Fall Neo Classics 154/200K Course Notes

The latest Cue Sheet for the 200 K is VERSION 4, and the latest RWGPS was last modified 2024-10-10 19:20:28 EDT.  

The latest Cue Sheet for the 154 K is VERSION 3, and the latest RWGPS was last modified 2024-10-8 15:53:03 EDT.  

 NIGHT RIDING  may be required for many people on the 200K. You must have full reflective gear (vest, ankle bands) and adequate head/tail lights firmly attached to the bike. Backup lights are strongly recommended.  Riders without adequate lighting and reflectivity will not be allowed to start.

Course Notes

This course is a classic for a reason: classic scenery, classic landmarks, and plenty of classic climbs. Ho boy, are there climbs. I do think this course is the hardest 200K on our schedule.  I think this course is also one of the prettiest. So many classic views. I think I could see orange along the crest of the Mt Minsi ridge. Next week I'd expect a lot more Fall Color. It should be spectacular. 

The 154K is no easy ride either. In fact, if you choose this shorter route you will be treated to some special "bonus climbs" that the 200K riders will not tackle. 

The pavement on almost the entire route is excellent. I've never seen our Pennsylvania roads in such good shape. Smooth blacktop with crisp markings abound. It's a treat to ride. 

Except Coon Hollow Rd. They "improved" this formerly rutted bit of double track by dumping gravel on it. Gravel. Not 2A modified, with the firm grit, like they should have dumped, but clean gravel. I think it's 1B like they use for chip seal. It's pretty soft. I did OK on 38mm tires, and you probably would be OK on 28mm tires if you never stop peddling. If you are not confident in your soft gravel skills, I recommend walking Coon Hollow.

Lake Nokamixon

 

There also were a lot of creepy Halloween decorations. Giant skeletons are a thing this year, it seems. 

Please don't ride faster than your guardian angel.

PA Rando veterans will be familiar with most of the features in this course. Except in THIS version, we ride them all backwards. The climb up Fox Gap (200K only) is a lot easier this way, as is the Mountain View climb. On the other hand, the Wind Gap (200K) climb is a lot harder -- and annoying with traffic -- in this direction. 

With climbs come descents. There are several extended, steep, twisty descents. The biggest of these is the decent off the north side of Fox gap, but there are many others, some of which end in T intersections, some of which have vast sinkholes and collapsed guardrails. PLEASE DO NOT RIDE FASTER THAN YOUR GUARDIAN ANGEL. I'm not kidding. There have been some accidents descending on recent PA Rando brevets and I want the trend to stop. STFD! 

I think worst climb, safety wise, is the Wind Gap climb on the 200K. It's not _that_ hard, but there's considerable car traffic. Some of you will climb this in the dark. Oncoming headlights can be blinding. Be aware that the shoulder is limited in spots. Take your time. Stay focused. And if you feel unable to hold your line safely on the shoulder of a dark road, get off the bike and walk -- or just don't ride the 200K event!

The Columncil and Wind Gap controls (200K)  are untimed info controls, so there should be no reason to panic if you find yourself a few minutes past the cutoff at these. After Wind gap the course is mostly downhill. Even totally exhausted, you can easily make up 10-15 minutes on the clock over that segment into the finish -- AMHIK.

Enjoy the ride, and remember what I said about your guardian angel!  

Endless Mountains Liberty Bell Ride Report

The inaugural edition of the Endless Mountains Liberty Bell 1234K is now complete. Preliminary results have been posted to the website.  Please review the results and let me know if they align with your memory.  The results will be submitted to RUSA after review and will become official once certified.  

Ian and Ben on their way to the Liberty Bell

 

All 5 starters (2 preriders plus 3 day-of riders) finished the first ever Endless Mountains Liberty Bell 1234K, a 100% finish rate. These extraordinarily tough randonneurs  braved mountains, wind, cold, rain, and dark nights to finish this epic grand brevet. In fact, they crushed it -- or rather they CRACKED the EM Liberty Bell with excellent times, well under the limit.  Chapeau to these tough five. Bravo!

