Pittsburgh Randonneurs Spring 200K 2010

Short Version:
Ah, spring; when a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of excessive pedaling.
127.68 miles, 15.8 rolling average, 9:05 elapsed time.

Results
Jim's Finisher Photos

Long Version:
Yesterday was our inaugural ACP brevet, our spring 200K, loosely based on last year's RUSA Thrift Drug Classic 200 route. As a matter of both practicality and mercy, we removed the initial climb up world-famous Sycamore Street, so the initial leg of the route would be significantly less cruel. Bill and myself had scouted the route a couple weekends back, so no surprises were expected.

Seven riders met at Jim's house for the traditional opening festivities: myself, Alan, Dan, Kevin, and Dale all had greater or lesser degrees of randonneuring experience; Anne and Tom were both ready to enjoy their first brevets. I was pleased to see Tom was riding 'bent as well; it gets lonely, sometimes, being the only dude on a recliner on these events.

We stuck together through town and the West End Circle, so as not to lose the out-of-towners in the bowels of dahntahn Pittsburgh. Once we hit Rt 60, the long-ish climb up to Noblestown Rd quickly fractured the group.

As usual, the run to Sturgeon via Noblestown was delightful, as was Finks Run and the detour around Kelso Road's missing bridge via Donaldson and Partridge. I spent the next few miles playing leapfrog with Alan and Kevin; they'd surge ahead on the climbs of Old Steubenville Pike, then I'd power into the lead on the rollers of Potato Garden. We arrived at the sadly-now-closed Buckboard Station on Rt 151, where Dale's wife Pat was kind enough to man the controle. A signed card, refilled bottles, and a couple of delicious cookies later, and we were back on the road. I bid Alan and Kevin a fond farewell at the base of the long climb up 151; I knew darn well that my fat butt was not going to keep anywhere near their wheels on a climb of that duration. No worries; caught up again at the next controle in scenic Chester, WV. I was quite proud of myself: I managed to omit the obligatory giant teapot photograph for once.

From there, we popped across the river to pick up 39, which became 68 once we crossed back into the Keystone State. Nearly 30 miles of 68 later, just past Evans City, a quick right on Brownsdale and a stop at the also-sadly-now-closed Brownsdale Deli info controle led to the ultimate leg of the route. Alan and I had long since lost sight of Kevin, so we rolled the next few miles into North Park together. There, Alan pulled off for a few moments rest; I was smelling the barn, so pushed through to finish up in just over 9 hours. Alan was shortly behind me; Kevin, who should have finished easily under 9 hours, was misled by a cue sheet cue of questionable value to do some bonus miles. Dale, Dan, Tom, and Ann all rolled in around the 11-hour mark. 100% completion rate, and plenty of time cushion for all...a good ride.

The good: Utterly by accident, I ended up doing an almost all-liquid diet, and had no real problems. This bodes well for Calvin's Challenge, where low-residue/high-energy food shall be the order of the day.

The bad: Cramping. Despite my usual steady intake of HEED and Endurolytes, I still had to dial it back a lot for the latter half of the ride. Inner thighs and calves were both trying to lock on a regular basis. In hindsight, I suspect the primary culprit was inadequate hydration for the first half of the ride, coupled with unaccustomed high heat.

The ugly: WIND. Steady/gusty winds for the last 40 miles, mostly direct headwinds. Yeesh...I was feeling the pain, and I shudder to think of how my upright brethren felt. Tom, with his even-more-ludicrously-aero-than-my-bike Bacchetta, reported "barely noticing" the wind. The smug bugger. :-)

DC Randonneurs Warrenton 300K

Cue Sheet
Results

Bill Beck's Photos
Ed Felker's Photos and Ride Report
Maile's Photos

Short Version
191.04 miles, 16.6 rolling average, 13:08 total elapsed time. Great route, well run, and the weather even played far more nicely than predicted.

Long Version
I'll mercifully gloss over the hell-on-earth that was my 8 hour+ drive from Pittsburgh to the ride start, and focus on the good stuff.

This was my first ride with the DC Randonneurs, at least at one of their rides. I had ridden with many of them in last year's Eastern PA series, so was confident that the hospitality would be warm and the route interesting; I was not in any way disappointed on either count. Maile and Lane put together a great brevet, and I enjoyed myself wholeheartedly.

