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PBP August 21-25, 2011: Brochure Available

The brochure announcing PBP 2011 is now available for download HERE (pdf).

Happy New Year from Randonneurs USA!

At RUSA we're looking forward to another fine year of long-distance cycling. Many of our members are already getting excited about the next Paris-Brest-Paris (PBP) in August of 2011. Brevets ridden in 2010 will have a potential impact on PBP registration. Here's what we know so far:

• In the past, the ACP has required RUSA membership at the time the first qualifying event is ridden, so we're encouraging everyone to renew as soon as possible since some of your 2010 events may be used as preregistration enhancements for PBP.
• We think that preregistration reserves your place "in line" among the registrants, which you can claim if/when you qualify in 2011 - hence no penalty to folks in northern/wintry climes. We'll let everyone know how this will work as soon as the details are finalized by the ACP.
• The ACP may impose country quotas, but the details of how their plans will be implemented have not been finalized. Our country quota will probably improve based on the ACP-sanctioned brevets that our members ride in 2010.
• The ACP says highest preregistration preference will be given to members completing a 1000k in 2010; those completing shorter brevets, will have incrementally less priority based on longest event ridden (600k, 400k, 300k).
• RUSA is recommending that members wishing to participate in PBP 2011 should try to ride a Super Randonneur (SR) series in 2010. This will help our country quota and give you some individual registration priority. Of course, as always, final qualification will also depend upon successful completion of a full SR series in 2011.

Qualifying for PBP: Status Update

Now that we've listed our 2010 calendar of brevets, some new questions have come in about PBP'11 qualifying, pre-registration, and RUSA's plans. Here's what we know now:

• What effect does riding more brevets in 2010 have? - The main effect is to help the US country quota, although the magnitude of that effect is hard to predict. We have no indication from the ACP that the pure number of brevets ridden, or total distance, will enhance a given rider's placement within the country quota and we have decided that RUSA (if asked by the ACP to help implement the American quota) will not use a rider's total brevet distance as an entry factor, either. It's not at all clear that there will be more riders than places for them. In fact, history suggests that US rider demand should not greatly exceed supply (the quota). A qualified rider will have an excellent chance to ride PBP in 2011. Any enhancement-oriented riding (e.g., an ACP SR series or 1000k) would only increase those already very good odds.
• What role will RUSA play in registering US riders and managing the US riding pool? - This is subject to the ACP's evolving plans. We have an excellent relationship with our friends at the ACP and RUSA is committed to advocate for all of our members who qualify to ride PBP, and to insure fairness for all American riders if a quota needs to be imposed.
• Finally, our advice to those aspiring to do PBP in 2011: Ride an SR series in 2010 if you can, or a part of one. It's good training and will provide a fitness baseline for 2010 upon which you can build on in 2011. Try not to stress out, just do your rides, have fun with them and relax. Or, as the French might say, "Gardez vôtre sang-froid".

Election Results

We are pleased to report that Cecil Reniche-Smith has been elected and that Jennifer Wise has been reelected to the RUSA Board of Directors. John Lee Ellis has been reelected as the RBA Liaison. We express our thanks to all of the candidates who stood for election this fall.

PBP 2011 Quota Update

The ACP has revised its formula for calculating PBP 2011 entry quotas. Based on comments from us and other countries, the policy is meant to be more equitable to countries that host ACP brevets every year.

While the actual formula has not yet been published, here is our understanding. Each country will have a basic quota based on that country's number of entrants and finishers in PBP 2007. Each country will then have an additional allocation based on the number kilometers homologated for it in 2010. (So a rider's 1000k finish would count for five times as much as a 200k finish.) It is meant to take into account a country's growth since PBP'07.

This reinforces our earlier advice to RBAs to schedule at least one ACP brevet series in 2010, and to schedule all brevets that fit the ACP distances as ACP-sanctioned. Having folks ride more ACP brevets in 2010 helps our quota. RBAs should not feel the need to schedule more events than they can comfortably handle. Riders should not feel the need to ride more events than they can comfortably accommodate in order to have a chance of going to PBP in 2011. The ratio of our quota to rider demand has yet to be seen. And of course the ACP may refine or revise these provisions as time goes on.

