Covered Bridges 200k Preride Report

The Covered Bridges 200K is back for a fourth edition as the 2025 PA Super Randonneur Series kicks off on Saturday, March 15.

A preride was completed on Saturday, March 1 by Pat Gaffney, Erik Wright and I [Kate Sparacio]. Erik and I rode together, while Pat rode ahead solo. We did not encounter any road closures or issues along the way, and the route was in good shape. The latest RWGPS route and cue sheets can be found HERE (dated 3/10/25) and the cue sheet is version 3. We encourage riders to use the ebrevet app to check in at the controls. Search for "ebrevet" by Chris Nadovich in the app store. Your brevet card will have a code to check into the app at the start. Then, you need to open the app at each control, hit “GPS Update” and check in at each control. You can close the app between controls and keep your phone in airplane mode if you prefer. This is not a tracking app - it just allows you to check and upload the time when you are at a control.

Those familiar with the route will notice that this year’s course features an updated route out of the city. Departing from the Chamounix Carriage House, riders will enjoy a peaceful ride along the Wissahickon Bike Trail followed by several miles of quiet suburban roads through Northwest Philadelphia before meeting back up with the classic route at the north end of Pennypack.

Gentle hills on the way to New Hope will help you warm up before the big climbs come. In New Hope, there is a Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts that open early enough (5:30am) for riders to take advantage of while passing through town & checking into the second control. Don’t stop for too long, as the brunch stop is only 20 miles away.

Leaving New Hope the route follows along the Delaware river and brings riders to the first real hills of the course.

Cabin Run Covered Bridge at mile 51.4

Brunch (including vegan options) will be provided at the Tinicum control by club RBA Chris Nadovich and volunteer Joe Ray.  Be sure to take advantage of the generously provided fuel! Following the control, riders will be on a very long stretch with limited resources and a LOT of climbing between miles 60-90. At the time of the preride, bathrooms were open and available at Tinicum. 

Shortly after brunch you will climb out of the river valley on the notorious Uhlerstown Hill Rd. This is the steepest climb on the route with a grade that reaches over 30%. There is a gate at the bottom that is possible to navigate without dismounting your bike. If you’re not already off your bike due to the oppressive grade at the top of the climb, you will most likely need to dismount anyway to navigate around the final gate. Now halfway through the ride, you only have a few more big hills and scenic descents before the bulk of the climbing is well behind you.

Erik going for a hike up Uhlerstown Road

The last control before the finish is Tabora Farm, where you’ll find all manner of baked goods and treats to fuel up on. An indoor bathroom at Tabora is unmarked and located behind the coffee counter, so you have to ask permission to use it. There are also outdoor bathrooms available around the side of the building.

On the way back into Philly riders will encounter some gently rolling hills and a stretch on the 202 Bike Trail. The most challenging parts of the route are now behind you, but the final miles definitely require patience at frequent traffic lights as you wind through the suburbs back towards the city.

Back at the Carriage House, volunteers and ride buddies will be waiting to welcome you and congratulate you on a big day. Be sure to stick around to wind down and recount your adventure over dinner, provided by the club.

This is a lovely route with no shortage of scenery and dynamic roads to enjoy along the way - have fun out there! Looking forward to seeing everyone on Saturday.

Internatioal Women's Day 107K Populaire Ride Report

A chilly, but pleasant, morning greeted the 66 starters this past Saturday for the International Women's Day 107K Populaire.  Temperatures rose to around 50 degrees as riders explored Philadelphia's Fairmount Park and the suburbs to the northwest. 

In all 58 riders and 3 preriders finished the ride in good time for a 92% completion rate.  Congratulations to all the finishers.  Preliminary results have been posted on the website.  Please review and let us know if something is not right.  Results will be submitted to RUSA after review and will become official once certified.  

The large starting field was a good mix of veterans and riders new to the sport.  This ride boasted 16 (!) freshly minted ronadonneurs!  Noah Abbot, Stephen Arrivello, Hala Asraf, David Bacher Hicks, Christopher Costes, Bing Dai, Sayantan Kahn, Bella Kuhl, Andrew Maloney, Peter McLoone, Erik Orvik, Tracey Sikora, Malissa Sullivan, Michelle Sun, Emma Trallon, and Olivia Walling all posted strong finishes.  Well done and congratulations to you all.  

