PA1000k Rider Progress & Ride Reports (updated 6/30)

[Tom Rosenbauer]

Riders will be clipping in at 4AM on Friday, June 26, for the 3rd edition of the Endless Mountains PA1000k. Reports on rider progress will be posted here.

Additional details on the PA1000k are posted at this link:
http://users.rcn.com/trosenbauer/PA1000K.html

Regards,

-Tom Rosenbauer
Eastern PA RBA

[Tom Rosenbauer]

And their off! 8 riders have clipped in at 4AM for the start of the 3rd edition of the PA1000k:

Chip Adams - Severna Park MD
Rick Carpenter - Reading PA
John Fessenden - Horseheads NY
Bill Fischer - Elmira NY
Jud Hand - East Brunswick NJ
Patrick S O Donnell - New Holland PA
Juan Salazar - Ithaca NY
George Winkert - Highland MD

Temperatures at the start were in the mid 60's, with high humidity. The riders are currently in Cherry Valley, with the lead group probably headed up Fox Gap, which will be their 2nd crossing of the Appalachian Trail today. Volunteer (and Pittsburg RBA) Jim Logan is waiting at top of Fox Gap and has set up a secret control stop.

Looks like a band of showers is headed their way -- this might actually be a welcome cool down as the riders tackle the 10-14% grade of Fox Gap, over it's length of 2.5 miles and 1000' of elevation gain.

-Tom Rosenbauer
Eastern PA RBA

[Tom Rosenbauer]

Jim Logan has just checked in from the Fox Gap secret controle at mile 63:

All riders have cleared the top of Fox Gap. Some of the riders out of water, were happy to meet up with Jim to get their bottles topped off. The last 30 mile segment was along a valley road that offered very scenic views of Blue Mountain, but with limited services.

Patrick O'Donnell was the first rider to the top of Fox Gap at 8:04AM, followed 1 minute later by Rick Carpenter. Chip Adams came through at 8:25, having been delayed by a flat tire he sustained hitting a pothole. This gives the lead group an average speed of 15.7 MPH -- very good, considering the 2 major climbs so far, a controle stop, and countless other hills.

George Winkert was the last rider through at 9:16, with an average pace of 12.0 so far. His speed will bump up a few ticks, as he enjoys a nice, long downhill payback from his efforts on Fox Gap, as he heads over to Portland. At Portland, the riders will cross the Delaware River and head over to Blairstown. After the controle stop there, the riders face a major climb up Millbrook Road as they cross the Appalachian Trail for the 3rd time as they head into the Delaware Water Gap Recreation Area:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delaware_Water_Gap

Jim reports that the riders dodged the scattered showers that came through. Skies remain overcast with temperatures in the mid 70's and high humidity. The cloud cover seems to be keeping temperatures down from the forecasted high of 90F for today. But the riders can look forward to cooler temperatures, as they work their way north and into the higher elevations.

-Tom Rosenbauer
Eastern PA RBA

[Tom Rosenbauer]

After taking a lunch break at the Layton Country store, Jim Logan has headed over to Raymondskill Falls where he has set up a revitalement controle at the "Opulent Outhouse". The structure, which looks like a vistors center, cost the US taxpayers over $330,000 ... No cost was spared, in using the very best materials for the best privy money can buy. A humorous accounting of how this opulent outhouse came to be, is posted here:
http://www.theplumber.com/outhouse.html

Jim reports that the first 3 riders came through around 11:45:
-Patrick
-Rick
-Juan
... with the earlier overcast skies now clearing, they describe the current conditions as "Sunny and steamy, on the verge of brutally hot" ... I certainly hope Jim picked up enough ice and water!

The lead riders at the "Opulent Outhouse" are at the 112 mile mark, part way up the 4th major climb of the day. This one scales the Allegheny front in the Poconos. The good news is, they're headed into the higher elevations and into an area that is typically 5 degress cooler. The bad news is, well quite frankly, it's a bear of a climb that is very steep in spots, and just seems to never end. After riding along the Allenheny plateau, the riders will drop down to the Delaware River again for a controle stop in Barryville. After that, they'll cross the Robling Acqueduct
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roebling%2 ... e_Aqueduct
... and ride along the scenic Lackawaxen River up to Hawley. After Hawley, the riders face some serious climbing as they venture into the Endless Mountains region:
http://www.virtualcities.com/ons/pa/n/as/panb1a1.htm
Ahead of them, the challenging climb up Mt Salem awaits them, which brings them to the highest point on the course at 2,159'. The consensus of the riders last year, was that this is the toughest climb on course.