 

EMLB1234K finishers, left to right: 
Brad Layman, Ben Keenan,  Ian Flitcroft,  Patrick Gaffney,  Charlie Martin

Special accolades go do Ben Keenan who with this 1234K finish has earned the coveted PA Rando R-5000 award. Ben becomes the latest of only five riders who have achieved this honor, joining the likes of Jud Hand, Guy Harris, Bill Olsen, and Norm Smeal. The R-5000 award requires a PA 1200, 1000, 600, 400, 300, 200 and Fleche. Hooray Ben!

 

The massive volunteer effort to support the EMLB was  astonishing and much appreciated by the riders.  As organizer I was delighted and not a little humbled. Even though I tried to throttle back the volunteer effort when I knew there would be so few riders, volunteers ignored me and went out there anyway to help the small group in a million little ways. Volunteers gave up days of their personal time and drove hundreds of miles to support just three people. It was wonderful to see. Thank you all!

In alphabetical order, the main EMLB volunteers were.

• Ron Anderson [Post brevet beer] 
• James Bondra [Vestal Overnight] 
• Bill Fischer [Vestal Overnight] 
• Pat Gaffney [Philly Start/Finish and Preride] 
• Brad Layman [Philly Start/Finish and Preride] 
• Chris Nadovich [Organizer, Drop Bags, medals, and swag] 
• Joe Ray [On-route support Day 1] 
• George Retseck [Wool event jerseys]
  
• Steve and Susan Schoenfelder [Lewisburg Overnight] 
• Bill Slabonik [On-route support Day 2-4] 
• Len Zawodniak [On-route support Day 1-4] 

Please thank them when you see them. Big brevets can't happen without a core team of volunteers.  

It's also important to mention that the above list does not include many other supporters who offered to volunteer and were held in reserve. Thank you for offering, we need to take a rain check on your generosity. Next time we'll need you. 

Challenge Coin awarded to EMLB finishers

Ron Anderson writes...

Congratulations to all five finishers. And to Chris Nadovich and the PAR team of volunteers who made it happen. I can't believe this event will be run again next year. There are a limited number of opportunities for redemption in this life, and I think I see one on the horizon...

Ben Keenan writes...

Thanks Chris and all volunteers (Brad, Pat, Joe, Len, Bill and Steve) for organizing this event. While the conditions were challenging, the level of care and skill of the volunteers made it for me close to a masterpiece and example of what randonneuring is about. Day or night, a volunteer was there about every 60 miles (less than that in some of the toughest sections) with food, water and supplies. I can’t thank you all enough.

The course was magnificent, even in the rain. Time and again, rolling along a creek or river or down a valley, I was struck by how beautiful it was, pretty as a painting only better because on your bike you get to be part of it. To fellow riders Ian and Charlie, the courage and skill you showed managing a tough route was inspiring, many thanks.

Everyone keep riding and hope to see you out on the road soon!

 

 Charlie Martin writes...

Riders. We had 3 starters for the main ride. I quickly found Ben and Ian to be very capable riders, and I wasn't concerned about their ability to complete the ride despite the challenges we faced. Ian has been around RUSA since the beginning and I extracted lots of interesting anecdotes from him. He's from Georgia so we talked about the SR600 route down there and some of the Audax Atlanta riders we both know. Ben had lots to share about the Pennsylvania and Seattle areas, and I enjoyed chatting and riding with him for parts of days 1 and 3.

