The Adventure Series (San Francisco Randonneurs)

[Rob Hawks]

In 2010, Max Poletto created the Old Caz 300km mixed terrain brevet route and SFR ran that for the first time as a brevet. That event was not as heavily attended as some other SFR 300km routes, but it could be argued that the enthusiasm per rider was much higher for the Old Caz 300k. That first year, one rider, finishing just before the final closing time, stated that she had never, ever had as much fun on the bike as on the Old Caz 300km.

By 2013, Max had completed designing a similar set of routes for the 200, 400 and 600km event. Each route features some mixed terrain (gravel, dirt, etc.), and the goal in design was to take the least trafficked roads possible in Marin, Sonoma and other counties. 2013 was the first year the full Adventure Series was run.

Each year, SFR awards the Roy Ross award to any rider who has completed the full series in a single year. Roy Ross was the first SFR rider to accomplish that feat, and for many years was the only one to have done that. Roy passed in 2020 and SFR renamed the Adventure Series award in Roy's honor. (just to be clear, the Roy Ross Award is an award administered by the San Francisco Randonneurs, not by Randonneurs USA even though the separate events are sanctioned by RUSA).

Many riders will only tackle one of these events, which is understandable as they each have their own character. The overwhelming favorite appears to be the Old Caz 300, the first component SFR added to the series. Of note though to riders interested in the Audax Club Parisien's R10000 award will be the Orr Springs 600km, which we'll run the first weekend in August. That event qualifies as an 8K600 (8,000 meters of elevation gain, in 600km of distance), which is a component of the ACP's R10000 award.

Registration  for any of the brevets is open to any current RUSA member.

Each route is also available to be ridden as a RUSA permanent (The Roy Ross award allows for substituting one route ridden as a perm if the other three are ridden as a brevet in that same year).

If you have any questions, feel free to send those to r...@sfrandonneurs.org

rob hawks

SFR RBA