Stillwater 200K -- Pre-Ride Course Notes

A pre-ride of the Stillwater 200K, was conducted on 21 January by Bob Dye and Chris Nadovich. As a result of the pre-ride, several small course updates and typo corrections were made to the cues. The latest cue sheet is Version 4, and the latest RWGPS route was modified 2023-01-22 08:12:51 EST. Both are available online.  Full information and online registration link on the event web site.

The Stillwater 200K course, one of oldest and most ridden of all the PA Rando courses, was found to be in good shape.  Things could change in two weeks, but during the pre-ride the shoulders were relatively free of debris and no road closures or detours were encountered.  

Bob Dye comments that the GPS routing was spot-on with no glitches. This is certainly a more GPS friendly route than last month's H2NH. You'll encounter the flashing light only once and you'll TURN RIGHT. 

Climbing is front loaded. First there's Jugtown Mountain via Sweet Hollow Rd, and then there's Mount Bethel. Both of these have long, fast descents following them. Be sure to manage your layers. Zip up or add a jacket as you summit -- or freeze your ass (or other body parts) on the descent.

The Quick Chek at mile 73 is a welcome respite from the cold. Indoor seating and hot soup is the ticket here. Unfortunately, the segment of NJ 94 after the Quick Chek control starting at mile 73 remains an annoying, trafficy segment. Please be cautious through this section, especially at the left turn 0.2 miles after the control. 

Shortly thereafter you will encounter Twin Bridges, at mile 77.9. This is a terrific bit of road, a windy descent zooming through S-curves in a pretty glen and the namesake two bridges, and then a stiff climb immediately thereafter. The only problem is that this can be a trafficy section, and in winter there is the possibility of black ice. I'd recommend taking the lane on the twisty descent and descending with some caution. The speed limit is 20 mph -- please honor it. Be ready for the climb that suddenly appears at the end. Here you will need to move over and let the cars pass. Look out for debris and ice on the edge of the road.  

This year, the control question at the Geo D Garris General Store has been adjusted so as to not require a calculator.

Other than the moderate climb approaching Belvidere and the hump at Harmony, the final miles of the course are generally flat or mildly rolling. If you are riding these miles after sunset, be sure to have reflective gear on, ride with a buddy, and look out for debris on the shoulders. Also look out for wildlife near sunrise and sunset. During the pre-ride we saw numerous foxes and some deer. 

Have a great ride!

PBP 2023 Trading Pins

 

AVAILABLE NOW!  We have commissioned a PBP trading pin.  These pins are popular at PBP as many people swap pins, give them to friendly faces along the route, etc.  The pins represented in the image are die-struck metal lapel pins approximately 1 inch wide. The pins are available on-line in packages of 10 pins.  Price per package of ten is $27.  Individual pins (quantities less than 10) will be available at our brevets for $3 each.  The link to purchase pins on-line is: https://parando.org/store/shop. 

Commemorative PBP 2023 Pins

Hope to New Hope Ride Report

The Hope to New Hope course has the virtue of being reliably clear of snow and ice in the winter. It's also relatively flat for a PA Randonneurs course (possibly because it's mostly in New Jersey).  And occasionally you get to see the river. These might be considered it's only positive attributes. Unfortunately, there are an abundance of negative attributes, not the best of which is the mind-numbingly boring and debris full stretch of NJ 29 between Milford and New Hope that is ridden twice -- headwind both ways. Oh, and the grindy, trafficy hill through Harmony. And that "last little grunt" out of Warren Glen.  Usually this "attracts"  only a very small bunch of hard core randos wanting to keep their R-12 alive, despite the mundane nature of the riding.

Maybe it was the positive waves of PBP year enthusiasm. Possibly the largest ever roster of riders to ride the Hope to New Hope course -- a full two-dozen day-of-event, plus two volunteer pre-riders -- clipped in for this winter classic. And they all rode well. Of the total 26 riders who clipped in, 26 finished inside the time limit for a 100% completion rate. Congratulations and well-done to all!  Preliminary results have been posted on the website.  Please review the results and let us know if they align with your memory.  The results will be submitted to RUSA after review and will become official once certified.

