PBP Reflective Vests

Article 9 : Equipment

According to French traffic law, a reflective vest MUST be worn when riding at night (safety standard number EN1150). This equipment must be presented at the bike check.




Please see the PA Randonneurs PBP FAQ page for more information on EN1150 approved reflective vests.

Spring Forward 200k - March 5, 2011

Preliminary results for the Mar 5 "Spring Forward" 200k have been posted at:
http://users.rcn.com/trosenbauer/PA200k_Results110305.pdf
... please let me know of any corrections or other issues. Results will be sent to RUSA later this week, and then become final, pending ACP approval.

Twenty-eight riders showed up on a damp morning to ready to ride. While the weather radar showed no rain and the forecast included no chance during the day, it was hard to believe as the riders rolled out of Ephrata at 7am in a misty, drizzly fog. Damp conditions prevailed until mid-morning when the sun finally broke through the cloud cover. Then the winds picked up and challenged the riders as they made their way to and along the river.

Reports from volunteer Keith Spangler at the Bainbridge controle indicated that a large group was leading the way at near-record pace and had already outpaced much of the pack by as much as an hour in 48 miles. Apparently a few flats also help to spread out the riders. Drizzly conditions and wind was reported as the lead group passed through.

The Controle 5 Grill opened for business around 1 and the first riders arrived around 1:30. This was a hopping place for the next 2-1/2 hours as host George Metzler worked the grill on overtime to feed the hungry riders. All who arrived looked tired, ate heartily, and seemed truly relieved to learn that the final 30 miles to Ephrata would keep the wind predominately at their backs.

Tim Conway & Jon Clamp taking a well-deserved break at the Controle 5 Grill

Volunteer Rick Carpenter accompanied the lead group from Controle 5 back to the finish in order to staff the finish controle. I understand there might have been a few bonus miles logged along the way, but it wasn't enough to change the result. All six of the lead-group riders handily bested the existing course record. This includes yet another "rookie" randonneur Gavin Biebuyck who showed up and aced the course. Kudos to Len Zawodniak who finished in 8:45 to set the new brevet course record. Apparently Len has recovered from last season's cracked ribs. The rest of the field arrived in due time all logging very respectable times on the route.

I want to express my appreciation to Keith and Rick for their efforts to improve the caliber of the PA R12 series by staffing controles. It's a small gesture that means a lot to the riders and even more to an organizer. Special thanks also to George Metzler and his very tolerant family for hosting us in fine style again. (Cafe Metzler: Cheerfully increasing brevet times since 2009.) George & I are already looking ahead to 2012. These guys made my job much easier and treated me to a very memorable pre-ride that was some of the most fun I've ever had riding a bike.

I have loaded the pictures from the brevet into my photo set. Rick Carpenter also updated his PAR March Brevet photo set. Be sure to check out the photo collections linked in the rider comments. Loads of great pictures.

From Shane Beake:
Hey Andrew,
Great ride today. This course always surprises me there aren't any super climbs but there's alot of sawtooth stuff to make you legs ache, the wind didn't help. Ended up being a great day, weather was nice.

Thanks to all the volunteers, especially George Metzler for opening up his home and cooking for us, the bacon cheeseburger hit the spot.

Thanks,
Shane

Shane's as-always extensive collection of photos can be found at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/45325491@N05/sets/72157626204751766/

Len Zawodniak writes:
Thanks for a terrific day- the course was really wonderful,with the misty start, great terrain and a bit of wind to keep it interesting. Send my thanks to George for his hospitality. That was just what I needed to get me into the finish.

From Craig Martek:
. . . It was an awesome ride - very scenic, with just enough challenging climbs to make it a challenge. I need to learn how to ramp up into these longer rides though - yesterday was my 2nd time riding - the 1st time was 35 miles.

Don Jagel added:
Andrew,
Thanks to you and all of the volunteers for putting together a great March ride. It was good to see Keith at the Annville control. The spread that George put together was tasty and timely, allow us to relax and fuel up for the final jaunt back to Ephrata. Rick Carpenter met us at George's house and paced us back to the final control on his beloved fixie.

The weather was stereotypical March; starting with fog/mist becoming mist/fog, then a few raindrops ending with a stiff March breeze. Several of us got in a couple of bonus miles near the end by not paying attention to our cue sheets and getting suckered into bearing right with a strong and pleasurable tail wind, only to find out that we should have really turned left. That meant slowly retracing our way into the not-so-pleasurable head wind to get back on course. Oh - the lessons we learn over and over.

