By Jennifer Wise
Visitors from France: RUSA welcomed Bob and Suzanne Lepertel, of the ACP and PBP, who flew in from
France in mid-August to be part of BMB. Bob addressed the riders at the start, then travelled the BMB route by car,
taking photos, encouraging the riders, and inspecting the contrôles. Both Lepertels were always dressed in their BMB uniforms. At the
finish on Sunday, Bob and Suzanne greeted riders, checked results,
and invited all the BMB finishers to Paris-Brest-Paris 2003!
Year in review: Two RUSA members took part in the Super Scandinavian 1200k; (Kevin Main 83:20 and Paul Vlasveld 84:30). Fourteen RUSA members took part in the LEL 1400k. Sixty-three RUSA members participated in the BMB 1200k. Four riders did the inaugural Last Chance 1200k in Colorado and 75 riders participated in the Davis Bike CLub's Gold Rush Randonnée. Twenty-seven RUSA RBAs collectively organized over 130 brevets this year. We thank Jim Kuehn for collecting, processing, and tabulating the year-end brevet results data into an impressive report. Some highlights; 2025 brevets processed, a 35% increase over last year (1430 in 2000); 90 Flèches processed, up 50% over last year; 161 RUSA Super Randonneurs; 6426 ACP points, the USA is likely to lead all nations this year; 18 RUSA members are candidates for the R-5000 Award. Well done, everyone!
John Lee Ellis and Tim Sullivan were reelected to the Board. The deadline to apply for RUSA medals is December 1st. Memberships expire at the end of year, so renew now!
On September 11, I spent a good deal of time riveted to the television. I saw images, but heard no sounds. It didn't seem real. Then, Diane Goodwin (the new RBA in the NY/NJ area) called to say she was okay, but that her office window looked out at the World Trade Center and she had just witnessed seven people join hands and jump from the upper floors. It became real. Despite the fact that RUSA apparently did not lose any members on September 11, our hearts go out to those who lost a friend or family member at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon or on one of the four hijacked flights.
What can we do? We're cyclists - we can ride our bikes. Here's my suggestion. Go to the NY Times website (http://www.nytimes.com/ pages/national/dayofterror/index.html) scroll down to Portraits of Grief and read the bios. Then pick four people. One name for each of the four brevets. Next year, pledge to ride the 200k in the first person's memory. The 300k in the second person's memory, and so on. Let's ride our bikes, wear our stars 'n stripes RUSA jerseys, and in our own quiet way, honour the innocent victims of 911.
Live every day, as though it was your last. Ride your bike with joy, and stay safe.