The RBA (Regional Brevet Administrator) for the South Central Florida
Brevet Series is Michael Grussemeyer. He is responsible for the contents
of this webpage. Feel free to contact him at
for any questions you have related to this series.
There is no direct English translation of the French term "randonnee",
loosely translated, "To go on a long trip on foot or bicycle". A person
who goes on a "randonnee" is called a "randonneur" (male), "randonneuse"
(female), but in America we tend to lump everything together and call
both sexes "Randonneur". In cycling, it means a hard-riding enthusiast
who is trying to complete a long randonnee within a certain time
allotment. Note that a randonnee is not a race. It is not uncommon for
the last finishers to get as much applause as the first. Indeed there is
much camaraderie in randonneuring.
One does it to test oneself against the clock, weather, and a
challenging route, but not to beat the other riders. Randonneuring
stresses self-sufficiency. Help can only be given at checkpoints or
controls along the route, however randonneurs are free to buy food,
supplies, or bike repairs at any stores they encounter along the route.
Once riders have successfully completed a 200-kilometer "randonnee"
or "BREVET...pronounced Brev vay, they are entitled to be called a "randonneur"
or "randonneuse". Brevet in French means a "certificate" or "diploma".
Randonnee's are frequently called a "Brevet", which is typically a
challenging 200km, 300km,400km, 600km, 1000km, or 1200km (kilometer)
ride, each with a specific time limit. The randonneur carries a Brevet
card (certificate), which is signed and stamped at each checkpoint
(control) along the way to prove they have successfully completed the
distance. The shortest Brevet is a 200km (125 miles) and is an entry
point for those looking for a challenge greater than our standard
centuries, the longest is the 1200km (720 miles plus) done in 90 hours
or less with little rest or time to waste. One must qualify for the
longer 1000km and 1200km rides by doing a series of four brevets, a
200km, 300km, 400km, and a 600km all within one calendar year.
Those interested in doing the brevets for certification or awards
will join RUSA, Randonneurs USA, a national organization whose goals are
to promote randonneuring in the US and to provide services to
randonneurs. You do not have to be a member of RUSA to participate in
the brevets. Some just ride the first two or three distances to prepare
for double centuries or 24 hours at Sebring. RUSA doesn't actually
organize any rides, but rather coordinates the brevets of the Regional
Brevet Administrators (RBAs) and clubs that sponsor them. RUSA acts as
the interface between the Audax (pronounced Oh-docks) Club Parisien in
France and the American riders and RBAs.
We ride at night on the longer brevets, and it is recommended to have
two forms of headlights, a Primary Headlight bright enough to see the
road ahead, and a Secondary smaller one used to be seen by motorists,
and two taillights, one used as Primary, the other as backup. For
battery operated lights it is recommended that you validate the run time
of your batteries and carry spare batteries. Many of
you already have a headlight and taillight which would serve as
secondary lights, so there would be a saved expense. The 200km brevet
usually starts and finishes in daylight. if you are planning to ride the
brevets do the 200km, bring what lighting you have, and come see the
lighting systems of the seasoned riders before purchasing lights for the
next brevet. All other distances require lighting. All bikes and lights
are inspected the evening before the event. See the
Required Equipment section for more
details.
The Florida Freewheelers of Orlando are the sponsoring club for the
brevets held in the South Central Region of Florida.
For further information on Brevets, contact Michael E. Grussemeyer,
RBA for South Central Florida, and Brevet Director of The Florida
Freewheelers at: e:mail
; phone number 239-549-7459.
This web site
http://www.bike4one.com/brevets/ contains information on RIDE
SCHEDULES and CUE SHEETS, BIKE EQUIPMENT, LIGHTING, GPS, etc. Contact the
RUSA web site www.rusa.org for
further information on brevets nationwide, history, and membership.
If the cue sheets and/or GPS file states "draft version", this
will give you a general idea on where we ride. In most cases the
roads will be checked again a week before the event and there could
be last minute changes. Check this webpage again 3 to 4 days before
the event.
