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Agnes discovered this on Friday. My immediate — and enthusiastic — response was, “So what distance should we do?”

The Pacific Populaire is an annual cycling event held by the BC Randonneurs Cycling Club. From their website:

Greater Vancouver’s first major public ride of the cycling season is the Pacific Populaire. Since its inception in 1986 the focus of this event has been to encourage participation by all cyclists regardless of fitness level, cycling experience, or age. For some, the ride is a challenge to turn in a fast time, a personal best, or to complete a greater distance than in a previous year. Others will be out for a relaxed spring ride, fresh air, and exercise.

It’s taking place on April 3rd. Riders have a choice between three courses of 25, 50 and 100km. I’m inclined to go for the latter (to stretch my old touring legs) but we may end up on the middle course. In any case it should be fun!

“Populaires” are meant to introduce people to the sport of randonneuring:

Randonneuring is more like rallying than racing. Randonneuring originally meant long-distance walking, and has evolved to mean long-distance paced cycling. […] Riders compete against time, distance, and the elements rather than fellow riders. The goal of randonneuring is to promote individual health and achievement in a non-competitive athletic environment.

Official rides or Brevets are over preset routes and distances, and must be completed within designated time limits with check-ins at control points. Pace can vary and group riding is encouraged. Riders must be prepared and equipped to brave any weather - rain, heat, or snow - day or night!

Whether you are a touring, recreational, racing, commuting, or triathlete cyclist, randonneuring offers a meaningful and satisfying challenge.

—from the Randonneurs Ontario website

In fact the 100km Populaire distance is just an introductory distance: official events start at 200km and range up to 1200km, the ultimate randonneur’s challenge. Since Friday I’ve done more reading about the sport and it’s really captured my interest. The Rocky Mountain 1200 (to be held again in 2006) is particularly intriguing since it covers a lot of territory I cycled on a cross-Canada trip in 1997 — I remember many of those mountain passes vividly. Could I actually ride 1200km in 90 hours, I wonder?