PA204 results and ride report (11/15/08 edition)

[Tom Rosenbauer]

The inaugral R-12 event was completed this past Saturday. Preliminary results have been posted at
http://users.rcn.com/trosenbauer/PA204k ... 081115.pdf
The results include the current number of consecutive months with a PA finish for each rider, starting with the October brevet. Please let me know of any corrections ... I'll be posting the results to RUSA in a couple of days and the results will then become final, pending RUSA validation.

Undaunted by the dismal weather forecast, 9 hardy randonneurs clipped in. Dispite torrential rain showers, wet leaves, and a tornado alert, 8 riders finished. Yours truly DNF'd due to a mechanical -- while shifting down to the little chainring, my chain fell off and subsequently got wrapped up in my rear spokes. The derailleur snapped off and the chain got hopelessly stuck between my spokes and rear cluster. Bill Olsen nearly pulled off a miraculus repair, converting my 18-speed into a fixed-gear setup (Rick has a picture of this posted). Unfortunately, the chain kept breaking every 5 miles or so, due to the excessive tension which we couldn't control. After stopping several times to repair the chain, we just made it to the Water Gap controle with a few minutes to spare -- the chain was barely hanging together as we cross the Rt 80 pedestrian bridge, and I basically coasted down to the diner controle. With no more spare links and no more time to waste on repairs, I realized my ride was over, and urged Bill to continue on.

While riding with Bill (before my mechanical), I remarked that just like eskimos who have over 20 words for various types of snow, randonneurs have many ways to discribe the various form of rain they ride through. The ride started out in some light rain but stopped before the first controle in Wind Gap. And there was a good dry spell all the way to Blairstown, where we had a brief downpour and some thunder. But the rest of the afternoon was rather nice -- the sun almost broke out through the dense clouds. But later on in the afternoon, as Bill and I were stopped on the side of the road, a park ranger informed us that a tornado warning was in effect -- yikes! Shortly after sundown, the front came through with a vengeance, followed by torrential cataract of rain for the better part of an hour.

While conditions were certainly bad enough at times to make this ride "epic", at least the temperatures were mild -- reaching the upper 60's in the afternoon. And the rain, when it came down, was pretty bad, but it was never for more than a hour.

Congratulations to all the finishers who soldiered through the worst Mother Nature threw our way. Of note, Juan Salazar came all the way down from Elimira to ride in his first PA event -- arriving with first finishers Matt Farrell and Len Zawodniak.

Juan writes:
"Thanks for organizing a great event. In spite of the rain, I enjoyed myself thoroughly. I also learned from the experience, such as to have a ziplock bag for my brevet card, and to eat REAL food along the way. Len was very helpful, since I was riding with him for most of the time. I found all the riders to be very nice and supportive. I hope to ride the next Brevet in December. ..."

Matt writes:
".. I'm guessing you guys got a bit wet at the end of the ride yesterday. Len Juan and I came out the the Wawa to a downpour right at dark. We got wet from there to your house. It was fitting, start in the rain finish in the rain but not much rain during the ride.
The ride took a bit out of me, it was a little more challenging then I thought it would be. Juan is a very strong climber he could have finish well ahead of Len and I but kindly chose to wait many times for us to get up the hills.
I enjoyed the ride and wanted to thank you for getting this monthly ride schedule started. I think it will bring a lot of the local long distance riders together." -Matt

Guy Harris and Paul Scearce completed the ride on their fixed-gear bikes. Guy writes:
"..It was very interesting to ride roads familiar to me on a geared bike but this time
fixed. Lesson learned => put the rear brake on next time! I am tired today
but not unreasonably so ..." -Guy

Rick Carpenter came in with Bill Fisher. Bill finally got a chance to see the part of the Delaware Water Gap recreation area that he intended to ride on the PA Fleche (starting near Elmira). His team Quivering Fleche went off course at Millbrook Village -- they went off-course going **up** the hill to Blairstown instead of going right towards the Water Gap!

Rick writes: "Thanks for an epic ride; I hope Bill Olsen made it back safely (& within the time allotment, though IMO he should get a bit of relief for providing “assistance”)." Rick's pictures are at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/26197863@N ... 190862282/

... and despite spending over an hour messing around with my bike, Bill did make it in with nearly an hour to spare on the time limit. Unfortunately, there are no provisions to give a time allowance for being helpful.

If you have any other comments or photos to share, post them to the local message board.


Although a bit disappointed in not getting to finish, I'll treasure this ride for the camaraderie of Bill in trying to salvage my ride. Also, it was nice change to clip-in to share a few miles with all of you. I'm looking forward to getting my R-12 finishes back on track on next month's Dark Moon 200k -- Bill Olsen is the organizer for this event, and he has put together a beautiful route.
http://users.rcn.com/trosenbauer/R12ClubDec1.html

I have a few items left behind -- Rick has already claimed a water bottle but I also have some wet shoes and some gloves -- if anybody wants to claim these items, I'll get you reunited.

-Regards,

-Tom Rosenbauer
Eastern PA RBA