Thanks and congratulations go to Ben Keenan. Thanks for his excellent volunteer efforts running the finish control. Congratulations for his achievement of a PA R-12 with his pre-ride. This PA R-12 a rare achievement, as only 18 riders have accomplished this feat in the history of the club.  It may also be the first time ever someone has achieved PA R-12 as their first every R-12 in their first year of randonneuring.

Also for the record books was Chris Maglieri's finish time of 7:21, which shatters the old course record (held by Chris) cutting off more than 40 minutes from his previous best.  

Ed Bernasky writes...

Thanks to you and Ben for running today's ride. The route was perfect for our typical Winter conditions and since today's ride was almost in my backyard, I know these roads well and PA Rando picked the best roads as is always the norm. Riding with Chris and Annie was a pleasure. Aside from both being very pleasant, they were both very skilled in a paceline and in today's wind the caboose (me) appreciated the skill of those two and of course, Chris was the monster engine. A very nice day, thanks again.

 

---

We return to Pohatcong Plaza shopping center again next month for another Winter classic brevet, The Stillwater 200K on 4 February. Please keep an eye on this blog and the PA Rando website for possible announcements relating to this event. The brevet will be rescheduled or canceled if there is a realistic chance of black ice or other unsafe riding conditions.

Hope to New Hope 2023 -- Course Notes ***Updated

*** See additional course notes update, below. 

Begin this new PBP year with the same old New Hope 2 New Hope 200K brevet on 7 January 2023 starting from  Pohatcong Shopping Plaza in Phillipsburg, NJ. Start time is at 7AM. All the information, and an online registration link, are on the event web page.  You will find a link to the RWGPS data for the route (last modified 2023-01-1 13:21:29 EST) and links to cue sheets (version 3 is the latest).

Park the Regal Movie theater at the start, which is also near the finish control, Franks Trattoria Italian restaurant, located between the Old Navy and the Regal movie theater in Pohatcong Plaza. Leave the parking spots by the shops to the day patrons; please park at some distance away along Bliss Blvd.  Park as shown in this map.  If you need coffee or breakfast, there is a Wawa nearby, across from the WalMart. If you are driving in on I-78 from the East (eg from NYC) consider a hearty breakfast at the 24 hour Clinton diner, easy-off-easy-on, about 10 miles to the East. 

Do not leave your car over by the Wawa or WalMart as we have had some trouble with the "Walmart Parking Lot Blue Light Special Security Team" in the past. 

 ***Additional Notes from Ben Keenan

With this ride, Ben achieves a PA Rando R-12 award -- one of only 18 people in the history of our club to achieve this rare honor. [-CTN]

Pre-Ride course notes, BK 1/2/23

I lucked out and had a mild day, but even so the cold had some bite in the early miles. Though dawn was breaking at 7, it was still dark enough to require lights and full reflective gear. Odds are it will be a bit colder Saturday. Probably not cold enough to freeze water bottles, but winter riding requires extra forethought. As well as reflective gear, riders should consider bringing an extra layer and make sure you have lights (both front and back) you are confident will last in the (quite possible) event you finish in the dark. If anyone is battling frozen feet, hands, etc. in the first hours, the Dunkin at mile 23.7 should be a good place to de-thaw.

Also this time of year, extra debris on the road can increase your chance of flat(s), so check your flat repair gear in advance so you are confident you’ll have what you need to fix it and get rolling again.

Course highlights were riding along the Delaware between Riegelsville-Milford and Frenchtown-Lambertville/Stockton. You will have to walk the bridges at New Hope and Stockton. While that may seem annoying, take in the Delaware as you clomp across. It will remind you why winter riding is worth the effort.

On the first leg of the route, take special care to take the left onto North Main Street at mile 2.5. If you go right (as your GPS may indicate), you will be embarking prematurely on the second half of the course. You do NOT want to do this. Also, take care crossing Route 46 from Sarepta Road to Water Street/CR 620. Traffic moves quickly on Route 46, and it is not a straight crossing; rather, you cross to a left turn lane and have to ride uphill for a stretch to get to where you can complete the crossing to Water Street.

On the second leg, on Route 29 between Frenchtown and Lambertville there is a wide and mostly smooth shoulder, but riders need to keep an eye out for debris on the road including sticks and gravel. On the return route from Stockton, there was also a place or two where stray ice chunks from rock outcroppings along the road created an obstacle course. Also be aware traffic may be heavier in Stockton, Lambertville and New Hope. When you get across the bridge to New Hope, you will be on the wrong side of the road and traffic is likely to be snarled. To avoid adding to the confusion, follow the directions on the cue sheet and walk your bike the short way to the traffic light and cross there.

