New Jersey Randonneurs Forums

[RBA NJ-NYC]

Dear friends of NJ Randonneurs,


It has obviously not gone unnoticed that there is now a flat-and-easy 600k available in the North-East. As of today, our Hightstown 600 has 37 riders pre-registered, and 9 more telling me they want to come.

I believe we will be able to cope with all of you who have entered, plus those who told me so far that they will be there. But realistically, the full capacity of this event is at about 45 riders and I will consider capping entries at that level. There is simply a limit to how many riders can be served dinner and breakfast in decent conditions in two motel rooms, however large, and I don't want to compromise our usual standards of service and safety by taking more than we can really chew. 45 riders is, after all, a large number on a 600k.
I consequently would like to make a few recommendations to those of you who have not entered yet but are interested in this event:

1. If you need this event to qualify for PBP, enter now. Don't worry about money, we won't cash your cheque till the event is over so don't let this stop you from entering
2. If you don't need this event to qualify, you might want to consider alternatively our Hudson/Catskills 600 which we will be running on July 7th/8th. This route, though not easy, is truly rewarding and many finishers from last year's edition have entered to do it again. Generally, seeing riders back means they have enjoyed themselves. And you might allow a fellow Randonneur to go to Paris by freeing a slot on the Hightstown event.
3. It is a distinct possibility that, exceptionally for our series, we won't take entries on the line on the Hightstown 600

Should we receive a number of entries well over 45, I will implement a waiting list by order of reception of entries (exception: NJ Randonneurs volunteers take priority), and of course let you know. Double-booking on qualifiers is frequent practice on PBP years, and the rate of DNS might end up being higher than usual on 600k events. But relying on a DNS to get a qualifier slot is a bit pot-luck, really... You can avoid these worries, simply by entering now.
Note: the waiting list applies only, potentially, to future entries. All of you who have received confirmation of entry as of today have their slot safe and guaranteed.

We are making good progress in the organization of the Hightstown 600. All the key controles have been secured. We will have Batsto Village Park on the morning of day 1, the sleep stop is sorted with 12 rooms booked (half the motel's capacity), two of them being used as volunteer rooms-cum-restaurant and the rest being for you folks with slower riders kicking faster ones out of bed (figuratively) as they arrive - there is at least one compensation to being slow! At the finish we have a volunteer room booked for both Saturday and Sunday nights, so that front riders can have a shower and nap in a bed at no cost, on a first come first served basis.
One of our Fleche teams rode 155 miles of the route and say they liked it. Our list of volunteers is gently filling-up. I plan to test-ride the route the week-end before the event. In one word, we are looking forward to seeing you at the start.

Very best regards
_________________
Laurent Chambard
RUSA RBA, NJ/NYC
NJ Randonneurs