The Initial Questions, as threatened

[Mitch Thompson]

Hello, everyone -

Thanks again for having me.  I'm new to all of this, but have been reading for a couple of months.

I realize that this community will apparently ride anything with wheels, and the key I hear repeated is to ride more, ride what I have, and to learn and adjust from there. 

Still, since I'm in Arizona, perhaps you have some local tips?

I'm open to advice on anything at all:  Bike type, tire types/widths, clothing, food, storage. sunblock, lights...I'll take whatever you wish to share.  I'd guess our desert environment might benefit from some different gear selections than in other areas.  

For example, my current bike can handle 40mm tires max - these strike me as good almost anywhere, but I've read some AZ riders say to go even fatter for our washes and sand...but it's the Internet, and environment/context dependent.  Maybe I should stop reading and just do more riding.

My current thinking is to use a road-gravely bike.  For my general riding I prefer road (but not cars).  Some of our roads aren't in great shape.  I also like to mix in some trails (dirt, gravel, forest roads...).  I saw that the Humboldt Hill Climb has some dirt, and if there is more of that in the future I'd like to have the bike for it. I'm not interested in very rough stuff, and for that I'd go mountain bike anyway.

It seems to me that the current popularity of 'gravel' bikes has offered us some good options for fatter tired road machines.

Also, I know little of randonneuring. I assume there is some volunteering that I could do to support an event, meet some of you, learn some things?

That's probably already too much to ask, so I'll stop for now. 

Thanks in advance.

-Mitch

[Mike Sturgill]

Hi Mitch,

Not really sure what you're looking for since your question is so open ended. That said, here's a link to the RUSA handbook. There is a lot of great info in there that should address all of your topics to some degree.
https://www.pageturnpro.com/Progress-Printing/94414-Handbook/sdefault.html

There's nothing special about AZ Rando events other than sunscreen should be a permanent part of your kit. We only have 1 "dirt" brevet and it's now on the calendar (www.azbrevet.com). It only has 10 miles of hard-packed dirt, and any bike you own can complete that ride. Your comfort will be a personal thing that you can wring out as you ride the successively longer events.

If you ride any of the AZ Brevet events, there will always be a description of the ride, RWGPS link, cue sheet and additional pertinent info specific to that particular event. If something is not clear, just send me a note.

Welcome! The best thing you can do is come out and ride, assess what hurts, make an adjustment, then repeat.

-Mike
RBA: Phoenix

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[Mitch Thompson]

Thank you.  My questions was vague and without much purpose - mostly just wondering if there was anything specific to Arizona that I should consider. 

I'm far from ready for an event of any length, but I'm working on it.  

I appreciate the reply and advice.

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-mitch