Covered Bridges 200K Ride Report

The 24 hour postponement to avoid the monsoon on Saturday was definitely the right move.  There were some issues in the morning as the dip in temperature froze some of the puddles, but we successfully dodged a truly miserable day. Of the 76 registered, 61 actually rode. Had the event started on Saturday, it's unlikely that more than 6 would have ridden.  Of the 61 who clipped in for the brevet, 58 finished in good time (95%).  This is an excellent finish rate for a course that is "sneaky difficult". Congratulations and well done to all. Preliminary results have been posted on the website.  Please review the results and let us know if something is not quite right.  The results will be submitted to RUSA after review and will become official once certified.  

Not raining.

 

At least a week out we saw that the weather forecast was going to be problematic for Saturday. The RBA kept hoping the forecast would improve, but it never did. It just got worse. On Friday RBA Emeritus Tom Rosenbauer commented...

I think we may have gone beyond “character building” conditions and we now are looking at “epic”.

By then the need for a postponement was clear to everyone, but PA Rando "luxury" brevets are tricky to reschedule. As we offer both food and lodging with the event, and volunteers have time constraints, it's hard to "just change the date". Fortunately, the various logistical gears and levers were possible to re-engineer for a Sunday event. That and the volunteer workforce found a way to adapt.

Speaking of volunteers, a massive thanks goes to Iwan Barankay for handling both the start and finish as organizer. Once again, a Philly-based PA Rando event is made possible by Iwan's generosity with his time.  Iwan,  you always seem to be stepping-up when nobody else does.  

Other people who helped Iwan at Chamounix include:

• Ben Keenan: breakfast help at start, finish control
• Pat Gaffney: breakfast help and dinner help
• Brad Layman: Costco run
  
• Soph Lofaso: breakfast help (cooked oats without causing gaffneysian mess!)
• George "grandpa" Metzler: Gear delivery 
• Ryan Stanis: Chamounix concierge on Saturday night
• Everybody: really helped keeping the space neat and clean minimizing work for organizers.       
  

The brunch control at Tinicum was staffed by Chris Nadovich and Joe Ray, along with special guest star Bill Olsen who plied us with freeze dried Milk Dud "meatballs".

There were several newly minted randonneurs. Perhaps a record number! Noah Cason, Tim Crouch, Molly Gleeson, Carrie Grief, Karen Jablonski, Lucio Palazzo, Jakub Piven, Paul Schack,  Kevin Sohnly, Arrick Underhill, and Mark Wilson all completed their first brevet (did I miss anyone?) Welcome to randonneuring!

Once again, we were able to rent the Chamounix Carriage House for the club offering a wonderful space for riders to stay the night before and after the ride and to have a comfortable space to gather in after a long, hilly brevet. Ten riders from Brooklyn and Manhattan arrived Saturday (instead of Friday) to stay at the Carriage House.  

Despite the vastly improved weather on Sunday, it was still difficult to ride. Temperatures had dipped into the high 20's at the 6:30 AM start time, and runoff from the previous day's flooding froze into black ice on some road surfaces.  

Frozen runoff made riding treacherous in the morning

 

The ice caused at least three riders to crash. These wrecks were at slow speed, so there were no serious injuries -- other than to Ken Cappel's rim which was bent beyond rideability and Ken was forced to DNF. Sorry about your run of bad luck on PA brevets, Ken. 

Things might have been a lot worse at the black ice had Pat Gaffney, Noah Cason, and Nick Manta not stopped to warn the groups of riders as they came through.  Thank you Pat, Noah, and Nick. 

Later in the day the sun rose high in the clear sky and warmed things up. It became a fine day to ride a bike. 

There was some concern that there would be downed trees, power lines, and flooded roads in the aftermath of Saturday's rain, but for the most part roads were found to be in reasonable shape. There was kind've a close call with Tohickon creek near the Cabin Run covered bridge, the creek being almost exactly at road level. Fortunately, it wasn't quite over the road. 

 

One of the great things about randonneuring is how riders congratulate and acknowledge each other's accomplishment with little regard for the finish time. This especially includes a lanterne rouge who rolls in DFL.  In this case, the honor fell on Daniel Oh. It should be noted that Dan stopped for some time to render assistance to Ken Cappel. Thank you Dan!

Lanterne Rouge Daniel Oh is greeted at Chamounix

 CJ Arayata writes...

