Ride Report: Portland Paxinosa 200K

 

After a rough February with snow and ice causing the cancellation of our R12 event for the month, everyone was ready to ride their bike on a sunny day in March.  It wasn't particularly warm, but it was sunny and a lot warmer than it was in February.  Of those that clipped in at the start/finish at Portland, PA, all 21 of 21 completed the whole course within the time limit for a 100% completion rate.  Congratulations to all!  Preliminary results have been posted on the website.  Please review the results and let me know if they align with your memory.  The results will be submitted to RUSA after review and will become official once certified.

As it turned out, the closure of NPS615 and State St had little impact on the riders. Although a detour alternative was offered (and pre-ridden, see below),  all riders I spoke to reported that they chose to simply brave the "tilted barn" on NPS615, and the construction gear on State Street. Much ado about nothing, it seems.

Still tilted on the day of the ride.

Kudos and thanks go to Jimmy Aspras who volunteered to check out the course Friday afternoon/evening before the event. Finishing up a little before midnight, Jimmy grabbed some sleep in his car, and officiated the start at 6AM.  It should also be noted Jimmy's pre-ride of the course scouted both NPS615 alternative detours (one of them hilly, the other upaved and still somewhat snow covered) in the dark. He did all this riding on a fixed gear fat bike.  This is rando!  

Thanks also to Tom Rosenbauer who assisted at the Paxinosa control (Sue Proulx's control sign still serving us well... but where were the brownies?!?), and to Bill Olsen who staffed the finish control for the first few hours.

I'm always impressed when a new randonneur turns up at a tough Winter brevet for their first-ever 200K. This is exactly what Jeremy Sieg did, finishing the difficult course with such aplomb that you'd think he's been doing this stuff for many years. Welcome to randonneuring Jeremy! Clearly you have what it takes.

 

Riders puzzled over the info control question in Wind Gap. The correct answer was "too many".

Iwan Barankay writes...

What a spectacular brevet today. Fantastic scenery and I loved the secret control at your home. So nice to see Tom Rosenbauer there - a bonus surprise. Coffee taste so great and I was impressed to see Lara bars, a true upgrade yet a departure from classic Payday.  The hills kept coming but they were gentle and I think  the cool temperatures made climbing easier. I stuck to the route to go past the "leaning barn" which was still standing and I enjoyed that empty stretch of  road which compensated for the somewhat busy River Rd sections. I wanted to  burn through all the controls since I brought all my foods and drinks with me (including half a gallon of Gatorade balanced on my aero bars with slender    rubber bands) but no Hercules could resist the calls of the pies and Walnut bread at the penultimate control. Looking forward to the next one. Oh and last bit not least thanks also to Jimmy Aspras for sending us off at the start.

Iwan's special Gatorade reservoir attachment technology

The next PA Rando event is on 17 April: the infamous Pagoda 200K. The new start/finish location for this event is the National Canal Museum on the D&L trail. This location down on the river eliminates the annoying climb up to 25th street at the end of the brevet. We will be set up at the pavilion and plan to have a nice, socially distanced outdoor bar-b-cue at the finish. I hope you can join us. Online registration and information is available on the event web site.