2011 was the year in which I completed my first randonnée.
2012 was the year for me to really get into randonneuring and achieve the R-12 award.
2013 was the year that started out as me wanting to achieve the Super Randonneur award, but those plans were derailed by my greater desire to hang out with my friends on a double century weekend.
2014 started out with a permanent amongst friends. Jesse talked about how he’s not really into doing solo 200k rides anymore and by the end of the ride I agreed with him. To me, solo 200ks can be good for long, lonely ruminations at best, and boring slogfests with nobody to commiserate with at worst. If it hadn’t been for the guys on the ride, I would’ve never been chased off of the old Devil’s Slide route by a bulldozer. I wouldn’t have had anybody with whom to share a Mighty Pint float (Guinness with a shot of espresso and a scoop of ice cream) 85 miles into the ride, right before the biggest climb of the day. I’d have had nobody to share artichoke bread with and it would’ve been a lonely Caltrain ride home. I wouldn’t have learned about the hill avoidance method of riding home from 22nd St. Caltrain by just riding one block east before going north! And who would’ve taken that awesome picture of my crotch on the Mary Avenue Bridge? I often think about the challenges of farting while remaining in the saddle, but with nobody to help me process those thoughts I wouldn’t be able to fully develop my theory of saddle farts.
RUSA awards are great and solo 200ks can be fun, but I’m realizing that 9+ hours of bicycling to me is no longer a solo endeavor. I’m gonna give some populaires a try this year, as I think the shorter distances will lend themselves more to impromptu solo, selfish shred sessions (as well as cruises with the rando friends). 2014 will be the year of the P-12 and group 200ks. Moving forward alone can be fun for short stints, but I’d rather we move forward together.
