Sept 5 Beyond Hope 200k Preliminary Results & Report

[Tom Rosenbauer]

Preliminary results for the Eastern PA's Beyond Hope 200k held on Sept 5, have been posted at:
http://users.rcn.com/trosenbauer/PA200k ... 090905.pdf
... let me know of any corrections or other issues. I'll be holding the results until some pending RUSA applications are processed.

Once again, we had some fantastic weather and it was certainly a great day to be out on a bike. We had 23 riders clipping in at the start and ended with 22 finishers. Jack Brace withdrew with some mechanical issues with his wheel, after riding all the way to the start from his home in Bethlehem, and was less than 10 miles away before deciding it would be more prudent to ride straight home back to Bethlehem. With all the extra riding, Jack certainly deserves to be recognized as an official finisher, and certainly had a full day of riding on the bike.

There were a number of first time riders, and by my count, there are now 4 freshly minted riders who can claim to be a successful randonneur -- congratulations to:
- Jack Bingham
- Jonathan Clamp
- Donald Jagel
- Brandon Williamson

Jon Clamp writes: "... Thank you for a well thought out and organized introduction to randonneuring. I am hooked now so will be participating in the October event if there is room. I will apply on line. I will also send yu a check for $20. for my membership...."

Mike Hobin also completed his first PA brevet, and I believe, his 2nd brevet ever. Mike by the way, will be starting a cross country trip in the next week or so. Mike writes: "...Thanks Tom. Great course, great people and an overall fantastic day. Thanks for organizing everything."

Speaking of cross country trips, it was good to see Chris Nadovich clipping in for the first time since *completing* his recent cross country trip. You can read his excellent BLOG at:
http://transamerica.nadovich.com/

Congratulations to first finishers:
Rick Carpenter
Guy Harris
Donald Jagel
Len Zawodniak

Don, BTW, joins a select bunch of other first time Eastern PA riders who come out of the blue and ace the course, coming in with the first riders.

I'm not sure how he did it, but Guy managed to hang with the first group on a fixed-gear -- clearly, Guy is showing some great form ... which will certainly be useful when he clips in for the EM1240k in 3 weeks. He'll be joining Rick Carpenter, Jud Hand, and Bill Olsen. I have trouble keeping track of all the 1200k's Bill Olsen is riding, but I know this year, he's already completed the Shenandoah 1200k, Gold Rush 1200k and Granite Anvil 1200k, and this week, he's headed out to do the Last Chance 1200.

Bill writes: " I've pretty much got everything laid out but need to still get it all packed into the suitcases before I leave for Denver at 5:00AM but I wanted to take the time to thank you for yesterday's ride. As always it had plenty of hills and (once I let the starting crowds leave me behind) I took it easy just to yet again confirm that even at the relaxed pace, and numerous stops I took, I'd still be comfortable
w.r.t. time on this weeks, as well as, hopefully, the Endless Mountains. .... Your PA R-12 series rides within a week of the recent (and this upcoming) randonnees are just the thing to get over pre-randonnee
"jitters."

Special thanks to Len (and Rick) for leading the way with the sign-in sheets. Len writes: "Thanks for another great brevet. The silver lining in my inauspicious start is that I got to chat with everyone for just a bit while working my way back up with the cue sheets. I'm starting to think there is a "cue sheet curse"( witness Ricks ride while carrying the sheets). Don was a treat to ride with and I cant explain how Guy does it. We coasted past him as he spun furiously downhill on his fixie, but he was always right back with us in no time it seemed. As always , a demanding and rewarding ride."

Andrew Mead and Curtis Palmer also decided they didn't need no stink'n gears ... Andrew writes: "As usual, a very well organized and executed brevet. Beautiful route, even for a fixie. I expected it to be challenging. I didn't expect it to turn out as one of my better brevet performances. Got to move around in the field a bit and ride with quite a few others. Even made it back in time for pizza and beer with the first finishers. What a great day it was. Thanks!

If you have any other comments or stories to share, you can post them here, or e-mail them to me.

Next up is the EM1240k ... we've got a superb bunch of volunteers lined up, but we can always use a few more to help out ... if you'd like to do so, please drop me a note and let me know what your availability is.

Regards,

-Tom Rosenbauer
Eastern PA RBA

[jbrace]

Yes Tom. Thanks for organizing the great brevet. A real treat to be a part of despite not "finishing." I discovered my problem - spokes poking through my rim tape on both wheels. I went through my full compliment of tubes in order to diagnose my problem and was simply frustrated to have stopped so many times to no avail, losing what must've been an hour on the side of the road. While sitting at the crossroad Stouts School Rd. and Raubsville Rd. several other cheerily passed and offered their assistance - thanks to you all, especially Bill Olsen for the few minutes of time to stop and chat.

Nonetheless, I knew a left made a right at that intersection, and I decided to peel off - through some of my stomping grounds (Wassergrass and through Hellertown and UP the backside of South Mountain) back to Bethlehem. After a fifth flat as I turned into Hellertown, I finally decided just to pump the tire up enough to get over the top of South Mountain and home. By my account, more climbing even than you had in store for the day Tom. A glutton for punishment.

My first DNF...but awww well, I wasn't looking forward to the 15mile slog along the LV Canal on perpetually flat tires in waning light.

Thanks again. See you next time!!!

BTW - if there are any Bethlehem locals (or hereabouts) - I'm looking to patch together a couple nice 200K Permanents here and would love the company on some exploratory rides.

[Guy]

Tom, Thanks for the new roads, Clay Ridge and Beaver Run, they help put Buttermilk Road in the proper perspective It was great to ride the last few miles with Len and Don. Congratulations to Andrew and Curtis for joining the PA Randonneurs fixie club. Finally, well done to all the first time PA brevet finishers.

[Tom Rosenbauer]

Judson Hand writes...

"Thanks for running a great event as usual. The weather was near perfect and I had good company throughout the ride and afterward. I was having such a good time, I didn't really care that I got lost twice. Rick Carpenter, Don Jagel and I took a wrong turn just before the first controle that added about 10 minutes. As everybody was pretty close together, that put us at the back of the pack. Then Don, Curtis Palmer and I managed to take the Auble Road turn instead of the Nightingale Road turn and by the time we got back to where we left the course, we'd added another 40 minutes or so. Again, we were at the back of the pack.

I need to say a few words about Don's riding strength. He is an impressive rider all around. He left Curtis and me somewhere on County Route 611 before the second controle and in fairly short order passed the entire field on the way to finishing with the lead group. If he had wanted to and hadn't gotten lost, a time of well under 8 hours would have been possible for him.

[Tom Rosenbauer]

Christine Newman writes .... "Thanks for a great ride. I really enjoyed myself and had a great day on the bike. I think I was on some new roads (for me) which is always enjoyable.
I have been taking photos on the last several brevets, I uploaded Beyond Hope and will upload the others soon.

Here is the link:
http://picasaweb.google.com/canewmandvm ... 00KBrevet#


Chris