A "little ride" ha 190ish miles is a little ride. Oh, Dan, every time you describe something I tell myself that realistically, it will be about 5 times worse than you make it out to be 
2012-04-12 15:43:40
12
Pgh-Randos 300K: Saturday 04/21/2012
This is a little ride out to Minerva, OH, and back; a nice opportunity to stretch one's legs before CtC, if one is so inclined. WPW membership is required (yay, insurance), but, if it's your first brevet with us, the brevet fee is waived.
I'm planning to take this one easy, in order to save the legs for CtC the following week. That said, the route starts out with a transit to Prospect via the Red Belt, Franklin Rd, and 528, so there's a good bit of climbing just in the first 35 miles or so. You have been warned...(bumpbumpBAH!)
2012-04-12 13:58:25
i only ride 10 miles a day i dont think i could make a ride that long id be laying in a ditch on the side of the road
2012-04-13 02:05:57
Steph, Nick and I had that exact talk the other day.
2012-04-13 03:32:26
Hey, if things were only as bad, or good, as you expect them to be, life would be incredibly boring, with no good stories to tell at the bar.
2012-04-13 11:13:37
I'm looking forward to reading these ride reports!
Also Dan B is like a realtor. If the house "needs work" it's a tear down. If Dan's ride "has a few hills" you will be going over the CO Rockies.
2012-04-13 13:23:20
Jeez...I guess my naturally sunny and optimistic disposition has been misleading people more than I realized.
Let's restate the 300K blurb for more realism, shall we?
"It's an all-day slog, starting with 40 miles of continuous climbing, and it only gets worse from there. By the time you reach the potholed gravel roads of rural Ohio, you'll be so far outside cell coverage that your only way to bail out (and you WILL try to bail out) will be to beg a ride of someone in a pickup truck with more guns than teeth.
When you get right down to it, this is a roach motel of a ride...cyclists check in, but they don't check out."
2012-04-13 13:38:08
Dan is just that tough. Actually his state of mind is positive, which is probably why he does so well on long rides
2012-04-13 13:38:58
Dan.... hahahahahaha.
Stick to being an optimist.
I agree with Stephanie. One of the reasons I like riding with you is that you never seem to have a low point. You're always in good spirits.
2012-04-13 14:17:10
This will be my third time doing this course.
The 10 miles between Evans City and Prospect has a couple of minor grinders. I do this road a lot on my weekend solo rides. Otherwise, most of the previous 30 miles are gradual uphills.
There will be headwinds coming in to Salem, the first town in Ohio, but no hard climbs.
The only part of the ride that I really don't like is the 20 miles between Salem and Minerva. Fairly busy road, with a barely-there crumbly shoulder.
The "roach motel" leg between Minerva and Calcutta has some minor grinders and a few gravel bits, but is very low-traffic.
The last leg isn't bad at all. There's a long gradual climb to cross the ridge between Calcutta and the Ohio river valley, but after that there's a long, fast downhill, and mostly flat river valley riding for the rest (except that this time we have to go up Stoop's Ferry, since the Ambridge Bride is down).
Just make sure to be constantly eating and drinking...never let yourself start to get hungry or thirsty. Just keep spinning the pedals around and you'll get there eventually.
2012-04-13 14:47:41
this is on the WPW calendar as a 400K ride. So either you guys are in for a surprise 62 miles or there's a typo.
2012-04-13 23:14:02
Thanks, Sarah. Typo has been de-typo'd.
2012-04-14 00:03:17