As per usual, my eyes popped open 5 minutes before the alarm went off the morning of the ride. The usual morning ablutions, and a couple cups of coffee later, and I was more-or-less ready to face the prospect of almost 200 miles in utterly unfamiliar territory. Maile had set out a nice spread with bagels, fruit, and assorted sundries; Lane, the other organizer, was mysteriously absent. *cough*secret controle*cough* I signed in, including my age (32), which provoked cries of "He's just a baby! He still has milk on his breath!" and suchlike vile calumnies. That's okay; I was taught to respect my elders, so took the abuse with a patient smile, and didn't ONCE utter the words "codger" or "crone". ;-)

As the group assembled outside, I was happy to see another recumbent rider: Jim Lehman(apologies if I've misspelt your name, Jim!) was there with a lovely Tour Easy, decked out with all the trimmings. A couple of tandems (including familiar faces Ed and Mary) and a bunch of traditional damond frames rounded out the complement of roughly 30 riders. After a few cautionary words from Maile ("Don't even HINT about using a bathroom at the Aroda store!") and we were off.

It was a strong start; Ed and Mary got things off on the right foot with a strong pull of the group through the not-so-secret controle and to the beginning of the rollers; then, the usual dissolution of the group occurred, and we ended up with half-a-dozen riders in the fast group kicking up our heels on the way to the climb up Old Rag and the first controle at the Syria Mercantile. Mark, Rudy, Lisa, Bill, Q, Patrick, and myself kept up a fairly fast pace; we arrived at the store with an average over 17 mph, which was pretty good for almost 100K before the first stop. (Actually, there was one brief stop; Q's tailight had ceased to work As A Tailight Should, so I pulled my tertiary tail light off the back of my helmet and gave it to him, so as to avoid a DQ on his part.)

From the first controle, we fragmented a bit more, although the fast group was never more than about 30 minutes apart at any given time. Bill ended up with a flat just out of the controle; Patrick and I played leapfrog for pretty much the next 200 km, usually a few minutes behind Rudy, Mark, Lisa, and Q.

In a lot of ways, it was an uneventful ride; no mechanicals, no unfortunate wildlife interactions, no assertions by the undereducated and over-horsepowered that I belonged off the road, etc. In a lot of other ways, it was an almost perfect ride; the weather was pleasant, the roads were smooth, and I had congenial company and peaceful solitude in equal measures.

I doff my chapeau to Maile, Lane, and the other volunteers for a lovely event. I can't imagine a better introduction to riding with the DC Randonneurs, and I'm looking forward to the 400 and 600 with great anticipation.


Lessons Learned

1. CHECK YOUR BREVET CARD. I did the entire ride as Mark Vinette, and he as Dan Blumenfeld; apparently, from the moment we collected our cards, we had the wrong ones. Oops. Thankfully, Maile and Bill were willing and able to correct the goof, or I would have racked up my first DQ due to a totally preventable mistake at the ride start.
   
2. One should make a point of arranging cue sheet holders and lights to read said cue sheets BEFORE starting the ride. Thanks go out to Ed for the spare binder clip (even though I ended up tucking the sheet inside my über-cool reflective vest for the duration...)
3. I had experimented with on-bike nutrition for this ride. Heed, Endurolytes, Gu packs, and some peanut butter crackers sounded remarkably like a balanced diet, rich in the vitamins and nutrients that a growing randonneur needs. It worked quite well...for the first 100 miles or so. Over the next ten miles or so, I found myself engaged in a slow and surreptitious border crossing into the Kingdom Of Bonk, and, by the end of the first 200K, I was in less than stellar shape. Fortunately, I never bonked completely, and a club sandwich dripping with bacon and mayo was just the ticket to perk me up for the last 50 miles or so. It's amazing how carnivorous I become after the first 8000 calories burnt...
   
4. Virginia horse country is purty, and lots of fun in which to ride. :-)
5. For the first time, I neglected to do a "virtual ride" in advance by mapping the route online; while it worked out okay this time, I think that was due more to the quality of the cue sheet. I was definitely feeling a bit uncomfortable at times, as I really had no idea where I was in relation to anything else.
   

Inaugural Pittsburgh Brevet: Thrift Drug 200K, 04/11/2009

First off, let me just say, from the "I hate driving AT ALL to ride, much less across the state" perspective: W00T! to local brevets.

Results, including group photo that really shows the glamourous rando lifestyle in its best light ;-)

Short version: 10:45, 125 miles, 4(!) mechanicals, headwinds and crosswinds for ~ 75% of the ride.