We both developed knee pain during the ride and finished it out with medication. I'm pretty sure my knee pain developed due to shifting my riding position after I started developing sores due to the constant wet riding conditions. My knee got worse throughout the ride and seems like it will take a good while to recover after getting home. Due to the difficulty of the ride and the individual challenges we had, everyone generally opted to ride at their own pace and keep making progress. I hung back to ride with people when they were close, but I rode the final day as the lanterne rouge. My time on and off the bike was generally efficient, yet I finished with only a few hours to spare. That speaks to the difficulty of the course and the challenges induced by the weather. I could have created a good deal more buffer if necessary, but it would have involved more and more serious quality of life sacrifices

Support. We had 11 volunteers (including 2 pre-riders who also provided support for the main ride), so riders were swimming in support (not just rainwater). The volunteers were very friendly and attentive to our needs. There was a volunteer waiting at nearly every control to expedite things, and usually we didn't need to go inside to buy anything. 4 separate volunteers provided miscellaneous mechanical support for me. Throughout the event I had a handlebar grip straightened, both wheels trued, my chain lubed a couple times, and my wheel hubs partially serviced. I also borrowed a volunteer's front wheel for something like 100 miles, and I think the same wheel was used by a rider in the recent NY-Montreal-NY grand brevet. After the event my shopping list includes a new crankset, new pedals, a new rear hub, a proper pedal wrench that can provide leverage, PB Blaster, and a SRAM Eagle derailleur battery cover. Someone picked me up from the airport and someone else dropped me off. Separate people made trips to get me dinner before/after the ride. Start/finish accommodations were inexpensive, incredibly spacious (we had an entire mansion to ourselves), and facilitated everyone getting to socialize before/after the ride. The support and organization were simply phenomenal.

 

Pit crew of volunteers work on Charlie's bike

eBrevet. I was excited to use it, and I liked being able to see the progress for Ben and Ian to know how far back I was. Seeing the pre-riders' comments at controls was fun, and I could imagine that being a popular messaging mechanism with more riders. I encountered a few bugs, and then I transitioned to actively QA testing it. I was bummed that I couldn't use it on day 3 after getting it wedged into an unintended state. I had some fun designing solutions to some of the issues and talking through them with Chris.

Charlie Martin

 

 

Photos. https://photos.app.goo.gl/R3V3AMutsYV7tuobA

Endless Mountains Liberty Bell 1234K Course Notes

A full, self-supported pre-ride of the Endless Mountains 1234K was completed by Pat Gaffney and Brad Layman on 12-15 September. Chapeau to these two brave and indefatigable randonneurs for accomplishing this audacious task. 

Not only did they ride the difficult course with panache, they took the time to make detailed notes along the way. Their notes have been incorporated into version 9 of the official route that has a link to the full RWGPS data last modified 2024-09-17 23:09:28 EDT.  For those of you that need the route split to fit into a limited GPS unit, for your convenience we have unofficially split the data into Day1, Day2, Day3, and Day4.  Be aware that last minute route changes might not make it into the unofficial split version. Check the official route info page to be sure. 

You should carefully study the cue sheet that is available on the the official route info page and carry a paper copy (or at least a PDF on your phone). Refer to it!  It's OK if you mostly use your GPS for navigation, but the cue sheet contains important notes, including safety warnings that might not display on your particular GPS. Many cues have comments about nearby available services and riding strategy. Our volunteers have spent many hours curating this route and compiling detailed cues. Use their work to your advantage. Ignore the cuesheet at your peril. Don't ride blindly with only GPS.

Course Notes

The course is very difficult, especially day1. If you have trouble, don't despair. It's not you. Keep riding. Many people hit their darkest times at around mile 166-210. It doesn't matter if you have to walk -- keep moving. If you have one goal for this event, it should be to get through this soul sucking section. If you make it through those difficult miles, you will ride on in relative ease to the first overnight.  Then, if you somehow get your ass back on the bike day 2,  you'll almost certainly finish the whole damn thing. 

Road Closures and Construction

The preriders noted several construction zones and closures along the course. Refer to the cue sheet for details. Based on their experience, generally speaking the course is in good shape and you should be able to get through everywhere without bonus miles. That said, closures on Pennsylvania roads appear and disappear daily.  You should never enter an area illegally or ride where it is unsafe. Get off your bike to walk, or go another way. 

