Spring Forward 200k Results (3/3/09)

[Tom Rosenbauer]

Preliminary results for the Spring Forward 200k have been posted at
http://users.rcn.com/trosenbauer/PA200k ... 090307.pdf

... please let me know of any corrections or other issues. Results will become final, pending RUSA validation. If I don't have a RUSA membership number for you, you won't get RUSA 'credit' for this event -- however, if you don't have a number, and would like to get RUSA credit, get your application in the mail by Monday or Tuesday at latest, and I'll hold the results until RUSA processes you application. This also applies to some of you with lapsed RUSA memberships -- please double check to make sure your RUSA membership is current. Unless I hear back from anybody that needs to update their RUSA membership status, I'll be posting the results to RUSA in the next day or so.

It was another excellent, early season turnout for Saturday's event: 24 riders clipping in with 23 finishers. And dispite some "navigational challenges" with the cuesheet, everybody got around in good time -- with the great weather and favorable winds offsetting any bonus mileage that many of you logged.

Special Thanks
... to Andrew Mead for organizing the event, and sharing some really great roads with us. The Lancaster area is a great place to ride, and it certainly has it's fair share of challenging terrain.

... and to George Metzler, for offering his house as a controle stop -- well stocked with a variety of Frappaccinos. If you missed out on that, well, that's some motivation to maybe ride faster next time

Rider notes:

First time Eastern PA participant Joe Cabone withdrew just before reaching controle 3 at Bainbridge. While I'm sure that Joe is disappointed in not finishing, he is to be commended for many things. First off, he impressed me with his preride preparation, checking ahead of time to make sure he had everthing needed to pass bike inspection. Next, he followed procedures by contacting me that he was withdrawing from the course. And finally, he worked his way back to the start/finish under his own power, logging over 90 miles in the process. Joe, hope you keep at it and give it another try. While these brevet rides are tougher than the typical club ride, the accomplishment in finishing them is that much more rewarding.

Among the many first time Eastern PA participants was Jack Brace, who is joining us after moving from Seattle to Bethlehem. His quest for his RUSA R-12 was in doubt after discovering a cracked frame on the Friday before the ride. Bill Olsen helped save Jack's R-12 streak by loaning him a bike, which he put together at the last minute -- a great display of randonneuring camaraderie. Bill completed an R-12 sequence with the February 200k, and now has the first completion for his next R-12 -- Congratulations! BTW, Bill has turned me on to his "Tuna Sub" meal plan on brevets -- I am now a firm believer in this scheme, being quite pleased with the beneficial results after we made our own lunch stop at a Subway store in Columbia. All future brevet routes will now try to pass by a Subway store at some point.

Other first time riders are:
- John Fessenden
- Julie Klinger
- J Michael Lutz
- Chris Nadovich
- James Prestia
... several of whom, are first time brevet participants as well and now are officially randonneurs -- Congratulations, and hope to see you again!


Rick Carpenter and Juan Salazar were once again, first finishers, dispite taking a spill on some loose gravel. Rick explains that he took a poor line on one of the twisty descents, with Juan not far behind. Lucky for Rick and Juan, a couple of boy scouts were near by, and earned their "Brevet Road Rash Treatment Merit Badge" by helping them out.

Several riders have a nice PA R-12 streak going, with the maximum of 6 completed rides:
- Rick Carpenter
- Matt Farrell
- Guy Harris (who has done the last 5 on a fixed gear!)
- Bill Olsen


Curtis Palmer (another first finisher) has posted a report here:
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=314#p1050

and Jamie Gartenberg has one here:
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=314#p1051

... if you have any comments or photos to share, you can either post them here, or forward them to me or Andrew.

Next up is the PA200k on April 4 -- this is the "classic" Eastern PA brevet, that features the challenging climbs over Fox Gap and Lomasson's Glen, along with some of our favorite roads in Cherry Valley and Tinicum Township. This is an ACP event that will leave from the Quakertown hostel -- there won't be an R-12 specific event in April, instead, R-12 club members can get a discount on the regular ACP brevet series. You may also keep your PA R-12 streak going by riding the PA Fleche, on the weekend of 4/16.

Regards,

-Tom Rosenbauer
Eastern PA RBA

[jsalazar1978]

Hello fellow Randonneurs and Randoneuses,

Thanks Andrew and Tom for planning this wonderful route and event. As Tom mentioned, Rick and I hit the pavement on the descent of Sandhill Rd. Luckily we both were able to finish the ride without major issues. Now my elbow hurts more than yesterday, but I am confident it will heal for the next brevet in April. I am also happy to hear that 23 of the 24 riders made it to the finish. Congratulations to everyone! I hope to get to know many of you during the upcoming season.

I took several pictures and also wrote a ride report, which can be found at the following link

http://www.cycloblogger.info/2009/03/pa ... -200k.html

Juan S.