Long Version:
So, I got up early on Saturday, shoveled down some oatmeal and Earl Grey, and staggered out to the garage for a 6 AM departure. What's that, you say? Doesn't the ride begin at 7? Well, yes, but I'm being an (arguably) utter dumbarse and doing the ride-to-the-ride bit. No big deal: after all, I was a good do-bee the night before; packed everything, lubed the pivoting bits on brakes and derailleurs, cleaned and lubed the chain, etc. (Foreshadowing: see anything missing from this list o' prep?) A quick 10 miles to Jim's place in Shaler, marred only with a bit of early-ride knee tenderness, and I was meeting and greeting with the other hardy souls.

Bit of a mixed bag, as brevets tend to be: Jim Logan (our local Pittsburgh Randonneurs RBA), Matt Settle (RBA of ROMA), David (veteran of BMB, Cascades 1200, etc.), and myself all had prior brevets under our belt. Alan, Shane, and Jon, all first-time riders, had been participating in some of our prior distance rides; Dale, of the Mt Lebanon Caffeine and Cycling Club ("Mostly Old Guys in Tight Pants"), and George, of the Susquehanna Valley Velo Club rounded out our merry band.

We rode as a group for the first ten miles or so, in order that out-of-towners not get too horribly lost in dahntahn Pittsburgh. Made the climb up Sycamore (Alan charging to the lead), paused briefly for photos and info controle at top of Mt Washington, and we were off! Alan, Dale, and myself were feeling frisky, so we rapidly left the group behind. We set a nice, moderate pace through Carnegie and out to Sturgeon, then climbed up to Potato Garden Road. At this point, the near-continuous headwinds and crosswinds were starting to wear a bit, but we continued more-or-less undaunted down to the Buckboard Station for refreshments and our first manned control. A bit of dawdling, and Jim and Shane caught up with us as we were departing.

The nice gentle climb up 151 was acompanied by the first mechanical; Dale's tire blew, so I did the noble (hah!) thing and played workstand for his Softride whilst he did the inflation thing. Jim and Shane passed us by at that point, after making sure we were okay and taking a couple of incriminating photos.

From there, the delightful passage on Rt 30 down to Chester, Chaney's Sunoco, and the Worlds Largest Teapot was uneventful. The long descent into Chester did provide a graphic demonstration of the force of the wind, however; my usual coastdown speed on that hill is right around 40 mph or thereabouts; I was doing 32 this time. Have I mentioned the headwinds? If they were hurting me that badly, I shudder to think of my upright brethren...

Burning along Rt 68 on the flat bit of the route, I suffered my first mechanical, an delightful insta-flat. Taking a look at the tire, I was appalled (and more than a little embarassed) to see just how worn the casing had become; that tire was ready for the trash, not for an additional 70 miles. Okay, these things happen; swap out for a fresh tube, start inflating, then start swearing. The fresh tube wasn't holding air either! Upon inspection, the nominally new tube had a thin patch worn through on the side; logic would indicate that, at some point, I had changed out this tube, folded it away neatly, and utterly forgot to patch or replace it. In hindsight, that was probably sometime early last year, as it's been a long time since I had to change a tube. Anyway, I threw on a patch, and (with sinking heart, but buoyed by Alan's gift of a spare folding 23c tire "just in case") I continued on my way.

Headwinds. Crosswinds. Headwinds. Cars with cameras pointed at me, preumably due to novelty value or as evidence for later prosecution. More winds. Lots of winds. I thought that stretch of 68 was supposed to be a nice, fast, easy one...must remember to apologize to other riders for this route choise. On second thought, maybe I should avoid them for a while...

The rest of the ride was fairly uneventful. Due to my flat, plus a couple stops to push some air into the slowly deflating tire, and, eventually, to throw a tantrum and replace it with Alan's spare, I was riding solo for the latter half of the ride. I'd given up on my hopes for a sub-10 hour time, and had replaced them with a goal of feeling strong at the end of the ride. As it turned out, I was the second rider in after Jim, and was feeling a lot better than on the identical ride last week. The 300K in three weeks is not looking too daunting at this point. CTC, on the other hand...

Lessons Learned:

1. CHECK YOUR FRICKIN' TIRES. That about covers it.
2. I did a better job of hydration and nutrition this time around. Still had a couple of unnecessary stops for fluids (time to dig out the Camelbak, methinks), but I believe paying better attention to such things helped my overall ride significantly.

