Hi all, I came across an interesting class of cycling events last night: brevets. This type of ultra distance cycling is something I would love to get into. I haven’t seen it mentioned on the forum at all, so I was wondering if there were any randonneurs here? I would love to get any and all advice on the topic from training, to bikes and gear, to the best brevets you have ridden (pictures encouraged!). All info, insight, debate, and discussion are welcome, as I just want to learn as much as possible about the aport.
P.S. I would love to see pictures of your bikes if you have them!
I joined a Randonneurs club this year, my first cycling club after spending all winter and spring on TR. So far this month I’ve done 2 200 km rides. The weather here in Manitoba has been very cool (12 degrees celsius was the high temperature for both rides) and that affected how much I drank. I had 2 bottles of water and a bottle and a half of Gatorade. I tried both scratch and Nuun but hated the taste.
For food I had Clif bars and gels and an Oh Henry bar for a shot of sugar. I did both rides in under 8 hours, despite the strong winds. The second ride was 208 km, but a big chunk was was in strong head/crosswinds of 30-40ish kph. This made it pretty hard towards the end. I bought a new bike, a Trek Domane SL5, with Prime RR-38 carbon wheels. Total weight 18.07 lbs with pedals. The rides have been hard, but it felt good to finish. Next week I’m hoping to do a 300 km ride, weather permitting, and hopefully no stupid winds.