Good luck to all!

 

***Original Course Notes

The course is a figure 8 and after the northern loop to Hope you will pass to your car at Pohatcong  and the Pohatcong Wawa (which is the mid-point control) before riding the southern loop to New Hope.

Many services can be found near the Start/Finish

The turnaround control for the Northern loop is the Dunkin Donuts at the I-80 interchange just beyond Hope, but riders seeking a quick cup of coffee at a lower traffic location might better choose the US Gas convenience store passed twice just a mile South of the turnaround, as the DD can sometimes be very crowded. If you can wait, Skoogies in Belvidere has better sandwiches.

The Southern loop passes twice through all the Delaware River towns providing many options for service. If seeing the water flowing in the river, and all that coffee you drank, is making you seek a rest room, consider stopping at Bull Island Rec Area (mi 78.7 and 94.2). There are rest rooms located on the right side of the main office building. In the winter, these rest rooms are relatively low traffic. The fountain outside will be closed, but the sink in the restroom has potable water.

All riders must be a paid-up member of RUSA at the time of the event, so be sure to renew your RUSA membership for 2023 before you register. If your membership expires in 2022 the system will refuse you. You can join or renew RUSA membership here. PA Rando membership is not required for riding this event, but to promote PA membership this new-year event is traditionally FREE for PA Rando Members.

The finish extends during night hours. The organizer will strictly enforce the rules regarding lighting and reflective gear.

There was a pre-ride of this event on 30 December. On that day, the roads in question seemed in great shape. Famous last words. Always be aware of the possibility of black-ice when the temperatures are near or below freezing. It's also common to find debris on winter roads, so be on the lookout for rocks, unexpected potholes, treefall, and ice clumps.  During the pre-ride I saw considerable debris and ice on river rd, and 1/2 inch deep salt drifts on the northbound side of NJ29. The shoulders up by Hope were pretty good, except for an occasional ice-flow out a driveway. Again, this may all be different if a storm changes things in the next few days.

You will pass by your car after each loop.

The figure 8 shape of the course has a common exit on Greenwich St from the Pohatcong Shopping Center start/mid-control. Soon after the start, when you reach the flashing light in Stewartsville you will turn LEFT for the first (northern) loop. Then when you ride out Greenwich St the second time to the flashing light in Stewartsville, you will turn RIGHT for the final (southern) loop. This repeated segment is sure to confuse your GPS device, so please use your human brain and Cue Sheet Posititioning System to navigate out of the start of both loops and make sure you do the North loop to Hope first.
Bonne route!

--
Chris Nadovich
Organizer

Thanks to our 2022 Volunteers, Best Wishes for the New Year

Ahh, to see lots of people riding big brevets again! Dare I say that the pandemic is over? For the first time since 2019 we ran a full slate events, 18 in total, including a 1000K. There were 295 total finishes by 152 different riders collectively riding over 80,000 Km. The last time we had more rider finishes was 2018. I don’t know if the pandemic is “really” over, but people are riding brevets again, that’s for sure. I hope this excellent trend will continue in 2023. As this will be a PBP year, I’m pretty confident it will.

Another trend, which I also think is a good one, is that more and more of our events are starting in or near Center City Philadelphia. This leads to more participation by riders from Philly, but also now we are seeing riders from the New York City and other metro areas at our events. I think a Philly area start makes an event more accessible to riders in nearby cities, especially to those who prefer to travel without using a car. 

The Covered Bridges 200K in March of 2022 was the best-attended PA Rando brevet ever. There were 55 finishers in this event, which started and ended in Manayunk. An epic course, the brainchild of Brad Layman, crossed ten covered bridges in a scenic tour of Bucks County. There were waffles at the start near Cadence Cycles, a “gourmet” brunch control at Tinicum Park, and a finish at Manayunk Brewing Company. Of course, such Philly area starts wouldn’t be possible without continuing efforts and willingness of the Philly volunteers (specifically Iwan Barankay, Pat Gaffney, Ben Keenan and Brad Layman, and the folks at Keystone and Cadence Cycles) to support events in or near Center City. Thank you!

