DC Randonneurs

Last updated: 27 April 2010  

10 teams with 45 riders started the DC Randonneurs 2010 fleche .  35 riders from 9 teams earned an official finish (pending final approval by RUSA and ACP).

One team (Anciens and Poets) started on Friday morning and finished on Saturday morning. They had very warm temperatures (80s) on Friday and mild temperatures at night. But they had to fight the same strong northwest winds that the other teams did on Saturday, plus rain and nighttime thunderstorms as well. As if that wasn’t enough, Randy Mouri’s carbon handlebars broke (he wasn’t injured, thank goodness), and it took time to improvise a splint from a frame pump and duct tape. All of these delays meant that the team had no chance of reaching the Marriott in time. They did the right thing by selecting alternate 22-hour and final controls, and it turned out that their modified route was just long enough - 361 km - to qualify for an official finish.

The other nine teams started in mild (60F) temperatures on Saturday morning. But the temperatures dropped steadily all day and night into the 30s. Any riding into the northwest quadrant was SLOW due to the strong headwinds from that direction. But at least there was no rain. In the end, eight of the nine teams arrived at the Key Bridge Marriott by their designated finish times and the riders enjoyed a tasty and sociable breakfast in the Marriott restaurant. The one exception was the Blue Ridgers who abandoned as a team during the night rather than leave one of their struggling members alone out on the road. (Very classy move by the Blue Ridgers!) Some individual riders also had to abandon due to illness and other causes, but all of their teams still had at least the three riders required for an official team finish.

Here are some facts and statistics:

• The 2010 award for dedicated captain goes to Team Rouge captain Bill Arcieri, who lost his control card at their second control so didn’t qualify as an official finisher, but continued the full ride anyway, guiding his team to an official finish.
• The 2010 award for best save goes to Team Anciens and Poets for their route modification that turned out being just long enough for an official finish! They also win the award for luckiest team since the receipt that they lost was from the control where I met them in Harpers Ferry.
• The longest route was ridden by Team Velo Espresso Gelato at 388 km.
• The youngest team was Team Velo Espresso Gelato (Lane Giardina, Ed Felker, Mary Gersema, and Mike Ross) with an average age of 42.5 years.
• The oldest team was the Blue Ridgers (Tom Reeder, Hank Greenblatt, Fred Robbins, and Alex Sanchez) with an average age of 60.3 years. The oldest finishing team was the Carnivores  (Crista Borras, Bill Beck, Mary Crawley, Chris Mento, Kelly Smith, and Chuck Wood - Grrrrrr!) with an average age of 58.7 years.

Congratulations to all of the riders who participated in this year’s fleche.

The cue sheet for the Warrenton (Old Rag) 200K ACP brevet starting at the Howard Johnsons in Warrenton, VA at 7:00AM on April 10, 2010 is now posted at Cue Sheet - 20100410 Warrenton 200K Brevet. Be sure to park either at the high school indicated on the map or along Waterloo Rd. Do not park at the HoJos or nearby businesses. Bring lights, especially in case of morning fog or rain.

The link to the GPS files is posted below. But please read this information before downloading them. Always get a copy of the final cue sheet. That final cue sheet contains the official route, so in case there is a conflict with the GPS file, you should resolve the conflict in favor of the cue sheet. Use the GPS as a handy-dandy adjunct. Keep your wits about you, as the GPS cannot notify you of road hazards — it is up to you to ride safely.

We strongly recommend that you set your GPS to the settings below. We cannot guarantee that these will keep you on the official route, but if you have your GPS set some other way, it is entirely possible that it will take you off route, possibly onto unsafe roads. Go to the Setup->Routing page and set as follows:

Guidance Method: Follow Road
Follow Road Method: Shortest Distance
Next Turn Pop-Up: On
Follow Road Options:
  Off Route Recalculation: Prompted
  Calculation Method: Best Route
  Calculate Routes for: Car/Motorcycle
  Avoid: (set to none – the route itself should control this)

By the way … make sure that your GPS either has maps already downloaded, or select the relevant maps around the routes.

GPS files are posted at GPS Files - 20100410 Warrenton 200K Brevet.

Note: Park at the Urbana Park’n'Ride.

The Urbana 200k reverses direction this year, but quite likely will retain the same degree of difficulty and feet of climbing,  if in a different order.

The brevet begins at the Urbana Waffle House (8906 Fingerboard Rd, Frederick, MD 21704). Checkin starts at 6am and the brevet starts at 7am. Get there early and have a hearty breakfast to carry you through the day! From Urbana, the route slides down to the Monocacy and across the valley to the first significant ridge of the Marlu appellation.  After the fast descent to Jefferson, there are several creek crossings with the attendant downs and ups and then a fairly easy grade over South Mountain at Gapland.

