By all accounts the weather finally cooperated and riders enjoyed a nice day, especially compared to weather conditions on our cancelled event dates. The organizer and RBA are both thankful for another 100% completion rate.
Michael Povman commented: Thanks again to you and the other organizers for putting on another well-run ride yesterday. The third time was the charm! The weather was about as good as I could have expected for a January brevet, although the strong wind gusts from the west (along with Tunnel Road and all the rollers) made the section between the third and fourth controls particularly challenging. After that, Brick Farm Market was a welcome break – an excellent choice for a control. Great job all around!<
PA Randonneurs will head west in February to reprise last year's popular Lancaster Loop in Reverse using the St. Boniface Brewery as the finish destination. Details will be posted on the website soon. In the meantime, you can check out the details from last year's event (http://parando.org/200K-2017-02-04.html) as little has changed. A course checkout ride was completed on Saturday (1/27) and an updated cue sheet will be posted soon. You can view the route here: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/18654630
Notes from the course checkout ride:
Mile 61.8: River Rd was closed at Blue Rock Rd due to flooding. River Rd and Water St were wet and muddy but safely rideable on the crown of the closed road. The wettest section was at mile 65.0 where Water St crossed an ice jammed Strickler Run. Ice jam flooding is not expected to worsen in the coming week so the route should remain passible.
Mile 66.2: The Northwest Lancaster River Trail is entered by crossing to the left shoulder of the new section of SR441:
Entrance to NWLCRT in Columbia (looks like a sidewalk here)
NWLCRT Sign
The Northwest Lancaster River Trail is gorgeous. With the exception of a few very short sections of gravel it is paved the entire route and is well marked. There are a few tricky sections but the cues provided are accurate. I would recommend that riders follow the trail signs as seen in the photo.
Mile 67.7: Furnace road is a little confusing as it looks like a private drive when approaching on the bike path. It’s certainly easy enough to figure out.
Mile 68.9: Here the River trail diverts away from the river and onto city streets as it passes through Marietta. Riders should refuel at one of the pubs or off route stores as the next services are another 30 miles away in Annville.
Mile 74.4: The River trail was wet and muddy where it dips under the Shanks Mills railroad bridge.
Mile 112.9: The shoulder of 322 had some branches and minor debris that should be OK in daylight but will need some caution for those hitting this section in darkness.
Thanks to volunteer Scott Franzen for handling the pre-ride duties. You can thank him when you finish on Saturday.
The cue sheet has been posted on the website. http://parando.org/LancasterLoop200_Reverse_C_cue.pdf
Make sure you have a draft that is dated in 2018.
The registration link is already live on the website. Registration will remain open until Friday, Feb 2 at 5pm.
Andrew Mead
Eastern PA RBA
Registered Riders (as of 2/1/2018)
1 Jimmy Aspras
2 Gavin Biebuyck
3 Timothy T. Creyts
4 Jan Peter Dembinski
5 J Thomas Dermody
6 Matthew Farrell
7 William Fischer
8 Gregory W Forshey
9 J Scott Franzen - volunteer PR
10 James R Haddad
11 Greg Keenan
12 Rudolf Mayr
13 Chris Nadovich
14 George Michael Retseck