The Flèche is our annual 24-hour team ride. It’s a fun event that emphasizes friendship, teamwork, and camaraderie. Teams of three to five bikes (that’s as few as three people on singles, or as many as ten people on tandems!) ride a route of their own design over a 24-hour period, covering at least 360 km. Each team’s route starts wherever the team would like and then converges at a common finish destination: at La Quinta hotel in Tumwater, Washington (more below). After the ride, we’ll get together for a catered brunch and tall tales at The River’s Edge, just a 3 minute ride downhill from La Qunita.
Ride starts: Each team will start between noon Thursday, April 11 and 8 a.m. Saturday, April 13, 2019
Brunch: April 14, 2019 at 9 am
Note that most teams will start Friday evening or Saturday morning. Starting on Saturday morning (no later than 8 a.m.) means you can ride directly to brunch. Starting Friday evening gives you some time to sleep before brunch, but you'll need to arrange your own lodging.
Start Location: Wherever you like!
End Location: La Quinta Inn & Suites Tumwater
4600 Capitol Blvd SE, Tumwater, WA 98501
Ride Entry Fee:
$25 per person to ride + $20 per person at brunch
Download the team registration documents here.
Brunch Location and Cost:
River's Edge
4611 Tumwater Valley Dr SE, Olympia, WA 98501
Brunch will cost $20 per person (includes tax and gratuity).
Payment for brunch must be made at the time of team registration.
SIR tradition is for all riders to attend the brunch and tell tall tales, so please plan to be there.
Your family and friends are welcome! Please indicate guests in your team registration document and include their brunch cost as well.
There is a bar at River's Edge, so you can get a mimosa or Bloody Mary, if that's your style. These drinks are not included in the $20 per person brunch cost; you'll have to set up your own tab with the bar.
Rules:
Expect to follow similar rules to brevets and permanents: you’ll have time limits, controls, and a control card to document and verify your progress. Control cards can be turned in at the Sunday Brunch (gather up all the cards for your team and then hand them to Theo).
There are also a couple of special rules to keep you riding for most of the 24 hours: No breaks can be longer than two hours. You must ride at least 25 km after hour 22 – plan a control where you think you’ll be at 22 hours, but just note your distance if you haven’t made it that far.
There’s another special rule that has to do with your distance: You must ride at least 360 km. If you plan to ride farther, you must complete at least 80% of the planned distance or 360 km, whichever is greater.
If you’d like to read the full rules from RUSA, they’re available here:
https://rusa.org/flecherules.html
Teams should select a captain who will gather the following registration documents and email them to the ride organizers by April 5, 2018:
- Registration form
- Team member information
- Waiver signed by all riders
- Entry fees
- Payment for brunch
- Route with controls on Ride with GPS