Old Mine Rd (mi 112) is the oldest road still in use in the country. Dating back beyond before the US was founded, this road has been long in need of repair -- but seems to be forever ignored by it's federal caretakers (blame the George Washington administration, I guess).  Nevertheless, this road travels through beautiful countryside along the Delaware and is worth savoring. It's home to diverse wildlife, including many black bears. Old Mine Road is fun to explore. The bears won't bother you but the potholes could swallow a grizzly, so pay attention -- especially on descents. Even the smaller descents have wheel-pretzeling-ditches hidden on them. There's a "closed" section (noted in the cuesheet) blocked of with concrete barriers. You should be able to carry over the barriers and continue without issue, but do be careful. Look out for debris, potholes, and animals.

The Dingman's Ferry bridge (mi 126) is a gem -- and one of the few bridges across the Delaware you can legally ride. Unfortunately, it's often closed for maintenance. We believe it should be open on the day of the ride. The cuesheet notes a possible detour using 206/209 if the bridge is still closed when you get there. This detour adds some bonus miles. Cross your fingers that Dingman's wonderful old bridge is open for you.

Little Pine Rd (mi 350) is a long, gentle descent along the splendid creek for which it's named. After the brutal climbs that came before, Little Pine road is a welcome treat.  At  the end of the road when you reach the control in Waterville, you'll find even a better treat as they have excellent ice cream, albeit dodgy WiFi. Sadly, recent storms washed out some bridges on Little Pine, which are now being repaired. The preriders were able to get through, needing to walk only once, but YMMV. Look out for longitudinal cracks on some of the bridges that could swallow a tire. Should it turn out that this road is impassable, there will be a detour offered that takes 287 to 973 to 44. When you get to 44 on this detour you will be at course mile 367.6 where you can turn left and continue forward on the course. No need to backtrack to the Waterville control if you were forced to take this Little Pine detour on  287.

General thoughts shared from Pre-ride                    

Here's how Brad and Pat described the days.                    

• Day 1 is a long one with a lot of climbing. Expect a late arrival at the overnight hotel. Mile 166 to 210 is a particularly difficult stretch with several steep climbs. The last 28 miles are flat.                               
• Day 2 is pleasant with long flat and downhill sections. The stretch from  Towanda to Liberty has some tough exposed climbs that add up. Once you get to Liberty, there is a nice, long gradual descent to McConnell's General  Store. The last 20 miles of the day are downhill and go by quickly.             
• Day 3 is a blast. The climbs are tough but there are only four. We took advantage of the shorter day with a relaxed meal at the Rusty Rail Brewery. Note that it closes at 8pm. Easy 9 mile ride back to the hotel.     
• Day 4 has a lot of shorter hills and exposed terrain. Last 20 miles on the  SRT will go by quickly. Pat said we went "from endless mountains to endless hills" and that was spot-on.                                                    

Each day ends with a relatively easy and quick ~20 miles.               

 

     

 

   

2024 Rusty Rail 200K Ride Report

 Four intrepid riders accepted the challenge of the 5th running of the Rusty Rail 200k, successfully assaulting the four epic climbs and finishing the event with aplomb, resulting in a 100% completion rate for 2024.  We were graced with two guest riders on the course: Brad Layman and Patrick Gaffney, pedaling their way through the PA Randonneurs' Endless Mountains Liberty Bell 1234K pre-ride.

Brad and Pat arrive in Lewisburg after riding 440 miles

George

Nigel

Paul

Brad

Pat

Rusty Rail 200k Pre-ride Report

A pre-ride of the Rusty Rail 200k course was conducted on September 4th by me.  In 2024, we return to the original route since the bridge on Miller Rd (mile 64) is back in place.  

The roads are generally in good condition, however, heavy regional rain resulted in a few gravel washes that cross the road and deep erosion of a number of the drainage ditches that line the shoulder.

