BC Randonneurs Alumni Reunion Ride
by Peter Lysne

Peter Lysne will not be a familiar new to newer members. He is member #6 and he rode his first brevet being in 1980. He sent me a message with an idea. He has agreed to let me put it in the newsletter. EF

Hi Eric,

This is just an idea I had this morning when I couldn’t for some reason get back to sleep. A couple of years ago I bought a recumbent bicycle with the plan of rejoining the Randoneurs and conceivably doing PBP. My issue with a normal triangle frame road bike is terrible back pain as well as hand and wrist pain from extensive pressure on the handlebars. The Recumboni works like a dream for these issues but there is one very serious drawback – the thing rides too damn slow. I’d basically be arriving at checkpoints with very little to spare as far as the closing times is concerned. This also means that it puts a distinct new meaning to the term marathon cycling when it takes 13 1/2 hours to do a 200 km ride. Even on a recumbent that’s an awful long time to be sitting on your ass. PBP is totally out of the question since 90 hours without sleep is just plain madness. My solution is not really close to conforming to the ACP spirit of a Randonnee except to use the exact same route as a legitimate brevet. I was thinking something like a 1,200 km route from Vancouver down into the US along the Pacific coast for about 600 km and then circling back home again by a different route. No time limit as far as check points is concerned and it would all be done in 7 days. I’m not sure about the health and fitness of some of the old boys who used to ride these events like Gerry Pareja, Dan McGuire, Wayne Phillips (wheelchair?) and who I haven’t heard from for a long while, but it would be a hoot to ride with them again in a low stress – still not trivial setting. This event might be done concurrently with a proper 1,200 km ride. We slow riders would start out on a Wednesday and finish on a Tuesday while the real
Randonneurs would start and finish in the 90 hour window from say Friday to Monday. That way the slow pokes could potentially watch in amazement when the fast guys like you go whizzing by them.

Peter

April 9, 2014