Ideas for a clover-leaf 1200 ride support

[Fred Chagnon]

Hey everyone

I'm organizing (but also riding) a 1200 in July that uses the typical cloverleaf format. 350/350/300/200. 

I assume most riders are staying at the Inn that acts as the route's main hub. I'd like to hear from RBAs and riders alike who have experience on multi-day rides regarding amenities that can be made available for riders when they return from a day of riding. I'm thinking like a box/brown bag of food that can provide them with something when they return and nothing's open -- or for breakfast if they leave before the hotel offers anything. 

I don't have budget to provide club-funded food, and I'm wary of trying to manage multiple food/dietary restrictions. So I'm just looking for ideas on things that have worked well for you on past rides—or, if you're an RBA, suggestions on options riders could opt into and pay for in advance. 

Thanks. 

Fred Chagnon

Randonneurs Ontario

[Joshua Haley]

Howdy Fred!

I just ran a 1000k where I had a meeting space/check-in area at a hotel, inbound and outbound.  This is sort of ignoring your prompt, because I did have food budgeted into the event cost, but:

• We ordered Pizza for the riders (cheese and pepperoni), which covered vegetarians.  The pizza kept surprisingly well; With our spread, the overlap of the first riders leaving and the last riders coming in meant I had folks eating pizza for dinner and breakfast at the same time. 
• I also had a cooler of soft drinks, some square electrolyte bottles which were a hit, cold brew coffee, and of course red Jesus (coke)
• Big party bags of potato chips
• Microwavable Ramen which ended up being a breakfast hit. 
• I had extra food for vegetarians, but it mostly went untouched because of the cheese pizza. 
• The only folks who got real special treatment were a couple of celiac riders, and I found them microwavable lentils and Bob Evans mashed potatoes, both of which are gluten-free. 

I think your situation is slightly different, being a cloverleaf.  Mine was an on-route control on an out-and-back.  So I'd expect most riders will bring food that works for them, and snacks and drinks are probably more what you need as opposed to full meals.  Having something hot and ready I think really provided a moral boost and made folks linger for some more of the social aspect. 

None food things I had that came in clutch:

• Cheap shop towels.  They came in wet and muddy (we had an exterior door), and I gave everyone a towel I was willing to throw away to dry their faces, then cleaned their bikes.  These were super popular and handy.  I also had some regular-sized towels that pulled double duty as pillows and blankets for riders that were napping and riding through.
• Bike tools/Spares: I basically packed my bike garage and just about anything I could think of.  I ended up fixing a broken shift cable, handing out some tubes like candy, and then straight up lending someone a wheel/tire to finish the ride.  I had 2 riders that would have DNF'd otherwise and probably 3 more that had a much smoother ride rather than limping it in on janky bikes.  This obviously requires some mechanical aptitude from whoever is a volunteer at the control. 

I really went out of my way to make sure anything I purchased was shelf-stable, so they can be used for future rides if needed. 

Josh

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[Joshua Haley]

Oh, and I had an assortment of medical supplies and a first aid kit.  The Neosporin and lidocaine patches were the only things used, both for the same set of saddle-related issues. 

Josh

[Bill Bryant]

Yes, a first-aid kit gets used for a few cuts and scrapes by riders from time to time. 

Also riders might want sun screen and bug-repellant that they forgot to bring. 

If there is unexpected rain, some chain lube and rags are welcomed by riders for their bikes.

It can be frustrating trying to deal with riders’ varied dietary requests/needs when running everything with just a one- or two=person multi-day brevet bag-drop “crew”.  Good luck.

Bill Bryant 

Santa Cruz Randonneurs

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