I'm out...time to deal with colicky infant. My tolerance for adversity gained through randonneuring is coming in handy as a parent...

2008 PA 1000K is Open for Registration, plus Musings on Purpose

Details here...

...and I'm seriously considering it. Even though it's called the "Endless Mountains" edition.

It's interesting...I was recently asked what I get out of this, other than "lots of climbing and a pat on the back". It's a good question indeed, and I really don't have a good answer, or at least not an inclusive one.

To some extent, it's a chance to prove to myself that I can overcome adversity (albeit self-imposed). It's almost a form of exercise, wherein I'm strengthening my resolve and my willpower, much like physical exercise strengthens my muscles and bones. (The logical comparison between this degree of exercise of my will and, say, muscular bodybuilding to the point of becoming musclebound does not escape me...)

On another level, it ties into fatherhood. I want my son to be able to look at his dad and see someone who's willing to do something different; to see someone who takes joy in life through doing, not merely surviving; and to be UTTERLY appalled by his old man wearing bike shorts and tight jerseys in the presence of his friends. I hope that, even if the specifics of the hobby do not interest him, the willingness and necessity to self-motivate are applied in whatever he chooses to do.

Heck, some of it is simply ego gratification. Whether it be external or internal, the recognition of an achievement shared by very few people in the world is quite intoxicating; and, much like other drugs, you have to take more and more to get the same effect as you become acclimatized. This is readily apparent in my case; even thoughts of RAAM qualification, which would have been laughable a year ago, now seem (almost) reasonable.

I dunno...not really sure if I've answered the question, even to my own satisfaction. Let's sacrifice precision for accuracy:
I do it because I like it, and because I like myself better for doing it.

Update: Heh...and then I read this on Veloquent not 2 minutes after posting my meanderings...

PA 600K: Water Gap Edition/"Turkey Hill Edition"

Short version
377 miles, 14.5 mph rolling average, 32:40 elapsed time, two insults, one hurled bottle, Super Randonneur status achieved.

Results


Long Version
On Saturday, June 7th, I clipped in at the unholy hour of 4 AM for the Eastern Pa Randonneurs 600K brevet. Eight of us rolled out at the start; familiar PA faces like Joe Brown, Matt Farrell, and Guy Harris; Rob Welsh, from the 200K; and new companions Dan Barbasch, John Dennis, and Bob Olsen.

I'll confess to a bit of weather-related trepidation; the forecast was calling for highs in the mid-90s F, with humidity somewhere in the "inhalation == blowing your nose backwards" range. (Sadly, the forecast weather materialized exactly as predicted.) I had decided to replace my customary third water bottle with a 70-ounce Camelbak bladder in a bag behind the seat; although the extra weight seemed excessive, the thought of blowing up 200 miles in due to dehydration was less appealing.

The first three segments were comfortably familiar from prior PA brevets; a hop to Cherryville and the first of five Turkey Hill Minit Market controles, followed by the usual climb through Little Gap and run through Cherry Valley to Water Gap and the bakery; then, finally, the Delaware Water Gap park route to Hainesville and Flat's Deli. By this point, Rob Welsh and I had decided to stick together for the rest of the ride, as our paces and personalities seemed compatible; besides, we were the guys riding (or at least owning...Rob brought a tasty Rivendell Rambouillet upright on this one) recumbents and wearing SPD sandals, so just naturally meshed well.

From Hainesville, we briefly retraced our route, then headed to the Dingman's Ferry bridge and a fairly villainous climb up Raymondskill Falls. This climb was notable not merely for the sun, which was in full blowtorch mode, but for the numerous occasions where we *thought* we were done, but were rapidly proven sadly mistaken. Eventually, we made our way across the NY border to Barryville; Tom showed up with magic socks (long cotton socks filled with ice) to drape across our necks in a surprisingly effective cooling technique.

We made our way back down the Delaware Water Gap, this time on the far side via River Rd (a welcome change from Old Mine Rd). A quick stop in Water Gap at the diner, and a chance to say hi to Tom and to Steve Scheetz, then we were on our way towards Bloomsbury and back to the hostel at Quakertown.

After some fantastic lasagna, a shower, 45 minutes of horizontal meditation, and a clean pair of bike shorts (aaaaah, luxury!), we set off again at about 12:30 AM. Heading out Ridge Rd towards Lancaster, we encountered our only true unpleasantness of the ride; a couple of shouted epithets involving the burning hatred we engendered, and a suggestion to acquire a car, were followed by a poorly-aimed bottle hurled from the window. Luckily, no harm was done, and we were quickly off the main roads.