I really had a wonderful time. This is a very good early season ride.
Thanks to you and everyone else who helped put the ride together.
See you next month,

Don Jagel

Joe Fillip completed his R12 with yesterday's ride an says:
Andrew: Thanks to you and to all of the volunteers for a wonderful event yesterday. Special thanks to George for hosting the great barbecue at his home -- I really needed the rest and refuel at that point (as well as the course turn to the northwest that resulted in tailwinds blowing me home from that point to the finish!).

It's a challenging and scenic course, and the strong winds gusting from the southeast made the 70 miles from Annville to George's house made for a particularly vigorous ride. But, as Rick Carpenter so aptly remarked at the finish, March is SUPPOSED to be windy . . . .

Thanks again, Andrew. I am constantly struck by the friendship and support of our little randonneuring "tribe." We are truly lucky to be able to ride together.

Best, Joe

Congratulations Joe! And from Chris Newman:

Andrew,
Thanks for organizing a great ride yesterday. It was an impressive turnout for so early in the year. And special thanks to George for the barbecue - a burger never tasted so good. Here is a link to the photos I took.

https://picasaweb.google.com/canewmandvm/SpringForward2011#

Chris Newman



Our next event offers both 200k and 300k options starting from the Weisel Youth Hostel in Quakertown on April 2.

Andrew Mead
- organizer

March R12 Event- Spring Forward 200k

Rick C., Andrew M., and Keith S. at Cafe Metzler on the volunteer pre-ride (photo by George M.)

********** Final Notes **********

Thirty riders plan to clip-in tomorrow, a new high for this event. Wow!! I'll be at the Pancake Farm for breakfast and then available to begin registration and inspections by 6:30. A Rider's Meeting will be held at 6:55 and then you'll be on your way to enjoy the beauty of Lancaster County. I'll have a limited number of cue sheet copies at the start, so please try to remember to bring your own. Lights and reflective gear are strongly encouraged, even if only to assure a daylight finish (Murphy's law). I look forward to see you all tomorrow morning. It looks to be a great day.

-Andrew

********** Pre-Ride Notes **********

Four of us rode the Spring Forward course yesterday (2/26). Our goal was to perform a final check of the cue sheet, discuss "the plan" for next weekend, and bag our March 200k so we'd be free to help and encourage all the rest of you next weekend. We succeeded on all fronts.

1. Breakfast at the Pancake Farm is a good way to start the day. Moo.
2. The cue sheet is in very good shape. Draft 8 has been posted on the website. It is the final, official version. The mileages are spot-on. Some road signs continue to make unexpected reappearances/disappearances.
3. The course is as scenic as ever. Be sure to look around while you're riding. The ridge top vistas are superb.
4. Be on the lookout for unexpected scenery. We happened across a large gathering of snow geese early on. We now know what a gaggle looks like.
5. It is springtime in Pennsylvania, so you should anticipate the presence of sand/gravel at the most inconvenient places on course, particularly if you're pushing the limits. This is especially true for the 5 or so miles immediately after the Conestoga controle.
6. I noted a fair number of potholes. Some may not not always immediately visible due to shadows, water on the road, etc. Bonus points to riders who can locate a rather obvious heart-shaped pothole on course, assuming it is not repaired this week.

A few photos taken by George Metzler during the pre-ride are here.
Not to be outdone, Rick Carpenter's pictures are here.

Anyone who has not yet handled their PA Randonneurs 2011 membership should bring their completed paperwork to the start or send it to Tom early this week (2/28).

We're all looking forward to seeing you next Saturday!

Andrew & the Spring Forward Organizers!

********** Original Post **********

Greetings PA Randonneurs,

We will be heading west for the next R12 event, the March 5 running of the Spring Forward 200k. I completed a pre- Pre-Ride this past Friday. Several road signs disappeared over the winter so I'll be updating the cue with a few additional spotting cues for anyone new to the course. Hopefully the updated cue will be available by March 1.

For those of you familiar with the area, the route is unchanged from 2010. There is some new scenery (see above) and roads are in generally good shape. Barring any significant snowfall between now and then, I can report that a majority of the snowpack melted on Friday so we should have nice road conditions. There were times during my ride that I wondered if perhaps a canoe might have been a better vehicular choice. As always for this time of the year, you can expect to find traces of gravel & sand in the turns, so don't outpace your guardian angel.

We are upping our game a bit this year and hope to staff a few of the controles so that weary randonneurs can be greeted by a friendly and familiar face (not that any of our convenience store clerks aren't). And I'm happy to announce everyone's favorite 95 mile controle at the house of George "Mr. 412" Metzler remains in the controle lineup. Definitely worth the ride.

