DC Randonneurs organizes long distance, noncompetitive recreational rides known as brevets which range from 100 kilometers to 1,200 kilometers (60-750 miles). These rides challenge riders to complete a scenic and often challenging course within a specified time limit, emphasizing camaraderie, endurance, self-sufficiency, and personal achievement. Rides start from the greater Washington region and travel as far afield as central Pennsylvania, southern Virginia, eastern West Virginia, the Eastern Shore of Maryland, and Delaware.
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Fall 2025 El Presidente Posting
Rapid fire line up of rides in October!!! And then we have 200Ks in November and December before you’re allowed to focus on intervals in the basement.
October 4 – We have a brand new 200K devised by our very own Chris R. This ride is urban dweller accessible with an 8 AM start near the Ashburn Metro station. Like all near DC starts, we’ll spend a few minutes escaping the vehicular vortex, but it’s worth it with coffee at Doppio Bunny in the Plains followed by lunch at the Orleans Market.
October 11 – Gardner D is working his magic and bringing us another in the Rouleur (French for drinking beer with friends at the end of the ride) Series. Easy-peasy 100K that starts up near Frederick, MD. Carpooling strongly encouraged which worked great at our last Rouleur ride a few weeks ago. Great intro ride to bring a friend to and new members of DCR and/or RUSA get all of 2026 included with an October membership fee.
October 18 – The DART is here, the DART is here, the DART is here!!! Also, our Fall social PARTY is happening after the dart, so this is not to be missed. https://dc.randonneur.app/event/dart-finish-at-heavy-seas/
Dart details are too long to fully put into this announcement, but the short and skinny is you make a one-way route from ANYWHERE that travels 120K to Heavy Seas Brewery. You have eight hours to get there which means you need to average 15 kph or UNDER 10 mph. My 92-year-old grandma can do this on her upright beach cruiser, so there is no excuse not to do this ride.
Last year we had six teams with six routes (https://ridewithgps.com/collections/6193304). Let’s try and top that number this year!! Please email Emily, me, Bill B, or the Google Group to start a team, find a team, or ask a question. Our very own Bill B is in charge of vetting routes, but he doesn’t bite and will help you get a route into approval status. (This process is also good training for creating your own brevet or permanent. See the routes in the collection linked above to understand what is needed.)
The Dart will end by 5 pm at Heavy Seas Brewery and the party will run from 5 PM till about 8 PM. DC Rando is picking up a big food tab (Treasurer Jack is muttering a lot), but we’ve let our cash reserves get a little too big so some spend down is in the budget you approved. Please, please, please come to the party. Bring your real spouse, your bicycling spouse, your side hustle, or whomever as your +1. Believe it or not, we need the guests to keep us from ONLY talking about bicycling.
MARC Train service is available post-party back to DC, Baltimore, and places in between. It includes a massive bike car that can fit 20+ bicycles and was one of the huge highlights of the Dart ride last year.
There will be four classes of sign up for this event so we can accurately gauge numbers for the PARTY and order the proper amount of food. Beverages will be on your own dime!
Riding Member = $20.
Riding Member + Guest = $20.
Member = $0.
Member + Guest = $0.
November 1 – Flat, fast, Eastern Shore ride. Odd year, so we’re doing the Harriet Tubman ride which I personally prefer to Flatbread. Similar feel, but better scenery imho.
December 6 – Grand Tour de Gettysburg – The people have spoken and they are tired of being walloped. Bill B has devised a downright pleasant romp from Woodbine up and around Gettysburg. This is some of the best riding in all of the Mid-Atlantic and a great way to keep your R (monthly 200K’s) streak alive.
Mimo DeMarco
DC Randonneurs El Presidente
RUSA #12,711
Who We Are
DC Randonneurs sponsors long distance cycling events in the Mid-Atlantic region ranging from 100 kilometers to 1,200 kilometers (60 – 750 miles) in length. Rides start from the Baltimore-Washington region
The terrain we ride ranges from the flatlands of the Eastern Shore to the rolling hills and valleys of the Piedmont and the sometimes steep flanks of the Appalachian mountain ridges to our west. Our routes, many of which we’ve ridden for years, take quiet back roads through gorgeous and varied scenery, with regular stops for supplies and rest.
Our rides are unsupported. There is no sag wagon. 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. Our style of riding is know 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 though 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 is affiliated with Randonneurs USA and operates according to the rules promulgated by that organization by adoption from the Audax Club Parisien.
