History of the RRtY award

The Randonneur Round the Year was first thought up by Sheila Simpson from Peak Audax, as an incentive to keep cycling throught the winter months to maintain fitness. The award wasn't restricted to Peak Audax members, and claims were welcomed from Audaxers throughout the UK. The RRtY inspired the spin-off AAA Round the Year award, and other Audaxing bodies around the world now also have their own similar schemes.

The RRtY is now administered by Audax UK and rides listed on the results pages with at least 2 points are eligible qualifiers.

• 1995 Sheila Simpson devises the RRtY format for Peak Audax CTC.
• 2002 Mike Wigley takes over the administration of RRtY and oversees a great uptake in the RRtY 'membership', reaching 500 claimants by the end of 2015.
• 2005 Phil Dyson stretches the format by riding 2 randonnees each month
• 2007 Steve Abraham raises the bar to a new level by completing 5 simultaneous RRtYs by riding at least 5 randonnees in each month
• 2008 Andrew Southworth reaches RRtY x 10, prompting the addition of a new badge
• 2009 Steve Snook adds the AAA RtY award for those who want to continue climbing around the year
• 2015 Steve Poulton reaches a new milestone by completing his 25th RRtY (despite several breakages along the way)
• 2016 Caroline Fenton, herself already a qualifier of the RRtY, takes over the administration of this prestigious and much sought after award.
• 2018 Grant Huggins picks up the RRtY baton and successfully validates his own first series as part of the handover