So stay tuned for updates and drop me a line if you're planning to ride.

*** Ride Roster (as of 3/3)***

Cecilie Adams
Barbara Anderson
Ron Anderson
Dan Barbasch
Shane Beake
Rick Carpenter - pre-ride/volunteer
Jon Clamp
Tim Conway
Ed Dodd
Dawn Engstrom
Matt Farrell
Joe Fillip
Bill Fischer
Joel Flood
Pat Gaffney
Ixsa Gollihur
Jud Hand
Don Jagel
Mark Kaufman
Eric Keller
Mike Lutz
Craig Martek
Andrew Mead - pre-ride/organizer
George Metzler - pre-ride/host
Mike Moore
Chris Newman
Patrick O'Donnell
Bill Olsen
Curtis Palmer
Walter Pettigrew
Tom Rosenbauer - RBA
Keith Spangler - pre-ride/volunteer
Ivan Umble
Len Zawodniak

Andrew Mead
- Organizer

Beyond Hope to New Hope Permanent - We have a Taker

Ixsa Golliur writes "...Hope all went well with the ride yesterday. Bill (Reagan) and I were a bit sad we were not able to participate. I was wondering if this ride is available as a permanent or a post-ride(if there is such a thing)?

Tom Rosenbauer responds " -- No, unfortunately there is no such thing as a "post-ride make-up", but if anyone is interested in adopting the revised "Beyond Hope to New Hope" course as a permanent, it's up for grabs.

The Randonnerd replies "After doing all the upfront work to lay out this new route and get it approved as a PA Brevet, Tom has graciously allowed me to adopt this route as a Permanent. I've spent the last couple of days putting it into a Permanent format for submission and will be looking to delete the Milford controle but add two controles in Riegelsville to keep folks from short-circuiting the course along the Delaware. YES!!! All you who thought to take that climb you couldn't imagine Tom neglected to include in the routing would have actually shaved a coule of miles off of the course. (Q: What is the exchange rate for climbing vs. mileage?)

In lieu of the Riegelsville controles I had considered changing the route slightly but in the end decided to keep the course pretty much as is, as some may want to use it as a tool to measure their fitness throughout the year.

Hopefully I'll get these new controles set tommorow and submit the Permanent Application over the weekend. Since this route is already approved as a brevet, I anticipate a fairly quick approval turnaround from Christa. Thanks again Tom for doing all of the upfront work.

Beyond Hope to New Hope Feb 5 R-12: Ride Report

Photo courtesy of Shane Beake

Preliminary results for the Feb 5 "Beyond Hope to New Hope" 200k have been posted at:

http://users.rcn.com/trosenbauer/PA200k_Results110205.pdf

... please let me know of any corrections or other issues.  Results will be sent to RUSA later this week, and then become final, pending RUSA approval.

Although the event was postponed 1 week until the 12th, it's officially considered as being ridden on the 5th.  And since we managed to get this ride in within 1 week of the scheduled date, it is still an ACP sanctioned event and can be used as a PBP qualifier.  As the miserable January weather unfolded, it was very apparent that:
A) The snow/daytime melt/overnight freeze conditions were not going away anytime soon
B) Nobody in the area was getting much (if any) training miles in.
So with this in mind, the new course was cobbled together at the last minute, and put on a fast track to get RUSA approval (special thanks to Dan Wallace at RUSA-HQ for expediting this!).

All 14 riders clipping-in made it around the course in excellent time.  Of note, John Capriotti completed his very first brevet ever, joining the ranks of several riders who completed their 1st event on a winter R-12 event.  Congratulations John, and now that you have the February ride under your belt, you have 11 more months to complete your R-12 series -- and one that would be special, since it started with your very 1st brevet.  John's ride report is posted here, and offers a good perspective of a 1st time rider:

http://videlos.wordpress.com/2011/02/13/my-first-brevet/

Nigel Greene got off to a late start, and ended up fighting those stiff winds in a solo effort.  But he still made it around the course in good time, to complete his 11th brevet on his R-12 series (which I believe may have started with his very first brevet).  Nigel writes: "...Just wanted to say thanks to you, Bill and Don for a staging an excellent ride under cold conditions. I think the course change was well suited for the weather and the cheerful, get done and keep it safe approach of the organizers and volunteers, was just what was needed..." Nigel's eloquent ride report is posted here:

http://eprider.blogspot.com/2011/02/beyond-hope-to-new-hope.html

Organizer Bill Olsen completed yet another R-12 series with this ride (how many is that, Bill?!) ... well done!