Still, we hope this information will allow riders to better plan for 2011.

Best wishes for your 2010 and remaining 2009 events!

RUSA Board of Directors and RBA Representative Elections

It is time again for our annual elections. Five RUSA members (Ed Felker, Phyllis Hamilton, Greg Olmstead, Cecil Reniche-Smith, and Jennifer Wise) have been nominated for positions on the RUSA Board. RUSA member John Lee Ellis has been nominated for the position of RBA Liaison. The general board members serve three-year terms, while the RBA Liaison, nominated by the RBAs, serves a one-year term.

For a copy of the ballot and to read about the candidates, visit http://rusa.org/vote.html.

Ballots are due by October 15.

Call for RUSA Board Nominations

Two positions on the RUSA Board of Directors will become available at the end of the year. Members may nominate two current RUSA members to run for those two positions. The General Membership List is available for viewing online at www.rusa.org. A nomination form is included in the May 2009 issue of the American Randonneur. You can find the nomination form online at HERE. To submit your nominations, please mail the form to:

Edward Robinson
RUSA Secretary
3750 N. Sam Houston Blvd.
San Benito, TX 78586.

Nominations may also be submitted by email to: edward.e.robinson@gmail.com .

The nominations deadline is July 1. Nominations must be postmarked by that date, or emailed no later than the end of that day.

Call for RBA Representative Nominations

Under RUSA's Constitution the Regional Brevet Administrators appoint one of the current RBAs to serve as an elected Director on RUSA's board. The elected RBA may not already be serving on the board. Only RBAs can nominate other RBAs. The term of office for the Director is one year.

The list of current RBAs is available for viewing online at www.rusa.org. A nomination form is included in the May 2009 issue of the American Randonneur. You can find the nomination form online at HERE. To submit your nominations, please mail the form to:

Edward Robinson
RUSA Secretary
3750 N. Sam Houston Blvd.
San Benito, TX 78586.

Nominations may also be submitted by email to: edward.e.robinson@gmail.com .

The nominations deadline is July 1. Nominations must be postmarked by that date, or emailed no later than the end of that day.

RUSA Distance Awards Include All Permanent Rides

Effective January 1, 2009, each Permanent ride by a RUSA member will count toward the member's annual kilometer total, and thus toward the member's eligibility for Distance Awards. This includes repeat rides of a particular Permanent route. Under the former rule, RUSA members were entitled to distance credit only once per year for riding a given Permanent route; that restriction has been eliminated. For more information on the annual Distance Awards, visit http://www.rusa.org/award_rd.html.

ACP Announces PBP 2011 Plans to Limit Entries

The ACP's Jean-Gualbert FABUREL (one of its Vice Presidents) has sent an email to all of the RM member countries explaining plans to limit entries for PBP 2011. You can read his announcement HERE. RUSA is still studying the implications for our members.

RUSA Distance Award stock has arrived

RUSA Distance Award stock has arrived and will be shipped out by our volunteer to applicants in the next couple of weeks. Thanks for your understanding and patience, and congratulations on your distance achievements!

Super Randonneur Jersey Contest Winner

Crossword Puzzle Solution

The solution to the February 2009 Crossword puzzle can be found HERE and HERE(pdf).

Last Chance to Order a RUSA 10th Anniversary Medal

Attention members! There are still a few RUSA 10th Anniversary medals left in stock. If you completed a RUSA sanctioned brevet on the weekend of August 16-17 2008, and would like a commemorative RUSA 10th Anniversary medal, order it now from the RUSA Online Store at http://www.rusa.org/cgi-bin/store_GF.pl. Going, going, gone!

Super Randonneur Jersey Design Contest!

