from Chris Kostman at the RR newscenter…
The Rough Riders Rally is AdventureCORPS’ new multi-surface cycling festival based in Marin County which celebrates the “Any Bike, Anywhere” ethos. The first event of its kind, the Rally includes three days of world-class cycling on trails, fire roads, and pavement, a display of participants’ bikes, photography competition, dinners, and a live webcast.
DATE: July 23-25, 2010
LOCATION: Base area: Mill Valley, CA in Marin County
PRICE: $169 (early reg)
[Another RR website is: www.xo-1.org]
Rough Riding is not defined by the type of bicycle or type of riding surface. Rough Riding is a state of mind, a riding style with limitless freedom and an all-pervasive sense of adventure. The Rough Riders slogan is “Any Bike, Anywhere” and the general idea is to use as little technology as possible while traversing a variety of riding surfaces and terrains. Hence, one of the Rough Riders’ mantras is “technique beats technology.” The current bicycle industry is also beginning to address this niche market, creating bicycles, or even lines of bicycles, under such monikers as “All Road Bikes,” “All-Rounders,” and “Adventure Bikes.”
The goal of Rough Riding is to tackle any and all possible riding surfaces – all within one ride, on just one bike. Perhaps the greatest beauty of Rough Riding is that any ride route can be created and enjoyed: Rough Riders do not choose between “road biking” and “mountain biking” and subsequently let the bicycle determine the route and terrain. Instead, creative, “first ascent-style” rides can be strung together in one epic route which involves all manner of riding surfaces, sights, sounds, and scenes. The Rough Riding goal, perhaps? To see it all and do it all, to truly have an adventure.
RRR SCHEDULE: a Friday afternoon ride, followed by a pizza party catered by Stefano’s Solar-Powered Pizza and hosted at Tam Bikes in Mill Valley. Saturday will be the big day: a six hour ride in spectacular terrain, with each rider and their bike being photographed with a scenic backdrop along the route. Later that afternoon the bikes will be assembled for a bike show. There will also be a Rough Riding Photography Competition for which Rally participants may submit images in advance; the images will be shown during the Rally weekend. At the Saturday night Rough Riders Annual Shindig awards will be given for various bike AND photo categories, and a tasty dinner will be catered by Punjabi Burrito. It will be a fantastic, fun evening of story-swapping and camaraderie. Sunday morning, Rally participants will ride Railroad Grade to the summit of Mt. Tam, then return to Mill Valley for a social hour or two at The Depot Café, before departing town.
Marin County offers truly superb cycling, with fantastic views of the San Francisco Bay, Alcatraz, the Marin Headlands, Mt. Tamalpais (“Mt. Tam”), Tiburon, Mill Valley, the Bay Bridge, the Golden Gate Bridge, and dramatic, rugged Northern California coastline. Marin County is cycling paradise, a region unparalleled for its beauty, diversity of scenery and riding surfaces, and its cycling-friendly trail signage and local population!
https://www.adventurecorps.com/rrr/
