January R12 Event: Hopewell Take II

START LOCATION CHANGE

All riders please note that we will be meeting at the Bridge Street Bagel & Deli, 71 Bridge Street, Milford, NJ for pre-ride nourishment and the start of the event.  It is located next to the Post Office and very close to the Ship's Inn finish venue.  Parking location remains unchanged at the US Healthcare lot across Church Street from the Milford Bakery.

An updated cue sheet reflecting the opposite direction approach to the first turn onto Church Street has been posted in the interest of complete navigational accuracy.  Please make sure that you have the cue indicating Draft 3 revised 1/18/2017. 

The weather forecast for Saturday remains promising.  Hopefully all will enjoy a great day for riding.

UPDATED!!!

The forecast for Saturday January 14 has shifted to less favorable owing to an increasing likelihood of wintry precipitation in the afternoon.  Rather than risk a repeat of Hopewell I, Hopewell II has been POSTPONED until January 21.

Registered Riders (as of 1/19/2017)
1 Michael Anderson
2 Jimmy Aspras
3 Gavin Biebuyck
4 Shawn Bowles
5 Joe A Brown
6 Taylor Brown
7 Timothy T.  Creyts
8 Matthew Farrell
9 William Fischer
10 J Scott Franzen
11 Patrick Gaffney
12 James R Haddad
13 Doug Haluza
14 Guy Harris - volunteer
15 Dale E Houck
16 Jeff Lippincott
17 Kate R Marshall
18 Rudi Mayr
19 Chris Nadovich - volunteer
20 William Olsen - organizer
21 Joseph Ray
22 Steven J Schoenfelder
23 Paul G Shapiro
24 Bob Torres
25 Victor Urvantsev
Andrew Mead
- Eastern PA RBA

*** Original Post ***
Winter brevets are always tricky when it comes to weather.  Sometimes we take a gamble and lose.  The Hopewell 200 on January 7 was one of those days.  RUSA rules regarding brevets are quite clear about the handling of this past Saturday.  The Hopewell 200 now has the distinction of having the highest DNF rate of any Eastern PA brevet, displacing the inagural EM1240.

Thankfully all riders returned safely to the start at Milford and will live to rando another day.  That day could be next Saturday, January 14.  RUSA has approved a request to add a new 200k event next weekend to allow hearty PA Randonneurs to maintain their pursuits of R12s, PA12s, or whatever else motivates one to ride in winter weather.  The long-range forecast for next weekend appears favorable.  We will try again to complete the Hopewell route as it remains one of our best for winter brevets.  Start time remains 7:30 am at the Milford Bakery.
 
This event, like Saturday's, will be free to PA Randonneurs members in good standing.  To register, please send me an email with the subject line "January 14 R12 Entry" in the subject line.

Finally, please be sure to thank organizers Guy Harris and Bill Olsen when you next see them.  They handled everything Mother Nature had to offer with confidence and assured everyone's safe return to Milford.  After all of Saturday's challenges, they were eager to offer themselves for the Take II adventure. 

Andrew Mead
- Eastern PA RBA