The lead riders have an impressive 14.5 MPH half way through the first day of riding. With all the climbing ahead of them, this pace is expected to drop; but it appears that they are probably on track to get to the overnight controle in Hallstead around 8PM.

-Tom Rosenbauer
Eastern PA RBA

[Tom Rosenbauer]

Jim called in to report that all riders have cleared Raymondskill Falls at the 112 mile mark. Jud came through around 12:45, John at 1:30, and George Winkert at 2:30. They have less than 100 miles to go before the rest stop, but they have some tough terrain to work through before they get there.

Jim is now headed up to the Hallstead overnight controle to get things ready and catch up on some rest before the riders arrive. The current weather map is showing an impressive looking rain band passing over Hallstead. Looks like a drenching rain is headed towards the riders ... at least this should bring some cooler riding conditions.

-Tom Rosenbauer
Eastern PA RBA

[Tom Rosenbauer]

Fast moving rain storms are moving through Carbondale and Hawley ... the heavy rain and wind associated with the cold front that triggered these storms undoubtably have the riders looking for shelter. It looks like the riders won't have to wait to long, judging by how fast the front is swinging through. The rain has already stopped in Hallstead, and the temperature there has plummeted into the mid 60's -- that should be a welcome relief for the riders.

-Tom R.

[Tom Rosenbauer]

Rider Rick Carpenter checked in from the Cabondale controle at mile 175. He arrived there shortly after 5PM with Patrick O'Donnell. They're both really flying through this tough first day of riding with a 13.5 MPH average, so far. Even with a long break there (which they seemed to be taking), they're on track to reach Hallstead around 8PM.

Rick reported encountering severe thunderstorms with strong, gusty winds. Fortunately, they were able to find shelter to avoid the brunt of the storm which was mostly over after about 15 minutes of heavy rain. Unfortunately, those heavy rains caused some gravel washouts to appear on the road, which will require extra caution on the steep descents. On top of that, there is a detour on route at mile 160. Rick and Patrick rode on through the detour and encountered a bridge under contruction -- they were able to get through by walking over a 2-foot gap.

Rick also mentioned that weather conditions were much cooler after the Raymondskill Fall climb -- by the time they reached the big climb up Mt Salem, the storm front had blown through and cooled things down even more. This made the Mt Salem climb much more manageable, compared to last year ... so perhaps, some other climb will get voted the 'most difficult' this time around.

Juan, Bill, and Chip are riding as a group behind Rick and Patrick, followed by Jud, John and George. As I typed this update, John Fessenden checked in from the Carbondale controle -- he arrived there around 7:30PM, which puts him on track to arrive at the Hallstead sleepover controle around 10:30 or so. He reported getting "battered and knocked about" by the storms that blew through. Weather maps show that all the storms have passed by the riders, so even though the forecast is still calling for some scattered showers, hopefully the fireworks are done for the evening.

-Tom Rosenbauer
Eastern PA RBA

[Tom Rosenbauer]

Rick Carpenter and Patrick O'Donnell are the first riders in to the Halstead sleepover controle -- they got in at 8:10 PM. Chip Adams and Bill Fischer are also in, arriving at 9:04 PM. The next 3 riders will probably be arriving within the next hour or so.

-Tom Rosenbauer
Eastern PA RBA

[Tom Rosenbauer]

George Winkert just checked in from the Carbondale controle at 9:45 PM --he indicated that he was delayed for a good while as he took shelter from the storms... it seems that the storm intensified as it swept south. George appears to be in good spirits and on track with his ride plan... with another 33 miles to go, he'll probably be reaching the Hallstead sleepover controle around 12:45 AM.

Juan Salazar has reached Hallstead at 9:30 PM.

-Tom R.

[Tom Rosenbauer]

All riders made it safely to the Hallstead overnight controle and are now back on the road for day 2. Rick Carpenter was the first rider back out on course at 12:30 AM and George Winkert was the last one out at 4:20 AM. The rest of the riders departed between 2:30 and 3 AM.

Special thanks to volunteer (and fellow RBA) Jim Logan, for a superb job of taking care of the riders all day and night! After taking a well deserved rest on Saturday morning, he'll be headed over to Lewisburg to transfer the drop bags to Ron and Barbara Anderson (who will be running the Lewisburg overnight controle).

Rick checked into the Canton controle (309 mile mark) at 8:45 AM. He will probably arrive at the Lewisburg sleep-over controle around 8 PM. Most of the other riders will probably be arriving around 10 PM.

