History of Randonneuring
• Started in late 1800s as bicycling swept
Europe (and the US)
• People were able to go places they couldn’t
before
• Trains went to cities and some towns but
many smaller towns and roads were not
reachable by the average person
Susan B Anthony
"I think [the bicycle] has done more to
emancipate women than anything else in the
world," feminist pioneer Susan B. Anthony
said in 1896. "It gives a woman a feeling of
freedom and self-reliance. The moment she
takes her seat she knows she can't get into
harm unless she gets off her bicycle, and away
she goes, the picture of free, untrammeled
womanhood."
Formation
• Formal organized randonneur like rides started initially
in Italy but was also going on in France and the UK
• Audax concept – ride as a group at a steady pace (20
km/hr)
• Henri Desgrange (editor and founder of the Tour de
France) and Paul de Vivie (editor, known as Velocio)
brought the Audax concept to France in 1904 with ACP
(Audax Club Parisian). Same year TdF started
• UK focused on town-to-town rides and the Lands End
to John O’Groats (
• Within a few years a variation on Audax rides
evolved, called ‘allure libre’ or ‘free rides’ where
riders could go at their own pace.
• This caused a breakup between Desgrange and
Velocio and a separate organization, dedicated to
Audax riding, was started by Desgrange, while
Velocio and his supporters kept ACP, although
now they championed ‘allure libre’ rides – they
never changed their name.
ACP
• ACP now is the governing body for
randonneuring around the world and in
particular Paris-Brest-Paris, primarily through
Randonneurs Mondiaux, formed in 1983.
• RUSA submits all brevets for certification to
ACP (except for a special RUSA type brevet)
Randonneuring in the 1920s
After a hiatus for WW1, bicycles and randonneuring
became popular again in the 1920s and 1930s
Velocio led the randonneuring movement in France
through his newspaper and by holding weekends,
usually in Southern France, where riders would
gather to ride up a local hill, do other rides and
talk about the ‘free and healthy lifestyle of
randonneuring’
Velocio’s Wise Words of Advice
for Randonneurs
Paul de Vivie (1853-1930)
1. Make your stops short and infrequent so as not to lose your drive.
2. Eat lightly and often. Eat before getting hungry, drink before you are thirsty.
3. Never ride until you are so tired that you cannot eat or sleep.
4. Put on extra clothing before you’re cold, and take it off before you’re hot. Don’t be
afraid of exposing your skin to the sun, air and rain.
5. Don’t drink wine, eat meat, or smoke – at least during the ride.
6. Never rush things. Ride within yourself, particularly during the first few hours of a
ride when you feel strong and are tempted to force the pace.
7. Never pedal out of vanity, don’t be a show-off.
The French Diagonales
In 1929 Velocio began discussing
the challenges of riding across
France from corner to corner.
These routes were all at least
1000k long.
There was no time limit, as no one
had ever attempted these
before
Diagonales
• It took nearly 10 years before all the diagonale
routes, 9 in all (18 if you went the other way)
were ridden.
• While this was primarily a younger man’s
adventure, the second diagonale ever completed
was by a 30 year old woman, Regina Gambier.
She was, as were many of the early diagonale
riders, accompanied by other riders who would
join for segments of the ride
1940-1970
WWII and the post war years saw a huge decline in
bicycling overall as cars became the primary
mode of transportation and train systems
improved in Europe.
By the early 1970s interest in cycling was again
growing, now as a sport and way to tour
Interest in randonneuring grew.
1979 - 1,800 riders started PBP 32 Americans
2007 – 5,000 riders started 410 Americans (45
women)
RUSA
• Formed in 1998 to consolidate regional and
some less effective efforts that had been in
place since the late 1970s
• National level organization for all
randonneuring across the US
• Current President, Lois Springsteen
• 50 RBAs/regions offering brevets
Randonneuring World
• 31 countries around the world have
randonneuring organizations
• US has ranked #1 in total brevets ridden for
past several years, except in a PBP year when
France increases 10 fold to more than double
the US.
Minnesota Randonneurs
2010 Combined the Rochester and Apple Valley
brevets under TCBC
Minnesota Randonneurs is sponsored by TCBC.
All our rides are on the TCBC calendar.
We are affiliated with RUSA, with all brevet
dates listed, as well as permanents and
populaires
Minnesota Randonneuring
Has been active since the early 1990s, primarily
in Rochester
Steady group of riders over the years, led by
Martin Fahje
Significant growth since 2007 with the adding of
brevets in the Twin Cities
84 different riders completed a brevet in 2010 in
Rochester or Apple Valley.
Riding a Brevet
Randonneurs can ride brevets anywhere in the US or the
world
In Minnesota you don’t have to be a member of RUSA to
do a brevet, but other regions have different rules,
depending on insurance or local requirements
You need to be a TCBC member to ride a Minnesota
Randonneur brevet.
All Minnesota brevet miles count towards TCBC miles.
All Waterloo, Iowa brevet miles count towards TCBC miles
(Outreach), except for the Hawkeye 1000k. You need a
TCBC ride leader at these rides to get credit.
You need to be a RUSA member to ride a permanent