The history of randonneuring in the national capital region begins in 1987, when David Berning and Ken Zabielski successfully qualified for and rode Paris-Brest-Paris, the grandfather of the sport of randonneuring and the oldest continuously run cycling event in the world. By the early 1990s, David was organizing local events under the auspices of the Potomac Pedalers Touring Club and International Randonneurs. In 1999 Randonneurs USA replaced International Randonneurs as the national governing board for the sport, and in 2004 DC Randonneurs replaced Potomac Pedalers as the local organizing body for randonneuring.
DC Randonneurs sponsors long-distance cycling events in the Mid-Atlantic region. Group rides ranging from 100 to 1,200 kilometers (60 - 750 miles) are scheduled through much of the year. In addition, the area boasts an unusually rich and varied library of permanents organized under the auspices of Randonneurs USA and available for riding by RUSA members who pay an annual registration fee.
Our rides are unsupported. There is no sag wagon, and help of any sort can be miles away on some of the more remote stretches of road we ride. But we ride together, creating bonds of friendship and camaraderie along the way. Our ride organizers and volunteers work hard to make sure that every rider is accounted for, from start to finish.
Our rides are timed, with riders required to reach intermediate control points, as well as the finish, within a set window of time. But our results are listed alphabetically. Our style of riding is known as allure libre, meaning riders ride at their own pace within the limits set by control opening and closing times rather than riding as a group at a steady pace set by its leaders, which is the audax style of randonneuring.
Randonneuring is non-competitive, but we challenge ourselves and each other -- to ride farther, to ride faster, to ride longer than we might have thought possible. We aspire to relentless forward progress but take time to help each other when in need, whether that need is for emotional support, an energy bar to cure a bonk, or a cleverly improvised fix to broken equipment.
DC Randonneurs operates according to the rules promulgated by Randonneurs USA by adoption from the Audax Club Parisien.