DC Randonneurs

The cue sheet for the Warrenton (Firefly) night-start 400K starting at the Warrenton Hampton Inn at 8:00PM on July 8, 2011 is now posted at Cue Sheet - 20110708 Firefly 400K. Please park away from the front entrance of the hotel.  Registration will take place from 7-8PM. Lights and reflective gear are required so bring your bike and reflective gear to registration for inspection.

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 - 20110708 Warrenton 400K Brevet.

The cue sheet for the Frederick ACP 300K brevet starting at the Ft. Detrick Hampton Inn in Frederick, MD at 5:00AM on May 7, 2011 is now posted at Cue Sheet - 20110507 Frederick 300K Brevet. Unless you are a paying guest at the Hampton Inn, park in the lot behind the VFW Hall, accessed from Taney Rd and indicated on the map. Registration will take place at the Hampton Inn from 6-8PM on Friday and from 4-5AM on Saturday. Lights and reflective gear are required so bring your bike and reflective gear to registration for inspection.

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 - 20110507 Frederick 300K Brevet.

A set of tcx files, which are used in the Garmin edge series, was generously provided by Mohammed Adawi (but were not tested on the checkout ride). Each turn is tracked and each segment ends at the designated checkpoint: TCX Files - 20110507 Frederick 300K Brevet

The Maryland 400K provides plenty of training opportunities (read: hills). Traveling through four states, it forms a clockwise semi-circle to the southwest, west and northwest of Frederick.

Starting at 4AM from the Hampton Inn and Suites on Opossumtown Pike in Frederick, Maryland, riders head south along the base of and then cross Catoctin Ridge and then the Potomac into Virginia from Brunswick, Maryland. Climbing up to Lovettesville, they continue south to Airmont and then tackle the climb over the Blue Ridge at Snickers Gap. Just east of Berryville, the route turns north and enters West Virginia, traversing mostly level terrain - and many railroad tracks - to Shepherdstown, where several excellent brunch possibilities exist. Riders then head northwest, remaining in West Virginia and following the Potomac, climbing and descending to and from the many creek bottoms before crossing the Potomac back into Maryland and a control in Hancock. A tough climb up to Tollgate Ridge and series of rollers in the orchards north of town bring the riders into Pennsylvania and the beautiful Little Cove Creek valley. Heading north, they traverse an endless march of rolling hills to a final slow climb halfway up Tuscorora Mountain. There is a fast descent to Cove Gap and then a few more rollers before a short breather north of Mercersburg. The hills return in earnest through the orchards and farmland around Edenville. After the Cumberland Valley Business Park, the trip to Newville and Big Spring follows less rigorous terrain through Amish farms. After refueling and relaxing at Kane’s Subs in Newville, riders will encounter the final climbs through the Michaux State Forest and the truly popular descent into Gettysburg. Just south of Gettysburg, riders pick up the last 40 miles of the 300K route to return to Frederick.

Controls: Frederick, Airmont, Shepherdstown, Hancock, Newville, Gettysburg, Frederick

Winner:  The final round of voting in the design contest has selected the winning jersey.  The final voting was close, but the winner was the “Capitol Ride” by Bill Beck, RBA.  Congratulations Bill !  (Detailed results from the final voting are provided at the bottom of this message).

Many thanks to the all the design contributors and the over 75 members who voted.  Thanks again to Gary Dean for helping to set up this competition and to research the vendor options.  Thanks also to George Moore for coordinating the voting part of the contest and stepping in to take orders, since Gary had a schedule conflict.

Jersey Raffle:  Ken Zabielski won a free jersey!

Jersey Ordering:  Ordering is closed.

DCR is having a contest to design an Official DCR Summer Jersey.  The winner (selected by member vote) will receive a free jersey.

After the contest is over you will be able to buy DCR jerseys in late April as part of a one-time private group purchase from the manufacturer.

The designs that have been submitted so far are posted here.

Gary Dean has kindly agreed to manage the jersey design competition and jersey order.

Nick Bull
President, DC Randonneurs
president<at>dcrand<dot>org

How – Ordering Process 

Ordering Process:

The winning design will be sent via the listserv along with a “shared-design link” and ordering instructions.  People can click on the shared-design link and choose from among the jerseys that are presented in that link.  Note: the shared-design link currently only shows the front of the jersey.

Individual orders (type, color, and size of jersey(s)) will be sent to Gary Dean, e-mail address: paladindad@verizon.net  for consolidation into a single group order.

Use the price in the “16+” column PLUS 50 cents per jersey for shipping. 

Note: If fewer than 16 jerseys are ordered, the per-jersey price will be higher, and you will need to bring an extra few dollars when you pick up your jersey.

April 18:    Ordering Begins.

April 30:    Deadline for your jersey order and money being received by Gary.

