Off-Road Brevets

[swbspecial]

Here in NZ there are a few long off-road events (300 to 1200km) which loosely follow randonneuring guidelines.

Does RUSA (or other countries apart from Australia) include off-road brevets in its calendar?

.. Duncan

Kiwi Randonneurs
NZ

[LittleWheelsandBig]

Audax UK used to offer 'Off Road' brevets, though there aren't any in
the current calendar. They are Brevet Populaires, so they were usually
sub-200 km and had lower average speeds. Routed mostly over
bridalpaths, following the routesheet was usually quite challenging.
GPS would make things easier now. There is a rather pretty patch still
offered in the AUK Handbook for the next time somebody wants to run
one.

I keep reading about RUSA's D2R2, mostly on dirt roads. http://www.rapha.cc/d2r2
and

Dave

[Steve Palincsar]

On Wed, 2011-11-30 at 13:33 -0800, LittleWheelsandBig wrote:
> Audax UK used to offer 'Off Road' brevets, though there aren't any in
> the current calendar. They are Brevet Populaires, so they were usually
> sub-200 km and had lower average speeds. Routed mostly over
> bridalpaths, following the routesheet was usually quite challenging.
> GPS would make things easier now. There is a rather pretty patch still
> offered in the AUK Handbook for the next time somebody wants to run
> one.

For RUSA members visiting the metro Washington DC area, consider "The
Road Less Travelled" -- new RUSA Perm Pop #1284. Owner George Moore
described it thusly:

This populaire route (133K) is designed to explore "Fat Tire" routes to
see seldom seen vistas in this commonly ridden area in NE Fauquier and
SW Loudon Counties, VA. It is not recommended for bikes with tires
narrower than 32mm; wider 650B tires are even better. Places covered
include Haymarket (the start/finish), Bull Mountain, Champe Ford,
Oatlands, Hogback Mountain, Forest Mill, Lincoln, Purcellville, Airmont,
Trapp, Millville, Snake Hill, Middleburg, Rock Mill, The Plains, and
Bust Head.

"About 60% of the route is unpaved. Surfaces change with the weather
and recent road treatments. In the past, the road surfaces have ranged
from fairy loose gravel to hard-pack. In places there are potholes
and/or wash-boarding. Be careful of surface issues on descents. There
is little traffic, but the roads are narrow with many one lane bridges.
Be cautious on curves and crests where sightlines are poor for oncoming
traffic and rough roads.

"The reward is seeing a whole new side of this area. I'd ridden it
so-o-o-o many times, I thought I'd seen it all. Then some friends took
me on a 40 mile "rough ride", and I learned that many of the most
charming scenes aren't on the paved roads. This will take you to many
of those."

I've ridden many of those roads (in fact, I was one of those "friends"
mentioned above) and can vouch for the beauty of this route. Remember
in Subterranean Homesick Blues where Bob Dylan says "Look out, kid, they
keep it all hid"? This is where.