The ride also served as a fundraiser for Little Bellas, a mentorship program that gets your women and girls on bikes. 100% of the proceeds from this ride was donated to Little Bellas. Each rider's entry fee earned them a sweepstakes ticket, which were drawn at the finish. With items donated form members of the community and beyond sweepstakes winners receive prizes that ranged from bike tune-ups and haircuts to art work and acupuncture. In all, through entry fees and sweepstakes ticket sales, we raised over $720.00 for the organization.  Thank you to all who supported.

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Ben Keenan writes -

Thanks a million to Pat, Cece, Ello and everyone else for a great day and honoring International Women’s Day.  It was a perfect beginning to a new season.   As Pat said, hope to see everyone down the road! ______________________________________________________________________________________________

 The Pennsylvania Super Randonneur Series starts this weekend with the Covered Bridges 200K starting at the Chamounix Carriage House. Information about all the events in the series can be found on the PA Rando website.

International Women's Day 107K Populaire Preride Notes

Prerides of the International Women's Day 107K Populaire were completed by Pat & Cecily Gaffney and Ello Shertzer.  The latest cue sheet is Version 12 and the RWGPS file was last modified 2025-03-2 19:44:03 EST.  RWGPS file and cue sheet can be found here

The populaire route is a tour of Fairmont Park landmarks, with a loop out to the suburbs, including rural Evansburg State Park and the interesting town of Ambler. You will visit Laurel Hill Cemetary, Strawberry Mansion, and more.

Course Notes 

The course is in good shape with no major issues or rough patches.  Though there are a few things to watch out for:

There is a large metal plate right at the point you will turn onto the Wissahickon bike trail at mile 5.4, please be careful.

The turn at mile 57.4 is tricky. You make a right at the traffic light at Leverington then an immediate left at High St before the bridge. This is what it looks like:

 On the return to Center City and the finish control you will again pass by the Joan of Arc Statue and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.  As you round the museum your GPS may tell to stay to the right and head towrads the Spring Garden Street Bridge, as you did at the start.  Don't listen to it.  To go the finish you want to head left around the traffic circle.  Please be mindful of traffic in the circle.

 EBrevet

We encourage riders to use the ebrevet app to check in at the controls. Search for "ebrevet" by Chris Nadovich in the app store. Your brevet card will have a code to check into the app at the start. Then, you need to open the app at each control, hit “GPS Update” and check in at each control. You can close the app between controls and keep your phone in airplane mode if you prefer. This is not a tracking app - it just allows you to check and upload the time when you are at a control.

Finish Control 

The finish control is the Pennsylvania Convention Center, where the Philadelphia Bike Expo will be in full swing.  There will be free & secure bike valet on the ground floor if you would like to go peruse the expo after your ride.  The area near the bike valet is also where the sweepstakes prizes will be drawn and handed out.  Each registered rider will receive a sweepstakes ticket with their brevet card at the start. Prizes will be awarded at 3:45.  Additional information can be found at the event webpage here.

Looking forward to seeing everyone on Saturday!

Stillwater 200K Ride Report

It was cold of course -- staying in the 30s all day -- and the strong wind  created extra challenge, but the good news was that the drizzle late Friday was not frozen into black ice when riders clipped in at dawn. It was above freezing, about 38F, at the start. Although the temperature fell all day, when it reached freezing (at around 5PM) the roads were mostly dry and the lanternes rouges arrived safely. During the bulk of the day, the sunshine and beautiful countryside make it all fairly pleasant. 

A good 16 of 17 who clipped in for the brevet finished within the time limit (94%). 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. 

Newly minted randonneurs, Michael Burns and Scott Holjes, had solid finishes --  it's great to see new riders showing up for the Winter brevets. These cats obviously have what it takes to be tough randonneurs. Welcome to our sport!  

On the veteran end of the spectrum, first finisher Jim Vreeland looked strong as he prepares for his fifth  Iditarod Trail Invitational, a 350 mile race in Alaska later this month.  Prerider  Chris Newman and day-of finisher Nigel Greene accumulated early season miles as they train for London Edinburgh London.  Chris Newman was also the finish control volunteer, thanks!

