Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Beyond Hope to New Hope 200k

*** Cancellation (1/2/2015) ***
Until this morning, it looked like conditions would allow for us to ride safely. But due to the weather forecast that is now calling for freezing rain on Saturday afternoon, the Jan. 3rd Beyond Hope to New Hope 200k has been cancelled and will not be rescheduled.

Unfortunately, I have conflicts which do not allow this event to be easily rescheduled as an Eastern PA event in January.  But for those of you looking to keep your Eastern PA R-12 streak going, the Beyond Hope to New Hope 200k may instead be ridden in January as a permanent.  Additional details (including info on the Belvidere start/finish and contacting the permanent administrator, Bill Olsen) are at
http://www.rusa.org/cgi-bin/permview_GF.pl?permid=1090

Hazardous Weather Outlook

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
400 AM EST FRI JAN 2 2015

WARREN-MORRIS-HUNTERDON-BERKS-LEHIGH-NORTHAMPTON-WESTERN CHESTER-
WESTERN MONTGOMERY-UPPER BUCKS-
400 AM EST FRI JAN 2 2015

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHERN NEW JERSEY...NORTHWEST NEW JERSEY...EAST CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA AND SOUTHEAST PENNSYLVANIA.

A BRIEF PERIOD OF SNOW AND SLEET SATURDAY AFTERNOON MAY CHANGE TO POCKETS OF FREEZING RAIN BEFORE QUICKLY TRANSITIONING OVER TO ALL RAIN SATURDAY EVENING AS TEMPERATURES RISE. THE GREATEST CHANCE IS ACROSS PORTIONS OF THE LEHIGH VALLEY INTO NORTHWESTERN NEW JERSEY. WHILE ANY SNOW AND ICE ACCUMULATIONS ARE EXPECTED TO BE VERY LIGHT, SLIPPERY CONDITIONS COULD DEVELOP FOR A TIME SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND EARLY SATURDAY EVENING.




*** Original Post ***
The 2015 is scheduled to kick off with The Beyond Hope to New Hope 200k Saturday, January 3rd. Event details have been posted at:
http://parando.org/R12ClubJan5.html
The course routing mainly uses primary roads, since these have the best chance of being cleared and treated for winter conditions.  Due to mixed precipitation in the forecast for later in the afternoon, the start time has been moved up one hour to 7AM.

Please note that the start location is the Blairstown Diner --  As illustrated in this map:
http://parando.org/BlairstownStartFinish.JPG
.... you will park your car in the upper parking lot at Footbridge Park in Blairstown.  You can then walk across the footbridge with your bike to the diner, where you sign-in -- the diner will be open at 6:30AM but will only be serving coffee until 7AM.  There is a grocery store across the street if you need anything more than that to get started.

As in previous years, there is no entry fee for PA members in good standing -- you can renew your PA Membership by mail or at the start.
.
The finish controle at the Blairstown Inn is just a couple of stores away from the diner.  Reminder: With the limited daylight, lights and reflective gear will be checked at the start.

***Rider Roster  ***
1 Charles J Arayata -
2 Eoghan Barry -
3 Robert Dye -
4 Matthew Farrell -
5 William Fischer -
6 J Scott Franzen -
7 Andrew Froberg -
8 Doug Haluza -
9 Donald Jagel -
10 Wanda S Kingsbury - Guest
11 Paul I Kingsbury III - Guest
12 Gil Lebron -
13 Christopher Maglieri -
14 William Olsen -
15 Tom Rosenbauer - Organizer
16 Norman Smeal
17 Keith A Spangler -
18 Bob Torres -
19 Gilbert Torres -

-Tom Rosenbauer
Eastern PA RBA

Saturday, December 27, 2014

2014 Recap

Final results for 2014 have been posted at:
http://www.parando.org/Results2014.pdf
Congratulations on all those hard-earned brevets -- collectively, we officially tallied 90,020 km in completed brevets.  All those brevets added up to 907 RUSA points, placing Eastern PA 11th out of 56 regions. Thank you for clipping-in and being a part of that success.  But of course, none of those brevets would've been possible, if not for all the volunteers who stepped up and helped out:

