*** Update 5/4/11 ***
Christine Newman writes: "...Thanks for another great ride and for arranging such perfect weather. The course was just beautiful and the the conditions perfect for an enjoyable day on the bike. And thanks for taking out Lower Saucon Rd.....now if you could just do something about all the other climbs!... Here is the link to my photos...a view from the tail end of the ride:"
https://picasaweb.google.com/canewmandvm/BlueMountain400K#
Patrick G. & Cecily A. write: "...Thanks again for organizing the 400K, we had a great time. The weather and course were wonderful...."
Mike Lutz writes: "...Thanks gain for another great edition of the Blue Mountain 400K and all of the volunteers that helped. If there is such an award, I would like to nominate Blondie's for "Controle of the Year". The service was friendly and attentive including an outdoor water station. I liked the route change between controle 3 and 4. The ride on the Summer Hill Rd. ridge afforded beautiful views of the valleys between Blue and Second Mountains..."
Nigel Greene writes: "...I wanted to say thanks for another well run event. The course was beautiful and the amount of low traffic roads you use amazes me. It took (is taking) me a while to recover from the climbing, but I am glad I made it out...." You can read Nigel's poetic report at:
http://eprider.blogspot.com/2011/05/blue-mountain-400k-april-30-2011.html
Joe Kravotil writes: "...Thanks again for the great ride and hospitality ..."
You can read his entire ride report at his Mellow Yellow Blog:
http://mellowyellowbent.blogspot.com/2011/05/blue-mountain-400k-best-of-pennsylvania.html
*** Original Post ***
Preliminary results for the April 30 "Blue Mountain 400k have been posted at:
Christine Newman writes: "...Thanks for another great ride and for arranging such perfect weather. The course was just beautiful and the the conditions perfect for an enjoyable day on the bike. And thanks for taking out Lower Saucon Rd.....now if you could just do something about all the other climbs!... Here is the link to my photos...a view from the tail end of the ride:"
https://picasaweb.google.com/canewmandvm/BlueMountain400K#
Patrick G. & Cecily A. write: "...Thanks again for organizing the 400K, we had a great time. The weather and course were wonderful...."
Mike Lutz writes: "...Thanks gain for another great edition of the Blue Mountain 400K and all of the volunteers that helped. If there is such an award, I would like to nominate Blondie's for "Controle of the Year". The service was friendly and attentive including an outdoor water station. I liked the route change between controle 3 and 4. The ride on the Summer Hill Rd. ridge afforded beautiful views of the valleys between Blue and Second Mountains..."
Nigel Greene writes: "...I wanted to say thanks for another well run event. The course was beautiful and the amount of low traffic roads you use amazes me. It took (is taking) me a while to recover from the climbing, but I am glad I made it out...." You can read Nigel's poetic report at:
http://eprider.blogspot.com/2011/05/blue-mountain-400k-april-30-2011.html
Joe Kravotil writes: "...Thanks again for the great ride and hospitality ..."
You can read his entire ride report at his Mellow Yellow Blog:
http://mellowyellowbent.blogspot.com/2011/05/blue-mountain-400k-best-of-pennsylvania.html
*** Original Post ***
Preliminary results for the April 30 "Blue Mountain 400k have been posted at:
... please let me know of any corrections or other issues. Results will be sent to RUSA later this week, and then become final, pending ACP approval.
What a difference a year makes. Although a bit chilly at the start and overnight hours, with temperatures in the low 40F's, the high 60F's during the day were certainly much better than the 90F's riders endured in 2010. Winds were generally favorable out of the northwest, which were mainly beneficial on the Jonestown to Brownstown leg.
The 2011 edition of the Blue Mountain 400k featured a major route tweak to incorporate portions Andrew Mead's Hawk Mountain 200k. The new section started in Orwigsburg and included what many considered the steepest climb of the day up Hickory Lane. Thanks Andrew, for the help in updating the route!
35 of 38 registered riders made it to start, and 33 finished for a completion rate of 94%. Congratulations to everyone for such an excellent result on a very challenging course. Of note, several riders completed their very first 400k ever: Gavin Biebuyck, Mark Kaufman and Nigel Greene. Well done, and congratulations on reaching this big milestone for every randonneur -- the longer randonnees are certainly now within your reach. There were a couple of first time Eastern PA participants, including John Hsu from Short Hills, NJ and Jan Dembinski, who came all the way down from Woodstock, VT. Also of note, Chris Schulten set a new course record of 15:24, shattering the old one by a good 2 hours. Chris writes: "...thanks for an amazing course. I had tons of fun!.." Well done Chris! that 16.1 MPH pace is going to be pretty tough to top.
Special thanks to volunteer Guy Harris, for his volunteer preride and sweeping the course at Brownstown. And a very special thanks to Andy Brenner, for the great lasagna he prepared for the finish controle, and holding the fort for the first finishers. Rick Carpenter, also completed a last-minute volunteer preride to check out the course conditions on Friday after all the strong storms blew through the area on Thursday. Thanks also, to Mark Thomas and SIR for lending their PBP vests for sizing. If you would like to get a PA Randonneurs branded vest, place your on-rider order by May 6. The on-line order form and additional info is linked on the PA Randonneurs website:
www.parandonneurs.com
www.parandonneurs.com
Shane Beake writes: "...Just wanted to say thanks for putting together yesterdays 400, the course
and the weather were absolutely perfect..." Shane has once again, taken a bunch of really nice photos that he has posted at:
and the weather were absolutely perfect..." Shane has once again, taken a bunch of really nice photos that he has posted at:
Rick Carpenter's preride photos are at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rick_carpenter/sets/72157626489610759/with/5672586220/
If you have any other comments or pictures to share, you can forward them to me or post them on the message board.
Next up in two weeks, is the SR Week of events. A Saturday 200k and 300k on Sunday will be offered on the weekend of May 14th. The recent Blue Mountain 400k will be run in reverse, with a 6PM start time on Thursday, May 19th. For those of you headed to PBP in the 90-hour start, this will give you a good idea of what a night start will be like. A 600k will be offered on Saturday, May 21, along with a 1000k on Friday, May 20th. The 400, 600, and 1000k will have start/finishes at the Quakertown Hampton Inn.
Tom Rosenbauer
Eastern PA RBA
Tom, Thanks for another great ride and for arranging such perfect weather. The course was just beautiful and the the conditions perfect for an enjoyable day on the bike. And thanks for taking out Lower Saucon Rd.....now if you could just do something about all the other climbs!
ReplyDeleteHere is the link to my photos...a view from the tail end of the ride.
https://picasaweb.google.com/canewmandvm/BlueMountain400K#
Chris
My thanks for the organizer Tom and volunteers. Like what others said, the route was beautiful (some section was the reversed route of 200k I took on 4/2) and the weather was nice. Except that I didn't prepare enough clothing for the cold weather in the midnight (it's my first time to ride here in Spring). Plus my helmet light "dropped dead" in the last two hours (next time I would get the shock-proof one).
ReplyDeleteI also made a mistake on raising the saddle height too much before the event. My left inner knee was hurt before Controle 3 but I didn't adjust it until arriving in Controle 3. Another big mistake.
For people who will take the next 400k: Beware of the climbs in the 2nd half (those were in our first half).
I also took some photos. Not as good as Shane's & Christine's though -- I still need to practice more :-)
https://picasaweb.google.com/bottlenet/PA400k?authkey=Gv1sRgCN7epaDg_OuhhQE&feat=directlink
(Almost like Mark's photo album. Tom, please tell him about the photos just in case that he doesn't know. Thanks.)
Forgot to sign myself in the last post. This is Yiping.
ReplyDelete