 | Riding Your First 200K Brevet by Ken Dobb
Largely, it's a trick of the mind.
The 200 km brevet is the first in a series of brevets offered by randonneur cycling clubs that include rides of 300 km, 400 km, 600 km, and 1,000 km. Of these, it is the ride that is most easily completed by a first time brevet rider, and requires the least amount of training. Like other brevets, the 200 Km Brevet is a timed ride: that is, there is a time allowance in which the ride must be finished in order for the ride to receive accreditation. For the 200 Km brevet, the time allowance is 13 1/2 hours. This works out to an average speed of a little under 15 kilometres per hour (kph). This average speed is well below that which can be maintained by most recreational cyclists over fairly long distances. It is a speed that permits time for eating and resting on the route, and for taking care of any minor mechanical problems that may arise during the course of the ride.
To get started, a cyclist should refer to the club's ride schedule on the Web site to select an appropriate event. Each of the 200 km brevets takes place on quiet roads with light traffic and each route has been designed to take riders through some of the most scenic areas of the province. Most randonneur routes involve hillwork on the bicycle, but some routes are more demanding than others. To determine the difficulty of a selected route, a cyclist should phone the brevet organiser identified in the ride schedule. Additional information about a brevet route can be found in the listing of brevet routes on the Web site.
A brevet should be undertaken only after a course of training to prepare for the ride.
Training should consist of several shorter rides during the week followed by a longer ride - of an increasing distance - on the weekend. Once a weekend ride of between 120 - 150 kms can be done with comfort, a cyclist is ready to take on the challenge of riding a first brevet.
In the week before the brevet is to take place, the cyclist should register to ride with the event organiser. Pre-registration allows the organiser to prepare the paperwork that will document the ride, and to bring to the ride start a cue sheet outlining the route directions. In this week, as well, a cyclist should check the equipment that is expected to be used. The bicycle should be given a thorough mechanical inspection to make sure that all parts are working as they should.
Tightening of bolts, inflation of tires, and lubrication of moving parts should be undertaken now rather than wasting riding time on the day of the brevet. Randonneur riders are expected to be self-sufficient; support from non-riders is not permitted on the brevet route except at designated points called controls. A brevet rider, therefore, should be equipped with a road map of the area of the ride, some repair tools (including a patch kit for tires), extra clothing for cooler or rainy weather, and food and drink to consume on the bike.
The rules of our club require that all brevet riders on all brevet rides equip themselves with a reflective vest that must be worn after dark. Brevet riders must also equip their bicycles with a red tail light and a white-beamed headlight.
Many riders employ battery-powered lighting systems: however, lighting systems powered by dynamos are available at some speciality bicycle shops. The club also requires brevet riders to obey the Provincial Highway Traffic Act. This Act requires the placement of red reflective tape on the rear seat stays and white reflective tape on the front forks.
Most 200 km brevets start at 8:00 a.m.- there is some variation so that the ride schedule should be checked carefully. This early start means that a cyclist should lay out cycling clothing and other necessities on the night before the ride. A good night's sleep is essential. The morning of the brevet should consist simply of dressing, eating, and travelling to the start point; no other preparation should be left to the last minute. Allow plenty of driving time to the ride point to permit meeting the ride organiser and other brevet participants.
At the start point, the ride organiser will inspect equipment to ensure that safety requirements - both lighting and reflective - are met. The ride organiser will provide a cue sheet for the route and a control card. The control card indicates allowance and distance between each of the control points on the route. The first-time brevet rider should take some time to look over the control card and the cue sheet to get a sense of how the day's journey is going to unfold. There is no fee for riding a brevet if the rider is a member of Randonneurs Ontario. Non-members, however, are required to sign a waiver form and to pay a $15 ride fee to cover insurance and administrative costs.
At the start of the ride, a cyclist new to brevet riding should ride sensibly to allow the body time to warm up - it is going to be a long day.
A cyclist's first brevet should be about getting to the ride's end rather than riding fast. An attempt should be made, therefore, to find riders who are cycling at a similar pace. Depending on the time of year, brevets may have as few as five or six or as many as twenty to twenty-five participants. These participants generally split into groups that ride the entire route together. A cyclist should try to find the group that is riding at a comfortable pace and to stick with it.
There are several reasons why riding in a group is useful, of which riding at a consistent, comfortable pace is but one. The ability to draft other riders in a group is a second benefit. It takes considerably less effort to ride behind another rider who is breaking the wind than to struggle against the elements by oneself. It is particularly useful to duck in behind another rider when, during the course of the day, a first-time rider is feeling fatigued. A further benefit is in route finding. A brevet route makes a substantial number of direction changes. A rider has to be alert to distances ridden and directions to be taken at important intersections. A good working cycle computer is a very desirable bicycle accessory. Riding with others who have either ridden the brevet route before, or have experience with route finding on other club routes, can simplify the task. Should a cyclist become lost on a brevet route, every effort should be made to get back onto the route. Very often, the best way to accomplish this is to retrace the route until the missed turn is reached. Taking short cuts on the route is regarded as cheating and, if discovered, can result in disqualification of the brevet rider. The idea is to ride the whole of the brevet distance on the measured route.
Eventually, a control point will be reached. At the control, a rider is required to have the time of his arrival at the control recorded on the control card by an independent party and the time initialled. Most often, a counter clerk, or a restaurant waitress, will be happy to fill out the card. Some brevets have a secret control, a control that is set at a point on the route designated by the ride organiser, to ensure that riders are staying on the route. Without the initial of the secret control, the ride is not eligible for validation.
Controls are placed on a brevet route at more or less regular intervals to permit rest and feeding. It is a good place to exchange notes with other brevet participants and to make minor adjustments to equipment. But it is a good idea to keep the time spent at controls to a minimum. This is particularly the case early in the ride when riders should be building a cushion of time that might be drawn upon should fatigue, or a mechanical breakdown, overtake a rider later on. Experienced riders learn how to have their control cards filled out, their meals consumed, and their water bottles replenished in five to ten minutes.
The end of each brevet ride is the brevet's start point. At the finish, a rider should hand his or her control card to the ride organiser for a certification of the brevet finish time. If the ride organiser is not at the finish - perhaps the organiser is still on the brevet route - then the card should be initialled as at any other control. The rider should, at his or her earliest convenience, phone the brevet administrator, whose phone number appears on the bottom of the route sheet, to report the finishing time. The brevet control card should then be mailed to the brevet administrator who will validate the result with a certification sticker from our French parent club.
Completion of a 200 km ride is a significant athletic event. It will be the product of between 9 and 12 hours in the saddle. (By contrast, the average finishing time of a marathon road race is between 3 1/2 and 5 hours). Finishing should be a moment of great satisfaction, with the knowledge that a challenge that few others could take on, has been brought to a conclusion.
Payment of $15 to the ride organiser at the beginning of the ride will secure for the rider a medal commemorating the ride. (The medals are awarded annually in February at the club's Awards Dinner). The rider will have experienced a long and, we hope, an enjoyable day in the saddle. The rider will have met new riding companions and will have experienced the best that scenery in Southern Ontario has to offer.
Completion of a 200 km brevet will have also opened the door to the wider world of long distance cycling. After all, if a 200 km brevet presents no problems, how difficult can a 300 km brevet be? It's just a trick of the mind. |  |