RUSA invites members to submit a design for the new RUSA Super Randonneur jersey. The member who submits the winning design will get the honour of seeing his or her jersey fabricated and made available for all RUSA members who have completed a Super-Randonneur series of RUSA brevets in a single year. The winner will also receive a complimentary jersey (SR jersey if SR-qualified; otherwise, a RUSA jersey). Entries must show the front and back of the jersey in color. Entries must be emailed to souvenirs@rusa.org in a PDF, JPG or TIFF format. Designs must be submitted by February 1 2009. The RUSA board will review entries. The winning design will be chosen by the board and announced in the May 2009 newsletter.

RUSA Election Results:Robinson, Vigoren, Ellis Win Board Seats

Thank you to Randonneurs USA members for voting in record numbers this year. The results are in.

Edward Robinson and Eric Vigoren have been elected to the RUSA Board for three-year terms from 1/1/2009 to 12/31/2011. Robinson will fill the seat of retiring board member Mark Thomas, who was not eligible for reelection. Vigoren has been on the board since January 1, 2008, serving out the remainder of the term (1/1/2008-12/31/2008) vacated by Terry Zmrhal's resignation.

John Lee Ellis, a former board member and RUSA Vice President, rejoins the board following his election as RBA Liaison.

Edward and John Lee join continuing board members Don Hamilton, Lois Springsteen, Jennifer Wise, Eric Vigoren and Mike Dayton.

Thanks to Mark Thomas (current RUSA President) for his years of service to U.S. randonneurs and his leadership of RUSA. His presence on the board will be missed and his counsel will continue to be sought.

10th Anniversary Medals

RUSA 10th Anniversary Celebration Medals are sold out. Members who did a RUSA 10th Anniversary ride and did not get a medal may place an order at the RUSA Online Store through September 14th. One medal per member, please. The medals will take four to six weeks to manufacture. Members can expect to receive their medals by the end of October.

Any RBA who pre-ordered too many medals may return them to RUSA for credit. Medals must be returned to RUSA by September 1 to obtain this credit. Send medals to: Greg Olmstead, RUSA Medals, P.O. Box 82371, San Diego, CA 92138.

RUSA Online Store Opens

RUSA's Online Store has re-opened for business. In addition to our standard lineup of apparel, reflective gear, and logo items, you may purchase ACP brevet medals that you have earned.

The store accepts instant payments via PayPal; personal checks and money orders are also accepted.

Select "Online Store" in the menu bar to visit the store.

Missing or Incomplete PBP Packets

The ACP has mailed out packets to 2007 PBP participants. Although the packets were mailed out from France at the end of January, some are still trickling into riders' mailboxes. The packets include a finishers medal (if appropriate), the rider's brevet card, a DVD of the event, and a results booklet.

It appears that the mailing supplies used by the ACP did not, in all cases, protect the contents well. We have received numerous reports of missing medals. We have also heard about other materials being lost or damaged. In addition, some riders report that no packet has arrived.

Mark Thomas is working with the ACP to obtain replacements for missing or damaged items to the extent possible. If your packet has not arrived or has arrived with missing or damaged items and you have not already contacted Mark, please do so.

If you have not received anything at all from the ACP, please let Mark know as well.

Share your Ride Photos

Hello RUSA members,

In an attempt to freshen up the photos section of the RUSA website (which currently only contains photos from PBP 1999), we are enlisting the help of anyone who has had the courage to bring a camera along on brevets - either as a rider or a volunteer. We are seeking quality images that represent the experience and spirit of randonneuring across the USA. We will initially use Flickr to gather photos and link to them through the photo section on the RUSA website.

There are two ways that you can submit photos:

1. You can upload photos to Flickr, join the RUSA group, and add the photos to the group. When submitting photos to the group, please make sure to tag each photo with the name of your randonneuring club, event distance, event date and any other pertinent information to help out with user searches in the pool.
2. You can email photos to me at rusaphoto@gmail.com and I will upload them to the RUSA group on Flickr. If possible, please send photos that are at least 72 dpi, are at least 800x600 pixels and file size should not exceed 1.4mb. Also, be sure to include the name of your randonneuring club, event distance, event date and any other information about the photo that you'd like to include.

Please email me with any questions. I look forward to seeing some great images from around the country!

