Lights and reflective gear are required for this ride so when you come to registration please be sure to bring your reflective gear and ensure that you have the required front and rear lights mounted on your bicycle.

Registration opens inside the IHOP Saturday morning at 4:00 AM. Please park in the adjacent shopping center away from the IHOP entrance and other stores. Bike inspection will be held outside the IHOP.

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 - 20120512 Frederick 300K Brevet.

Lights and reflective gear are required for this ride so when you come to registration please be sure to bring your reflective gear and ensure that you have the required front and rear lights mounted on your bicycle.

Registration opens inside the Hampton Inn Saturday morning at 4:00 AM. There will also be an early registration and bike inspection from 5-7PM on Friday. Please park far from the hotel entrance.

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 - 20120428 Warrenton 300K Brevet.

There are several hotels in the vicinity of the IHOP. For the 300K, I was able to arrange for a block of 10 rooms on May 11 and 12 at the Courtyard Marriott at a discounted rate of $119/night. To take advantage of the discounted price, make reservations directly with Marriott at (800)321-2211 or (301)631-9030 on or before Friday, April 27 and identify yourself as part of DC Randonneurs staying at the Courtyard Frederick. No block of rooms was available for the 400K, but they have some rooms left at the normal price schedule. Note that since we will not be starting at a hotel, we will not have early registration on Friday evening for either ride. Registration and bike inspection will start an hour before the rides outside the IHOP.

Sorry for the late change. Frederick is getting to be a difficult place to start brevets and we may need to shift elsewhere next year. But for now, we will make the best of what’s available and enjoy the IHOP.

This year’s 600k is a variation of Lynn Kristianson’s 2010 Many Rivers route which she has re-worked for a kinder, gentler final 200k which travels the flatter piedmont and tidewater regions to the south and east of Warrenton. The “second day” is largely based on George Moore’s (thank you George) Rappahannock Randonee in the reverse direction. It includes several battlefields and other sites of historic importance to the Civil War.

Heading south and west from the Warrenton Hampton Inn, the riders pass through Rixeyville and continue west to Griffinsburg where the route turns south into Madison County. After Madison, there are many miles on VA230, with wonderful Blue Ridge views and moderate terrain, to a control in Wolfsville and then on to US33 in Stanardsville. From there we pick up the very scenic 810 through the foothills in Greene and Albemarle counties.

After crossing US250 in Crozet the rollers become more intense; the control in the phenomenal Batesville store will be most welcome. The grueling trip out to Nellysford is swapped this year for a southeasterly roll down wonderful Plank Road and then a slightly hillier stretch to the very basic Howardsville General Store on the James River.

Moving east from the mountains, the terrain moderates through Fluvanna and Louisa counties. After a possible dinner stop in Louisa, it’s a straight road due north until the route crosses the Rapidan and turns east onto the old familiar Algoquin Trail. Bypassing the narrow, dark roads around Kelly’s Ford, instead it heads north to Brandy Station and then east to Remington. Crossing US15, 29 and 17 a number of times, riders return to Warrenton on Lover’s Lane and Lees Ridge.

The second loop of the route heads due south from Warrenton through southern Fauquier and Stafford counties. Some of these roads are pretty busy during the day; an early start is highly recommended. There is a short section of suburban confusion and some increasingly built-up areas until the route intersects Bike Route 1 just west of I-95 and US1. A very quiet approach to Fredericksburg encounters a couple of tough hills, but almost no traffic until the Rappahannock bridge. There is no control in downtown Fredericksburg but breakfast or coffee possibilities are numerous, including Hyperion Espresso a few blocks of the route. After the commotion of old town Fredericksburg the route passes through the National Park Service Battlefield along serene tree-lined Lee Drive. A very short gravel section finishes the battlefield and resumes quiet suburban and then rural roads into Caroline County and the southernmost control at the NPS Stonewall Jackson Shrine.

From here the route swings west and finally turns north to an open control in Spotsylvania Courthouse. Here the riders pick up the northeasterly return - through more battlefields - for the Wilderness Campaign and several other permanents, along Brock Road, Eleys Ford Road and past the Inn at Kelly’s Ford on Edwards Shop Road. Continuing east on Summerduck, the route then takes some little used roads to Midland and finally the very lovely Rogues Road to Neville’s Mill for the final information control before the finish. A few unhappy rollers bring the riders to Meetze and the finish in Warrenton.

8 x 10s - Lynn Kristianson
Blueing in the Wind - Nick Bull
Carnivores - Chris Mento
Chain Reaction - Earl Janssen
Four Guys and Another Guy - Chip Adams
Smart Alec’s TNT (Team not in Training) - Charlie Thomas
Table for Five - Lane Giardina
Team Rouge - Bill Arcieri
True Grit - Jeff Shultz

All of the teams will be converging on the Key Bridge Marriott in Arlington, VA after riding at least 360 km (224 miles) over 24 hours. Two teams are doing traditional arrow routes (8 x 10s and  Smart Alec’s TNT), while the other 7 teams are doing open loops. As you can see in the map, DC Randonneurs teams will be covering almost the entire region. Best of luck to all of the teams.

Registration opens inside the Waffle House at 6:00am. Come early enough to have some waffles! Please park at the Park & Ride lot indicated on the map. Do not park in the Waffle House lot or in any of the surrounding businesses.

Everybody should bring lights and reflective gear to this ride. It was foggy and dark at the start of the checkout ride, and some riders will likely finish after dark.

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 - 20120331 Urbana 200K Brevet.