I discovered the joys of severe fatigue on the leg from Gilbertsville to Morgantown that night; only Rob's company kept me moving, especially up a certain Shed Rd (2 miles long, moderate grade, at 3 AM). Once day broke, I was okay, but that feeling of dozing off while pedaling was quite unpleasant.

From Morgantown, we made a fast out-and-back to the post office controle at Blue Ball. A quick meal at the Windmill restaurant, then we set off for the final legs home. We pulled back into the hostel in the early afternoon, the first finishers with a comfortable time of 32 hours and 40 minutes. More lasagna, showers, clean clothes, and handshakes all around wrapped up my first brevet series in sterling fashion.

Once again, thanks go out to all who've enabled me in this obsession hobby. Tom, thanks for some great routes, and as pain-free an introduction to randonneuring as could be hoped. Rob, thanks for the company, the conversation, and for helping a rookie get through his first overnight. Steve, Maile, and Len, thanks for taking on the volunteer duties that let the rest of us play.

Most of all, Deena, my love, thanks for supporting me in this whole cycling thing...I couldn't do it without you.

Lessons Learned

1. Companionship for the late-night hours is a Good Thing™. Without Rob's encouragement, I would have been a space-blanket-wrapped fetus (or a giant silver burrito, whichever) off the side of the road by 4 AM.
2. Along the same lines as previous, I need to hold onto enough presence of mind when fatigued to do *something* to combat the dozies; from experiments later in the second day, simply chewing on a peanut butter and cheese cracker helped immensely. My mistake lay in doing nothing but continuing to turn the pedals.
3. Fatigue aside, there was no appreciable degradation of riding ability after the first 200K or so; this is another Good Thing, and correlates to my observations on the earlier brevets.
4. I ate fairly lightly on the day preceding the ride; this may well have correlated to feeling significantly more spritely for the first two segments, which was particularly noticeable while climbing Little Gap on Blue Mountain Drive. Not to say that I climbed STRONGLY, but I wasn't nearly as much of a wimp as the last two times.
5. Mostly due to Rob's good example, I spent much less time at the controles than previously. I'm sure I picked up at least an hour on the first 400K, due solely to greater efficiency in that area.
6. Camelbak bladder in the seat bag was a good decision. I never ran out of fluids (came close a couple of times!), but also never had to ration myself. Given the weather conditions, this was crucial to my success, if not my very survival.
7. Rear rack and trunk bag was more convenient than prior jury-rigged seat back bag; however, i think I want to invest in a trunk bag with the small panniers that can be unfolded from the sides.
8. Lighting: I need to work out better (or at least less disruptive to my night vision) lighting for reading cue sheets. Having the white LED head torch was great for reading cues, but meant that I could barely see my surroundings, eve with the DLumotec and E6 lamps running full blast. I also should experiment with placing the primary LED lamp on the fork.
9. Once more, I carried a camera and didn't take a single photo. That's just dumb; expensive dead weight is not helpful.

Questions to Ponder
What's next? The PA 1000K at the beginning of August? A 12 or 24 hour race experiment? RAAM qualifier? A domestic 1200K?

Upcoming PA 600K: Turkey Hill Edition

Perhaps "oncoming" would be a better description.

Details here, map and elevation profile here; in short, 373 miles and almost 28,000' of climbing. BWAHAHAHAHA!!!

The legs (usual caveats: not official, use at own risk, subject to change, do not remove under penalty of law, do not operate heavy machinery after following, etc.):
Weisel Hostel(Quakertown, PA) to Turkey Hill (Cherryville, PA)
Turkey Hill (Cherryville, PA) to Village Bakery (Water Gap, PA)
Village Bakery (Water Gap, PA) to Flats Deli (Hainesville, NJ)
Flats Deli (Hainesville, NJ) to River Market (Barryville, NY)
River Market (Barryville, NJ) to Lake Wallenpaupack Cafe (Hawley, PA)
Lake Wallenpaupack Cafe (Hawley, PA) to Water Gap Diner (Water Gap, PA)
Water Gap Diner (Water Gap, PA) to Citgo (Bloomsbury, NJ)
Citgo (Bloomsbury, NJ) to Weisel Hostel (Quakertown, PA) (Sleep control)
Weisel Hostel (Quakertown, PA) to Turkey Hill (Gilbertsville, PA)
Turkey Hill (Gilbertsville, PA) to Turkey Hill (Morgantown, PA)
Turkey Hill (Morgantown, PA) to Post Office (Blue Ball, PA)
Post Office (Blue Ball, PA) to Turkey Hill (Morgantown, PA)
Turkey Hill (Morgantown, PA) to Turkey Hill (Gilbertsville, PA)
Turkey Hill (Gilbertsville, PA) to Weisel Hostel (Quakertown, Pa)

