RUSA has many awards. Many are distance related, some are geography related.
There's one, for instance, where you get a nice plaque and add little magnets for every State that you've ridden in. It has to be a Randonneurs USA ride that hits that State, you can't just go out and ride.
For distance-related rides, most are within a calendar year. The basics are 1000k, 2000k etc and for the starting Randonneur, those are milestones. Most awards only count US rides, but some count International. The R12, for example, is an award that is given to someone who has sustained 200k in each month for 12 months in a row. That award counts International rides, but only if they're credited with Audax Club Parisien or Randonners Mondiaux, our world-wide organizations. The other restriction with most of these is that they will only count if at least half of the rides are in the US.
As of my 300k in January, I've hit 120 months in a row, so 10xR12's. That is then called an "Ultra". There are other Ultras for awards where you've achieved 10.
Since 2012, I've also been hitting 10,000 RUSA kms (only includes international 1200's, not shorter rides) per year. That's called a khound. In all years but one I hit the 10,000 with RUSA kms. In one year I had to also list some international rides to tip the scale.
There are a couple of lifetime awards -- the Mondial, which is approximately the distance around the equator, 25,000 kms, and the galaxy, which is 100,000 kms. Those two only count RUSA kms; no international kms count.
46 kms from now I'll hit 100,000.
Some say that we have too many awards. Others say that awards keep one motivated. At first, some of these awards seem ridiculously difficult. The khound was that way for many (and seemed silly to me too !). It seemed elitist, only for people with time, money and no kids. However, it has pushed people to challenge their own limits. 170 people have now achieved one or more khounds. In 2018, 6 of those were from PA -- yes, where it's difficult to accumulate any serious kms during the winter. People with young families have achieved the award (ok, so perhaps they spent a few hours away from their kids ....) but in some cases, they ride regularly with their children. Paul Rozelle does that, for example. Sally & Joe accompany him on the tandem. Sally is 10; Joe is 8 (I think). Joe has now achieved a P12 - at least 100k 12 months running. Ok, so that's easier in Florida ...
The minimum distance for rides is 100k. Sometime over the next few days I will add the 46 kms necessary to get my galaxy award, a nice customized crystal chunk of glass. I added to my total yesterday, with a great ride south and back. I'm enjoying that bike path where there are no little old ladies to knock me off my bike ...
Onward !
No comments:
Post a Comment