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Description:
This series of events is a
first for AZ Randonneurs. Since Phoenix is the envy of the US in
February, why not put on some early season events of modest distances
and give the Northerners a destination sure to get them away from
scraping ice off of their windshields! It's also a good chance for
locals to play hookie from work and get some early season training in
their legs.
Rouleur - What!? Another
strange word to learn?
Wikipedia defines it this way: A rouleur is a cyclist who is able
to maintain a high level of power for a long period of time. They will
generally be relatively poor at short, very intense efforts and will
be unable to match the accelerations of pure climbers in the
mountains. They excel on long efforts on relatively flat terrain, such
as solo breakaways and time trials.
As long as "high level of power" is defined relative to a turtle, I think this defines Randonneurs
pretty well. In any event,
RUSA
now has a trinket for all members who suscessfully complete each of
the following events in a year: 100-124k, 125-149k, 150-199k, 200-220k and a
Dart Pop (nominally 120k.) These are distances achievable by most
cyclists if they choose to.
Here's what's on tap:
o All riders who complete the entire series will receive the official
RUSA patch! See below.
o All riders who complete the entire series will receive a special
gift that's only available in AZ!
o 6 straight days of riding are available
to all RUSA members. Choose
one, choose all. Everyone is welcome to ride what they can. Bring some
friends and ride the
Dart Pop Team event.
o The days that each event is offered may be found in the
CALENDAR.
o There will be a discount to those choosing ALL of the
events. Like shopping at
Costco,
the more you buy, the cheaper it gets. Or, something like that.
o Lodging can be a challenge to find in
The Valley of the Sun in Feb!
We've secured a block of rooms close to the start/finsh.
o The Dart Pop will
finish at the RBA's home. Smoked ribs and pork butt with all the
fixin's are on tap. Stories of your adventures are your
responsibility. Join us and share yours!
o The rides will
occur on 3 special days - Friday the 13th (Thankfully,
Camp Crystal Lake is nowhere around here!), Valentine's Day (Feb
14) and President's Day (Feb 16). We will have 2 additional rides
available for you to ride on President's Day, in case you have the day
off work and want to enjoy more desert sunshine.
Sounds great! But, how do I get
there?
For those coming from out-of-town, Phoenix
Sky Harbor
airport can be reached from any airport in the world. From the
airport, it's about 18 miles to the
start location for the rides. Some possible ways to get from there
to/from here include:
1. Rental car at the airport
2. Uber/Lyft - In my experience, it's a $25-$35 ride
to/from the airport to this area. Cost seems to depend on time of day.
3. Taxi - There are plenty of them from the airport.
I haven't used them in decades, so I have no useful infomation to
share.
4. Supershuttle - Again, I have not used this service
for decades, but here is a
LINK to their services.
5. Bus - Phoenix is not renowend for its public
transportation. But, it is possible to do it. Here is a
LINK as an example.
6. Ride your bike? I have not ridden from the
airport, but if that's your preference,
contact me and I can help you
with a route from the airport to your destination.
Lodging:
We have a block of rooms (2Q or 1K options) available at the
Holiday Inn
Express about 4 miles from the start. If I can offer one
piece of advice, it's do NOT wait to book your lodging and car, if you
need to do either! The world descends upon Phoenix between Oct and
Mar. Numerous events get scheduled in February and you will be in
competition for the limited resources available. If you wait until you
can see what the weather will be like, you'll be sleeping in your car,
if you can get one. Book a room and a car now, making sure that you
can cancel it if your plans change.
To book a room there, follow these steps:
o Cannot
be reserved on-line.
o You must call Dina Duran at Holiday Inn: 480-473-3400 ext. 432, email
here HERE
o Block of rooms reserved: 2/10 through 2/17
o Total
number of blocked rooms for Randonneurs USA: 20 total, 15 Queen Rooms,
5 King Rooms. Must be booked by Jan 12, 2026.
Things to do:
February in Phoenix is a veritable treasure trove of possible
activities! There are outdoor, indoor and all inbetween. Since there
is so much to cover, I've put together an entire page of possibilities
with descriptions and links. This will allow you to bring your non
road cycling friends and SOs. They will probably have more fun than
you will! Or, stay another week and do it all yourselves.
Check out that
PAGE for
all the details. I will be adding things as they come up.
Yeah. Blah, blah, blah.
Tell me about the bike rides already!
The links below will take you to the details of each event. The Dart
Populaire is a team event and that web page is in the works now. If
you have any questions, just contact the
RBA and ask away!
NOTE: While the
routes are under review at the RUSA Mothership, the links below will point to the
PRELIMINAY routes.
Once each route gets approved, the link will magically change to
include all the details of each ride.
To see all of the routes overlayed, check out the
COLLECTION
100k details may be found
HERE
125k details may be found
HERE
150k details may be found
HERE
200k details may be found
HERE
Dart Pop details may be found HERE
Bonus
100k
&
125k event details may be found HERE
Last Minute Notes may be found
HERE.
This link will be valid once available,
generally the day after registration closes.
Please read them. There will be a lot of information posted there. I
will also send them out to registered riders. If you don't receive
them, please check your spam folder.
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