Solstice Ride 2016

In an extensive survey of a quorum of DRR members (Paul, Gary and Norm), it has been resolved that DRR officially doesn't really want to deal with the whole travel over the pass or down the gorge thing this year in order to partake of a solstice ride. Much as we still love our SIR and ORR friends, we thought we'd maybe prefer do something more local this year.

The DRR Not Quite The Solstice ride will be on Friday, 23rd December. It will probably leave Roasters Coffee on GW Way at probably 3pm and probably resemble a 100Km group permanent-populaire (route yet to be decided).

In the unlikely event any others might wish to join us, you'll of course be very welcome. Please let Norm know beforehand. More details to follow when and if someone's figured them out.

RUSA Elections

It's election time at RUSA.

https://rusa.org/pages/Election2017

If you're a RUSA member please vote. These elections are the only opportunity the ordinary member has to influence the direction of RUSA, so why not use it?

DRR in 2017: What we know.

In 2017 DRR will be offering a spring populaire, a full spring SR series, a bonus fall 600 (a new feature for DRR) and the traditional fall 200/AGM. Additionally, there will likely be a smattering of as yet undetermined group permanents.

Here's what we know of the schedule right now...


Sat February 25
The usual 200km season opener. May not be the Flat Yak this time (Bridge to Zillah depending), but might be.
Organizer: Norm C.

Sat March 11
A new permanent populaire 100km fixture on the DRR calendar, and possibly a new route too.
Organizer: Paul W.

Sat March 25
300km. To be decided.
Organizer: Norm C (most likely)

Sat April 29
400km. To be decided.
Organizer: Paul W.

Sat-Sun May 13-14
The spring 600km will be on Mother's Day weekend. Mothers especially welcome. The route will likely be a repeat of last year's new route that seemed to be well received.
Organizer: Norm C.

Sat-Sun September 9-10
Fall 600km. All new event, all new route. Something special planned, more later.
Organizer: Susan O.

Sat September 30
Fall 200km and AGM. Traditional end-of-season event with after-ride potluck shenanigans.


All events > 100 km will be ACP brevets and count towards RUSA and ACP awards and recognition.

To see how this all aligns with other NW US randonneuring fun, check out the calendar.

See you next year.

ACP 200km (Sat), AGM, and 100km Populaire (Sun), 9/17-18, Results etc.

Saturday's ACP 200 km brevet was a bit of a trip, but

Norm Carr
Kevin Humphreys
John Kramer
Susan Otcenas
Don Shiggy Person
Tom Reimbolt

are all awesome randofolk because they completed the event despite some interesting weather challenges (most with impressive times in the circumstances). Thanks to Ian for a very welcome 'secret' control/pop-up espresso stand in just the right location and thanks to Marcie for cookies and card wrangling.

Saturday evening's potuck 'AGM' was a blast. Thanks all for coming and contributing some fine fare and big thanks to Paul and Julie for hosting.

AGM minutes:
* There will be a spring SR series of brevets next year.
* There will probably be some interesting new routes.
* A September 600km brevet is a new addition to the DRR program.
* Ian won the "best secret control of the year" award.
* Marcie won the best cookies and all round spiffy volunteer award.
* After receiving no nominations and in a close fought race with nobody, Norm was unanimously voted RBA for another year.

Finally, some extra thanks and well dones to

Justin Humphreys
Kevin Humphreys
John Kramer
Jeff Loomis
Wendy Loomis

who all completed Sunday's 100km Populaire.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That wraps up all that's scheduled from DRR this year. Thanks for riding with us in 2016. See you down the road and watch this site for news of the 2017 program.

ACP 200 km Brevet and 'AGM', Sat. Sept. 17th 2016

As is becoming a DRR tradition, the end-of-summer 200 km brevet will be immediately followed by the DRR 'AGM' potluck and party, this year at Paul's house.

There will also be a 100 km Permanent Populaire organized by Paul for the following day (Sunday 18th) for those who can't get enough randonneuring goodness that weekend, or who don't want to ride a whole 200km. See below for details of both rides.

