Roy Ross was a member of the San Francisco Randonneurs from 2013 until his untimely passing in 2020. During his time as a randonneur, he achieved many remarkable goals, including multiple K-Hounds and Super 600ks, and completed Paris-Brest-Paris in 2019.

He always sought out the toughest rides and would never DNF, no matter how hard things got. When the SFR Adventure Series was first run in 2014, Roy knew that these rides fit him well and relished the challenge. He completed the series no fewer than 5 times. For context, only two other riders, Bryan Kilgore and Florian Schneider, have completed the annual series more than once, and each has done it only twice.

After Roy’s death in 2020, the San Francisco Randonneurs decided to honor his memory with this award for any rider who completes all four Adventure Series events in one year. His tenacity and grit continue to inspire us to take on this challenge.

The picture below was taken on the 2014 edition of the Orr Springs 600k. Roy’s fork separated on the descent into Ukiah. He was lucky to avoid an ugly crash and was able to make it to the control in town. Rather than give up, he borrowed a bike from a rider who had DNFed and completed the ride with 40 minutes to spare—yet another example of his resilience and determination.

(Note on qualifying for the award: a rider may substitute one event for the Permanent version and still receive the award.)