Monroe 600
A Very Wet Lower Mainland Spring 600
Ride Dates: June 1-2
by Deirdre Arscott

Phew, all riders accounted for on the LM600. As rider organizer I can never relax until I know that everyone is safe and sound. Two first time super Randonneurs – Dara and Doug. Congratulations!

The weather wasn’t great to say the least. Rain off and on Saturday and a complete deluge on Sunday. Riders were chilled on Sunday. Despite that, all the riders were in good spirits. Of course wet roads tend to mean more flats. Tom hit a pothole under a puddle, damaged his wheel and was unable to finish and only 40km from the finish. Four riders went through the night. Their reward for staying awake was to miss the downpours on Sunday.

The route was scenic with mostly low traffic roads. It would have been more beautiful if the clouds weren’t so low.

Many riders took advantage of the relaxed time lines at the controls which meant they could sleep longer. Doug slept through his alarm and was panicked when he woke up at 8:30 am (suggested closing time 5:16 am). I was excited to see him at the finish with just 3 minutes to spare!

Nigel and Étienne were riding their self-designed ti-bikes (see photos). They had the frames built in China and then assembled them. Paul was riding his self-designed and built carbon frame recumbent (what happened to that photo?). The weather was so bad that we didn’t take as many photos as we would have liked.

Étienne... and Bike	Nigel... and Bike