With this 200K finish, Mike Riley completed his very first R-12. I believe the R-12 is one of the more difficult randonneuring awards to achieve, as it requires consistent commitment over a long period. Chapeau Mike and ride on to R-24!

The Stillwater 200K is one of the most popular PA Rando routes. This course has been used for an official 200K brevet sixteen times since 2011. It was invented by Tom Rosenbauer and is one of several brevets exploring the Great Meadow region of NJ, in and around the Lackawanna Cutoff earthworks and bridges.

Mac Vergara writes...

Chris, thank you for organizing yesterday’s brevet, which as an absolutely beautiful route, even in the dead of winter.

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In March the Pennsylvania randonneuring 2025 season begins in earnest with two great events.

The International Women's Day 107K  Populaire  on March 8th starts at the Joan of Arc stature near the Art Museum and this year has an exciting finish at the Philadelphia Bike Expo.  100% of the entry fees for this event will go towards fundraising for Little Bellas, a mentorship program that gets girls on bikes. 

The Pennsylvania Super Randonneur Series starts March 15th with the Covered Bridges 200K start/finishing at Chamounix. 

Hope to see you all at one or both of these great events.

Hope to New Hope 200K Ride Report

A cold and windy day. But not that cold. It was almost above freezing  at times.  The sun almost came out. And there was no snow. Well, not much snow. So, basically, a nice day by Hope 2 New Hope standards. 

The brevet starts just before dawn. Brrrrr!

Seven out of seven riders, including one prerider, all made it back to the warmth of Frank's Trattoria having bested the gods of winter, for a 100% finish rate.  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. 

Start volunteer and prerider Bob Dye made sure everyone knew what to expect.  Finish volunteer Nigel Greene welcomed the finishers with warm pizza. 

 

RBA Emeritus Tom Rosenbauer writes...

I was pleased to see that everyone made it to the finish in good time -- chapeau to the audacious randonneurs that persisted in such frigid riding conditions.  And even more impressively, all managed to resist the siren call of stopping as they passed their cars at the halfway point.

 

First finisher (by like 3 hours!) Chris Maglieri had enough extra time to snap some photos. 

 

Hope to New Hope 200K Pre Ride Notes

The course was pre-ridden by Bob Dye on 1 January.  The latest cue sheet is VERSION 1, and the RWGPS file was last modified on 2024-12-31 13:59:20 EST. RWGPS file and cue sheets can be found here. 

Prerider Bob Dye writes...

New Year's Day was a good day for the Hope to New Hope 200k pre-ride. The roads are mostly in great shape with many wide and smooth shoulders.   This is a good route for a winter-time ride although there was no ice or  snow seen anywhere. There was a cause for concern just after mile 84 with two sinkholes in the shoulder. These look like bottomless potholes and  there was no warning near them. Also, high winds had left some debris on the road which hopefully will be gone by Saturday. The restrooms at Bulls Island (miles 79 and 94) were open and heated.

The route passes through the flashing-light intersection of Greenwich St and Main St  twice - first at mile 2.3 and then at 48.5. It's a left turn (north) the first time at the flashing light and a right turn (south) later. This may confuse your GPS. Mine was totally flummoxed and directed me the wrong way (which I ignored) and  then insisted on a U-turn for the next 5-10 miles. Be ready to disobey! 

Start time Saturday is 6AM Saturday.  I'm looking forward to seeing you then.

Welsh Tract Wander 200k & Holiday Soirée Report

On Saturday, December 7, the Pennsylvania Randonneurs gathered for their 2024 grand finale, featuring a 200K brevet and a festive holiday soirée. Both events were organized and hosted by the ever-gracious Iwan Barankay.

Organizer Iwan Barankay gives final instructions before the start (photo by Mike Riley)

Ride Participation and Results

The Welsh Tract Wander 200K saw 33 participants at the start, with 29 riders (including 3 pre-riders) successfully finishing the course—a solid 88% completion rate. Preliminary results have been posted to the website for review. If you spot any discrepancies, please let us know before results are submitted to RUSA for final verification.