In keeping with my newly institutionalized traditions, I of course made further modifications to the P-38; can't actually be consistent between brevets, now can I? This time, however, it's a low-key mod; I added a Blackburn rear rack, as the repurposed diaper bag I was using for a seat-back bag was just not cutting it. The rack mounting was a bit of a jury-rig, as I didn't take the time to fabricate a proper attachment mechanism for the upper rack supports to the P-38's seat support, but instead just bent and brutalized the existing rack mounting straps. I'll make it good later, I swear. :-)

Weather forecast is concerning me a bit; highs in the mid-90s, and humid, which is weather I've never ridden in for more than 100 miles or so. I'm gonna melt, especially given that the year up to this point has been cooler than usual and I'm utterly un-acclimatized to the heat. Oh, well...just gonna do my best. Come to think of it, the heat will be strong motivation to keep riding through the entire night, so as to avoid the worst of Sunday's heat.

Ah, well. Need to pop out during lunch and grab some Gu packs; aside from that, I'm pretty much packed and ready as far as I can tell. I'd like to get in one last ride before packing up the car tomorrow, but I don't know when/if I'll have the chance.

Eastern PA 300K Brevet, Water Gap Edition

Vital Statistics: 191.43 miles, 15.1 mph rolling average, ~15K' climbing, 14:37 time.

Results(1 DNS, 100% completion!)
RBA Ride Report (added 05/13/2008)

The PA Randonneurs 300K brevet was held this past weekend out of the Weisel Hostel in Quakertown. Although the weather forecast was a bit ominous, we enjoyed sunny and partly cloudy skies for much of the day, with temperatures ranging from the high 40s to the low 60s; quite acceptable, really.

As per usual, vast quantities of oatmeal, bagels, and coffee were consumed before heading out to the porch for a brief rider meeting. The RBA, Tom Rosenbauer, cautioned us about a couple of the more exciting descents, and we were off into the morning mist. I was happy to find that my new home-brewed switching system for my lights worked as expected, although I think I'll reposition it under the seat or somewhere else less obtrusive.

The first leg took us through Bethlehem to Cherryville; nicely minimal traffic, due to the early hour. I found myself off to a slow start; not feeling bad, but a little sluggish, and a nagging sore throat that was to prove a near-constant companion for the remainder of the ride.

After a quick stop at the Turkey Hill controle, we set off on the longest leg of the route; 50 miles, including two of the big climbs and Appalachian Trail crossings. First, the climb up Little Gap, ending up with a lovely view of the mist-filled valley below:

Valley seen from top of Little Gap climb, by Blue Mountain Ski resort.

After plummeting down from Little Gap, a series of scenic rural roads led us eastward.

Abandoned house between Little Gap and Fox Gap

From there, we headed up to Rt 191 and the Fox Gap climb; however, Tom had mercy upon us this time, and routed us such that we only did the top half of Fox Gap. Small mercy, that; however, the secret controle at the top, stocked with caffeinated beverages, was a truly welcome sight.
After bombing down the hill to Portland, a quick river crossing led to Columbia (New Jersey), and a surprisingly tough little climb up from Rte 46 starting on Walnut Rd. Eventually, I found myself in Blairstown, where a peanut butter and jelly bar at the Gourmet Gallery controle provided some much-needed sustenance before the looming Millbrook climb.

The aforementioned Millbrook climb on the start of the third leg was a good tough one, but I found myself flagging badly on the subsequent bit from Millbrook Village to Walpack. Definitely hit my low point for the ride in this stretch; creeping angst had set in pretty strongly, as had a tendency to crawl up hills in the sub-4 MPH range, until I hit a lovely stretch of freshly repaved road along NPS 615 through the Water Gap park. The clean asphalt lifted my spirits enough to make the remainder of the cruise to Flat's Deli in Hainesville fairly painless.