THANK YOU to both Iwan for doing all of the things that needed to be done, and to Chris for the faith in the Philadelphia brevets and a great sausage-egg-potato-pepper lunch at Tinicum! For real, I enjoyed that WAY more than the french-toast-with-bacon situation that was served last time. It felt good to dust off the RUSA number and use eBrevet for the first time (would recommend!), and also great to see record-breaking registration and a lot of new faces.

Besides the OG PA 200k, this may be one of the hardest PA courses I have ridden! The farther distance between controles coupled with very concentrated climbing in the middle left me in a calorie deficit for most of the day. The nice thing about riding with friends is that everyone can lift each other out of dark periods with camaraderie, positive vibes, and snack-sharing! Shout out to my riding companions Zack R., Rob D., and Mike R., and especially to Rob for the delicious brown-rice-and-Bragg's rice cakes and tuna sandwich at Tabora. It was great to enjoy a tailwind for the last stretch and especially wonderful to hang at the finish, meet new folks, and celebrate people's first brevet completions. I also wanted to give a special shout-out to Nicole and Soph for rallying an ever-growing Brooklyn squad to (hopefully) initiate into the dark side that is the PA Super Randonneur series! Thanks again to all of the volunteers, and until next time...  

Pat Gaffney writes...

Thanks to you, Brad, Joe, Chris and Ben for all the hard work on the ride this weekend. While I was mentally prepared for a tough slog through the rain on Saturday, I was much more pleased with a sunny Sunday ride. Thanks for making the switch. The icy patches made the first thirty or so miles interesting and the tailwind on the way back made for a nice afternoon. Thanks again, see you at the 300.

Collected photos here.

Some Strava Links.

• Nick Rogoff                                                                     
• Ross Parfetti                                                                   
• Maria Thompson                                                                  
• Chris Kline                                                                     
• Best sunglasses: Zachary Rachell                                                
• Robert dePaolis 
• Greg Lang 
• Matthew Willet                              

Join us again next month, 20 April, at Chamounix Carriage House for the next event in our Super Randonneur series, the Water and Wind 300K. This event follows the classic PA rando route to Blue Mountain, heading up through Delaware Water Gap and back through Wind Gap. 

Never rode a 300K? Why not? They really aren't that much different than a 200K. It's just a 200K plus another 100K. You have successfully ridden a 200K, right? And you know you can ride a measly100K. Why not give the 300K a go? You'll do fine! 

Information and online registration can be found on the event info website.

***UPDATE (Postponement): Covered Bridges 200K Pre-Ride Course Notes

The event has been postponed by 24 hours due to forecasted heavy rain and potential flooding. The ride will begin at 6:30am on Sunday 24 March. See the email from Iwan for more details.

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The Covered Bridges 200K is back for a third edition as the 2024 PA Super Randonneur Series kicks off. We are very excited to have 76 riders registered for the brevet, making it our largest-ever event in PA Randonneur history! We welcome a number of riders who are new to the club and/or riding first brevets. Below is a report compiled after three club volunteers completed a "pre-ride" of the route.

Van Sandt Covered Bridge, the first of eight bridges

George Metzler, Joe Ray, and I [Brad Layman] completed our pre-ride on Saturday 16 March. Joe and I rode together, while George started about an hour earlier and rode solo. We did not encounter any road closures along the route. The latest cue sheet is Version 2 and the latest RWGPS route was updated on 2024-03-18 12:59:05 EST.

The route begins from the Chamounix Carriage House Hostel and follows suburban roads out of the city. On the way to New Hope, gently rolling hills will help riders warm up before the big hills. The second control is any business in the town of New Hope. The New Hope Ferry Market on the righthand side of Main Street has public bathrooms (open at 8am) and a coffee shop (open at 9am). There is also a Starbucks and Dunkin in the center of town (both open at 5:30am). Sadly, the beloved French bakery, C’est La Vie, permanently closed last year. Keep in mind that there is a brunch provided by the club about 20 miles later. Since the pre-riders miss out on the club brunch, we stopped at the Lumberville General Store for a nice breakfast (about 6 miles past New Hope).

