A little web searching reveals: According to the RUSA website, 4,500 PBP riders were expected in 2007, and in 2011 there will be a cap at that number to prevent 'saturation' of the controls. There are other 1200's, too. The fastest PBP riders will do it in the low 40-hour range. 30 or so American riders have completed PBP in under 56 hours. I used to ride with one of them in the Davis bike club (Daryn Dodge), and briefly met two others (Lon Haldeman and Susan Notorangelo).
22,000+ runners finished the 2009 Boston Marathon. This year's Tour de France will cover 2,200 miles in 21 days. Fewer than 200 riders start the TdF, fewer than that finish. Now THAT's an elite group! Bill On Jul 13, 2:42 pm, William <tapebu...@gmail.com> wrote: > Clearly <7.5 hours for a 115k ride is not a big physical challenge for > a typically experienced cyclist. > > That said, I do not think it is difficult to argue that a 200k is an > impressive day's work, but those 200k rides are these Rando-folks' > easy rides. 300k is epic. 400k is crazy. 600k, 1000k, 1200k is just > beyond what I can comprehend putting myself through. How many people > in the history of humankind have ridden 1200k in under 90 hours? I'd > wager it's fewer than the number of people that finish the Boston > Marathon this year. The Tour de France field is not putting in that > kind of mileage. To my knowledge there is no other physical endeavor > that anyone would call a 'sport' that comprehends doing anything for > 90 hours basically continuously. Unless you want to enter Guiness > Book of World Records for dribbling a basketball or hula hooping. > > I'm super intrigued to check it out and see how these folks operate. > > On Jul 13, 2:12 pm, CycloFiend <cyclofi...@earthlink.net> wrote: > > > > > on 7/13/10 8:57 AM, Ray Shine at r.sh...@sbcglobal.net wrote: > > > > Please forgive my general ignorance about randoneuring (heck, I'm not even > > > certain how to pronoun it!) but what is the objective? Is it to finish > > > each > > > leg or segment in a given time frame? To find your own way without > > > pavement > > > arrows? > > > "Ran-dun-UR-ring" seems to be the most common. But, hey, I never took > > French... > > > A good place to start is at the rusa.org site, though it has a bit of a > > formality to it that seems a trifle at odds with the quality of the > > camaraderie. > > >http://www.rusa.org > > > Basically, it's a ride (not race) over a course of fixed distance, stressing > > self-sufficiency in the rider and machine. The times are designed so that a > > reasonably fit rider can complete it. Typically, the distances are 200k, > > 300K, 400K, 600K and 1200K, building over the season to allow riders to > > develop endurance and confidence over longer distances. To qualify for > > Paris-Brest-Paris, you have to do a "series". > > > The clock is a "rolling time", which means it's always going, so breaks for > > food, mechanicals, etc. are "on the clock". There is a time limit at each > > control which is designed to get you to the finish at the maximum allowed > > time. Riders definitely go faster than the time limits, but there is a > > range along the spectrum, and most people end up in groups of similar > > ability. For example, the SFR 200K has a 13.5 hour limit, I finished the > > last one at about 10:40, and the fastest riders were done at about 8 hours. > > > No pavement arrows. Route sheets are provided or made available. > > > > I have ridden this same route on my own a kazillion times and can't see > > > why > > > they allow 7.5 hours to finish it. What am I not getting? > > > Coffee breaks? Pizza at Bovine Bakery? > > As I mentioned, that time is the cutoff. The times at each control are > > cutoff times, too, so if you don't make one of the those, you won't get > > credit for the ride. > > > The Populaire is a way to test the waters on a ride of reasonable distance, > > and is a good way to get the idea of the controls, cards, route sheets, etc. > > > - J > > > -- > > Jim Edgar > > cyclofi...@earthlink.net > > > Cyclofiend Bicycle Photo Galleries -http://www.cyclofiend.com > > Current Classics - Cross Bikes > > Singlespeed - Working Bikes > > > The Gallery needs your photos! Send 'em in - Here's > > how:http://www.cyclofiend.com/guidelines > > > "She edged in to get a better look at the bike, how it was made, the > > intricacy of its brakes and shifters pulling her straight in. Beauty." > > -- William Gibson, "Virtual Light" -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
