Covered Bridges 200K Ride Report

On Saturday, March 15, The 2025 SR Series kicked off from the Chamounix Carriage House in Philadelphia. Of the 59 who clipped in, 52 finished in good time for an 88% completion rate. Preliminary results have been posted. 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.

This event boasted 13 newly minted randonneurs who completed their first 200K! Nick Asby, Anna Balchunas, Bing Dai, Anthony DiNolfo, Peter Eby, Michael Garrity, Aram Kaplanian, Sayantan Khan, Bill Lugg, Andrew Maloney, Greg Marchand, Tracey Sikora, and Julia Townsend. Well done and WELCOME! Hope to see you at future events. 

First finisher, 17 year old Tibor Barankay, rolled in at an impressive 8hr 26m time, setting a new course record for the Covered Bridges 200K. A truly outstanding feat for such a challenging ride. Congrats, Tibor!

 

In the following hours, dozens of riders arrived back at the hostel in good spirits after a big day. Lanterne rouge, Dan Oh, provided excitement right up to the last minute in an epic finish by sprinting in with barely two minutes to spare before the cutoff time. Fellow riders stuck around for a warm welcome. 

 

Thank you to the volunteers who ensured the event ran smoothly and the riders were well fed! Pat Gaffney, Chris Nadovich, Joe Ray, Kalten Walter and Erik Wright.

Sayantan Khan writes...

I really appreciate the potatoes and sausage at the manned control point. A ride like this needs to be sustained by real food, and the potatoes kept me going for the second half of the course. 

Nigel Greene writes...

Huge thank you to the organizers and volunteers for putting on this memorable event! This was my first time on this route and it was both a challenge and a pleasure. Lots of new roads intersecting with familiar ones coupled with the covered bridges made for a scenic ride. Hot food and coffee at the Tinicum control was just what was needed to make the next section of relentless climbing bearable. Finally, I was happy to see the large turnout! PA Randonneurs has a promising future! 

Amy Lippe writes...

I just want to say thank you to all the organizers and volunteers! It was cold out there, so I was very grateful for the friendly faces and warm food at the Tinicum Control. 

Brad Layman writes..

Thank you, Kate, Erik, Pat, Chris, and Joe! Your support throughout the day was fantastic. To me, the Uhlerstown climb epitomizes this kickoff ride of the PA SR Series—not the longest, but steep enough to push the legs to their limit. Looking forward to seeing everyone at the 300 next month. 

Ben Keenan writes...

Thanks Kate, Erik, Joe, Pat and Chris for another excellent rendition of this ride.  The course looked like winter but felt like spring, which is kind of like having hope as a tailwind. From start to finish, first to last, there were so many excellent riders and rides on the day, it made it really fun to be out there.  Special mention to Tibor Barankay (a ride for the ages) and Daniel Oh (one of the great finishes ever).  Thanks everyone and see you down the road!

Greg Marchand writes...

A beautiful day for my first brevet. Me and Scott H. zoomed to New Hope and I was feeling pretty great. We picked up two or three riders and had a good pace up river road for a while until we hit the first of several challenging hills in upper bucks. At this point I knew I wouldn’t see Scott again until the Tinicum control but was fortunate enough to make a new friend (Nick) who stuck with me until the lunch control. From then on it was a struggle, I won’t lie, the hills are no joke and by control 4 (mile 73-74) the self doubt was really creeping in. Luckily Nick, Bill, and a couple other riders gave me confidence and the feeling of not being alone out there gave me a boost. Control 5 was a welcomed rest and food stop, and also the area I grew up. It was a surreal feeling to ride past the neighborhood I learned to ride a bike in as a kid while pushing towards the 100 mile mark. From then on I was pretty much out of my mind, I was dealing with a frustrating bib issue and a Wahoo that was starting to act a little weird and laggy. At this point me and Nick decided we were finishing no matter what and we’d get each other there regardless of time. We made it to the SRT a little before 7:00 PM and out of nowhere Andy S. and his group zoomed up to us and gave us a wonderful pace line and pulled us Manayunk before breaking off a little. I watched there lights climbing up to Chamounix and saw Nick not far behind me, I knew we’d make it at that point and the emotion really kicked in. Waiting to hand in my card I could barely hold back tears, I get why people do this and I’m all in. Thanks again to all the volunteers and all the riders I met along the way, I can’t wait for more.  

Joey Doubek writes...

The sun came out for all of three minutes. Such a great ride! Thanks again for organizing!

Olivia Walling writes...

I did want to say that I really enjoyed my fellow randos. Everyone was supportive and fun, and I've learned now that the big insulated gloves are necessary for in early spring early start! :)

 The Eastern PA Super Randonneur Series continues next month with the Water and Wind 300K.  But even more fun is the Eastern PA Fleche, a unique randonneuring 360K 24 hr event where you get to pick the course!