Randonneuring

The Davis Bike Club has been involved in randonneuring for decades and is steeped in the history of our sport and its growth in the United States. The DBC was the largest randonneuring club to send riders to Paris Brest Paris in the early 90’s and has been instrumental in supporting the growth of randonneuring nationwide.

The DBC Brevet Series is designed to prepare riders for successively longer distance events. Our brevets are for cyclists experienced in riding 100+ mile events and those looking for longer distance challenges, perhaps even joining the ranks of those who have completed Paris-Brest-Paris or other “grand randonnées” of 1200km or longer. Paris Brest Paris is held the third week in August and that means that now is the time to start working towards the 2027 “Great Dance”. Up to 7000 of your closest rando-pal’s from around the world will be making the trek to Brest and back. It is an amazing experience and if you have the interest to be at the start of PBP 2027, then we’ll do whatever we can to help you get there.

Every four or five years, the DBC hosts the 1200km Gold Rush Randonnée…one of the longest running 1200ks in the United States. GRR was successfully held June 2-6, 2022, after a complete overhaul of the event. Read about the adventure here. We’ll be hosting the next GRR in 2026.

Davis is bringing GRAVEL events into our event schedule. The RUSA Board unanimously agreed to create a gravel program, with extra time allotted for kilometers of gravel in a given event. Details are being worked out, but Davis will have a set of gravel events for 2024. The Super Bowl Populaire, which has been a fun gravel 100k is on the schedule for February and Montezuma’s Gravel was a hit in 2023 and is scheduled for March. #Gravelicious!

Davis Randos will hold our Spring Brevet Series (a 200, 300, 400, and 600k brevet), but along with each of the longer rides, a 200k will be offered on the same day (see the line-up below). We think this will give riders options depending on their fitness and it helps us with volunteers and controls.

We are offering several randonneuring events in the fall and winter seasons.  In 2023, we hosted our first double brevet weekend, riding to Gold Lakes in the Sierra. This year, we are heading to Nevada City for a 3-day weekend of riding. Pick your own adventure! Friday, Saturday and Sunday, you can pick from a pool of gravel rides that start and end in Nevada City. Or ride a 200k up to Nevada City on Saturday, spend the night at the host motel and ride back on Sunday.

Also, the 5th annual Vintage Populaire celebrating “French Fender Day” will be on tap this year once again.  Riders from across NorCal come out to enjoy each other’s machines from the Golden Age of steel while riding around our area.

We ask that all riders be very aware of their safety and the safety of others. See our guidelines for participating in DBC Randonneuring events. The RBA will hold riders to these requirements and a no tolerance mindset will be in place for those who are non-compliant. Sounds harsh, but the pandemic has certainly changed our thinking about how to safely hold rides of any length. Don’t hesitate to email any questions you might have to: rba@davisbikeclub.org

Here’s the line-up for 2024. Sign up here!

Jan. 1	100/200k: First Chance: Bella Bru (100k) + Auburn Xpress w/JCT (200k)
Feb. 11	GRAVEL: Super Bowl Sunday Populaire
March 2	ACP: 200k: route TBD
March 16	Montezuma’s GRAVEL: 150k
April 6	ACP 200K/300k: Meadow Vista (200) + Grass Valley (300)
April 20	ACP 200k/400k: Calistoga (200) + Lake Sonoma (400)
May 11-12	ACP 600k: GrassVista
May 20	ACP 200k: Davis Calistoga
May 20-21	ACP 400k: Lake Sonoma
July 13	ACP 300k: Night time Grandmother’s House Redux
Sept. 27-28 – 29	ACP 200k/200k: Double Brevet weekend + Gravel Trifecta. Ride to Nevada City and return on Sunday, OR join us for some or all of a 3-day weekend riding gravel out of Nevada City.
Oct. 5	Vintage Populaire – Celebrate French Fender Day!
Oct. 19	ACP: 200k/300k: Real McCoy (200), Davis, Dunnigan & the Delta (300)
Nov 9	130K: RTM/Cantelow
Dec 31	100/200K: Last Chance – both routes TBD
	Other rides (gravel and otherwise) will be added as time permits!

Ridewithgps for most of the rides can be found here. We are working on new routes, which we’ll update you when we have em. See the tab at the bottom for 2024.

Join our newsletter for the most up to date info on all things Rando from Davis! Shoot me an email: rba@davisbikeclub.org  and we’ll get you into the system.

DBC brevets can be used as qualifiers for 1200km events in the US and around the world. For more information about those rides, and the many brevets being run throughout Northern and Central California, RUSA (Randonneurs USA) has a Rides section that sorts dates, distances, and locations for other brevet series in the region. DBC brevets can also be used toward qualifying for a variety of RUSA awards. Awards can be earned in two ways by riding brevets. If the ride is marked ACP, then that ride is available for Audax Club Parisian and RUSA awards. If it says RUSA only, then it is only available for RUSA distance awards. In order to qualify for any awards, you must be a member of Randonneurs USA.

For any brevets (200k, 300k, 400k, and 600k), rider control/time stations are 30-65 miles apart.  You are expected to be self-sufficient on your bicycle. We expect all riders to be prepared for the weather and for riding in environs with rough roads and riding in the dark. All cyclists must have lights for rides during the early dawn and dusk/night rides. Helmets are required on all rides. Please refer to the RUSA rules for more information and review our rules for riding during the pandemic. Sag support for riders who DNF is minimal at best, so come prepared for all types of terrain and weather and be committed to finish.

Questions? Send em to the Regional Brevet Administrator (RBA), Debra Banks: rba@davisbikeclub.org.
We look forward to seeing you on one or more of our brevets this season.All photo credit except where noted different: Deb Ford