{"id":283,"date":"2014-09-02T17:42:33","date_gmt":"2014-09-03T00:42:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.seattlerando.org\/?p=283"},"modified":"2014-09-02T17:42:33","modified_gmt":"2014-09-03T00:42:33","slug":"thoughts-for-the-new-rider","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.seattlerando.org\/?p=283","title":{"rendered":"Thoughts for the new rider"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By John Kydd<\/span><\/em><\/div>\n
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I’m a new rider. \u00a0I just did my first 300 and 400 so I am your guide to clueless riding. \u00a0I don’t have any Rando buddies save for the fact that my little sister rode many years ago.<\/span><\/div>\n
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Here are my “newbie” observations.<\/span><\/div>\n
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1. \u00a0 These are good people. \u00a0They watch out for each other and you if you can keep with their pace. \u00a0Find a group that goes at a pace that is comfortable for you. \u00a0Introduce yourself and see if it’s reciprocated. \u00a0Then you’ve got some one to talk with. \u00a0Figure out what they eat at rest stops and buy stuff to share.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
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2. Try to be quick at the stops ( I am not quick). \u00a0Do what you need to do and then you can relax and not slow the group down when they decide to leave.<\/span><\/div>\n
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3. \u00a0If you flat or something else just take it on and fix it. \u00a0Pick up the next group that comes by so you are not stuck out there alone. \u00a0Be sure to program in the brevet director’s phone number into your phone speed dial in case you can’t fix the problem. \u00a0If you are outside of cell reception then try to get to the next rest stop or wait for another rider. Be sure to pack a space blanket. \u00a0Hypothermia is no fun.<\/span><\/div>\n
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4. \u00a0Read the RUSA Handbook articles. \u00a0They are fantastic: \u00a0one hundred seventy four pages of wisdom and experience. \u00a0Skip around and sample the articles you like the most until you get to all of them..<\/span><\/div>\n
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5. \u00a0Consider joining the Seattle Randonnneurs mailing list at\u00a0seattlerando@googlegroups.com<\/a>\u00a0– There is a ton of great information and you can meet the interesting writing personality of many of the riders.<\/span><\/div>\n
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6. \u00a0If you have not ridden in pace lines and such then try your best to hold your line. \u00a0Avoid sudden moves (particularly braking) until you alert the people behind you by shouting “slowing” \u00a0or “stopping” before you do so. \u00a0If I start to ride wobbily then I head to back of the group so I do not put anyone else at risk.<\/span><\/div>\n
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7. \u00a0Don’t worry about getting dropped by your group. \u00a0It happens. \u00a0It is not intentional as folks just ride their pace. \u00a0 Slow down, fuel up and a another group will meet you or you can wait at the next rest stop.<\/span><\/div>\n
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8. \u00a0Garmin’s are not enough. \u00a0On the Crystal 300 I would have ended up in Tukwila if I followed my Garmin. \u00a0I later figured out that my Garmin confused the route out with the route back when the same road was used. \u00a0Go figure. Or maybe it was aliens. \u00a0I pulled out my cue cards and used them to find my way back to one of those wise riders (Hugh Kimball) who was kind enough to rescue me (from myself).<\/span><\/div>\n
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9. \u00a0If you have not ridden the route then study it. \u00a0I relied on my Garmin the first time: big mistake. \u00a0Highlight the controls and other important stops.<\/span><\/div>\n
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10. \u00a0Have fun. \u00a0Enjoy the beauty, the stories and all the mordant comments as the miles pile on, \u00a0 Fun means not having to impress or win. \u00a0Fun also means safe. \u00a0If you are nodding off then it’s time for a quick nap. \u00a0No shame in that. Fun is not riding yourself senseless but listening to body instead of ego. Fun is taking good care of you so you make it home intact where that cold beer has been waiting for hours just to greet you.<\/span><\/div>\n

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By John Kydd I’m a new rider. \u00a0I just did my first 300 and 400 so I am your guide to clueless riding. \u00a0I don’t have any Rando buddies save for the fact that my little sister rode many years … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-283","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-rando-how-tos","category-sir-members"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.seattlerando.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.seattlerando.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.seattlerando.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.seattlerando.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.seattlerando.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=283"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blog.seattlerando.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":285,"href":"https:\/\/blog.seattlerando.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283\/revisions\/285"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.seattlerando.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=283"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.seattlerando.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=283"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.seattlerando.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}