I ordered a roast beef sandwich at Flat's; I was not expecting to receive half a cow on a bun, however. Tasty, but I ended up pitching half of it to Rob, who arrived a couple minutes after I did. After a few minutes to allow the vast quantities of beef, cheese, and veggies to find equilibrium, I set off on the return trip through the Water Gap. Got almost a quarter mile, too, before turning around to retrieve the gloves that I'd somehow forgotten on the table...

Delaware Water Gap

The last real climb lay ahead on this fourth leg. By retracing the route through Millbrook Village, I had the delightful task of scaling Old Mine Rd in the other direction; yes, the same descent labeled as scary, dangerous, use caution, etc., would now be the delightful 17% obstacle I needed to surmount in order to get back to Pennsylvania. I didn't actually drop below 2 MPH, but came fairly close to cracking that low-speed barrier; it almost certainly would have been faster for me to walk the bike, but excessive pride prohibits such indulgence. Anyway, once past that little obstacle, the rest of the leg was delightful; smooth rollers all the way down to a Delaware River crossing via I-80's walkway to Water Gap, PA, and the Water Gap Diner. There were other randonneurs (Jud and Rob), and, more importantly, there was PIE A LA MODE. No better way to fuel up for a quick jaunt to the next controle than with cherry pie and vanilla ice cream...

Water Gap to Belvidere was uneventful. I rode with Jud and Rob out of Water Gap, following the river down through Portland and back across to Belvidere and the Pizza Mia shop. We were all anxious to wrap things up, so we kept the controle stop mercifully brief and embarked on the last leg back to the hostel. There was a bit of a climb up to the top of 519, but nothing compared to earlier in the route.

We crossed the river for the last time in Riegelsville, then headed south to follow the border of Nockamixon State Park back to Weisel Hostel. Back in at 7:37 PM, and I had successfully completed my second brevet and longest ride to date. (I will confess to a desire to hop back on the bike and put in an extra 10 miles to make it a double century, but discretion proved to be the better part of valour...)

I grabbed a shower, then loaded up the car and headed home. I had every intention of making it back to da 'Burgh, but decided to play it safe and got a motel in Breezewood for three hours of much-needed sleep.


Lessons learned:

• There really wasn't much difference for me between this ride and the 200K. As long as the hydration and nutrition were kept up, I didn't notice any deterioration in energy or comfort after about 100 miles or so. I hope this keeps up at least through the 400K, although I suspect my handling of sleep deprivation on the bike will be the next hurdle to overcome.
• I should strive for a bit more minimalism; I carry a lot of crap, much of which is unnecessary; although a lot of the tools are nice to have, some of the excess bags and spare bits could safely be dispensed with.
• I confirmed something I'd read, in that simply pedaling through the low points is one of the best ways to handle them. It was nice to find that even feeling utterly drained and demoralized was something from which I could rapidly recover.
• The HEED seemed to work well, although I ended up carrying at least a half-pound more than I needed.
• I should give up on the notion of driving home after a brevet without sleep. Highway driving is too monotonous for me to tackle it in a post-ride state.
• Although not a problem thus far, I could probably have optimized my controle stops well enough to buy an extra 30-45 minutes without much trouble; something of which to be aware for later brevets.
  

First Brevet: Eastern Pa 200K

Updated:

• Results
• Bill Beck's Photos
• Ed Felker's Photos and Ride Report
• Maile's Photos
  

Short version:

That was fun. I'll keep doing this rando thing.

Long version:
The Eastern PA 200K Brevet was held yesterday, out of the Weisel Youth Hostel in Quakertown, PA. Departure at 6 AM, 13:30 time limit, 125 miles, and between 10K and 12K feet of climbing.

My original cunning plan was to drive out to Quakertown, PA, directly after leaving work around 3, thusly leaving myself plenty of time to do bike tweaking, meet other randonneurs staying at the Weisel Hostel, and get a good night's sleep. This plan was complicated by the realization in the afternoon that I had forgotten to pack things like brake pads and chain lube (crap weather predicted), a towel, and miscellaneous other sundries. So, I popped in at home, kissed the family and petted the cats, grabbed my forgotten bits, and was on my way a bit later than planned.

