PA200k Results & Ride Report (4/4/09 edition)

[Tom Rosenbauer]

Preliminary Results for the PA200k (4/4/09 edition) have been posted at:
http://users.rcn.com/trosenbauer/PA200k ... 090404.pdf
Please let me know of any corrections or other issues. Results will be submitted as soon as RUSA processes some pending applications, and will then become final, pending RUSA/ACP approval.

Congratulations to all the participants who ventured out into wind conditions that were unprecedented -- I can't recall ever seeing the winds blow as hard and as long as they did on Saturday. Looking over the 12-hr weather history, the average wind speed was in the mid 20's and at mid-day, was over 30 MPH. Gusts were well in the 40's with maxiums that were just short of 50 MPH. The PA200k course is plenty hard enough, and the "Dificulty Factor" of the wind made it a epic saga for all.

Truly, this was a character building ride that finishers will be able to draw upon, as they tackle other challenges. And Joe Carbone came away with the most character building , as measured by time on the road. Although outside the time limit at the Fox Gap controle, he finished the ride under his own power -- battling those headwinds on his own -- for 17 hours and 5 minutes. How about that, for a display of mental fortitude!
[update: read Joe's account here: viewtopic.php?f=11&t=335 ]

Congratulations to first finishers, Nate Morgenstern and Juan Salazar, who came in a few minutes before Craig Martek and John Wichard.

After the heavy rains a couple of days before the event, the parking lot at the hostel swallowed up several cars that needed to be towed out. In talking this over with Jerri Ann at the hostel, she said that for future events, she plans to put out traffic cones to outline the safe parking areas.

Special thanks to volunteer Nate Morgenstern who led the way with the sign-in sheets and helped out with the BBQ at the finish. Thanks also, to Rick Carpenter and the other veteran PA riders for lending a hand as needed, at the finish.

Check out Juan Salazar's report and pictures at these links:
http://picasaweb.google.com/jsalazar197 ... irectlink#

http://www.cycloblogger.info/2009/04/ca ... a-acp.html

And Kate Marshall's nice report is here:
http://psycles-kttrue.blogspot.com/

Eric Keller has posted here:
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=324#p1089

And Craig Martek writes:
Just wanted to thank you for another fantastic ride! Again, one that will forever be in my memory. The climbs and scenery would have been enough, but to add temps and winds both in the 40's, a little rain and a few seconds of frozen stuff was even more memorable. Then to add icing to the cake, some deer, a dog, a few trash cans and a near miss from a flying piece of barn roofing - now you can't beat those very easily!! ... Thanks again Tom! Looking forward to seeing everyone again next month!

Craig, BTW, rode his very first brevet ever, on the inaugral edition of the PA1000k in 2007 ... he's now working on the shorter brevets and will be clipping in for the EM1240k this fall.

I'm looking forward any other ride reports and pictures that the riders may have.

-Tom Rosenbauer
Eastern PA RBA

[Tom Rosenbauer]

Steve Scheetz sent me the following report ....