Several hard rollers involving Antietam Creek and tributaries bring the riders to Sharpsburg and a short tour of Antietam Battlefield.  The terrain moderates after this with a gradual rise out to Williamsport for a control at the KOA on the beautiful Conococheague Creek.  The route then heads north and loops around Hagerstown on mostly rural roads to a control in State Line PA.

A long slow downhill into Leitersburg passes through dairy farms and across mill creeks until some very hard rollers appear outside of Smithsburg.  Then there is the long arduous climb over South Mountain and Catoctin Ridge with a several false summits to keep things interesting.  The Frederick county line commences the long descent through Catoctin State Park into Thurmont.

The route does a long flat haul eastward on MD 77 and turns south for a control at the 7-11 in Union Bridge.   It will be a welcome break to prepare for the various hills - long and slow and short and steep -  from Libertytown to Bartonsville Road.  Cresting the last interminable uphill on Bartonsville, there is a brief pause to catch the view before a very long downhill along Reichs Ford Road.  One last uphill on Ijamsville brings the riders back to Fingerboard and the final miles to the finish at J & P Pizza.

The cue sheet for the Glen Echo 106km populaire, starting at the Glen Echo Town Hall at 8:00AM on January 23, 2010 is now posted at Cue Sheet - 20100123 Glen Echo Populaire.

Registration opens outside the Town Hall at 7:00am. Be sure to park at the indicated location in Glen Echo Park and NOT along the residential streets next to the Town Hall.

 The link to the GPS files is posted below. But please read this information before downloading them. Always get a copy of the final cue sheet. That final cue sheet contains the official route, so in case there is a conflict with the GPS file, you should resolve the conflict in favor of the cue sheet. Use the GPS as a handy-dandy adjunct. Keep your wits about you, as the GPS cannot notify you of road hazards — it is up to you to ride safely.

We strongly recommend that you set your GPS to the settings below. We cannot guarantee that these will keep you on the official route, but if you have your GPS set some other way, it is entirely possible that it will take you off route, possibly onto unsafe roads. Go to the Setup->Routing page and set as follows:

Guidance Method: Follow Road
Follow Road Method: Shortest Distance
Next Turn Pop-Up: On
Follow Road Options:
  Off Route Recalculation: Prompted
  Calculation Method: Best Route
  Calculate Routes for: Car/Motorcycle
  Avoid: (set to none – the route itself should control this)

By the way … make sure that your GPS either has maps already downloaded, or select the relevant maps around the routes. The GPS files are posted at GPS Files - 20100123 Glen Echo Populaire.

The cue sheet for the Tappahannock 200K Brevet, starting at the Ashland Coffee & Tea at 7:00AM on January 9, 2010 is now posted at Cue Sheet - 20100109 Tappahannock 200K Brevet.

Registration opens in the parking lot behind the Ashland Coffee and Tea at 6:00am. There are a limited number of parking spaces behind the Ashland Coffee & Tea. Once those are filled, park along Railroad Ave.

The link to the GPS files is posted below. But please read this information before downloading them. Always get a copy of the final cue sheet. That final cue sheet contains the official route, so in case there is a conflict with the GPS file, you should resolve the conflict in favor of the cue sheet. Use the GPS as a handy-dandy adjunct. Keep your wits about you, as the GPS cannot notify you of road hazards — it is up to you to ride safely.

We strongly recommend that you set your GPS to the settings below. We cannot guarantee that these will keep you on the official route, but if you have your GPS set some other way, it is entirely possible that it will take you off route, possibly onto unsafe roads. Go to the Setup->Routing page and set as follows:

Guidance Method: Follow Road
Follow Road Method: Shortest Distance
Next Turn Pop-Up: On
Follow Road Options:
  Off Route Recalculation: Prompted
  Calculation Method: Best Route
  Calculate Routes for: Car/Motorcycle
  Avoid: (set to none – the route itself should control this)

By the way … make sure that your GPS either has maps already downloaded, or select the relevant maps around the routes. The GPS files are posted at GPS Files - 20100109 Tappahannock 200K Brevet. (These files contain an additional route segment starting at Dick’s Country Store called “99 Alt Dick’s to End” that should be used in place of route segment 5  IF we decide that the unpaved section of the original route is too dangerous because of icy conditions. Instructions on which route to use will be given at the start.)