You don't have to ride at all to come to the AGM. All DRR members, affiliates, riders, volunteers, supporters, partners, family and friends, bystanders, newbs, rando-curious are invited. More details soon, but bring a potluck contribution or a beverage to share and you'll be most welcome.

Register to Ride
Who's riding? (your entry might not show up here for a few minutes)

ACP 200km Brevet Saturday

Ride date: Saturday, 17th Sept. 2016

Sign in: 05:45
Start at: 06:00
Finish by: 19:30
(Earlier than conventional, to allow an earlier finish (even for slower folks (like me)) so everyone who wants can get to the 'AGM' in time.)

Sunrise: 06:38
Sunset: 19:03

Organizer: Norm Carr

Fee: Free for RUSA members.

Start/Finish location:
Starbucks, Columbia Point Dr., Richland, WA

Parking: Big parking lot right there.

Route
#1827 "Tour de Tri-Cities".

Cue Sheet

This is a pleasant loop around the Tri-Cities on mostly quiet or very quiet roads.

Map / GPS Download

100km Populaire Sunday

Ride date: Sunday, 18th Sept. 2016

Sign in: 08:45
Start at: 09:00
Finish by:

Organizer: Paul Whitney

Fee: Free.

Start/Finish location:
Columbia Point Marina Park. Plenty of parking, restroom, water etc..

Route
"About 100K"

Map / GPS Download

Spring 600 Results

Ward Beebe
Cary Flannery
John Kramer
Audunn Ludviksson
John Pearch
Graham Ross

... all completed the DRR Spring 600 km ACP brevet. Well done to all. This ride turned out to be a little more challenging than it might have been due to uncooperative whether at times, particularly headwinds in places and some impressive rain in Oregon. Despite that, this new route seems to have been enjoyed by these pioneering riders. Thanks to all who provided interesting and useful feedback and reports.

Next on our calendar is an ACP 200 km brevet in September. In the meantime thanks to all for riding with DRR and have a fun summer, whatever your plans.

DRR Spring 400 Results

Alsup	William
Archibald	Chris
Blakeslee	Derek
Brightbill	Kevin
Carr	Norm
Chastain	Asta
Forbes	Thomas
Kramer	John
Ludviksson	Audunn
Otcenas	Susan
Ross	Graham

...all completed the Spring 400 km ACP brevet. There were no DNSs nor DNFs. Thanks to all for making the trip and riding with DRR and thanks to Paul for organizing. That was a fun and in places challenging day on bikes. We got lucky with the wind and weather... until Plymouth.

See you at the 600?

DRR Spring 600km ACP Brevet - 5/21/16

*** Route Update 5/18/16 ***

Benton County has decided to chipseal County Well Rd (2nd loop) and possibly, by the ride date, parts of Weber Canyon Rd. New, loose, course chipseal has made these surfaces slow and unpleasant to ride, particularly on hard narrow tires. It's only 10-15 km but if you're undecided about tire choice, wider might be better for this one (generally true for most DRR routes, really).

*************************

Ride date: Saturday-Sunday, 21st-22nd May 2016

Sign in: 05:30 Saturday
Start at: 06:00 Saturday
Finish by: 22:00 Sunday

Sunrise Sat: 05:16
Sunset Sat: 20:30

Organizer: Norm Carr

Fee: Free for RUSA members.

Start location: John Dam Plaza, Richland WA.
Finish location: Open control, downtown Richland.

Parking: Big parking lot just across Jadwin Ave., north of the Federal Building.

Accommodation
The start and finish will be in the same place as the Spring 400, in Richland.

If you need somewhere to stay, you'll want to book accommodation very soon. A quick survey of local hotels shows several already sold out that weekend, including the Red Lion and Shilo. Alternatives include the Days Inn and Hampton Inn nearby, and the Sleep Inn just over the bridge in Pasco. Further afield, Kennewick also has a selection. There's ample parking nearby if you need to drive to the start.

