Sunday, March 17, 2019

Ride Report: Pagoda 200K

Preliminary results for the first ride in our ACP Super Randonneur series, the Pagoda 200K brevet, have been posted on the PA Rando website.  Please review the results and let me know if something doesn't agree with your recollections.  The results will be submitted to RUSA for certification later on and become final at that time.

The largest group of 200K brevet riders in PA Randonneuring history rode on a blustery late winter day to complete a hilly course with six major climbs. The national weather service says that West winds reached 38 MPH with gusts to 48.  Riders reported their GPS units measured roughly 10,000 feet of climbing for the course.

Despite the challenging ride, 40 of the 41 starters finished under the time limit. Unfortunately, the wind reached out and absconded with Gerry M's brevet card, so there were 39 official finishers, a 95% completion rate. Congratulations and well done to all, especially our first time riders and guests. Welcome to PA Randonneuring!

NOTE: Somehow at the finish I ended up with a lost pair of gloves and two lost helmets. Does anyone know who they belong to? -- Chris N

First Finisher Iwan writes...

Just wanted to thank you for organizing yesterday's brevet.  I had some technical problems at the start with affixing my device and then my rear wheel rubbed delaying me by some minutes (You to me: "Don't you want to ride with the group?") so I had to catch up with the group. Then for the rest of  the day I kept chasing what I thought was another fast group slipstreaming  in front of me which lead me to solo the entire ride.  Your additional notes on the route were spot on and very helpful (especially about the fallen tree on Skyline). Nice surprise to see you at Pagoda for a chat! I think the best part was miles 90-100 through some stunning, memorable scenery.  The final hills were a little nasty and my lowest gear (39-29) wasn't low enough for spinning so I ended up riding serpentines up those hills.  I had no other problems and I was glad I chose to ride tubeless given the abundance of gravel on the road.     

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Join us again in two short weeks for the continuation  of the SR series, the Hawks Nest 300K. This event starts and finishes at the Holiday Inn Express, next to Cask, and will include a food buffet at the start and finish.

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