Garmin GPS information: (see also
GPS site with Information regarding Configuration, Routes, Maps
etc.)
v6
- Maps used: City Select North America v6
- Settings: Bicycle - Shorter Distance
v7
- Maps used: City Select North America v7
- Settings: Bicycle - Faster Time
v8
- Maps used: City Navigator North America v8
- Settings: Bicycle - Faster Time
The Holiday Inn Express, Clermont, Florida will be the Host Motel. It
is located on the southwest quadrant of the intersection of US Hwy 27
and SR 50. There is a Denny's next door which is open 24/7 and a
Cumberland Farms CS, 24/7 0.1 mile south. All along SR 50 a mile or less
away are many new chain restaurants. There are Theme Parks and Shopping
for the non rider family members.
All reservation must be made by you,
mention "Michaels Brevet" when calling the Holiday Inn Express Clermont,
Fl. 352-243-7878 to get the discounted rate
Holiday Inn Express
1810 South Hwy. 27
Clermont, FL 34711
(352) 243-7878 Map and Direction
All rides will leave from the front of the Motel. On the 600km we
will pass close to the Host Motel around the 250 mile mark for those
wishing to catch a couple of hours of Z's before finishing. This is a 70
room modern facility, serving a free continental breakfast 6:30 to 10
am. The official rule of the General Managers is that no bicycles are
allowed in the rooms, but bikes locked on vehicles will have a well lit
parking lot. So please don't ask the staff, if you can take your bikes
to the room.
Notice: Although the host motel has a regulation that no bikes
are allowed, it is not normally enforced if you bring you bikes in the
back or side entrance, not past the front desk. Please do not lean your
chainrings up against the beds, and don't use their towels to clean your
bikes. That is the reason some of the motels are not allowing bikes, or
charging an extra fee like they do for pets. Thanks!
Rooms at the Holiday Inn Express are $85 for two double beds, $80 for
a single King plus tax. This is their rock bottom price during season.
If you are a Priority Club Member you can have a 2pm late check out at
no charge instead of 11am.
This hotel is filled most of the time. I would suggest
if you are planning to ride any of the series, to book now, you can
cancel within 24hrs if you decide not to ride or you find another place.
Do not wait, they are usually filled for week ends especially 30 to 60
days in advance.
All
of the other motels are Mom & Pop types which are in disrepair and are
usually full with weekly rentals.
The next nearest motels are 9 & 10
miles away e.g. the Howard Johnson Express Inn, nine miles north of
Clermont on Hwy. 27. The owner Mark Wilson, will
give us a rate of $59.00 per night plus taxes.
Howard Johnson Express Inn
20329 US Hwy 27 North
Clermont, Fl. 34711
(352) 429-9033
There are less expensive motels just as nice as The
Holiday Inn near the Disney Main Gate on SR 192 about 30 to 40 minutes
away for those willing to travel.
Another possibility for those of you, that prefer camping:
Camping reservations call Reserve America at 1-800-326-3521.
Lake Louisa State Park is located six miles south of our host motel
at CR 50 & US Hwy. 27. It has 60 new campsites, with state of the art
bathhouses which have washing machines on the outside. There are 20
cabins under construction which may be ready as soon as March, so keep
checking with them about the cabins. This could well be our Host
starting point in the future when the cabins are complete. Many trails,
fishing, swimming, canoeing, etc. Vehicle entrance (single occupant)
$3.00, (two - eight occupants) $4.00. If you just wanted to take a
shower after a ride before returning home, $3.00 would be cheap, (bring
a towel). Overnight camping, $21.00 plus tax (includes water and
electric and sewer). There are sixty campsites, 14 are for full sized RV
hook up. They also have a pump out station. This is a beautiful park
with bike, hiking, and horseback trails. For more info see website
listed above.
The cabins are finished and are being rented through Reserve America
see above link.. They sleep six persons, have a full kitchen with
utensils, a fireplace, and a screened porch overlooking a small lake.