First finisher, John Fuoco writes: "...I wanted to thank you, Bill, and Don for putting on yesterdays 200k. It turned out to be an excellent route selection, sparing us icy roads yet affording wide shoulders on the busier roads chosen. It was not a heavy traffic day and drivers were courteous. The added bonus was that the course was easy! I know that must sadden you but I'm sure you'll be able to compensate for this one shortcoming in future events. I wouldn't mind revisiting this route in warmer weather when I'm in better shape..."

And fellow first finisher George Metzler writes: "...I think the route choices that you made were excellent for a mid-February brevet in Northeastern PA and northern Jersey.  While the routing was far from the typical tough as nails PA Rando event, it gave us a chance to get a safe ride in with snow and ice just inches away from my wheels all day.  I’m also not complaining about the lack of climbing either, my riding companions John Fuoco and Jon Levitt figured you must have been twitching as you laid out a route so easy on the knees with all those good climbs available just off of Rt 519..."

Shane Beake writes: "...Nice early season ride today, definitely not your hardest course, in fact it might of been your easiest, which was ok with me and I think some others.Mother nature must of known this and thrown in the wind just to make sure we didn't have it to easy..."

And once again, Shane has taken many excellent photos which can be viewed at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/45325491@N05/sets/72157626035342514/

Ixsa Golliur writes "...Hope all went well with the ride yesterday. Bill  (Reagan) and I were a bit sad we were not able to participate. I was wondering if this ride is available as a permanent or a post-ride(if there is such a thing)? ..." -- No, unfortunately there is no such thing as a "post-ride make-up", but if anyone is interested in adopting the revised "Beyond Hope to New Hope" course as a permanent, it's up for grabs.


Guy Harris completed yet another 200k on his fixie, and writes "....A good course to have in reserve for months and winters like this.  A nice long training ride without much cue sheet reading.  Thanks to Don for the scouting and for meeting up with us in Milford...."


Doug Haluza writes "... I would like to make the thumbs up vote on the route selection unanimous. Much better than riding on the L.I.E. Service Road, which is about all we can do back home on Long Island right now. This route was especially good for me bacause I was trying out my new Trek Speed Concept 7.0. .... I had only been able to do a few test rides on it with all the snow, so it was trial by fire. I liked that the route was an out and back, so if I had a problem, I could always turn around and still be on course. And I did appreciate being able to just keep my head down and hammer on the flat sections, which is usually an impossible dream on a PA brevet. ... I'm really glad I came. Thanks to Tom and crew for scouting out a ridable route to break the winter doldrums! ..."

Special thanks to volunteer Don Jagel, who completed a pre-ride checkout on Super Bowl Sunday and helped ensure that the course was safe for the rest of us.  Don also swept the course through Milford, and manned the controle there.  Special thanks also, to organizer Bill Olsen, for manning the finish controle.  Bill's extensive ride report is below.

Next up on March 5th, organizer Andrew Mead, with the help of George Metzler, will be running his Spring Forward 200k (a.k.a. Loop Around Lancaster). This is a fantastic course that really shows off the many quiet back roads through the Amish farmland.  And spring really is just around the corner, which of course means that it's time to start getting those fleche teams together.

-Tom Rosenbauer

Eastern PA RBA

*** Organizer Bill Olsen's Ride Report ***

Fourteen Riders started February 5th PA R-12 Brevet Beyond Hope to New Hope delayed until Saturday February 12th due to the ice storm the week before and all fourteen finished for a 100% completion rate.


Due to the problems trying to schedule the February R-12 last year, Tom Rosenbauer, the PA RBA totally re-routed the previous Beyond Hope route to make it a relatively flat course on State and County roads with wide, paved shoulders that would be relatively free of any ice from the recent ice storms. The first section of the out-and-back course followed the Beaver Brook valley from Belvidere to Johnsonburg with the second section being an out-and-back route to New Hope along the Musconetcong and Delaware rivers.


Prior to the ride, Tom was apologetic about the course being both an out-and-back (vs. the usual looped route) and relatively flat (vs. the routes all have come to expect from Tom.) Comments from the riders concluded that this revised route was a "success" and one that we might want to consider keeping "in the back pocket" for future year's winter brevets. The roads, although well traveled, had wide paved shoulders that considering the recent weather, were in excellent shape. There could be no complaints about the scenery since the route along the Delaware is classified as a "National Scenic Route," and although the route along the Musky is not "classified" it is equally, if not even more scenic than the Delaware. There didn't appear to be any complaints about the less than usual amount of climbing, and most figured that this was the FIRST and probably LAST time they'd see a route as flat as this from Tom. :-)