- Gavin Biebuyck: Dec R-12
- Jim Bondra: Oct 150/200k
- Cecilie Gaffney: 200k, 300k, 400k
- Patrick Gaffney: 200k, 300k, 400k
- Zach Goodrich: Jun R-12
- Steve Hallett: Jan R-12
- Doug Haluza: 400k
- Guy Harris: 600k
- Don Jagel :Advisor, Organizer Mar R-12
- Andrew Mead: Advisor, Organizer Sep R-12
- George Metzler: Sep R-12 BBQ
- Chris Nadovich: 600k, Nov R-12
- Bill Olsen: Advisor, Organizer, Jan, Feb, Jun, Aug R-12, 300k, 600k
- Chris Roth: Aug R-12
- Bill Slabonik:  Oct 150/200k BBQ
- Norman Smeal: Advisor, Organizer 400k, Jul, Nov R-12
- Len Zawodniak: Feb R-12, 400k

This was a year of many accomplishments -- some selected ones I'd like to share with you include:
•There were a baker’s dozen of Eastern PA Super Randonneurs this year: Dan Aaron (3rd), Michael Anderson, Ed Dodd (3rd), Joe Fillip (2nd), Guy Harris (5th), Donald Jagel (3rd), Greg Keenan,             Eric Keller (5th), William Olsen (6th), Tom Rosenbauer, Norman Smeal (2nd), Bob Torres (2nd) Well Done!
•Bill Olsen had the most mileage on the PA series, riding a total of 3,610 km of the 3,860 maximum possible on the schedule. Your RBA (3500 km), Norman Smeal (3260 km), and Bob Torres (3010 km) were also high-mileage riders.
•Two randonneurs completed an Eastern PA R-12 series: Don Jagel (4th), and your RBA (3rd). This is a select group, with only 8 individuals on the Eastern PA Honor Roll.  However, with a current streak of 10 going and with a bit of luck, CJ Arayata will hopefully be joining the Honor Roll.
•Bill Olsen’s streak of Eastern PA events was completed at R-47 and Don Jagel’s was completed at R-25. Also of note, John Fuoco completed an R-5C (with the ‘C’ designating chemotherapy).  The completion of these milestones is of course, an opportunity to embark upon a new one.

Looking ahead to 2015, it’s a PBP year and there are also a couple of domestic 1200k's to choose from.  The Eastern PA region will be offering many brevets for qualification and preparation including a complete SR series, Fleche and an R-12 series of monthly 200k’s.  But I’ll be counting on volunteers to help run them – a most welcome holiday gift to your RBA would be to have all the 2015 volunteer needs filled out before the first event on January 3rd:
http://tinyurl.com/lwa2rrf

The 2015 Eastern PA winter schedule kicks off with the Beyond Hope to New Hope 200k on January 3rd.  And continuing a New Year's tradition, the event is free to PA Randonneur members in good standing (membership dues can be paid at sign-in).  Event details have been posted at:
http://www.parando.org/R12ClubJan5.html
You can join the roster by using the electronic registration form at:
http://www.parando.org/RegistrationForm.html

Best of luck with your 2015 goals, and more importantly, have a safe year of riding.

Happy holidays,

-Tom Rosenbauer
Eastern PA RBA

Monday, December 8, 2014

Blairstown 200k Ride Report

Creek Road Photo compliments of CJ Arayata

Preliminary results for the inaugural Blairstown 200k have been posted at:
http://www.parando.org/PA200k_Results141206.pdf
...Please let me know of any corrections or other issues.  Results will be submitted shortly, and become final, pending RUSA certification.

Temperatures at the start just dipped below freezing, as evidenced by the puddles of water seen on the way to the start being glazed over during the first couple of hours of riding.  A brisk northerly wind pushed riders along to the turn around point in New Hope.  By midday, temperatures made it into the mid 40F's with plentiful sunshine, although the winds certainly made it feel colder than that.  But definitely much better riding conditions than the ones for the original scheduled date: although the ice and snow in the weather advisory never materialized, all that rain with temperatures in the low 40F's would've made for a miserable day of riding  All 17 riders who made it to start made it around in good time, for another 100% finish: congratulations, and well done for that excellent result.