There are a lot of trails, both bike, walking, and horseback. Swimming
is from a white sand beach, and there are restrooms and dressing rooms
nearby. Fishing is great and canoeing and kayaking are possible. All of
the theme parks are located nearby as well as shopping. Something for
all members of the family to do.
Preregistration is not required, but riders will not be able to
register or have their bike inspected on the day of the event until
preregistered riders have departed, and the control windows must still
be respected. For registration within the last 24 hours before the start
a $10 late fee will apply as all Brevet cards, rosters and other
information has to be posted by hand.
Please return this registration form signed and with checks to
Michael E. Grussemeyer and make sure they arrive no later than 24 hours
before the event. If you are late with your registration please sent
in via email so that Brevet cards can be created. If you sent in your
registration via email at least 24 hours prior to the event and use the
check in the night before the event, the late fee does not apply.
A late registration fee of $10 for registration within less than 24
hours of the ride start will apply.
Club members of the Florida
Freewheelers Orlando will get a $5 discount per ride. The
Florida
Freewheelers are a great club with rides for different categories
each weekend. They are known for their Florida Bicycle Safari and
Horrible Hundred. Their annual dues for Individual or Family is $25. If
you want to join the Florida Freewheelers you can use this
membership application form.
Do all 4 events, become a member and still save money: Instead of
$130 total for all 4 events, become a member ($25) and only pay $100. You
still save $5 and get a membership in one of best clubs in Central
Florida. In addition to saving $10 for the registration of all 4 events
at once you won't have to worry about late fees.
ADDITIONAL SAVINGS FOR MEMBERS: Each brevet you sign up for after the
main series saves you another $5, so it is possible to save another $40 by
doing the other brevets. Club membership also, give you a $5 discount on
The Horrible 100 and a $25 discount on Bike Safari, a three day or six
day tour held every April in Live Oak and Madison, Florida. Not only
that, but you receive the club newsletter, Spoke n Word, and can attend
any or all of the club rides and picnics.
For night riding, vehicles must be equipped with front and rear
lights attached firmly to the vehicle. Lights must be fully functional
at all times. At least one of the rear lights must be in a steady
(rather than flashing) mode. All riders' lights must meet the
requirements of local laws. Spare lights are strongly recommended; spare
bulbs are required (if the light has no exchangeable bulb, a spare light
is required). Riders not complying with all these
requirements will not be permitted to start. Lights must be on from dusk
to dawn and at any other times when poor visibility conditions exist
(rain, fog, etc.). Each rider, whether riding in a group or by himself,
must fully comply with this requirement. Everyone must use their lights!
All riders must wear a reflective vest, sash, Sam Browne belt, or
some other device that clearly places reflective material on the front
and back of the rider. During night riding, all riders will also wear a
reflective ankle band around each ankle.
Helmets are required.
Any violation of these riding rules will result in the immediate
disqualification of the rider.
We will conduct safety inspections the evening before the ride or at
the ride start on the morning of the ride on some Brevets.
Lights should be affixed, correctly aimed and working. Only riders that will have fully operating safety equipment as outline
in "Required Equipment" can participate in the ride.
I have ridden in cycling events all over the country, and have
encountered and used many Massage Therapists. Of those there are but a
few that are real good. I rarely recommend anyone for these types of
services, but I want to make an exception and introduce you to Glen
Moray, licensed sports massage therapist who has been massaging since
1995 and works 48 events nationally. He has been on many of the events I
have ridden in Florida in the last eight or so years and he always seems
to find all the tired and strained spots. And he massages those muscles
until they are smooth and gets the lactic acid to flow from those
muscles so they can function at a much higher level of performance. Glen
says he will follow our series this year and you can make reservations
with him via his web site. He does need appointments in advance of the
event. But will take on site reservations as well. So if you have tired
sore legs, back, neck and shoulders you might need a little TLC from
Glen after an event (or during a long 600km somewhere in the middle).