24 Hr Services in Richland
Denny's, 1301A George Washington Way
Exxon, 1401 George Washington Way
Shari's, 1745 George Washington Way
WinCo Foods, 101 Columbia Point Dr

Route
RUSA route #1943 "Double Cheeseburger 600"

This route is split into two parts, both starting and ending in Richland, and is intended to be ridden over two days, a first day of ~350 km and a second of ~250 km, but there's nothing to stop you riding through if that's your style.

Cue Sheet

Route Part I
Route Part II

Day one is an out and back with a loop that explores some familiar and unfamiliar quiet roads of NE OR. From Richland we'll make an early detour via Dallas Rd and Reata Rd followed by the famous climb over to Oregon up Clodfelter and long descent down Plymouth. After Hermiston it's the long empty trip up 207 to Lexington, then 74 to Heppner. If we're unlucky, this is where the headwinds will be worst. After Heppner, we'll stay on 74 through some hilly, lonely and in places spectacular scenery on a fun road for cycling with some interesting climbs and exciting descents, all the way to US395 and the gradual descent back down to Pendleton. From there it's back along the perennial favorite canyon road to Echo, back on 395 to Hermiston and the river, then the minor matter of DRR's favorite climb, likely in the dark, back up Plymouth to the view of the night-time lights of the Tri-Cities and the decent back down Clodfelter and to Richland.

Day two visits with the Yakima River a little while before another popular local climb up Weber Canyon. Then we'll take a trip through the wheat fields of the Horse Heaven Hills before the fast and fun descent down to Prosser. You'll have done most of the climbing by then, but there's still a trip out and back along either side of the Yakima valley and a hop back over from Benton City before you're done.

Notes
As usual with DRR brevets, this is an entirely unsupported event. Please be prepared for long stretches between services and without cell phone coverage on day one.

There will be riding in the dark. Lights and reflective gear that satisfy RUSA rules must be used.

There will be information controls - please have a pen.

Questions? Use the contact form over there --->>
to get in touch.


Business

Register to Ride
Who's riding? (your entry might not show up here for a few minutes)

RUSA.org Now Accepting Results

The RUSA website is now once again accepting the input of brevet results. I have submitted results for both the DRR 200 and 300 spring brevets. If you rode either, your result should now be visible in your results page on the RUSA website.

Spring 300 ACP Brevet Results

Norm Carr
John Kramer
Susan Otcenas
Michael Russel
Paul Whitney
Michal Young

...all successfully completed the DRR Spring 300 km brevet in commendable time (4 minutes quicker than last year!) and with style, grace and class on a beautiful day in beautiful country in NE Oregon. There were no DNFs, so there. Well done to all and thanks for the entertaining and charming company that helped the kilometers (and miles) roll by.



Some say it's not possible to ride further than 300 km in one sitting (and occasional standing). Not so. Which will be demonstrated on April 30 when we hold the spring 400. See you there.

Spring 200 km Results

Norm	Carr
John	Kramer
Kathy	Mullet
Ron	Mullet
Susan	Otcenas
Michael	Russell
Charlie	White
Kathy	White
Paul	Whitney

...all made completing the DRR Spring 200 km ACP brevet look easy. There were no DNFs and only one collapsed bridge.

It was a beautiful day in the Yakima valley with blue skies and very warm temperatures. Previous versions of this event have been cold, sometimes below freezing. This time we got temps over 60 F. Even the forecast strong winds we were dreading on SR22 out to Toppenish failed to arrive, with only a couple of windy sections early in the morning giving way to an afternoon of tailwind breezes. Lovely.

Our weather luck was balanced by flats misfortune with four (or was it five?) between us all. A small price to pay.

It was great to welcome lots of rando friends from out of town. Thanks for visiting and we're hoping you'll take home stories of how delicious the riding can be out this way and encourage more to follow your pioneering endeavors.

See you again on the 300 on March 19th.

DRR Spring 400km ACP Brevet 4/30/2016

Details below!

