Willamette Randonneurs

Photo of Lunar 400, July 2018 by Keith Moore
Photo: Keith Moore

Willamette Randonneurs is a group of randonneurs and those interested in randonneuring in the southern Willamette Valley and surrounding areas. Willamette Randonneurs was formed in late 2016, with our first official season in calendar year 2017.

The regional brevet admistrator (RBA) for our region is Michal Young.

Informal news and announcements often appear in our Facebook group Eugene Area Randonneurs or on our Facebook page Willamette Randonneurs. For those who prefer email forums to Facebook, I will do my best to cross post to our will-rando group, and to respond to posts there.

Rando-what?

Randonneuring, also known as audax, is long-distance, mostly unsupported cycling. (more)

2023 Practices

We expect to hold a full brevet season in 2023, with each distance offered before the deadline for qualifying for Paris-Brest-Paris (PBP). If you are building a qualifying series for PBP, we suggest planning first and second chances at each distance by combining Willamette Randonneurs events with events offered by Seattle International Randonneurs and Oregon Randonneurs.

  • You must be a current RUSA member to register for or ride on a Willamette Randonneurs brevet or populaire. This is required by our insurance coverage.
  • We ask riders to register at least a day before the ride. We will provide a personalized waiver to sign at the ride start.
  • Electronic proof of passage (GPX file, RWGPS or Strava link) is encouraged. Photos will also be accepted. If you prefer information controls, let me know to print a brevet card for you. Otherwise you will be given a cue sheet but no brevet card.
  • We have resumed social gatherings at ride end in 2023, depending on available venues and logistics.

Tracking map (Spotwalla)

Susan Otcenas has established a shared Spotwalla event tracking page for Will-Rando events. If you carry a satellite tracker (Spot, Garmin InReach, Zoleo) or a mobile phone running Bubbler GPS or SWTracker, you can add your track to an event.

Coming soon: Protocol for when to add yourself and when a track will be active.

Add your tracker to the upcoming event.

View rider tracks for the current event.

2023 Calendar

ACP-sanctioned events are set in September of the preceding year. RUSA-sanctioned events, including populaires as well as brevets, can be added with relatively short notice. Only ACP-sanctioned brevets count toward qualifying for Paris-Brest-Paris.

Sat Mar 18 ACP 200k brevet. 7:30am start outside Palace (Full City) Coffee, 842 Pearl Street, Eugene. Five Rivers 200k (ACP). Eugene to Walterville, Sweet Home, Lebanon, Brownsville, Eugene. $8 charge.
Sun Apr 2 ACP 200k brevet. World's Tallest Sugarpine #2, starting and ending in Winston, OR. $8 charge. Starts 7:00am by the Cheetah at the intersection of Hwy 99 and Hwy 42 (NW Douglas Blvd) in Winston, OR.
Sun Apr 30 Flèche weekend with Seattle International Randonneurs. This is not a Will-Rando event, but we hope to have at least one team of Will-Rando riders participating.
A flèche is excellent training for night riding at Paris-Brest-Paris.
Sun May 7 ACP 200k brevet. Alsea Loop, starting and finishing in Eugene, OR.
Sat May 27 evening start (overnight). ACP 400k and 200k brevets, starting Saturday evening 8pm in Eugene. Mezza Luna 200k starts Saturday evening in Eugene and finishes Sunday morning in Forest Grove. The route is the first half of the Lunar 400k. Lunar 400k starts Saturday evening in Eugene and finishes Sunday afternoon or evening in Eugene. Note Monday is the Memorial Day holiday, so many riders should be able to travel Saturday to Eugene, ride Saturday night and Sunday, and return Monday to be at work Tuesday without missing a day of work. Moon phase should be first quarter.
If you plan to ride PBP in August, we strongly suggest you include at least one overnight brevet in your training plan.
Register by 25 May.
Sat Jun 17 ACP 300k and 600k starting Saturday morning in Eugene. Smith River Loop 300k goes to west to Florence, south to Reedsport, and returns to Eugene via Smith River Road and Wolf Creek. Smith River 600k follows the same route for approximately 150 miles, but stays on Siuslaw River Road through Lorane to Cottage Grove, then north to Eugene for a loop north and through Independence. 600k riders may choose to overnight in Cottage Grove or Eugene. I will also create a shared document for registered riders to discuss shared overnight lodging and other logistics, so early registration is advised if you wish to discuss logistics with other riders.
Register by June 15.