Joe Ray passes the Stover-Myers Mill next to Tohickon Creek

After moving on from New Hope, the route follows the Delaware River and reaches the heart of the course, which means hills. The first is Tohickon Hill, followed by a control at Cabin Run Covered Bridge. Enjoy the reward of climbing with some nice descents on beautiful roads like Hollow Horn and Dark Hollow.

Riders will later emerge from the hills next to the river again where the club brunch is located in Tinicum Park. Club RBA Chris Nadovich and Joe Ray will be there serving food and drinks (including a vegan option). Unfortunately the park bathrooms are not available at this time of year.

From Tinicum Park, riders can see the wall-like ridge at the edge of the river valley. Shortly after brunch, riders will be heading up that ridge on the notorious Uhlerstown Hill Rd. This climb is the steepest of the route, with a gradient that reaches over 30%. There is a gate at the bottom and another at the top. I was able to ride around the first gate without dismounting thanks to someone who did some brush clearing recently. The climb doesn’t pick up for a little bit so it is possible to remount if you walk around the first gate. We all had to dismount for the gate at the top. Riders get a short respite after the climb before it picks up again on Perry Auger Rd. There is a reward of a fun descent on Kintner Hill Rd.

Gate at the bottom of Uhlerstown Hill

Ealer Hill Rd and the PAR classic Buckwampum Rd are the next big hills. Another scenic descent on Stifer Valley Rd will lead riders to the control at Knechts Covered Bridge. At this point, the most challenging hills are behind but there are some rollers on the way back to Philly. The last control before the finish is at Tabora Farm, widely known by riders in the Philly region for their baked goods. A bathroom at Tabora is unmarked and located behind the coffee counter, so you have to ask permission to use it.

Knechts Covered Bridge

This is a difficult route due to the steep hills in the middle, particularly between miles 45 and 70. None of them are long, but they are steep enough to provide a real challenge. It can also be tempting to think the last 50 miles will be an easy coast back to the city. The rolling hills and occasional waits at traffic lights can throw off your rhythm. The waits at the intersections along the 202 trail can be especially frustrating. You will probably have more fun if you don't aim for a personal best finish time on this route. Eat and drink throughout the ride, be prepared with the right gearing including a 1:1 ratio, don’t attack early in the ride, and don’t be ashamed to walk a steep section like Uhlerstown. Approach each covered bridge with caution; they are often at the bottom of hills, and the bridge surfaces are uneven and slippery, and some have wide gaps between boards.

RUSA rules (Article 10) state that riders must use a headlight and taillight in steady mode when riding before sunrise or after sunset and in conditions of limited visibility. Riders must also have reflective vests and ankle straps. Though we might have plenty of light from morning twilight, the ride officially begins about 25 minutes before sunrise. There is also a possibility that riders will finish after sunset, as well as the possibility of limited visibility if it rains. Therefore all riders will be checked at the start for functioning lights, reflective vests, and ankle straps.

Riders using the eBrevet app will be provided with a start code at check-in. Be sure to press the “Update GPS” button in the top left corner of the app before checking in to each control on the app. This will work even if the phone’s data is turned off. (Read more about the eBrevet app here.) Riders who forget to check in at a control are subject to disqualification. Riders also have the option of using the Brevet card to check in at controls. ALL riders must keep their brevet card with them throughout the ride, whether using the app or card for check-ins.

Chamounix Carriage House

We discourage you from coming by car. Ride to the start or use public transportation. If you are driving to the event, please be sure to read the parking details on the event page: "We believe that Chamounix is a generally safe place that is convenient and comfortable, but there have been instances of petty theft in the area. Do not leave valuables in your car. There should be nothing visible that might tempt thieves. If you must leave clothes and minor gear someplace during the event, it would be best to leave these inside the Carriage House, but please don't leave anything of great value. Thank you for your understanding." 

For those coming by train from New York and staying until Sunday, please note that the earliest train you can take back to New York is leaving Philadelphia 30th Street Station at 9:35am. A new rule exists that you can't take a bike on the train on Sundays arriving in New York between 9-12am. See schedule here: https://content.njtransit.com/sites/default/files/NEC-WKND-111223.pdf

Lastly, have fun, ride with friends, make some new ones, enjoy the scenery and treats along the way, and be safe. And plan to stick around afterwards at Chamounix for dinner and to share tales of your adventure.

Brad Layman

Co-organizer

Iwan Barankay

Co-organizer

Chris Nadovich

Regional Brevet Administrator