By Bill Bryant
Seasoned randonneurs know the old saying about "anything worth doing is worth doing to excess," and RUSA is pleased to announce a new award to earn.
The American Randonneur Challenge (ARC) is for successfully finishing the US 1200k events in the same season! To say it will require a lot of determination is an understatement. In even-numbered years, such as 2004 and 2006, this will mean finishing Boston-Montreal-Boston (BMB) and Colorado's Last Chance (LC). Can you do it? Two hardy randonneurs have already shown it can be done: in 2001 Englishman John Evans successfully rode this daunting double and in 2002 Canadian Ken Bonner did it too. Will you be among the first American randonneurs to achieve this lofty goal?
If you think that sounds like a lot of randonneuring in a single summer for audacious riders, consider 2005. Next season sees the return of the quadrennial Gold Rush Randonnée (GRR) in California. Think of it: the GRR in July, BMB in August, and the LC in September. This is the stuff legends are made of! Randonneurs USA will have special commemoratives for the riders who earn the ARC award each summer and will maintain a list of recipients on our website. Will your name be among them? Allez!