DRR 400 - May 26, 2012

This route will be identical to the previous two versions of this event. This ride turns out to be more challenging than it would appear based on the elevation profile. The ride will be largely unsupported.

Ride: Desert River 400km
Organizer: Paul Whitney - post questions to this blog or email.
Ride Date: May 26, 2012
Start Time: 06:00am, Registration - 5:30-5:55. Sunrise/set 5:13/8:37
Start/End Location: Albertson's Parking lot; Leslie&Gage in Richland, WA. 690 Gage Boulevard.
Finish by: 9:00am, May 27, 2012
Registration: Pre-register here. To see who else is riding, check here.
Entry Fee: $10 (Insurance, route cards/sheets).
Medals: Available directly from the RUSA online store.
Route Sheet: Updated 5-21-2012: Draft (last year's final) is here. Maps for out and back are available on Ride with GPS.

The ride-end will NOT be staffed. Please have your card signed at a local establishment (the Albertsons is always open) and place in the indicated vehicle.

Some night riding is almost inevitable for 400k's in the continental US. Accordingly, be sure and have:

• A front and read light attached to the bike
• A reflective vest/sash
• Reflective ankle bands

The above, and other rules for Brevets are available on the RUSA web site.

The route extends the 200km route and continues exploring desert rivers. We take the same route out from Richland to Toppenish. From Toppenish, the route parallels the main highway on Track road, sidestepping back onto the main road before Track Rd veers right. There's a gradual climb on the south side of Yakima to Wiley City. Note: the Wiley Market has no restrooms - but, there are options before this control in Union Gap and after in Yakima and Selah. After Wiley City - the ride cuts across to Summitt Road, and over to the bike path system to cross to Selah. From Selah the ride goes through the Yakima River Valley up to Ellensburg - the control and turn-around point in Ellensburg is the Safeway. Then it's back through the canyon, into Selah, the bike-path, and controls on Nob Hill Blvd. From there we circumnavigate Moxee, and head down to Zillah - to take advantage of the services along the Interstate. We head through Zillah to the Yakima Valley Hwy - which changes names while passing through Sunnyside (more services), Grandview (more services), but essentially is a direct route to the Prosser control (more services). From Prosser, we essentially backtrack to Richland - w/ a good intermediate stop, if needed, in Benton City (you can't miss it:).

The longest stretches w/o easy access to services are through the Canyon between Selah and Ellensburg - this amounts ~50km.

DRR 200 - March 17, 2012

Ride: Desert River 200km
Organizer: Paul Whitney - post questions to this blog or email.
Ride Date: Saturday March 16, 2013.
Start time: 7:00am, Registration - 6:30-6:55am. Sunrise/set 7:05/7:06.
Start/End Location: Intersection of Leslie and Gage, in the Parking lot between Albertsons and USA Gas, in Richland, WA.
Finish by: 8:30pm March 16
Registration: Pre-register here. Check here to see who is registered.
Entry fee: $5 (ride insurance, Brevet cards and snacks). Checks should be payable to "Paul Whitney". Cash is easier to handle, and preferable.
Medals: Available directly from the RUSA online store.
Route: Route sheet and map.

The route is identical to last year's edition. Here for the information for that ride, and here for last year's pre-drive. Stay tuned for any updates in route sheets or minor changes in the route due to vagaries of road (de)construction etc. See you there!

DRR Day 1 Results

We had the first running of a formal DRR event - the DRR 100. Six riders started, and 5 finished - all well within 20 minutes of each other. The reports from the riders indicated that they were also within 5 minutes of each other at the Benton City control.

The results from today's populaire are listed below. All six riders joined us at the ride's end, and seemed to have a great day of it. The rider's experience with Brevet's ranged widely. This was the first Brevet for three of the six riders. Two of the riders have multiple 1200km rides completed.

Thanks to Norm Carr for constructing the route and the sign-up software, and to Cathy Smith for helping with rider sign-up and greeting riders at the end of the event. Looking forward to our 200km in two weeks. Hope to see you there.

