Coureur de Bois :: 1000km Brevet

Message from Guy Quesnel,
VP of Ottawa Chapter - Ontario Randonneurs

RIDE PREREQUISITIES: There are no necessary qualifying rides to do this brevet.

PRICE: There is no cost for the event itself.

ROUTE SHEETS AND GPS FILES : http://www.randonneursontario.ca/routes/gmap400.html?scale=auto&path=ottroutes&track=Coureur_de_Bois_1000.gpx

SUPPORT: …. And you get what you pay for. There is NO support, NO accommodation booking, NO on-route help. I inspect your bike and see you off at 5am and that is it. If you are tracked (more on that later), I might even meet you at the end with a beverage.

INSURANCE AND RANDONNEURS ONTARIO “DAY MEMBERSHIP”: You must have OCA insurance which is about $40. You must also register is a “day rider” with Randonneurs Ontario (free but good for only one-event-per-year). Both these registrations can be done here .
LANGUAGE: The bulk of the ride is through predominantly French Quebec (French is the only official language of the province). Latest 2016 census has 42% of Quebecers knowing some English and 18% fluently bilingual. English will be rarer in the rural parts of the ride east of Montreal.

FERRIES: There are 2 ferries that you need to cross at Quebec City and Sorel. The schedules are:
https://www.traversiers.com/en/our-ferries/quebec-city-levis-ferry/schedule/
https://www.traversiers.com/en/our-ferries/sorel-tracy-saint-ignace-de-loyola-ferry/schedule/

OTTAWA ACCOMODATIONS: Motels and Air B&B

RIDE OVERNIGHT ACCOMODATIONS: The cue sheets has suggestions for over-night motels.

PARIS-BREST-PARIS 2019 EARLY REGISTRATION: This is an official ACP event. Completion of this event provides the privilege of early pre-registration of P-B-P beginning January 14, 2019. You will need the BRM number from me which I only get about that time.

AWARDS FOR COMPLETION: You may opt to purchase a medal for the ride (I thinks it’s $10, I’ll need to check) and you need to let me know you want one before the ride’s end. Otherwise, aside from the BRM number, there are no awards or special recognitions for this ride. Your return from a heroic ride of 1000km will be marked by the sound of crickets in the parking lot … unless you are tracked, then you may hear the sounds of 2 hands clapping.

WISDOM OF PAST RIDERS: I have not ridden it. I will investigate if there are existing ride reports. Part of the fun of the ride is the adventure of the unknown.

TRACKING: An ingenious member of the Ottawa Chapter has put together a custom tracking website avoiding the costs of third party offerings. It is a Google Map, superimposed with the route, showing the location of the riders. Rider position updates are about once every 15 minutes for those with GPS Spot devices. Riders with smart phones may also be tracked. This requires a data plan for the smart phone. Phone tracking updates are a little less consistent, sometimes longer than 15 minutes. Ride maps become live a day before an event. When they are live, links to the rides will be found at the top of our home page. The name of the link with be the name of the ride. I invite you to look at examples of the maps when rides are occurring on Saturday. I will provide details of tracking registration in a subsequent update.

Regards,
Guy Quesnel
Randonneurs Ontario – VP Ottawa Chapter.