Nate Armbrust
RUSA Photo Editor

ACP Brevet Medal Sales

In 2008, Randonneurs USA will have a new, more streamlined process for members to receive the ACP brevet medals for brevets of 200km, 300km, 400km, 600km, and 1000km. The medals will be new too, because the ACP changes the medal design after each PBP. The new medal designs can be seen in the medal gallery.

As in prior years, Regional Brevet Administrators may pre-order medals for distribution to finishers at the conclusion of a brevet. However, if your RBA chooses not to do this, you will now have the option of ordering your medals directly from RUSA.

RBAs will no longer handle post-season orders and sales; if you don't purchase your medals at the conclusion of each event, you will need to get them from the RUSA store.

This revision in the medal program comes in response to suggestions and complaints from both riders and RBAs. Riders would order medals, pay the RBA, and then wait many months or possibly until year's end to receive them. A few RBAs prefer not to have to deal with medal sales at all.

Under the new procedures, members will be able to go to RUSA's online medal store and order ACP brevet medals and other RUSA awards that they have earned. Medals for an event will be available once the results for that event have been processed.

ACP brevet medals will be $8.50 each with a flat $3.00 per order for shipping. We expect to receive the 2008 ACP brevet medals in early February. The medal store will open approximately April 10. The store location will be announced.

RUSA volunteers will handle the shipping of medals and other items ordered through the online store. While they will strive to fulfill orders as quickly as possible, there may be times when they are away on business, vacation, or even out on a brevet. Please allow 2-3 weeks for processing your orders and if possible, order all of your season's medals together.

Election Results

Thank you to Randonneurs USA members for voting in record numbers this year. The results are in. Mike Dayton and Lois Springsteen have been elected to serve for terms from 1/1/2008 to 12/31/2010, replacing retiring board members John Lee Ellis and Tim Sullivan. Eric Vigoren will serve out the remainder of the term (1/1/2008-12/31/2008) vacated by Terry Zmrhal's earlier resignation. Susan France has been re-elected as RBA Liaison. Mike, Lois, Eric, and Susan join continuing board members Don Hamilton, Mark Thomas, and Jennifer Wise.

Thanks to John Lee Ellis (current RUSA VP) and Tim Sullivan (current RUSA Treasurer) for their years of terrific service to US randonneurs and to RUSA. Their presence on the board will be missed and their counsel will continue to be sought.

Randonneur-5000 Award

The ACP has let us know that they will accept R-5000 award requests this year. In the past, they have not done so in PBP years. The time period is tight. Please wait until official PBP results are posted. Also if you are using a 2007 Fleche, please wait until those certificate numbers are available on the RUSA website. Then send your application in to RUSA by 10/21 (or you can wait and apply in 2008).

RUSA Members PBP 2007 Roster Online with frame numbers and more

RUSA members frame numbers, inspection times, and start times are now listed at http://www.rusa.org/rusa-at-pbp2007.html

Announcing the Long-Awaited Arrival of the Official RUSA Wool Cycling Jersey!

Just in time for those chilly all-night brevets, the woolies have arrived! New in stock, and in limited quantities, is the Official Randonneurs Wool Jersey, in long-sleeve and short sleeve. Make a bold retro-randonneur fashion statement by being the first in your region to wear the wool RUSA jersey. (see attached photos.)

Beautifully made by United, this jersey comes in short-sleeve and long-sleeve in sizes M-L-XL-XXL for men. It also comes in short-sleeve and long-sleeve for women in sizes S-M-L. Sizing runs true to size. You can use the same sizing chart on the RUSA Souvenir website to determine your size for this jersey.

Makes a great Mother's Day or Father's Day gift for the female or male randonneur in your household.

Use the newly updated RUSA Souvenir Order Form to place your order today.

New Version of Rules For Riders

A new version of the Rules For Riders document has been posted to the web site. These new rules immediately supercede the previous version. You can view the new rules HERE.

Free 3M Scotchlite for Randonneurs USA Members

3M has donated a generous supply of Scotchlite Reflective Adhesive Material, which Randonneurs USA is now offering to its members free of charge. For more information: http://www.rusa.org/Download/rusa-scotchlite.pdf.