June 2011 Events

*** Update #1 (6/20) ***
The 600k cuesheet has been updated to draft 3, dated 6/20/11.  Some minor corrections have been made, along with a small route tweak, all based on Don Jagels recent volunteer preride which he completed last Friday.  Don sent me the following volunteer preride report:

"Thanks for putting together the 600K route.  I found it to be quite enjoyable.  The cue sheet was excellent (as always).  The weather Thursday (6/16) and Friday (6/17) was just about perfect; partly to mostly cloudy with temperatures in the mid 70's.  About 5 miles before I got back to the hostel on Thursday night the sky opened up and I got a brief soaking.  Upon arriving back at the hostel I hunkered down hoping the rain would stop and took a 1.5 hour nap before starting out again around 01:40.  It did rain lightly on and off for the remainder of the night, but cleared out around sunrise.

Below are several items I noted along my travels:

- Route 378 (approx. mile 11) is being resurfaced (Yeah!!).  When I went through the lanes were in various stages of completion.  If they are not completed by 6/25, there may be some uneven pavement to be aware of, particularly if riding quickly in a group near the start of the ride.

-  The windy stretch of road with the scenic overlooks through Hawk's Nest is under construction.  The road is a single lane controlled by a temporary traffic light.  You may have to move quickly through the construction zone.

-  Along Route 209, at mile 173.1, the road takes a slight detour onto Egypt Mills Road for approximately 0.9 miles.  I think this detour has been there for a while.  Egypt Mills Road parallels close to Rt. 209, so no one should be alarmed.

-  Perkiomen Road, between mile 352.0 and 354.8 is scheduled to be tar & chipped during the week of 6/20, so there may be loose gravel.

-  The bridge on Swamp Creek Road (mile 357.3) is closed for construction, but is still passable by bike.

-  Rockhill Road (mile 370.4) was recently tar & chipped, so loose gravel may still be present.

Two very minor items noted on the cue sheet.  (1) at mile 20.3 Macada Rd is misspelled (only has a single "a"), and (2) at mile 32.9 "Wpt72" seems to be an unnecessary cue.

Also, as an alternative to Buckwampum Road, it is possible to continue on Gallows Hill Road, then take the next right onto Hunter Road.  Turn left onto 412 (SS), and quick right onto School Road.  Then turn left at SS onto Maple Road and continue as before.  This route is approximately 0.68 miles shorter than the Buckwampum route, skips the abrupt hill, and IMO provides a safer crossing of Route 412.  I drove through Hunter Road and School Road yesterday and it seemed to me like a good route.

I did like revised variation of taking Deerwood Lane out to 563 on the return to the hostel. Thanks again for putting together a great course."

- Don Jagel


*** Original Post ***
PA600k (June 25)
This is essentially the same course run in May as part of the Brevet Week series.  However, the start/finish and overnight controles will be the Weisel Hostel.  Also there are a couple of route tweaks in response to some good feedback from Eric Keller, who finished the May event and writes: "I would like it if you would take us the back way from Sawmill road to the hostel, skipping Old Bethlehem.  I think Old Bethlehem is a little too scary between the hours of about 6:00 pm to 3:00 am. ... The only part of the 600k route that gives me heartburn is the section on 191 between Cherry and 447.   Lots of close passing, high speed differential, debris everywhere and deep holes in the tiny shoulders...."  In addition to yet another route tweak from Reigelsville to the hostel, a change has been made to get you off Rt 191 after 0.2 miles onto a much quieter side road.  But as you know, those quiet back roads often come with a "high price."

Don Jagel will be checking out the course this weekend (June 11-12) with a volunteer preride.  Since much of the course has already been recently ridden, I don't expect too many changes to the posted cuesheet, however, any corrections or clarification would be posted some time the following week.

New Holland 200k (June 26)
The June R-12 event will start on Sunday morning, and will run concurrently with Day 2 of the 600k.  The course follows the final 200k loop of the 600k.  Food will be available at the start and the finish. Due to the extra expense of the meals and renting out the hostel, the registration fee will be $20 for this event.

PA Members can join the roster for either the 600k or 200k by sending me an e-mail.

RAAM 2011
Local Eastern PA member George Metzler will be crewing for Mark Pattinson.  Andrew Mead and your's truly, have signed on to help chronical Mark's RAAM campaign as blog contributors.  You can follow along at this link:
http://markpattinson.com
The action starts this Wednesday, June 15th.

-Tom Rosenbauer
Eastern PA RBA