking the time to read this email and I value any input you can provide. Matt and I hope
to put on an enjoyable and memorable week of qualifying events that will help Midwest riders prepare for
PBP as well as enjoy the camaraderie of riders from several neighboring regions. If you are willing, use
reply all so that we can bounce ideas off of others in this group.
Thanks!
Mike Fox
Matt Levy
QC Randonneurs
Email: mikeyfoxman@gmail.com

Permalink Reply by ilter on July 29, 2014 at 12:53am

That's exciting news!  Even for those not going to Paris, this would be a nice challenge as well as a way to meet people, and do lots of rando-talk :)

Permalink Reply by terryg on January 22, 2015 at 4:24pm

Here we are in January 2015... seems like this thread deserves a bump. 

Permalink Reply by Eric Peterson on January 25, 2015 at 9:01am

If you are interested there will be a brevet week in IA this year.
Brevet week ride starts are in West Union, IA. From the RUSA calendar:

http://www.rusa.org/cgi-bin/eventsearch_PF.pl?region=115&sortby...

IL: Quad Cities ACP brevet 2015/05/17 300 
IL: Quad Cities ACP brevet 2015/05/18 200 
IL: Quad Cities ACP brevet 2015/05/19 400 
IL: Quad Cities ACP brevet 2015/05/21 600 

--Eric