The course on day 2 starts out along the NY southern tier -- the first 75 miles are relatively flat, as the course follows along the Susquehanna river all the way to Towanda. This gives the riders an opportunity to recover from all the climbing on day 1, and hopefully pick up some time.

Current weather conditions along the NY southern tier appear to be nearly ideal for cycling: partly cloudy with temperatures in the mid to upper 60's ... light north-west winds have brought in drier air.

-Tom Rosenbauer
Eastern PA RBA

[Tom Rosenbauer]

The riders have cleared the Canton controle at mile 309. Juan came through at 10:25 AM.

George Winkert is the last rider through at 12:59 PM ... just 9 minutes ahead of the cut-off. Having left Hallstead 2 hours after it closed, he made up a good amount of time so far today, averaging about 11.8 MPH. He has just over 9 hours to cover the next 80 miles which means an average speed of 7.8 MPH, including stops. The next 16 miles are pretty tough and there is a major climb out of Waterville, but George has a good chance of making it within the time limit.

-Tom R.

[Tom Rosenbauer]

I had left a note for George at the Canton controle to check in with me there. Since he didn't have cell phone coverage there, he called me just before getting to Liberty, which is just before the end of a series of really tough, steep rollers. He sounded like he was doing OK, but he was wondering how much more of this he had to endure. I assured him that the turn onto Blockhouse Road would be a turn for the better which marks the start of segment that trends downward into Little Pine Creek state park. Here's what Emily O'Brien had to say about this difficult 16-mile section that George was on:

"...the leg to Controle 8 in Canton trended generally upward, but was just rollers and wasn't difficult. The most difficult segment of the second day was our next leg. It consisted of two big hills, whose elevation profiles can only be described as looking like they had hair on top. I can't say I even remember much about the first "big" climb on that leg; the memorable thing was the series of short, steep little kickers at the top. The cue sheet said, "Caution, steep twisty descent", but that descent was a long time in coming. No sooner would we get up one little rise and blast down the other side, than a sharp little wall would present itself. The three of us leap-frogged somewhat depending on the grades; and of course, I was the slowest on any descent long enough to get up a good head of steam. I remember one of these little kickers even had a noticable crease in the pavement where the grade suddenly went from "steep" to "@#$% steep". ... The difficulty with these Pennsylvania climbs isn't that they continue for 20 miles; nothing on those roads stays the same for 20 mi. The grades are never constant, and there's usually a lot of up and down before you start going up for good. When you start really going up, it often gets extremely steep. But while they aren't that long, they are relentless, and the space in between big climbs is filled with little rollers, some of which are quite steep little kickers in their own right.
- Emily O Brien on the 2008 edition of PA1000k

Emily, BTW, rode the course on her fixed gear. Her riding partners through this section were Steve Scheetz and Bill Olsen.

Volunteers Ron and Barbara Anderson have set up the overnight controle in Lewisburg ... they're headed up to Waterville to check up with George.

Rick Carpenter reached the Lamar controle (at mile 389) around 4:45. He's on track to reach Lewisburg between 7:30 and 8 PM.

-Tom Rosenbauer
Eastern PA RBA

[Ron Anderson]

It's 11:30pm Saturday evening here at the Country Inn in Lewisburg, PA and all is well. 6 of the 8 riders have reached the overnight controle - Rick Carpenter was first in at 7:04pm, in fact as I type this update Rick is up and ready to hit the road again after a three hour rest! Patrick O'Donnell was next to arrive at 8:14pm. The "three amigos" Chip Adams, Bill Fischer and Juan Salazar pulled in together in fleche style at 9:30pm. John Fessenden came in at 10:42pm. We haven't seen Jud Hand yet, but based on his check in time at the previous controle in Lamar, PA, we expect to see him at any moment. All the riders were upbeat and remarkably fresh-looking considering the 435 miles of challenging terrain they have covered over the past two days.

We have word from the Lamar controle #9 that George Winkert made it there with just 2 minutes to spare at 10:15pm! Barbara and I met George out on the course earlier in the evening at English Center, PA where he was in good spirits and riding steadily. Although he has been riding near the time limit, George doesn't seem at all discouraged. Now that he has passed the 600k mark of the ride , the more generous time allowances should work in his favor - it's a lovely night in central PA - ideal conditions for night riding.

[Ron Anderson]

Judson Hand has just arrived at the Lewisburg controle - 11:55pm.

[rustbuster7]

Please tell George Winkert that our thoughts and prayers are with him. I encourage him to keep giving it his best. I know he will complete the PA1000K on time.
Dick Newell

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