In contrast to events that start in the city, the 2022 edition of the PA Randonneurs SR series was hosted in an extremely rural venue, Flint Hill Farm. This was possibly the most unusual start-finish venue we have ever used. Thanks go to Kathleen Fields, president of Flint Hill Farm Education Center, who hosted us and wrangled her horses, cows, and chickens to safety as our bike riders passed through the farm. Congratulations to the nine SR series finishers who rode the tough SR courses, with that grueling finish climb up Flint Hill to the farm at its summit. 

 

Travis Berry

Cecilie Gaffney (5)

Patrick Gaffney (5)

Benjamin Keenan

Brad Layman (2)

Amy Lippe

Bill Scanga

Ryan J Stanis (2)

Benjamin Thompson

The SR Finisher received commemorative laser-cut Super Randonneur Plaques courtesy of Nicole Aptekar, who is an artist living in Brooklyn with the necessary lazer skillz. In fact, Nicole personally owns a very excellent laser and was nice enough to cut the PA Rando SR plaques for us this year. As a newly minted randonneur who's first 200K was the TK in November, Nicole looks forward to riding longer events and earning one of these plaques in the future.

Another good trend to emerge in 2022 was the return of the grand brevet in the form of the Endless Mountains Liberty Bell 1000K. Congratulations to the nine EMLB 1000K finishers. Tough riders all:

 

Iwan Barankay

Darren Bartels

Jose Blanco

Ed Felker

Misha Heller

Dale Houck

Ben Keenan

Steve Kunsak

Brad Layman

The last time PA Rando ran an event longer than 600K was in 2013. When planning the 1000K for 2022, there was concern about whether PA Rando volunteers still had “what it took” to run such a big, multi-day event. Such concern was unfounded. As it turned out, many great people volunteered to support the event, and the organization was excellent. Significantly, these volunteers included some veteran randonneurs who stepped up to support the overnight controls in far-away towns, and who performed the lonely (but essential) duty to monitor riders on the course.

We continue to be a strong randonneuring club. Without a doubt this is a result of a large collective of volunteers who organize and host events, create and check routes and cue sheets, staff controls, and/or prepare/serve food. Please be sure to thank them the next time you see them. In 2022 our crew of event volunteers included: 

 

CJ Arayata

Susan Arisumi,

Jimmy Aspras

Mike Anderson

Iwan Barankay

Travis Berry

Gavin Biebuyck

Jim Bondra

Cadence Cycles

Bob Dye

Woody Felice

Bill Fischer

Cecilie Gaffney

Patrick Gaffney

Oleksiy Guslyakov

Ben Keenan

Greg Keenan

Sean Keesler

Keystone Cycles

Mackenzie King

Amanda Jones-Layman

Brad Layman

Jeff Lippincott

Ag Manta

Nick Manta

Matt McLoone

Andrew Mead

George Metzler

Phil Mitch

Andrea Mules

Chris Nadovich

Bill Olsen

Zach Rachell

George Retseck

Tom Rosenbauer

Steve Schoenfelder

Ryan Stanis,

Ivan Umble

Len Zawadniack

Iwan Barankay and Brad Layman expanded their role as event organizers in 2022. Organizing a brevet is no small task and the future of our club depends on volunteers “leveling up” to the rank of organizer. Along with Iwan and Brad, Steve Schoenfelder reprised his organizer duty for the Rusty Rail 200K, and Bill Fischer ran the 2022 edition of Hawk’s Nest and the Portland Opulent Outhouse 200Ks. Both Bill and Steve also ran overnight controls on the 1000K.

Leadership roles in the club were somewhat rearranged in 2022. Andrew Mead stepped down as RBA, with yours truly, Chris Nadovich, taking over the RBA job. Andrew continues to serve on the PA Rando board, along with Chris and another RBA emeritus, Tom Rosenbauer. The passing of the RBA baton was celebrated at the October “Fall Classic” event held at Cafe Metzler. There was a cake decorated with the PA Rando keystone, along with gifts for retiring RBA Andrew Mead that included an engraved mug and a brevet card enumerating Andrew’s accomplishments during his tenure. Thank you Andrew for serving the club all these years. Our club remains strong because of your dedicated work. I hope I can live up to the standard that Tom and you have set.

