Photos: Lorraine

Renfrew Ramble 600
Organizer's Report
Lorraine Nygaard

Some revelations are at the end of this report.

This year's May 600 km saw clear and sunny weather to start, ominous clouds and wind in the middle, and finished up beautifully. 9 riders started, and 8 finished. Congratulations to everyone that came out and gave it their best effort. This was Kristy's first 600, and makes her a super randonneur! Ken Bonner, though having ridden for 27 hours with no sleep, took the time to chat with my son at the finish, and served as inspiration. Everyone, even those that had to leave the ride for this year, checked in with as much good energy as they had at the start . At 8:45 p.m. I looked up Lampson St. hill to see if Luke might be making his way back. His recumbent-level light was a giveaway that our final rider was coming in. Graham and Mark did the ride together, including time for socializing.

Thank you to Lee that was the real organizer; Stephen and Carol, who did a whole lot of stuff and became checkpoint hosts; Dave M. that looked after things in Shawnigan; the Croys that served as backbones; and to all the riders that plowed their way through the route and came out smiling.

I want to share that I was quite moved by the many calls and emails I got during the course of the event, from folks offering:
-tips on how to make the route clearer,
-dangers that were lying ahead and ideas on what we can do about it,
-updates on how the riders were looking and sounding as they passed through a control,
-questions as to whether I'd heard from various riders,
-offers of help for any control points
-and more.

If anyone is ever out on a ride and feeling a bit lonely, or wondering what you've gotten yourself into, you can be SURE that your randonneur club members are rooting for you. Like so many locals getting excited about seeing Ryder Hesjedal do well, the fellow club members are really hoping that you will do well in your chosen event too. That's what I learned from this. I didn't even know there was a team until the calls starting happening.

Kristy - First 600 pin

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May 27, 2012