Chili 200 - An Invitation
March 1, Victoria
by Mike Croy

Brynne, Steven and I would like to personally invite all riders to what has become a Vancouver island tradition, the Chili 200! If you are looking for a great way to kick start your base mileage or just want to get your first 200 qualifying PBP ride over and done with then look no further then the first 200 on the Randonneurs schedule.

Brynne and I will open our home up to anyone who shows up looking to do a brevet on March 1st, the route is exactly the same as it has been in years past which is a backwards variation of Ken Bonner's "Peninsula 200" permanent route. This route has been in the past called "boring" and "not the most scenic" but what it does offer is the fact it is always close to town if the weather is super awful and given the time of year it certainly can be and if a rider needs to pull the plug and call it a day you are never far from Victoria. What the route may lack in excitement in some riders eyes we will make up for in hospitality pre and post event.

With that being said we as always we will be offering the same level of Team Croy hospitality people have come to expect, which is to say we will welcome everyone into our home as if they were old friends and we will wait on them hand and foot after the riders finish their ride. The menu for the ride as per usual will be super hearty Chili, both vegetarian and meat varieties, well will also have corn bread and tortilla chips on hand as well as a bevy of assorted tasty snack foods that will delight almost any rider new or old to randonneuring.

If anyone who is planning on riding has any special dietary restrictions beyond just vegetarianism such as veganism, special food allergies or gluten free would you be kind enough to e-mail or call Brynne and I before the event and let us know of your food restrictions and we will do our absolute best to accommodate your needs, but we do need to know!
We will also have a tasty assortment of malty based libations on hand at the end of the ride for those riders wishing to partake in that but beer really goes well with Chili and riding your bike.

Lastly as this event is growing every year (which we love!) we have run into a minor parking issue, and we want to keep our neighbors happy. Our street which the ride starts and finishes on has some parking but otherwise the parking situation is pretty limited depending on how many riders show up. There is ample parking in the surrounding neighborhood such as down at nearby Hampton Park or Tillicum mall as well as the surrounding side streets. If I could make one recommendation, its that cycling to Chez Croy is your best bet as we have tons and tns of bike parking and will get extra nods of approval from the ride organizers as well strongly encouraged for rando toughness. We will be up at receiving riders as of 6 am and Brynne will be doing registration starting then. Registration will close at 6:50 so we can send riders off in a timely manner and any riders arriving after 6:50 will be sent out in a second wave once we process the second wave of riders.

We look forward to hopefully seeing you on the day of the event, and we would love it immensely if you are planning on riding please take a second and pre-register on Rando pony to help us know how many people might riding so we can have enough control cards, route sheets and waivers printed off. See you on March 1st!

Cheers

Team Croy
Mike, Brynne and Steven Croy

February 25, 2015