'Randonneur cycling', sometimes called marathon cycling, can mean something a little different to every rider. For some it is like touring with miles and miles of scenic riding, often at a leisurely pace. For others, randonneuring is a quest for higher speeds and faster times - riders set their sights on personal bests and course records, often working together with other similar-minded riders in pacelines.

Randonnée, a French word for ramble or tour, describes a long-distance cycling event where the participants follow a prescribed route within certain time limits as checked at control points along the way. Riders, called randonneurs, cannot receive support, except at the designated control points, so each rider must be prepared for mechanical mishaps, changes in weather, and so on.

Randonneur cycling in British Columbia is administered by the BC Randonneurs Cycling Club. A full schedule of events is organized which includes all of the major types of internationally-recognized randonneur rides (called brevets as well as randonnées).

Is randonneur cycling for you? To help answer this question there are rides called 'populaires' which allow people to sample randonneur cycling over shorter distances (typically 100 km or less). The list of populaires in BC includes the Pacific Populaire (Vancouver), the Victoria Populaire and the Canada Day Populaire (Fort Langley).

The various series of official brevets begin at 200 km and proceed to rides of 300, 400, and finally 600 km. First-time randonneurs are encouraged to complete a 200 before moving on to a 300, a 300 before moving on to a 400, and so on. Riders looking for bigger challenges can then, if they wish, move on to the "ultra-marathon" distances: 1000 and 1200 km.

There are seven series of brevets in BC operating under the umbrella of BC Randonneurs: a spring series and a summer series for both Greater Vancouver and Vancouver Island, a Southern Interior series, and a Peace Region/Fort St. John series. The seventh series is the Vancouver Island "Hell Week" in April where riders do all four distances in seven days.

The Rocky Mountain 1200, which traverses some of BC and Alberta's most scenic road ways, attracts riders from around the world. The next RM1200 will be held in July of 2012. In 2006 there was a newcomer on ultra marathon calendar - the VanIsle 1200 - with a route based on the ever-popular Island End to End 1000 km. The next VanIsle 1200 will be in July 2010.

A different sort of Randonneur event is the Flèche Pacifique. Teams of three to five bikes compete against other teams to cover the most distance in 24 hours on routes designed by each team. Flèche routes must be at least 360 km.

And then, of course, there's PBP...

WHAT IS PBP? Paris-Brest-Paris is randonneuring's most prestigious ride. Every four years randonneurs from around the world converge on Paris for this remarkable event organized by randonneur cycling's central body, Audax Club Parisien (ACP). The 1200 km distance from Paris to Brest on the Brittany coast and back to Paris must be completed within 90 hours.

To qualify for PBP a rider must complete a 200 - 600 km series by early June of the PBP year. In 2007 entry was limited to 5000 riders - 39 riders from BC participated. The next PBP will be in August 2011. BC riders are encouraged to ride at least a 400 km brevet in 2010 to ensure early registration for PBP 2011.

Achievement in Randonneur Cycling is often measured by a rider's 'event distance' results. The Super Randonneur and Brevet De Randonneur 5000 pins are international distinctions awarded by Audax Club Parisien. The John Hathaway Trophy is a made in BC distance achievement award.

SUPER RANDONNEUR A Super Randonneur is a rider who completes a brevet at each of the distances in a basic series (200, 300, 400, and 600 km) in one season.

BREVET DE RANDONNEUR 5000 To receive this pin a rider must complete 5000 km in official randonneur events within four years. This 5000 km must include one ride at each distance in a basic series (200, 300, 400, and 600 km), a 1000 km, a Flèche Pacifique (or equivalent, 360+ km), and a Paris - Brest - Paris (1200 km). You will notice that this adds up to 4060 km. Riders can choose any combination of brevets (200 to 1000 km) to bring the total up to 5000 km.

JOHN HATHAWAY MEMORIAL TROPHY More commonly referred to as the Iron Butt Award, this trophy is given to the BC resident who covers the most distance in successfully completed official distance (over 200 kms) brevets and flèches ridden anywhere in the world in a particular calendar year. (The award is open to non-residents who finish a Super Randonneur series, or four brevets of equal or greater distance within BC - example: 200, 400, 400, 1000.) The winning total is typically over 10,000 km. The award is named after the the former cross-Canada record hold and cycling ledgend John Hathaway, who was one of the original BC Randonneurs in 1979.

40,000 & 100,000 KM LIFE-TIME EVENT DISTANCE AWARDS 11 BC Randonneurs have ridden 40,000 km in ACP/RM sanctioned brevets and flèches, and been awarded the 40,000 km medal. Only Ken Bonner has received the 100,000 km trophy.

2009 FEE STRUCTURE

To ride in a BC Randonneur event you must be club member. An exception to this rule is made for the rides called 'populaires', where membership is not required. Membership dues can be paid at the sign-up before any ride.

$ 20 BC Randonneurs annual membership
(membership form & membership waiver - on The Forms Page)
$15 Event fee
(Populaire's, and other special events, may have their own fee structures)