2009 PA 200K
WIND!!! I was toying with the idea of riding to the start, like I did last year, but when I opened my door, stepped outside and was blown all around my driveway, I concluded that it was the better course of prudence to DRIVE, with my bicycle in the back of the car, to the start… It was really great to see some of the familiar faces, many of whom I had not seen since last year, but it was also great meeting some new people. Ron and Barb Anderson both wondered if I rode in, and I was embarrassed to say that I did not… To further my humiliation, I rode WITH SLEEVES (those of you who know me, PLEASE, do not pass out!) So after some camaraderie, it was time to get down to business. Tom had asked how he should split the massive group as far as starting, should the group of sub-9 hour finishers go and then the rest? I suggested that it should be 10 hours given the wind pronouncing, grandly, that I would be finishing either side of 10 hours.
Sure enough that was the cut, and it pretty much split the group down the middle.. Half of us left, and a few minutes later, the other half took off. Riding in the lead group was not going to last, for me, because Lower Saucon Road comes in at about 7 miles. That hill is rather steep, and given my speed going UP, there would be no way to stay with the faster climbers. Instead, I did what I usually do, and that is to take my time going up so I can hammer on the way down and blitz the flats… Ummmm, well there were not too terribly many flats on this ride, but that is my general philosophy, anyway… It was on this climb that I linked up with Victor Urvantsev and Kate Marshall. Both of whom are strong riders, and Victor, I remembered from last year’s 300K. Up to this point, the wind was a little limiting, but it was not so severe that we were completely miserable… Down we went, and I was appreciating the descent as time to recover before we hit the last climb before riding through Easton.
Due to a bridge being out, Tommy had to change the course a bit, and while sometimes re-routing sucks, that was not the case with this one.. In fact, even though the hill is a bit steeper and a bit longer, the overall effect is nicer. Even given the wind, which was a little oppressive in spots along this stretch, I was STILL able to appreciate this way. There was one road that was incorporated, Buttermilk, which had some of the people in the know, of this course, cringing! Fortunately we came in after the climb so there was just a nice section of road before descending into Easton. The next stretch was old hat, but given the wind, we had some EXTRA TIME to view the countryside! I was actually not unhappy wearing sleeves at this point. Rolling into the control, we saw some more of the splintered lead group.. Nate Morgenstern and Juan Salazar were there and gone.. The initial idea was to be in and out of this control as quickly as possible. Sure enough, Victor, Kate, and I were pretty efficient here and off we went. Next stop, the top of Fox Gap! But
first, we had to go up and over Wind Gap, and as per its name, we were feeling the wind, particularly on the descent, I was in my drops, but the wind definitely let me know that control was an illusion!
We chatted as we crossed Cherry Valley Road, and I had Victor and Kate looking for the house that did not belong, and that became sort of an unannounced game. Find the most ridiculous house on the course! Soon enough we were on 191 South making our way up Fox Gap, and while I felt more comfortable going up, progress was still slow. I know every square inch of that hill, intimately, which is both a blessing and a curse! The swearing begins when one realizes he is only half way to the top…. Needless to say that the blessings are found with the tell tale signs that the climb is about over! However, the biggest blessing, for me, was seeing Tommy at the top of the climb, complete with water! Yeah BABEE! Tommy also brought up more topics for conversation… First, who put their socks in the microwave oven at the Wind Gap Control? Second…. What, in the world would possess someone to do such a thing? Despite the fact that it was a problem for Tom, and is a problem for the PA Brevet series, as a whole, it was still a source of amusement in the pondering!
On the way down, we moved easily toward the Portland Family Restaurant. My idea was to sign in and get out as quickly as possible, because of the chill factor. While we were stopped with Tom, even though it was for less than 10 minutes, all three of us were feeling cold, and the descent that followed did not help one little bit! The damp biting wind was still with us, though the cross winds did not affect handling all that much, it DID contribute to our wanting to pedal to stay warm! In and out of the Portland control. We hit the road toward the bridge at Belvidere. As hard as it is to imagine, even I was looking forward to a long climb on which to feel warm! Lomason Glen was given to us for just this purpose! The long way up the Fidler’s Elbow Ridge, the climb was protected from the wind, and it was steep enough to get warm! Warm enough to handle the descent down Montana Road! This section was only 33 miles, from Portland to the General Store across the river from Milford, but it feels so much longer given the long climbs. However, with a bit more than two hours to the 10 hour mark, we went into the store, and were out and on our way. People think that I eat fast, but Victor managed to eat a whole sandwich in the time it took me to visit the men’s room!
Two hours to make the 30 miles to the finish line away we go heading into some very familiar territory… Up Red Cliff road, down Tinicum Creek, Up Cafferty Rd and down into Point Pleasant for the Penultimate Control. The clock on the wall said 3:00… Last Call….. for ALCOHOL! A whole hour to travel 15 miles! This stretch is one that I have done in less than that on several occasions!
However, on THIS occasion, we felt the full force of the wind in our face! It did not seem to matter which way we turned, we were just brutalized by the wind! Rollers that I could easily coast up the up hills on were now work… SERIOUS work! Victor and I tried to work together as a shield for
Kate, who, because of her light weight, was being blown all over the road… I was being blown all over the road! In fact, this section was very reminiscent of Furnace Creek 2004 when we were hit with the thermonuclear desert windstorm in Death Valley. Fortunately, this section was not terribly long, and we managed to make it into the control with a time of 10:25. I was feeling pretty good when I pulled in.. Hey Tom, let’s do it again!
This 200k has always been a challenging course, and last year, Tom made it even more so with the addition of more hills. The wind did take its toll on many people, so having a finish rate of 81% is even more impressive! Looking at the results, there has to be a special something for Joseph Carbone who, despite the fact that he was out of time, still chose to complete the entire course in 17:05… RESPECT! One of the familiar names: Guy “Who Needs Gears anyway?” Harris took the course on his FIXED-GEAR! In a word, WOW! Thanks, of course to Tommy who puts a ton of time and effort into these events, your routing around the bridge out should be a permanent route change! Bridges??? We don’t need no stinking bridges!! Oh, One cannot forget the efforts of Nate Morgenstern who cooked some really tasty BBQ Chicken!

[Tom Rosenbauer]

John Dennis sent in the following report ....

