BikePGH Message Board Archive

Pittsburgh Randonneuring 2015

Given that today's 100K was the first official ride, I *probably* should have posted something sooner. Oh, well...better late than never, I suppose. Anyway, randonneuring season has begun. The next ride is Sunday March 15th, the Kittens and Puppies 200K, starting just off Evergreen Rd in Millvale. This is probably the easiest 200K we can offer, short of riding around the Oval 500 bajillion times, or riding the Jail Trail back and forth until you're ready to suck a tailpipe to end the tedium. It's got a couple of climbs of note, but most of the route is flat-to-rolling, and there's often a tailwind on the way back. New this year: we've joined the 21st century, and are now offering online registration. The schedule of events for the rest of the year can be found here. The mailing list, both for formal and informal events, can be found here.

reddan

2015-03-08 15:12:42

Thanks to you, Jim, and everyone else that organizes these events! I didn't get a chance to participate last year, and it really showed on Sunday. This was, sadly, the longest ride I think I've done in about 18 months. We made decent time to the first control, but then long climbs, bad navigation skills, and poor physical preparation made for a day that was a lot more challenging than it should have been. Also, what was the official time limit to finish this ride? The control cards said Jim's House (final control) closed at "15:40" which my military training tells me was 3:40pm. The ride description says "8:40 time limit", which would mean a cutoff time of 5:40pm (based on the starting time of 9am). For future reference, which was the correct time limit?

jaysherman5000

2015-03-09 17:43:51

AFAIK, the time limit should have been 6:40...I suspect a long-standing copy-paste error in the ride description. Generally, time limits are roughly as follows: 100K: 6:45 200K: 13:30 300K: 21:00 400K: 27:00 600K: 40:00

reddan

2015-03-09 18:52:57

That's what I suspected. Allowing 8+ hours for a populaire seemed awfully generous. Thanks for clarifying.

jaysherman5000

2015-03-10 10:38:44

Next up... this Sunday, the Kittens and Puppies 200k. Starting in Shaler, this one will take you down the Ohio and up the Beaver River, before heading into Ohio proper. It's an out-and-back, and about as flat as you can find around here. Check the website for details.

reddan

2015-03-12 17:31:48

Another successful ride. Two weeks in a row, the best bike riding weather of the year. This is not something that happens by accident.

jonawebb

2015-03-15 20:17:07