[ADMead]

Congratulations to all who overcame the navigational challenges and completed the Spring Forward 200k. I developed a tremendous appreciation for the effort Tom puts into route development. He makes it look easy; I now have a much better understanding of just how much work goes into each brevet. While I have ridden every mile of the roads we covered, it has been quite a while (several years) since I passed over some of them. My memories of Frogtown Rd simply did not include the steepness of that little ascent. My apologies for the mis-labels in the second leg. Many of those roads are familiar ones where the signage doesn't always register with me. Bill Olsen noted late in the ride (again on familiar roads), "didn't you see that stop sign?" to which I replied, "what stop sign?"

It seems that the organizer's mechanical challenge gremlins have been held at bay for another month, that's not to say that the start was as smooth as I had hoped. After the chaos of getting 21 riders signed in and headed off, I realized just as I was saying "have a safe ride" that my bike was not ready to go. Mike Lutz hung back and we finally got rolling at 7:05. A couple miles up the road we came upon Joe Carbone and rode with him for a bit. Then my phone rang. I stopped, watched Mike and Joe roll on, and talked to Victor Urvantsev and Kate Marshall who had just arrived, still thinking the starting time was 7:30. So I turned around and headed back to the start. Kate, Victor, and I finally got under way at 7:40. Fortunately, the course starts easy so we made good time. We caught up to Joe in Cornwall and checked into the first controle with 35 minutes to spare. Christine Newman was leaving as we arrived and Patrick O'Donnell was waiting on us.

Joe had not yet arrived when we set off on the second leg. Patrick rode with us as far as Campbelltown and then headed for home. The cue sheet glitches didn't register with me at the time since I knew which way I needed to go. We happened across a group of riders with a dragging brake at Bachmantown Rd. A quick flip of a quick release got them going (in another direction) and we continued. The wind seemed to play a role in this leg as we spent a lot of time in tight drafting formations. Soon enough we hit Rt 441and finally put some of that wind behind us. Rolled into the Bainbridge controle, having seen no other riders, but somehow getting ahead of Christine. We only stopped for 5 minutes and rolled on.

The down-river leg was uneventful. We blew past a few other riders (mostly on mountain bikes??) on Rt 441 and enjoyed the flat terrain and slight tailwind. No other Pa Randonneurs were to be seen. As we reached the summit at Turkey Hill, Kate started talking about how good some ice cream would taste. My lunch decision was made at that point and I thought of not much else for the rest of the leg. We arrived at the lunch controle in Conestoga to see Ivan & Jerry Umber. We were surprised to discover that a significant number of our riders were now behind us. Soon, Tom, Bill, Matt, Jim & Julie pulled in to report a slight off-course detour to stop at the Subway in Columbia. Meanwhile, I had a wonderful ice cream sandwich.

A large group departed Conestoga together. It was very nice to spend some time talking with everyone (not that talking with Victor and Kate was bad, mind you!) and catching up on the ride so far. Even though everyone always climbs at their own pace, there is much benefit to riding hilly terrain in a group just for motivation. We surely needed it as the fourth leg contained the lions share of the climbing for the route. Soon enough we arrived at the Starbucks in Atglen (George's house) and amped up on a little caffeine.

With 30 miles remaining, we started looking at the daylight situation for Victor and Kate. In the haste of their packing for this trip no lights had been packed. We figured there were 3 hours of daylight left and were confident a 10mph pace could be maintained. The group rolled along and enjoyed the scenery. We quickly controlled at the Compass Turkey Hill and headed for the last lump of the day. You have to believe me when I tell you that we climbed the Welsh Mountain the easiest way it can be climbed. I regularly climb the Ranck Rd side (the way down for us) and have explored most of the roads on that ridge. We also got a nice (and rare for this time of year) southeasterly tailwind for the final miles. Soon enough, we were back in Ephrata. Our group rolled in at 17:20. A patron at the Turkey Hill asked where we had ridden from. Bill replied "right here" which drew a rather stunned look from the fellow until we explained that we'd ridden 125 miles since we left "here."

Thanks again to George Metzler for hosting controle 5 and Bill Olsen for salvaging the ride for Jack Brace. When Jack's first email reported the cracked frame, a regular blizzard (no mere flurry) of email messages ensued. By 5 a plan appeared to have been forged. Thanks also to all who came out and made the day a grand success for Pa Randonneurs. I was quite honored to host you all to some of my favorite riding. Heal quickly Juan and Rick.

If you liked this route, you will be able to ride it in the future in a slightly modified version (bypassing Quarryville) in the not-so-distant future. It is to be the Lancaster Loop Permanent soon. Along those lines, I'm accepting all critique of the cue and the route.

See you next month!
Andrew

The few pictures I took are available at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/78759972@N00/sets/72157614957928149/show/

You can look at the route and other interesting things gathered by the GPS at:
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/7783671
Just remember that MotionBased tends to overestimate the elevation gains a bit. A good number for this route is about 7,000 ft.