Remember that he must have five or so massages to cover his costs. So
get behind this guy and use his services. Check out his web site or
email him for an appointment:
www.professionaleventsmassage.com or his e-mail
Because our sport is non-competitive, RUSA does not have special
trophies for those who rode the most brevet kilometers or who climbed
the most hills. Nor are there categories for age, gender, type of
machine, etc..
Awards are earned by simply finishing events inside the time limit.
Participation and determination are the two essential things needed to
earn randonneuring honors. The most frequently earned awards are for the
series events; the 200km, 300km, 400km, and the 600km.
Listed below are two of the more popular and easily attainable
awards. For additional awards see
RUSA’S Awards
Section.
In 1952, the Audax Club Parisien created an honorific recognizing
randonneurs who had completed, in the same year, the series of
brevets of 200k, 300k, 400k and 600k. This honorific is called the
Super Randonneur Award. RUSA members may request a medal
commemorating their accomplishment by submitting the request form
shown below. This request form, filled out correctly and including
verification numbers for the brevets, should be submitted with
payment to RUSA, which will collect the forms and forward them to
the ACP person responsible for Brevets de Randonneurs Mondiaux. One
or more of your SR-qualifying brevets may be ridden outside the US,
but in any case you will need to include the certificate numbers on
your application. Note that the exact sequence of 200k, 300, 400k,
and 600k brevets must be ridden to get the medal; longer event
substitutions are not allowed, as they are for PBP qualifying. The
medal design will be changed every Paris-Brest-Paris year. (For
riders who ride PBP, applying and being accepted for PBP gets them
an SR award. The ACP gives the SR medal to entrants when they
check-in in Paris, so there is no need to apply to RUSA. For other
riders earning an SR medal during a PBP year, they should apply in
the normal fashion listed above.)
The R-12 Award is for riding a 200 K (or longer) randonneuring
event for 12 consecutive months. The counting event sequence can
commence during any month of the year, but must continue
uninterrupted for another 11 months. If an event straddles two
months (eg, July 31st-August 1st), the starting date is the counting
month. Events that count toward the R-12 Award are RUSA and ACP-sanctioned
brevets and 24-hour team events, RM-sanctioned events of 1200 km or
longer, as well as RUSA permanents of 200 km or longer. A particular
permanent route can be ridden more than once in a year to count for
the R-12. Events can be ridden in foreign countries. If a rider
earns a brevet in the week before the official event on a "worker's
ride", the date of the official brevet is the counting date for the
R-12 Award.
Applicants can print out their RUSA Results sheet(s) and send
that in the application packet, or for permanents ridden more than
once and not listed on the Results sheet, or when listing foreign
events, photocopies of the front and back of the homologated brevet
card(s) must be submitted for the application to be accepted. The
applicant must be a RUSA member in good standing on or before the
date of the first counting brevet. Applicants should include a check
for $10 made out to "Randonneurs USA".
There are many medals for the awards which can be viewed on the RUSA
web site as well as the series medals. Take a look at
RUSA's
Medal Gallery. Medals and Awards can only be purchased or awarded to
RUSA Members, or Pending Members. (Proof of application for pending
members needed at the time of ordering.).
Series Medals:
Medals for the series distance awards cost $7.50 each and can be
ordered by checking medal line on the back of your brevet card when
you sign it and turn it in to your RBA after completing the brevet.
I ask an additional $2.50 for shipping and handling, since I will
receive them and purchase mailers and postage to mail to you.
Usually these are mailed out after the series is over.
I'm not one much for awards and trophies, but the medals I have
hanging on my bulletin board by my desk represent personal bests
with each event. These medals are real authentic and after you
complete your brevet you will know more meaningfully the term
"You've Earned It".
Tom Jordan created a discussion forum for us. Just go to
FLAcyclist.com and click on the "Forum" link. This forum allows us
to communicate efficiently on specific topics, will free Michael from
the burden of being the middle-man and reduce the need to send bulk
emails. Tom created a topic for each Brevet, the Bike Sebring race, and
a General category that includes announcements, tips, reports, photos
and suggestion topics.