As the new RBA, I will be depending on a high level of volunteer support in 2023, as we have a full slate of brevets scheduled for the coming year. Please help. Contact me, or any organizer, if you can help us at any level.

The full calendar of events, available online at parando.org, includes the Endless Mountains 1000K, a complete SR series with all new routes, a Fleche, and our R-12 series of monthly 200k’s. Current plans are to stage the SR series and the 1000K out of Chamounix Carriage House in Philadelphia. The Fleche is on the schedule for early April. It’s unclear at this time where the finish will be located. Alternative finish venues are being explored and will be announced as soon as settled. Follow the website, message board, and other social media outlets for the latest updates.

It promises to be another exciting year. I look forward to seeing you on the road, and by my side volunteering to help run events!

Chris Nadovich,

Eastern PA RBA

December 2022

R-YARRR Ride report

It was a brisk and cool morning. The sun was rising behind the stripped-down trees to catch the morning mist rising from the Schuylkill just so. A rabbit hushed across the trail and a squirrel dug up a nut. Wait, that was a different morning.

Instead, fifteen brave randonneurs, some novices along with the usual suspects hailing from around Philadelphia, Reading, Brooklyn, and New Jersey, gathered on Saturday at the Port Providence Schuylkill River Trail parking lot in rather wet conditions minutes before sunrise. Twelve riders finished the brevet in addition to three pre-riders. Results have been posted on the website and will be submitted to RUSA after review.  Please check your result and let me know if it doesn't align with your recollections.

First of many downpours right at the start

After a short rider meeting, in which I implored riders not to do anything stupid, the rain started in earnest just to make sure that we did not get our hopes up too much about the weather.  There were also positive surprises in that the wind wasn’t as gusty as predicted. The wet weather and the hills which wouldn’t want to roll were the themes of the day.  I lost count of the number of flats reported from the peloton.

The counter-clockwise Rotated-Yet-Another-River-to-River route passed by the Upper Tinicum Lutheran church where riders were asked to redraw a design with wet and clammy hands. It was a gorgeous display of dexterity and artistry - guess which of these drawings is by a German civil engineer.

Randonneur cartoons

After a second bagel breakfast in Milford, our newly minted RBA Chris Nadovich awaited our riders at the National Canal Museum with hot soup, coffee, and PayDay bars.

I think all the Wawas and Coffee places were visited by the riders on the route back via Hellertown, Coopersburg, and Pottsdown. A point of discussion was whether the muddy dirty trails would have been better than the constant hills but all riders remained faithful to the route. After all, hills keep you warm and focused. Amie Gibson, on her second brevet, got unlucky on a descent and had to abandon near Bethlehem after further mechanicals. Joshua Han and Daniel Oh also struggled with numerous flats and ran out of time and thus abandoned shortly after the Canal Museum control. The remaining twelve riders completed the course to be greeted by our walrus-moustached Pat Gaffney at the Fitzwater Station pub for some well-deserved drinks and grub. 

The first finisher was Ben Keenan in 10:59, a time testament to the tough conditions of the day, followed by Max Atkins for his first-ever brevet. Congratulations Max! I wish I could say to Max that all our other brevets are downhill with pleasant weather but where would be the fun in that? The vegan riders stayed but briefly at the pub for lack of food options but I was pleased to catch up with all the other riders just as Bob Olsen finished in 12:48. In the end, riders completed the ride within a short span of time which made for a nice gathering at the finish control.

Fitzwater Station contrôle

Ben Keenan writes: 

"Rain, hills, and 126 miles with people crazy and great enough to head out into it undaunted. It was a grand adventure! Thanks a million to everyone that shared it, and special thanks to Iwan, Chris and Pat for volunteering to make it possible. There is a solitude in the countryside this time of year that is as beautiful as a day of spring riding just different. RIP to my trusty Suntour downtube shifters that after countless rides and years of loyal service gave up the ghost about 15 miles in so the rear derailer slipped and stuck in high. Adjusting the limiting screw left two gear selections, 46-15 and 34-15, which proved more or less doable with a special combination of zigzagging/walking/complaining bitterly and feeling sorry for myself up the numerous hills. Special note to Max Atkins for pulling me along the later miles and to Annie Gibson for a really excellent ride until having to deal with a crash. Hope you are healing up quickly Annie, and hope to see everyone on the road before much time passes in the new year!"