Back Mountain Road (mile 42), that follows the Milroy controle features the usual deep longitudinal ruts torn out by buggy wheels.  Try not to land your front wheel into one of them.  There is also a fun central depression of the lane from shod horse hooves.  I found it best to ride in the the center of the road when possible.  All attempts to avoid riding through the horse poop on this road are futile-adjust!

Try to suppress your inner Wout van Aert and take care on the steep mountain descents!  Past events have seen crashes on both Ulsh Gap and Tussey Mountain.  Please spare me the paperwork.

The route is generally on tranquil roads, but there are a few high traffic areas to note.  For the most part, there is not a rideable shoulder on the Stone Mountain climb on PA-305 (mile 53).  Stay as far right as possible and hold your line as the cars and trucks blast past.  The climb up Tussey Mountain on PA-26 (mile 65) also involves high speed traffic, but there is a wide shoulder to ride in.  I used a full lane on these two descents when my speed exceeded 25 mph.

The PA-45 intersection at the Centre Hall Sheetz controle (mile 87) can be dangerous due to high traffic volume.  I recommend entering the left turn lane, and then using the curb cut on the corner once you cross PA-45 (immediate right turn).  This will get you onto a sidewalk that leads to the Sheetz parking lot.  When exiting this controle, travel south (same direction, away from PA-45) through the parking lot and exit carefully onto PA-144/Old Fort Rd via a left turn.

The Rusty Rail 200k is a beautiful, but challenging ride.  Bonne route and godspeed to all souls brave enough to clip in at the start on September 14th.

Respectfully,

Steven J. Schoenfelder, RUSA #10659

Jo Hays Vista at the top of the Tussey Mountain climb overlooking Happy Valley

PA Grand Canyon Ride Report

 

Depending on which inaccurate forecast you entrusted, the 15 riders who started (and 14 that finished for a 93% completion rate) the PA Grand Canyon 200k were in for a wet day.  No rain was falling at the ride start but as riders made their way North on the Pine Creek Trail, light rain started to fall.  Bob Dye had a minor mechanical issue and decided to return to the start and save himself for another day.

After enjoying the ambiance of the Slate Run General Store, riders started the climb to Colton Point.  The rain started to fall in earnest and came down in sheets for an extended period.  The 1/4”-1/2” of predicted rainfall quickly become more like 1” and, with the ground still saturated from hurricane Debbie, the creeks began to rise.

As riders carefully descended to the staffed control in Ansonia, the rain started to abate and 14 very soggy riders arrived at the midpoint of the ride and were on their way to more gravel, more rain and the impending cross of Babb Creek.

The ride organizer met the leading riders (Patrick and Robert) at the Liberty control and was happy to hear that they had forded the stream without incident.  As we were chatting and enjoying the light rain falling I received an indecipherable (due to the very limited cell coverage) voice mail.  Concerned that something was amiss, I passed Ron and Matt as I made my way to Babb Creek just as Andrew was making his way across:

 

I decided to walk across the creek and wait there to assist additional riders.  As I was drying my feet, I received a text advising me that the stream was unsafe to cross.  Apparently a well-intentioned local had intercepted a group of riders and told tales of impending doom and possible death if they attempted to cross Babb Creek.  The well-intentioned local gave the riders an alternative route “over a small hill”.  I’ve ridden that “small hill” and there is some 10% grade in it…….

I don’t know if it was the same local, but Nigel was given a decidedly worse alternative over an unpaved “small hill” and somehow wound up back at the stream crossing anyway having climbed a beast of a hill and added about 10 bonus miles.  Nigel forded the stream of death without incident and proceeded on route.

Despite this drama (and the hardship of 12 hours in a wet chamois), everyone got safely to the finish with smiles on their faces and good cheer.  This was a tough adventure and all riders should be applauded for enduring this challenge….chapeau!

