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Where The B.C.
Randonneurs Come From
or... The
Origin Of The Species - Randonneurs That Is
by Harold Bridge
(Written 1997, Revised 2005-November)
As
a member of AUDAX UK I receive every quarter their magazine;
"ARRIVEE" as well as the annual calendar. The 1997
version contained, amongst other things, a comprehensive history
of "Audax United Kingdom". As all the early
history is applicable here in BC I thought it worth copying in
our own Newsletter, especially for the benefit of newer members.
I give credit to their Editor, Sheila Simpson, & the other
"AUKS" responsible for compiling this history. Other
non-francophones should know that "Audax" comes
from the same source as "Audacious".
The idea of
Audax was first formulated in Italy in 1897. One had to swim,
run, walk or cycle a set distance in 14 hours, approximately
sunup to sundown. For cyclists the required distance was set
at 200kms.
In 1904
the managing director of the French magazine "Auto",
Henri Desrange
(aka Father of the Tour de France) visited Italy & was impressed
by what he saw of this scheme. He laid out some regulations that
formed the cyclists into groups under the leadership of a captain.
The group was to stay together for the entire ride, Today this
form of riding is known as "Euraudax". Also that year
those riders who were awarded the formed the Audax Club Parisien
(ACP) and organized events throughout France for the magazine
Auto.
In 1920
ACP upset Desrange by assisting in an event sponsored by a rival
newspaper and he withdrew ACP's right to organize Audax events.
To avoid infringing the Audax method of riding & to enable
them to carry on with their planned events in 1921 ACP created
the Brevets de Randonneur (i.e. certificate for long distance
cyclists)
The Brevets de
Randonneur differ from Audax riding in that cyclists don't have
to ride in a group and keep to a set time table. Each individual
can, within certain limits, go at their own pace - "allure
libre" - and stop at will for refreshment. To prevent
racing (and to spur the slower riders on) a series of time checks
are established at controls with minimum and maximum time limits.
It is these
regulations that have been adopted by Audax UK (and of course
by BC Randonneurs) and the name Audax comes from ACP, not the
style of event.
AUK is responsible for the Brevets de Randonneurs in UK, as are
BCRCC in BC, but neither are responsible for Euraudax events.
In 1966 Barry
Parslow (a Founder Member of Audax UK about 10 years later)
rode his tricycle in the 6th edition of the 1200km Paris-Brest-Paris
thus becoming the first tricyclist and probably the first Anglophone
to do so.
(From this point
on British Columbia has its own randonneur history & so we
switch to a local perspective.)
In
1979 the Doyen of BC Randonneurs, Gerry Pareja, gathered
around him three others of like mind; the late John Hathaway,
Dan McGuire and Wayne Phillips, and set about organizing
a series of randonnées, one of each distance, 200, 300,
400, 600 & 1,000 kms that would qualify the quartet for that
year's edition of the quadennenial "Paris-Brest-Paris".
All four completed the event thereby started a new aspect of
cycling in B.C.
Gerry was inspired
to plan the 1979 season by John Hathaway's completion of the
Audax version of Paris-Brest in 1976. John did this during his
50,000 miles in 100 weeks round the world map (and earned a space
in the Guinness Book of Records).
Every
year since 1979 at least one series up to & including
the 600 km event has been organized in BC with the 1,000 km being
usual in more recent years. At every "PBP" since 1979
- in 1983, 1987, 1991(the Centennary year), 1995, 1999 and 2003
- a squad of B.C. riders has gone to France to tackle this ultimate
randonnée.
In
1983, immediately after that year's PBP, a meeting of representatives
from six nations formed "Randonneurs Mondiaux"
(World Randonneurs) with Canada being represented by our own
Dan McGuire & John Hathaway. Our involvement in this organization
continued in the years to follow. From 1991 to 1995 Gerry Pareja
was RM Vice President, and from 1999 to 2003 another BC Randonneur,
Réal Préfontaine, became the RM President.
In 1996,
through the effort of Ted Milner, we had our own 1200
km event -
"The Rocky Mountain 1200". Starting in Kamloops
the route spun a clockwise loop by going north on Hwy 5, east
on Hwy 16 to Jasper, and then south on the legendary
"Ice Fields Parkway" to Lake Louise. In the inaugural
event the route then went east toward Banff before heading west
on Hwy #1 back to Kamloops. Twelve riders started, 7 finished
and one completed a 1,000. The others succumbed to a crash, sickness
& mechanical problems.
The Rocky Mountain
1200 began as an annual event (1996, 1997, 1998) becoming a bi-annual
event for 2000, 2002 and 2004, and will now be held every
four years in the year following PBP. The next RM 1200 will
be in July 2008.
November 3, 2005 |