Ello Shertzer reported: 

"Thank you so much for organizing this ride!! I was pretty apprehensive about the weather going into it, and rightfully so—I think we only got a couple hours of respite from the rain in the afternoon before getting completely dumped on again. When we stopped in Milford and got bagels, getting back on the bike in a totally soaked kit was quite difficult, and I remember asking Erik to tell me that I could do it—I was fully shivering and teeth uncontrollably chattering. But once we started pedaling again, I was able to warm up pretty quickly. It was certainly rough at times, but I found myself looking forward to climbs for the warmth that they provided! And given the amount of climbing on this route, it was pretty amazing to actually want to continue climbing!

Overall I had a blast riding with my friends all day! We joked about silly things to take our minds off of the rainy misery, proclaimed our love for Wawa, and appreciated some really scenic moments. It was a lovely day of camaraderie and positive vibes.

Big thanks also to Chris for his hospitality at the second controle, and thank you Chris for not murdering me when I handed you my soggy brevet card 😂"

Chris Nadovich wrote:

I was very impressed with the equal measures of cold toughness and warm camaraderie I saw in the riders rolling into my "soup control" at the National Canal museum.   I thought I had it tough on my own pre-ride with temps in the mid 20's at the start, but starting in a 50 degree wet mess definitely out-rule-9s my effort. 

The riders probably didn't notice the small contingent of homeless people who were watching their arrival at the control. They would cautiously approach me between rider arrivals.  All very nice people, I was told some facinating stories about the history of Easton and Phillipsburg. I had no idea that the owner of the now defunct yet still infamous Boxcar nude-dance club in Phillipsburg continues to be a pillar of the community and now owns the Sand Bar at the Free bridge. The things you learn staffing controls. 

Anyway, I can assure you that none of the leftover soup went to waste.

The next ride is on January 7 and we have a full 2023 calendar to look forward to with a Philadelphia based SR series in preparation for PBP 2023 and the PA1000 in the fall.

 

R-YARRR 200K Pre-Ride Course Notes ***Updated

*** Update 1

Another Pre-ride was conducted on 26 Nov by Cecilie and Patrick Gaffney. Some minor comments were added to the course.  RWGPS was update 2022-11-28 14:35:00 EST, and the cues are Version 7. Download the latest. Here are Patrick and Cecilie's course notes.

It was a tough course.  Definitely one that looks much easier on paper.  We were mostly slowed by technical issues (two flats, both of our wahoos crashing on numerous occasions, and a bike that could probably use a tune up).  Similar to the Pagoda 200, there seemed to be a lot of stop signs,  where stopping really was necessary, at the bottom of descents, which  reduces our magic tandem powers and becomes frustrating; making it difficult for us to get into a good rhythm.  I am sure it won't be as           
annoying for singles.                                           

• The right turn onto Hollow Road - there was a fair amount of gravel and a shallow cut out in the road where some utility work may be going on.  Very easy to see and navigate, but it is early enough in the ride where it might be a group situation and could get a little sketchy.  
• I noticed a good sized pothole in the left turn onto Summit Ave @ mile 20.2   
• Along with the Milford Market there is also Bridge Street Bagel a little off course.  We stopped there for a breakfast sandwich, which might be worth mentioning on the cue.
• When leaving Pottstown I believe there is a protected bike lane on Industrial road that goes up to the bridge, on the river side of the road  (maybe part of the SRT?).  I think you can get on it where Moser Road  becomes Industrial Road.  After dark some people may want to use this?  We  did not, and some of the cars that passed us on the road seemed annoyed   that we weren't on the path.

[Ed: Patrick is talking about mile 113. There is a SRT segment accessible on the left.  It begins at the traffic-light triangle intersection between Moser and Industrial Rd, just before the sewer plant on the right and the sports dome on the left. You might consider crossing over (cautiously) using it as it leads directly to the Keim St bridge and puts you in a "protected" space (look out for broken glass and barriers "protecting" you there), and if you don't use it, auto drivers might give you the stink eye, but personally I don't like the awkward left turn required to get on it. You could just as well stay right on Industrial and cross over (cautiously) when you reach Keim St.  If you decide to cross over earlier rather than later, maybe it's safest to do it at the intersection: merge onto left-turn lane but continue straight onto the sidewalk on the left side of the rode which will become two lane bike path.]