2022 events

Sat Mar 26 Five Rivers< 200k (ACP).
Sat Apr 16 Colliding Rivers ACP 200k brevet from Sutherlin, OR.
Sat Jun 4 Umpqua 300k ACP brevet from Cottage Grove, OR
Sat Jun 11 Smith River 300k ACP brevet and Smith River 600k ACP brevet from Eugene, OR.
Fri Jul 15 Lunar 400 (ACP 400k) and Mezza Luna (200k) evening start brevets from Eugene, OR.
Sat Oct 22 ACP 200km brevet, Alsea Loop, virtually in Lviv, Ukraine.

2021 events

March events were canceled.

Sat Apr 3 Five Rivers 200k (ACP).
Sat Apr 17 RUSA populaire (100k). Lunch in Veneta.
Sat May 22 ACP 200km brevet, Alsea Loop.
Sat Jun 19 Smith River 300k and Smith River 600k.
Fri Aug 20 Lunar 400 (ACP 400k brevet).

2020 events

Due to the Corona virus pandemic, rides in summer 2020 were canceled.

Sat Feb 22 RUSA populaire (100k). Lunch in Veneta.
Sun Mar 8 RUSA populaire (100k). International Women's Day.
Sat Mar 21 Five Rivers 200k (ACP).
Sat Mar 28 Colliding Rivers 200k (ACP). Sutherlin to Glide and return. Route (designed by James Taylor).
Sat May 9 Evening start 100k RUSA populaire. (Fléche tuneup opportunity.)
Fri May 15 Fléche weekend ( Seattle International Randonneurs)
Sun May 24 Alsea Loop 200k (ACP).
Sat Jun 6 Yippee Tyee Ty-yay 200k. (Cottage Grove - Tyee loop)
Sat Jun 20 Smith River 300k (ACP), Smith River 600k (ACP).
Sat Jul 18 ACP 300k, route TBD.
Fri Jul 31 Lunar 400k (ACP).

2019 Events

Sun Feb 24 RUSA populaire (100k). (Canceled due to weather)
Sat Mar 9 Five Rivers ACP 200k brevet.
Sat Mar 30 Cottage Grove — Umpqua Loop ACP 200k. Begins and ends in Cottage Grove and loops south through Drain, Yoncalla, and Tyee, along the Umpqua river, returning north through Sutherlin.
Sat May 25 Evening start 400k (with Monday holiday to recover). Loop north to Forest Grove, beginning and ending in downtown Eugene.
Sat Jun 8 Smith River ACP 600K. Two loops from downtown Eugene. The first loop will be to Florence, along the coast south to Reedsport, back in via Smith River Road and continuing to Lorane and Cottage Grove, then north to Eugene, about 360k. Second loop will be north to Brownsville, Lebanon, Independence, then south through Albany, Harrisburg, Coburg back to Eugene, about 240k. 5am Saturday start from Mandy's 24-hour diner in downtown Eugene.
Sat Jun 22 Smith River ACP 300k. A 300km (187 mile) loop from Eugene to Florence via Triangle Lake, south to Reedsport, returning over Smith River Road and Wolf Creek to Eugene, with a staffed control at Oxbow Summit. 5am Saturday start from Mandy's 24-hour diner in downtown Eugene. Finish is at Falling Sky until it closes at 11pm, then at Mandy's.

2018 Events

2017 Events

Sat Mar 11 Alsea Loop 200k
Sat Jun 24 Smith River Loop 300k ACP brevet.
Sun Aug 20 Dart to Darkness Dart Populaire (team ride), 120km to Willamina for the total eclipse.
 
Photo of Alsea Loop 200k, March 2017 by Jeff Reynolds
Photo: Jeff Reynolds