Ben Keenan and Jakub Piven make their way through the city (photo by Matt McCloone) 

Chilly Morning Start

The day began at Café chez Iwan, where riders gathered on a frosty morning to enjoy donuts, slices of stollen, and camaraderie. With winter temperatures arriving suddenly in the Philadelphia region, gear strategy became a hot topic of discussion. Riders shared their approaches to cold-weather layering, with some later admitting they overdressed, leading to challenges with sweat and chills. Overall, though, most managed to stay warm throughout the ride.

Daniel Oh won the Most Visible Rider Award

Congratulations to First-Time Finishers

Special kudos to Tibor Barankay (age 17!), Katie Bishop, Stacie Brunner, and Joe Doherty, who completed their first brevets. Tackling a challenging ride like this in winter conditions is no small feat and earns them extra respect in the randonneuring community. 

Riders stick together as they make their way out of Center City (photo by Matt McCloone)

A time-proven strategy to finish a tough route in adverse conditions is to team up with a fellow rider. This helped Simona Dwass and Stacie Brunner as well as Nigel Greene and George Swain to complete the brevet. Bravo!

Weather and Route Highlights

As the day progressed, temperatures crept above freezing, but riders faced stiff winds in the open countryside west of Cochranville. Fortunately, the route turned north and east after that stretch, sparing riders a full day of headwinds. Riders knew the real milestone was reaching Phoenixville around mile 100, where the remainder of the ride promised an easier spin along the Schuylkill River Trail (SRT).

Festive Finish

Most riders finished after nightfall but were welcomed back warmly to Café chez Iwan for the end-of-year holiday soirée. Finishers and friends shared stories of their day over drinks, snacks, and a hearty vegan chili, enjoying the chance to relax after a chilly but rewarding adventure.

Ride finisher Nova Patch and volunteer extraordinaire Ulli Barankay

A Look Back at 2024

This event capped a productive and memorable year for the Pennsylvania Randonneurs. The 2024 calendar included a populaire (154K), eleven 200Ks, an SR series (200K, 300K, 400K, & 600K), and a grand brevet (1234K). Thank you to everyone who participated or volunteered—you made this year a success.

Tracey Hinder proudly displays her SR Series medals (photo by Iwan Barankay)

During the post-ride soiree, RBA Chris Nadovich presented SR Series finishers with their medals, which were beautifully arranged on a commemorative plaque celebrating their achievement. Michael Evangelista actually earned his PA SR Series by completing this 200K. Congratulations to all SR Series finishers for their dedication and hard work throughout the year!

Thank You to the Volunteers

A heartfelt thank you to everyone who contributed to making this event a success. Tibor and Iwan Barankay, along with Brad Layman, completed a pre-ride to ensure the new route was ready and safe for the day. Iwan and his wife Ulli went above and beyond by graciously opening their home to the club for the entire event, providing a warm and welcoming atmosphere. Chris Nadovich and George Retseck were on hand to greet finishers and make the end of the ride feel celebratory.

Special thanks also go to the friends who joined us at the soirée to support the riders and contribute to the festive spirit, even if they couldn’t ride that day. Your presence and contributions are deeply appreciated!

Riders shared stories and warmed up with vegan chili at Cafe chez Iwan

Ben Keenan writes:

This ride was a certifiable butt freezer (which somehow made it all the better). If anyone heard me on the course whining and complaining and/or inventing new suggested names for “Pumpkin Hill,”  I hereby (from the warmth of my office) retract the comments!  Thanks to everyone that shared the miles, especially those that traveled to be there.  Special thanks to Brad for another thoughtfully designed and beautiful course and to Iwan for another great soiree and vegan stew (five stars from the team of reviewers!).  Everyone enjoy the holidays and hope to see you on a ride soon!

George Swain writes:

Thanks again for hosting a great event at your place. I loved the ride - please pass that along to Brad - and the party was great fun. Looking forward to seeing you down the road. I'll definitely be back for more PA Rando rides in 2025.

Mike Riley writes:

Thank you for organizing a fantastic ride.  See you in January. 

Looking Ahead to 2025

The new year kicks off with a 200K brevet on January 4, 2025. Details are available on the club website, and registration is now open for this ride, as well as the February brevet. The full 2025 ride calendar has also been posted, so mark your dates!

Thank you for a fantastic year, and we’ll see you on the road in 2025!