Driving to Quakertown is a bit tedious, as the cheapest and fastest route appears to be a combination of two segments of the PA turnpike, a hefty chunk of routes 81 and 78, and a few back roads. Good times, especially in the dark. I arrived around 9 or so, signed in, and unloaded the bike and whatnot. Though the riders already present were too polite to say anything, I gathered the distinct impression that the expectations for my performance the next day were low; ye olde recumbent stereotypes creeping in, I imagine. That's okay; everyone was quite pleasant, and I don't fault anyone for laboring under certain common misconceptions when they have no reason (until now! BWAH-HAHAHAH!!!) to believe otherwise. Good mix of people; several rookies like myself, a bunch of experienced randonneurs, and an entire contingent up from the DC Randonneurs crew.

Woke up the next morning about 15 minutes before the alarms starting going off, and began the day. The RBA, Tom Rosenbauer, had put out a nice spread including coffee, oatmeal, pastries, and enough single-serving Accelerade packets to choke a camel. Gulped down the food, did the last-minute obligatory tinkerings with the bike, and got ready to....BOOM! FLASH! Pouring rain! Thunder, lightning, and meteorological drama of all kinds! So, the ride start was delayed for 15 minutes until the actual lightning stopped.

We started off nice and easy; aside from a mishap on a wet metal grate bridge (a couple of folks took a painful spill), the first leg to Wind Gap was straightforward. The climb up Lower Saucon Valley was a bit rough, as I hadn't really hit my stride yet, and the winding climbs around blind curves always make me a bit irrationally anxious. A bit of fog and humidity was also air-dropped into the fray, but proved insufficient to dampen my spirit. Regardless, we made it to the controle at the Petro Mart in good order. Stamp card, buy beverage, tinker with fender and seat mesh (a recurring theme on this trip), and we're off again.

I started riding with Eduardo (from Philly, if I recall correctly), David, and Crista and Chuck from DC, and ended up sticking with them for the rest of the route. Great company, and it was a good opportunity for me to take some cues from experienced randonneurs.

The "dreaded climb up Fox Gap" (1000' gain over 2.3 miles) to the next controle was certainly nothing at which to sneer, but it wasn't all that bad either. I went with a protocol of "keep the heart rate at or below 90%", regardless of how painfully slow my progress became; this seemed to work well, as I never blew up, and recovery at the top of the hill was almost instantaneous. Answered the informational controle question, then went blazing down the hill to the lunch controle at the Portland Family Restaurant. We passed Kelly and Mary (I think) on the way down, having tire issues on their tandem; apparently, it took almost an hour to resolve the problem.

After a leisurely meal, we moved on. Another decent climb lay ahead, Lomason's(sp?) Glen. Tom Rosenbauer surprised us at the top of the hill with a secret controle, the primary reason for which was apparently to disseminate food and water to those in need. Have I mentioned how well this brevet was run? From there, we shot down to Homestead, where we controlled at the General Store before another set of delightful (yes, that was sarcasm) climbs up Red Hill and Catterly. I think there were two or three minutes of angst at this point, wondering why I was doing this to myself, but it passed quickly. :-)

We dropped our postcards at the Point Pleasant Post Office controle, then did the last real climb up through the park. A good pace back to the hostel, and I was officially a randonneur at 5:07 PM.

Lessons Learned:
I need to work on my packing a bit better. Bringing things such as cameras is wonderful, but only if one intends to use them.

The seat mesh (or, more precisely, the cord binding the mesh to the seat frame) tends to stretch and sag in damp weather. I need to reinforce it, so as to prevent the rubbing of my back on the fender, and subsequent rubbing of the fender on the rear tire.

I became a bit sloppy with my nutrition and hydration around mile 90 or so. No ill effects, but it would have been quite problematic if the ride had gone for much longer (like, just to pick a random example out of the air, an additional 100km...). In hindsight, I think I started playing weight-lowering efficiency games with myself; "I won't fill the extra bottle, so I don't have to carry unnecessary stuff.", but I ended up husbanding the last few sips for the last 10 miles. No harm done, but I should have played it safer.

Summary:

Overall, I'm delighted with the brevet. I felt good the entire time, and am feeling confident about my ability to tackle the 300K next month. I'm also pleased that I managed to maintain a good pace without overexerting myself, and that I had plenty of extra time available.

Thanks go out to many: to Tom, for putting on a great brevet and tolerating a lot of n00b questions; to Jim Logan, whose example helped solidify this wild-n-crazy randonneuring idea into concrete reality; to Crista, Chuck, David, and Eduardo, for allowing me to ride with them; and to my tolerant and supportive wife and child, for helping me to pursue these dreams.

(obligatory hero pic)