Feisty randonneurs seem to use 200 Km brevets the way the rest of us use nouns and verbs, stringing them together in ways that create meaningful action. Within minutes of starting the PA 200 km brevet in the darkened 6am gloom last Saturday morning, I found myself chatting with Rev. Jack Brace, riding beside me, while I kept an eye on Juan Salazar riding directly in front of me. Jack, I learned, planned to complete his first R-12 next month.

“What’s an R-12?”

“Oh, you ride a 200Km brevet every month for 12 months,” replied Jack. I also learned that Jack, at 36, had newly become a Presbyterian minister in nearby Bethlehem PA.

“Most of my 200s I rode in Seattle before moving to Bethlehem.”

Meanwhile, my new front-wheel hub-powered Busch&Müller Lumotec IQ Cyo Senso Plus headlamp—installed by Glenn Swan the night before—was lighting up the reflective strips on Juan’s black tights. They threw back an intense glare as his legs pumped up and down on the bike directly in front of me. Temps were hovering between the high 40s and 50F. It was not even 10 minutes after 6am—when our ride started—and already my pulse was in the 160s.

The night glare from Juan’s legs confirmed what I already knew: he is a man on a mission! He was already registered for the Second Annual Shenandoah 1200 Km brevet which is scheduled for June 11-14 in the Shenandoah Valley of Northern Virginia. This 200 km ride would be a mere warm-up activity for him. And, BTW, if you are thinking of joining Juan on the S1200, 65 of the 100 slots are still open. Last year it was so hot that 26 of the 56 participants did not finish including one BHV rider.

Although the terrain north from the Quakertown area was only mildly rolling cow pastures, when I saw that my pulse had broken into the low 170s, I knew it was time to let Jack and Juan go. I dropped back and joined some slower moving riders.

If you have read Juan’s ride report, you know he has every right to feel good about being a “first finisher” for last Saturday’s 200 brevet, along with Nate Morganstern.

In the rarified world of randonneuring, Tom Rosenbauer is known to design and put on a series of superb brevets in the 200-1240 Km range that often start in Quakertown. Tom has a knack for laying out courses that are topographically-challenging, but that reward riders with a movable feast of rural and small town landscapes. Think of a Winslow Homer painting with a stone barn built by Dutch immigrants in the late 1700s with hay fields in the distance or of a cow standing in a winter stream. My favorite barn on the ride was stone and mortar walls on all four sides with rows of vertical ventilation slits, each about two-feet high, and looking as if each could double as an arrow slit in a pinch. In the pre-ride meeting, Tom warned us that there might be strong winds much of the day.

On dropping back, I joined Rick Carpenter of Reading Pa and Bill Fischer, a BHV rider from Elmira. Although vastly stronger riders than I, they were riding this 200K at the pace of the 360Km fleche they plan to ride later in the month with Juan and Jamie Gartenberg.

About 20 miles into the ride, Tom’s route brought us into the city of Easton, his home town, on a low-traffic street called Lehigh Drive. This took us along the bank of the Lehigh River almost to the point where it joins the Delaware. I noticed daffodils in bloom as we later followed College Avenue past Lafayette College. It was as we cruised the streets of Easton that Rick decided to tell his architect and engineer joke. As Bill is an engineer, I understood that this joke was largely for his benefit. “During the French Revolution, an architect and an engineer were sentenced to die by guillotine. The architect was the first to be placed in the guillotine, lying on his back looking up. The hooded executioner released the blade and it descended at a terrifying speed but suddenly stopped a mere centimeter before reaching the neck of the architect.

“Well,” said the executioner, “You are very lucky! Under French Law, I have only one attempt. So you are now a free man.” The architect got up and quickly hurried away. The engineer was then placed in the guillotine in the same manner, looking up toward the blade. Just as the executioner was about the press the release button, the engineer called out in a loud, excited voice, “Wait, I see the problem!”

Rick was like this the whole ride: relaxed, having a wonderful time, and plugging along on his 8-speed Bianchi Milano, wearing flappy mountain bike shorts, rubber sandals with white socks, and some sort of baseball cap under his helmet. Along the route, he acted as tour guide cheerfully pointing out Wind Gap, Fox Gap, and other distant features on the horizon that would soon enough be presenting us with torturous climbs. With a stocky, heavy set sort of build, it was hard to believe that this relaxed genial cyclist was the same person that had come in second in the 2008 Shenandoah 1200 under grueling conditions.