Drying brevet cards

Preliminary results will be posted shortly. Please review them and let me know if there are any discrepancies. Results will be submitted to RUSA after review and will become official once certified.

Pa Grand Canyon Update 8/14/24

A second partial checkout ride was performed on 8/14 by the ride organizer.  The good news is the water level has dropped at Babb Creek and it can now be safely forded (remember your sandals, the bottom is very slippery).  The bad news is the bridge along Little Pine Creek is not passable necessitating a reroute on SR287 back to the start.

The route has changed fairly significantly from last year, please use version 7 of the route/cues which were updated 2024-08-14 17:53:51 EDT.

There are 5 significant non-paved sections:

1 – PCRT (Mile 0-16.7) We’ll be utilizing the Pine Creek Rail Trail from the start until it crosses SR414 past Jersey Mills.  This will avoid some parts of SR414 that are being repaired/repaved.

2 – Slate Run to Colton Pt (Mile 27-55).  After controlling at the Slate Run General Store, we’ll backtrack, cross Pine Creek and endure a very steep paved climb leaving the Pine Creek Valley.  After this initial beast, the road turns to gravel and you’ll continue to stair step climb.  At mile 38.5 there is a fairly long and steep gravel descent with some sharp turns involved.  Keep your speed in check as the turns come up quickly and there is loose gravel in many of the turns. This section ends with the wonderful view at the Colton Point Lookout.  After enjoying the view you’ll have a long (paved) descent to Ansonia.  This descent is very twisty, the road is narrow and you’ll be sharing the road with oncoming motorists who are too busy looking for bear and deer so keep your speed down.

3 - Ansonia to SR660 (Mile 61-65).  This is a shaded climb with well packed gravel leading to a pleasant descent on paved SR660.

4 - Stony Fork to Babb Creek (Mile 70-75) A beautiful, slightly downhill section with well packed dirt.  At the end of this section you’ll ford Babb Creek which is currently about 18” deep.  The bottom consists of smooth round rocks which are very slippery.  I would NOT recommend attempting to walk this bare footed this year as the bottom is harder to see.  Sandals, water shoes, crocs, etc. are highly recommended.

5 - Hurley Hill to Liberty (Mile 79-88) This is the most technically challenging section and has some moderately loose gravel on Nauvoo and Ritter Roads with a few gravel descents. 

The start location is at the Jersey Shore recreational parking area off Railroad Street (3 blocks West of Bridge Street).  There is a Nittany Mini Mart at 815 Allegheny St. but not much else will be open prior to the ride start.

My GPS recognizes the start as 445 Railroad St. Jersey Shore, PA. 

Controls/Resupply points:

1 - Wolf General Store [Slate Run] (mile 28).  A well-stocked store with excellent made-to-order breakfast sandwiches.  If you’ve got some time to spend while they’re making your sandwich, go downstairs and see their fly fishing department.  You may want to grab some extra food since you’re next resupply will not be until mile 67.

2 - Burnin’ Barrel Bar [Ansonia] (mile 59).  Unfortunately, the bar is closed until further notice.  I’ll be there with water and encouragement (but not much else).

3a - Stony Fork Country Store [Stony Fork] (mile 67).  This is a small, Mennonite owned grocery.  They have a sign on the front door requesting patrons wear long sleeved shirts and trousers but they’ve always been pleasant to me in my cycling gear.  I believe this is a cash only establishment.

3b -Stony Fork Campground store (mile 69).  This is a typical campground store with limited drink options (water/soda) and not much more than candy, crackers and ice cream.

4 - Exxon [Liberty] Mile 87.  This is a veritable oasis with clean bathrooms and hot food.  You’ll be pretty tired when you get there so it’s a great place to get reenergized. 

5 – Dandy Mini Mart [Salladasburg] (Mile 117). 

As noted on the route description there is very little cell phone coverage on course so don’t plan on staying in contact with the outside world.  You’ll have coverage at Ansonia, Liberty and along SR287 at the end.