Rider        Time 
David Podboy 5:16 
Gary Smith   5:10 
Ian Hoffman  DNF (knee) 
Jared Carr   5:10 
John Kramer  5:00 
Norman Carr  5:16

Desert Rivers Region 100km - March 3, 2012

Ride: Desert River 100km
Organizer: Paul Whitney - post questions to this blog
Ride Date: Saturday March 3, 2012.
Start time: 9:00am, Registration - 8:30-8:55am.
Start/End Location: Winco's Parking lot; at the intersection of and Columbia Point Drive and George Washington Blvd - in Richland, WA. 101 Columbia Point Drive, Richland, WA.
Finish by: 3:56pm March 3
Registration: Pre-register here. To see who is registered, see here.
Entry fee: $5 (ride insurance, Brevet cards and snacks). Checks should be payable to "Paul Whitney".
Medals: Available directly from the RUSA online store.
Route Sheet: Here.
Route Map: Here.

The route is a slight modification of the 5 Cities and 3 rivers Permanent Populaire route that Norman Carr organizes. The route for this short ride stays near the Tri-Cities, and traverses roads with which local cyclists will be familiar. The route heads out of the parking area, and crosses the concrete bridge over into Pasco. The bike path along the Columbia is a primary route to get to the first checkpoint at Sacajawea Park. Reversing direction, the ride then heads to the Cable Bridge, thru Columbia Park, and more bicycle paths, and then Kennedy road to Benton City. The famous Cougar Café is the next checkpoint.

The route heads back towards West Richland via Van Giessen. There is an information checkpoint along this stretch. A left-turn leads to crossing the Yakima, and heading towards 240. A brief ride along the ample shoulder of this road is followed by a left turn into a light industrial area. The route passes by Pacific Northwest National Lab, and then returns to the Columbia River for the final stretch back to the Winco Parking lot.

Ride Finish: The finish will is staffed – the organizer will greet you, take your card, and offer you a beverage. All in the same great location as the ride start.

2012 Ride Dates - Now with Real Dates

We submitted the following dates for the DRR's events:

March 3  - 100k

March 17 - 200k

April 14 - 300k

May 26 - 400k

June 16  - 600k

Sept 15 - 200k -- A nice warmup for a SIR 1000k and/or an ORR Bikenfest.

These dates are submitted as Audax Club Parisian and RUSA sanctioned events. More detailed information about the events will be posted about one month before. We anticipate that the rides will begin in or near Richland, WA. We have established routes for the 200, 300, 400 and 600km events - and there's a good chance we'll revisit those routes. See you out there, then.

2012 Ride Dates

We're constructing the schedule for 2012. Our group is leaning towards a full series, spaced so that we have one Brevet per month: March (200km), April (300km), May (400km) and June (600km). We may also have a 200km in September. Stay tuned for details.

It's Official

We have a new RUSA region: WA: Tri-Cities. The Desert River Randonneurs.

A warm thanks to Susan France, who sponsored our rides as part of the Oregon Randonneurs for the previous three years. During that time, we've had a large number of riders and rides. Thanks to the riders who have ridden and the volunteers who have helped. We are looking forward to great rides, and more riders.

This is a list of the riders and volunteers who have helped get Randonneuring started in Eastern Washington. We hope to see you all again. Let me know if I've missed someone:

Bill Alsup, Robert Anderson, Tom Barocan, Tracy Barill, Nat Beagley, Andrew Black, Kenneth Bonner, RB Buschman, Norm Carr, Ken Carter, Jennifer Chang, Barry Chase, Gregory Cox, James Cox, Dan Davis, Steve Davis, William Dussler, Adam George, Bill Gobie, Edward Groth, Dean Gull, Dean Gull, David Harper, Joanne Heilinger, Ali Holt, Roger Holt, Noel Howes, Chuck Hoffman, Dan Jensen, Paul Johnson, Kole Kantner, Jason Karp, Steven Kasper, Martin Knowles, Alexander Kohan, Keith Kohan, John Kramer, Jerry Lentz, Albert Lutz, Ken Mattina, Sallie McFarlane, Matt Mikul, Jim Moberly, John Morris, Vincent Muoneke, Ray Ogilview, Greg Olson, Sal Ortega, Susan Otcenas, John Pearch, Scott Peterson, Gary Prince, Cecil Reniche-Smith, John Richards, Mike Richeson, Theo Roffe, Bill Schell, Ian Shopland, Gary Smith, Cathy Smith, Eamon Stanley, Karel Stroethoff, John Vincent, Ken Ward, Paul Whitney, Julie Whitney, Chris Willett, Steve Williamson, and Peg Winczewski