Le Retour du Stillwater 200k: Preliminary Results & Ride Report

Preliminary results for the Dec. 4 Le Retour du Stillwater 200k have been posted at:

http://users.rcn.com/trosenbauer/PA200k_Results101204.pdf

... please let me know of any corrections or other issues.  Results will be sent to RUSA later this week, and then become final, pending RUSA approval.

Temperatures at the start were around 28F.  The "Mostly Sunny" weather forecast did not materialize..instead, it was a decidedly mostly cloudy day, with a brisk northwest wind making the mid 30F's feel much chillier.  But the few times the sun manage to poke through the clouds was very welcome.  And for the 3rd year in a row, we had some snow for the December event -- although the brief snow showers were hardly comparable to the epic all-day snow storm from last December:
http://www.njrando.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=443#p1451

28 of the 28 starters made it around the course within the time limit, for another 100% completion ... congratulations to all the riders, for this excellent result.  Depending upon how many finishers the LA region had for their December 200k dart, the PA region just might nip them and move into 7th place in RUSA points:
http://www.rusa.org/points.html
At any rate, the 1000+ RUSA points racked up by Eastern PA riders is an excellent result, and a milestone that only a handful of regions reach -- well done, and thanks for being a part of this success!

Of note, Ron and Barbara Anderson completed another R-12 -- well done!  Alan Blanchette also officially completed an R-12, although he actually completed rides for 13 months in a row.  His first event was a permanent last December, that was not officially recognized, due to a misplaced brevet card.

Also of note, Kieran White completed his first Eastern PA brevet and John Silkowski completed his very first brevet, ever.  In doing so, John proved once again, that being a strong, fast rider helps compensate for other shortcomings, including no cue sheet and flat lander gears!  John was highly motivated to mash those big gears up the many short, steep climbs, in order to hang with riding partners, Walt Pettigrew and Jon Levitt (who he counted on to lead the way).

George Metzler writes: "...I thoroughly enjoyed the ride today.  The route was well designed and the cue sheet was top notch. After the long (but gentle) climb up Tunnel Road, John Fuoco and I had a blast on the fast and scenic descent down Sweet Hollow Rd..."

Don Jagel writes: "...Thanks for putting together the brevet yesterday. The Stillwater route works just as well in the reverse direction.  The Pizzeria in Milford is a good controle in the reverse direction, allowing
for a good place to warm up and a quick replenishing of the fuel supplies before the final leg back to Portland.  There was even a brief snow flurry just to make it really feel like December...." 

Special thanks to Bill Olsen, for organizing the event and also to Jon Clamp, for leading the way with the sign-in sheets.

If you have any other comments, stories, or pictures to share, you can forward them to me.

This concludes the 2010 Eastern PA brevet season...validated brevet cards and a season recap will be going out in the mail over the coming weeks.  Happy holidays, and hope to see you clipping in again in 2011, for a busy PBP year of brevets. The 2011 brevet calender kicks off with the traditional PA Dutch 200k on 1-1-11, organized by Rick Carpenter.