With the gentle rollers on the first leg, and the relatively light breeze, the group pretty much stayed together reaching the first controle as a group. After Johnsonburg, John Fuoco and George Metzler pulled out ahead leaving a second group of Jon Levitt, Shane Beake, Bill Fischer, Doug Haluza, Joel Flood, and Bill Olsen to work together against the headwinds that were starting to build. A little further back was Guy Harris on his fixie, first time brevet rider, John Capriotti, and Robert Dye, with Nigel Greene making up for lost time due to a late start. The second group managed to arrive at the Stewartsville controle just as the John and George were getting ready to leave so Jon chose to ride with them. The temperature had warmed up to around 25 deg, F from the starting temperature of 18 deg. and Jon wanted to ride a little faster to stay warmer than he would riding at the pace of the second group.


Although the gaps between the groups opened up slightly as the day wore on, the heavy winds from the West (25-30mph with gusts to 40mph) kept the first two groups together. The weather forecast of temperatures reaching the mid 30's was finally reached around 1PM when the sun finally came out but by then the winds were at their full force. The river valley blocked most of the wind and once could hear the wind roaring in the trees at the top of the river valley. The wind shifted as it wound down the valleys to find its course and the majority of the tailwinds were felt on the route to New Hope. The return route was into the headwind but with the protection of the valley and the benefit of the being able to share the work of fighting the wind, the first two groups managed to finish the course in 8 to 9 hours. All riders managed to complete the ride in under 11 hours. Several riders commented that they might have preferred a couple of hills to the headwinds but they reserved offering this as an option to Tom knowing that he could have just as easily provided BOTH hills and headwinds. A highlight of the ride was the last 12 miles when the route headed directly north and what had been headwinds and quartering headwinds for the previous 35 miles were now quartering tailwinds. What a way to wrap up a beautiful, albeit somewhat cold and windy, February brevet. Thanks Tom for pulling together such a nice route and also thanks to Don Jagel who pre=rode the course the previous Sunday and volunteered to sweep the course. The goodies he had at the Milford controle really hit the spot.


Thanks also to all of the businesses that served as controles along the way and especially the folks at the Belvidere diner who allowed us to park at their lot during the ride and also had such great menu offerings (and ample sized servings) at the pre-ride breakfast and post ride dinner. Hopefully we can continue to use this facility as a controle for future brevets.


-Bill Olsen
Eastern PA Organizer

Beyond Hope to New Hope Feb 5 R-12: Update #2

The cuesheet has been updated (draft 5 dated 2/8/11), with a minor route tweak to the first controle stop in Johnsonburg.  The cell phone numbers for volunteers Don Jagel and Bill Olsen were also added.  Don will be out sweeping the course towards the end, and Bill will be at the finish controle.

Don Jagel completed a volunteer preride this past Sunday (and did manage to finish in time for the Super Bowl). Don reports that the course was in reasonably good shape, considering all the snow and limited number of days above freezing over the past month.  Based on his scouting report, a minor route tweak was made to avoid a shaded secondary road on the approach to controle #2.  Along with the usual cautions of winter riding, Don pointed out the following areas that you should take some extra caution:
- The Rt 80 underpass (which you will cross twice) may be icy (a note has been added to the cuesheet to remind you of this hazard)
- A couple areas of the course are a bit narrow and have potholes (e.g. Rt 32) -- this will be especially hazardous if you're traveling in large, fast paceline.

It looks like the weather at least will be dry, and trending warmer as we head into the weekend.  However, there  is still plenty of snow on the ground which will be melting during the day and freezing overnight, so be on the watch for any black ice.  The forecast is also calling for some breezy conditions.

There is plenty of parking at the Belvidere diner start/finish.  But please keep to the area to the left as you pull into the parking lot (away from the spots near the building). 

*** Ride Roster (as of 2/9) ****
-Barb Anderson
-Ron Anderson
-Shane Beake
-John Capriotti
-Rick Carpenter
-Bob Dye
-Bill Fischer
-Joel Flood
-John Fuoco
-Nigel Greene
-Doug Haluza
-Guy Harris
-Don Jagel (volunteer preride)
-Rick Lentz
-Jonathan Levitt
-George Metzler
-Bill Olsen (organizer)

Please drop me a note if you decide to join us on the 12th.

-Tom Rosenbauer
Eastern PA RBA

Beyond Hope to New Hope 200k Update #1: Postponed and Rescheduled for Feb 12th

Due to black ice conditions and a weather forecast calling for snow/sleet/rain starting Friday night and continuing through Saturday, the event has been postponed for one week and rescheduled for Feb 12th.

-Tom Rosenbauer
Eastern PA RBA