Organizer: Paul Whitney

Ride date: Saturday, 30th April, 2016

Sunrise: 05:43
Sunset: 20:05

Sign in from: 05:30 Sat
Start at: 06:00 Sat
Finish by: 09:00 Sun

Entry fee: $5

Start/Finish location: John Dam Plaza, Richland WA and/or Parking lot of Red Lion Inn, Richland WA (across the street from each other)


There will be riding in the dark. Lights and reflective gear that satisfy RUSA rules must be used.

There will be long sections well outside of cell phone coverage.

There will be information controls - please have a pen.

Questions? Use the contact form over there --->>
to get in touch.

Last year's excellent route is being (get ready for it...) re-cycled. The description from last year is still relevant.

Register to Ride

Who's riding? (your entry might not show up here for a few minutes)

Route Cue Sheet
Here is the cue sheet for the 2016 version - a slight slight update from 2015.


Map / GPS download

DRR Spring 300km ACP Brevet 3/19/2016

Back by popular request, this will be the same NE Oregon route as last year. Last year's information is still relevant. The ride start and finish are in Hermiston, OR, which offers plenty of services and accommodation options.


*** Technology Update ***
Track Spots on this ride with Michal's marvellous map app.
***

*** Weather Update ***
Looks like it will could be cold first thing in the morning (low 30s), but quickly warming up, with a high of ~ 60 F in the afternoon. Likely a breeze, not a wind, and a little cloudy, not wet. Pretty nice for March hereabouts.
***

Organizer: Norm Carr

Ride date: Saturday, 19th March, 2016

Sunrise: 07:01
Sunset: 19:09

Sign in from: 05:30 Sat
Start at: 06:00 Sat
Finish by: 02:00 Sun

Free entry for RUSA members.

Start/Finish location:
Hermiston Plaza, Highway 395, Hermiston, OR
Hermiston Plaza has plenty of parking. The only thing open before 6am, however, will be the Shari's restaurant (24 hrs). Safeway is open 6am to 1am.

This is an unsupported ride with long distances (sometimes more than 50 miles/80 Kms) between services. Please prepare accordingly and carry sufficient clothes, tools and spares, and food and drink for your needs.

There will be riding in the dark. Lights and reflective gear that satisfy RUSA rules must be used.

Much of this route follows rural roads that serve working farms, so there can sometimes be muck, mud, gravel and other debris on the road surface. Please keep your head up and take care, especially if it's wet.

Be advised that outside of Hermiston and Pendleton and anywhere away from major highways (most of this route, in other words) it is very unlikely that you will receive a cell phone signal.

There will be information controls - please have a pen.

Questions? Use the contact form over there --->>
to get in touch.

Register to Ride                     Who's riding?

Route Cue Sheet

Map / GPS download

DRR Spring 200km ACP Brevet 2/27/2016

Yep. It's Flat Yak. Again. Would be a shame to break with tradition. All welcome to our season-opening brevet.

This is a low-level course through the Yakima River valley out to an open control lunch stop in Toppenish and back. It follows generally quiet roads through Eastern Washington farmland. Some pre-ride notes from a couple of years ago are still relevant.



There's still a possibility of wintery weather at the end of Feb, and there's a good chance it could be chilly or windy. Bring extra layers and a weatherproof shell. Like all our brevets, this is an unsupported ride but there are sufficient opportunities to find food and drink along the route.

Organizer: Norm Carr

Ride date: Saturday, 27th February, 2016

Sign in from: 06:30
Start at: 07:00
Finish by: 20:30

Free entry to RUSA members.

Start/Finish location:
Starbucks, corner of Gage Blvd. & Keene Rd., Richland, WA 99352
(NOT the Starbucks inside Albertson's!).
Lots of parking available in Albertson's adjacent parking lot.

Sunrise: 06:40
Sunset: 17:39

As an early season ride there's a significant possibility of riding in the dark so lights and reflective gear that satisfy RUSA rules must be brought and used.

There will be information controls - please have a pen.

Register to ride            Who's riding?

Route cue sheet



Map / GPS download