At our first controle stop (known as Controle 2), at Wind Gap, PA, and 40.3 miles out, we found Jack Brace looking not too happy. It was about 9:05am and I noticed on the sign-in sheet that Juan had arrived at 8:33am. Jack had hung on with Juan for some miles and then ended up riding many solo miles in the fierce wind before reaching the control stop. I got my brevet card signed, but, as I had loaded my bike in packrat fashion, I didn’t need more food or water. Rick, however, was drinking a cup of coffee and moving about chatting in a relaxed manner. Bill Olsen, a 60-something rider from NJ who had been with us earlier had been slowed by a hill or two, so Rick, Bill Fischer, and I departed with Jack. Before leaving the controle, I dug into my gear for glove liners to wear inside my gloves and put my skull cap back on. Heavy rain clouds darkened the sky, and the day seemed to be getting colder. I marveled at how Bill Fischer was riding with no gloves at all. I wore my Smart-wool tights and top all day. A pair of polyester leg warmers, my glove liners, and a skull cap were my main temperature adjustment tools the entire day.

Once underway I resumed my earlier conversation with Jack, but now at a more relaxed pace. My pulse was now ranging in the 130s and low 140s. Jack explained to me that the United Presbyterian Church was growing in Easton using two very different liturgies. The high church classic liturgy, appealing the older and wealthier parishioners, made strong use of chorale music by Bach with organ accompaniment. Another of the four ministers held a youth service in a different setting that made use of rock music.

Jack described to me how the present construction of a large casino on the grounds of the old Bethlehem Steel factory threatened the well-being of the community. “There is a burst of economic growth associated with the start-up of casinos, but within five years the incidence of prostitution, indebtedness, and various crimes tend to go way up. We have met with the owner to express our concerns and we are training social workers to offer counseling services to people who fall victim to the vices associated with casinos. The last wave of immigrant workers brought in by Bethlehem Steel were Puerto Rican and we expect their neighborhoods to have some of the most problems.”

Less than a mile out of Wind Gap, we crossed the Appalachian Trail and at mile 64 we reached the Portland Family Restaurant, Controle 4. I really just do these rides for the diner stops, so I was delighted when it became clear that Rick and Bill were in the mood for omelets, toast and hash browns. Yes! Jack had French toast and we were soon joined by Guy Harris and John Fresenden, who was complaining of the cold. Guy was riding a track bike with a fixed gear. He had recently retired from being a chemist with Merck doing “discovery research” and a track bike seemed to him a good way of staying in shape now that he was no longer commuting.

During the 8 miles from Portland to the Delaware River, Bill Fischer got a flat and Rick stayed to assist him. I rode ahead with Guy Harris and Bill Olsen and we walked across the Delaware River on a newly rebuilt bridge to Belvidere NJ. I spotted a few Mallard ducks that were sheltering close to shore and away from the rolling white caps. Bill stopped at a sandwich shop and so Guy and I pushed on following Tom’s route along forested ridge roads with names like Buckhorn, Castners, and Montana, at one point coming within a few miles of Guy’s house. I waited at the tops of several hills for Guy to join me and then again at the bottom of several. I was still having trouble understanding the logic of riding a “fixie” in a 200 Km event.

We were stopped for a snack at Mile 90 on a railroad overpass after a steep climb when Rick, Bill, and Jack finally caught up with us. So, I left Guy to rejoin the intrepid trio. Controle 5 was only 7 miles further on at Homestead General Store. There I bought a slice of cranberry cake and added water to bottle containing Gatorade powder than I had brought from home. Rick also had some dry powder in an otherwise empty water bottle, a “proprietary mix” was how he described it, but he ended up riding the entire ride without ever using it.

We had soon completed 100 miles and, still feeling “good to go,” I wondered if we might even have a crack at finishing in less than ten hours. But, the remaining 26 miles proved to be a very windy even though all the big hills were behind us. Jack began dropping back and we waited for him several times. Then about 12 miles from the hostel on a particularly windy plain, Rick and Bill pulled ahead on Elephant Road and out of sight. Finally on my own for the first time, I came down to a lake and the obvious route turned left but the queue sheet indicated that I should turn right. But there was no right turn. A helpful driver stopped and we were discussing directions when Jack showed up. We then rode together briefly (making the left turn), but suddenly I was feeling totally out of gas and Jack seemed to speed up the last hill on Route 313 as I struggled. Whether it was my abysmal lack of training miles, or a late-in-the-ride “Gatorade Rebound Effect” or just losing contact with Rick and Bill, but in any case my bike felt so heavy I looked down to see if the rear wheel was dragging on the frame. It wasn’t. Finally back at the Weisel Hostel, I finished in a little over 11 hours in the very middle of the “pack” of 36 finishers.

To summarize the day: wearing wool in cold winds is good, Brooks saddles are in, riding with experienced riders who know the lay of the land saves a lot of time and stress, and Tom Rosenbauer and Juan Salazar are both to be congratulated, Tom for putting on a fantastic event and Juan for completing it in an amazing time. Thanks also to Glenn Swan for building my front wheel until midnight and making my bike completely safe and durable.

Ride safe everyone,
- John Dennis