Optional cross over to SRT at mile 181.9

 

The usual large amounts of glass and crap on the outbound  side of the 25th street bridge. 

In our opinion the omission of the [bike] paths doesn't change too much.              

*** Original Post

A pre-ride of the Rotated Yet Another River to River Ride, Port Providence Start, was conducted on 23 November by Chris Nadovich. As a result of the pre-ride, several small course updates and typo corrections were made to the cues. The latest cue sheet is Version 5, and the latest RWGPS route was modified 2022-11-24 11:13:18 EST. Both are available online.

Spectacular holiday display through Phoenixville at the finish

Albeit a tad chilly to start out, with temperatures in the mid 20's, as the sun rose the frost evaporated and it became a great day to be on the bike. This YARRR route has always been a little too hot in the summer; as a Winter route the warmth is a lot more welcome.

This edition of the YARRR has been rotated so that the start/finish is now at Port Providence, near Phoenixville. I hope that this change makes this classic route more accessible to riders from Philly and the nearby suburbs.  The finish in Port Providence has the advantage of allowing a finish gathering in the warmth of Fitzwater Station pub, rather than at the previous outdoor pavilion.  The route also has been altered to eliminate virtually all of the bike trails, routing instead on nearby roads. This makes the course a little more Winter friendly.  

These changes have resulted in a route that is significantly tougher than the original YARRR, which was not at all easy. Specifically, the new routing from Rieglesville to Easton includes a full-frontal attack on South Mountain, including Stouts Valley Rd and Cider Mill Rd. After humping yet again over South Mountain, this time via Lower Saucon Rd (always a favorite), there is the newly added, and glorious descent on Applebutter Rd into Hellertown. But now, instead of the flat, easy Saucon Rail Trail, the course threads throuh Hellertown via back streets, and then skirts the Kohlberg and Flint Hill via Apples Church and Taylor Rd, which are significantly "rolling".  

Another challenging aspect of the route changes combined with the proximity to the Winter Solstice is that the southwestern course leg is aimed directly toward the setting sun. Don't forget your sunglasses and be very careful to look twice for traffic. The sun glare can make it difficult to see an oncoming car. 

Night Riding

Many riders will be unable to complete this difficult course in the daylight and may need to ride one or more hours after sunset. Please be prepared for night riding. Darkness is only half the problem. It gets cold quickly in the Winter after sunset. Have extra layers. Batteries tend to drain quicker too. If you use batteries for lighting, make sure they are fully charged and you have extras.  Reflective outer wear is a must. I recommend a full reflective vest rather than a Sam Browne sash -- the full vest acts as another wind-shell warming layer. Make sure you wear your reflective vest on the outside of your jacket! And don't forget the ankle bands outside the booties. 

Finishing after dark provides a special treat at the end. You will emerge from the suburban darkness onto the main street of Phoenixville, with it's spectacular holiday light display. Happy Holidays!

 

Look out for cars, pedestrians, and other distracted creatures when riding through Phoenixville at night

Historical Note

The YARRR (Yet Another River to River Ride) has a long history, perhaps longer than my own history as a bike rider. My first encounter with the concept of a bike ride between the Delaware and Schuylkill was when Pennsylvania Bicycle Club organized the River to River Century back in the early 1980s. The R2R  was their second yearly club century, paired with the popular Lake Nokamixon Century. Because of limited resources, PBC eventually dropped the River to River Century from the schedule, but a few years later the Heritage Conservancy revived the same route as a PA Route 113 Heritage Corridor Century between Phoenixville and Tinicum. Their ride continues today, but (because of limited resources) the Conservancy shortened it to a metric century that now doesn't reach both rivers.  Independent of these club centuries, Rick Carpenter created a River to River permanent that followed a similar path.  Upon riding Rick's perm one time, which had somewhat 'utilitarian' routing that seemed to focus on donut shops and former RC homesteads.  I thought I could create a prettier route without loss of calories. Thus was born yet another River to River ride. This new "YARRR" connected Easton (Delaware and Lehigh) with the Schuylkill at Phoenixville and Pottstown using the best parts of all the previous River to River courses.

--

Chris Nadovich

RBA, Eastern PA