Looking
for things to do as tandem riders I came across this randonneuring thing. Randonneuring is
”long-distance unsupported
endurance cycling. This style of riding is non-competitive in nature, and
self-sufficiency is paramount. When riders participate in randonneuring
events, they are part of a long tradition that goes back to the beginning of
the sport of cycling in France and Italy. Friendly camaraderie, not
competition, is the hallmark of randonneuring”. It
sounded fun. So, upon doing a little more investigating, we decided to create
our own little 100K (approx. 66 miles) route just to see if we could do it. God
forbid we should make fools of ourselves in front of seasoned randonnuers.
On
a nice, somewhat sunny-ish and
warmish Martin Luther King Jr Day, we took off on our exploratory randonneuring run.
The route took us from our doorstep in Manchester, through Bolton and Coventry,
onto the Airline Trail South rail trail in Willimantic to Colchester,
continuing along the trail to East Hampton, Portland, up through Glastonbury,
and back to Manchester with the idea of making three stops at coffee shops for
breaks.
The typical idea for that distance is to complete the run in about 6
hours (average about 10 mph), including any breaks. Needless to say, the course
proved much more challenging than anticipated. We left at about 9:00 in the
morning and did not arrive home until about 7:00 in the evening, much to our
dismay. Okay,
maybe we are not quite ready for this
randonneuring
thing, yet, but we have not given up on the idea.