Bill F.. writes: "... Thanks again for a beautiful brevet Sunday.  The new route into New Hope was very nice and the stretch along the Wickecheoke Creek coming out of Stockton was absolutely gorgeous.  We spent the morning worrying about having to push into the North wind on the way home but we stayed pretty sheltered on those beautiful country roads. A challenging route for a December brevet..."
[You usually can't go wrong with any road with "Creek" in the name -- I rediscovered this road on a scouting ride last month -- 10 years ago, it was a rutted gravel dirt road.  And yes, it certainly was an above average tough course. On paper, it didn't seem so hard as I drew it up; but those last 30 miles seemed to take forever! -Tom R.]

Jim H. writes: "...Thanks for another great ride.  Thanks also to the volunteers who made this ride possible, including Gavin who cheerfully greeted me and the other riders at the finish. The course was more challenging than expected, and combined with the cold conditions (did the mercury ever get above the mid-30's?) and December fitness, or slightly lack thereof, it made for tough going.  But all smiles at the finish. hanks for another great year of brevets, looking forward to 2015 and a joyous holiday season to all!...."

CJ 's photo album has been posted at:
https://plus.google.com/photos/105970402842803211625/albums/6091272718699331809?authkey=CPCc-L-iivP0Mg

Mike A. writes: "...Thank you again for another memorable ride, glad it didn't rain this time. Sorry I couldn't hang around for a bit after the ride like I would have liked to this time. That Roxbury Hill Road was quite memorable, great views from atop Bethel mountain. .."
[And congratulations to Mike for completing an R-12, Well Done! -Tom R.]

Special thanks to Gavin B. for manning the finish controle, greeting riders and signing them in until I arrived, several hours later.

This concludes the Eastern PA 2014 schedule of events.  Brevet cards, final results, and the year-end wrap-up will be going out in the coming weeks.  The 2015 schedule kicks off on January 3rd -- hopefully, we'll get a break from this stretch of rough winter weather!

-Tom Rosenbauer
Eastern PA RBA

Thursday, December 4, 2014

Blairstown 200k

*** Update 1 (12/6) ***
I'm keeping a close eye on potential ice conditions in the morning: if I see a lot of ice on my drive to Blairstown, there's a good chance that the start may be delayed until road conditions have a chance to improve.

The first controle stop is an untimed information controle -- so if you have an early mechanical, before then, you don't have to worry about the time cut-off.

The controle stop in New Hope is a WaWa, but you can instead stop at the McDonalds if you would like a sit down meal.

With the limited daylight available, lights and reflective gear will of course be required.

*** Postponed until Sunday December 7th ***
Due to the latest NOAA weather advisory, the Blairstown 200k originally scheduled for Saturday, 12/6, has been postponed until Sunday, 12/7.

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
451 AM EST THU DEC 4 2014

NJZ001-007-008-PAZ054-055-061-062-051000-
SUSSEX-WARREN-MORRIS-CARBON-MONROE-LEHIGH-NORTHAMPTON-
451 AM EST THU DEC 4 2014

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHERN NEW JERSEY...EAST
CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA AND NORTHEAST PENNSYLVANIA.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT.

HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY.

A LIGHT WINTRY MIX OF SNOW AND SLEET MAY DEVELOP FRIDAY AFTERNOON,
FOLLOWED BY A POTENTIAL FOR FREEZING RAIN LATE FRIDAY AFTERNOON
INTO FRIDAY NIGHT. PRECIPITATION MIGHT BRIEFLY END AS SNOW ON
SATURDAY NIGHT.

*** Roster (as of 12/6) ***
1 Michael Anderson -
2 Charles J Arayata -
3 Eoghan Barry
4 Geoff Brunner
5 William Fischer -
6 J Scott Franzen
7 Zachary R Goodrich -
8 Nigel Greene
9 Vadim Gritsus - Guest
10 Doug Haluza -
11 James P. Holman -
12 Robin C Landis
13 Christopher Maglieri -
14 Chris Nadovich -
15 William Olsen - Volunteer
16 Tom Rosenbauer - Organizer
17 Keith A Spangler -
18 Bob Torres -
19 Leonard Zawodniak -