May 1:       Group order placed.  If the final individual cost is higher because fewer than 16 order, we will notify orderers.

Note: we have already spoken with Voler and will get the currently-posted prices, which include the 10% off, even though the web page says those prices expire on April 15..

~2-3 weeks later:  Jerseys arrive and are available for pickup.

Starting from the Frederick Hampton Inn, we follow roughly the same route as last year. The ride heads north, skirting South Mountain as far as Thurmont and then turns west to climb the ridge on MD77 through Catoctin Mountain State Park. Just short of the summit, it heads roughly north-north-east into Pennsylvania and through the rolling apple and peach orchards of Adams County. From Arendtsville, it turns northwest and begins a long, stair-step climb with many steep sections, ascending the false summit before Big Flat (altitude 1650 feet) before a rapid descent to a stop sign, followed by the real climb to the summit of Big Flat (altitude 2040 feet). Nine miles of mostly downhill brings riders to a much needed rest stop and control in Shippensburg. The terrain moderates in the Cumberland valley northeast to Bloserville. The return trip heads east and south through Mount Holly Springs, then recrosses South Mountain (by a noticably easier route) and takes several miles of easy rollers to East Berlin. The final miles remain mellow, heading southwest to Thurmont ending with a few rollers paralleling US15. After crossing US15, we’ll take a new route into town on Opposumtown Pike.

Lights and reflective gear are required as described in Article 10 of the RUSA rules for riders, and there will be a lighting inspection at registration.

Controls: Frederick, Shippensburg, Bloserville, East Berlin, Frederick.

2010 Frederick 300K 3D Map

The DC Randonneurs fleche will be held on the weekend of April 15-17, 2011. A fleche (French for “arrow”), is a team event in which each team rides different routes toward a common finish location, like arrows toward a target. The minimum ride distance is 360 km, which must be covered in a period of 24 hours.

Most people who have done a fleche consider it to be one of their favorite randonneuring events since riding together as a team for 24 straight hours builds strong bonds between team members, and is great fun! This year we have scheduled the fleche for a week before the Easter weekend. The target this year is again the Key Bridge Marriott in Arlington, VA, where the teams will also rejoin for a hearty post-ride breakfast.

The fleche has its own set of rules that are somewhat different, and perhaps even more arcane, than those for a standard brevet. Some of them are summarized here:

• Each team must consist of three to five bicycles. (Note that a tandem counts as a single bicycle, so teams will sometimes contain more than five riders.)
• Teams can start at any time between noon on Thursday and 10AM on Saturday, and must finish 24 hours later. (However, we encourage teams to finish between 6AM-8AM on Sunday morning so that we can join together for the brunch!)
• The traditional fleche route starts at some distant location and then heads for the target, but a loop route is also allowed, as long as the start location is far enough from the finish to be considered as a different postal jurisdiction.
• As in a standard brevet, the routes must contain control locations chosen so that the shortest bicycle-legal route through the controls is equal to at least the minimum distance of 360 km. However, the fleche has an additional requirement that one of the controls must occur exactly 22 hours after the start and be at least 25 km from the finish. Note that this requirement, as well as the one that states that no rest stops can be longer than 2 hours, ensures that teams take nearly the full 24 hours to complete the ride.

Additional information about the 22-hour control will be provided to all registered team captains, since a full understanding of the rules for this control is essential for achieving a successful finish. Many experienced captains even recommend bringing a printed copy of the rules on the ride since they can be hard to recall at 4 in the morning!

To participate in this special event, riders should start forming teams now. Each team must have a captain who is responsible for designing the route and submitting it for approval. Captains should carefully read the rules first. The schedule will be:

• March 16: Applications from captains due to RBA including 1) captain’s application form, 2) start date, time, and location, 3) map of route, 4) cue sheet, and 5) names, addresses, and phone numbers for the controls. The route information can be submitted electronically to cba@dcrand.org in PDF, MS Word, or MS Excel format. Route files from DeLorme Topo, Garmin Mapsource, or MS Streets and Trips will also be appreciated, but not required.
• April 3: Final rosters, rider applications, and waivers due from team captains to RBA. Deadline for final route approval.
• April 10: Control cards sent to captains
• April 15-17: Fleche

The application form is available here. Team captains are responsible for collecting applications and waivers from their team members and getting them submitted on time. The information part of the application is a fillable PDF form that can be emailed to cba@dcrand.org, but the waiver parts must be signed and snail-mailed to the address on the form. The application fee of $10 includes the post-ride buffet at the Marriott.

Please contact Bill Beck ( cba@dcrand.org ) with any questions. We also have many experienced fleche captains in the club who would be excellent sources of advice. If you are thinking of forming a team or looking for a team to join, the dcrand listserve is one good way to connect with other riders.

Planning and training is essential for finishing and enjoying a fleche. This year, we have again scheduled a RUSA “Dart” on March 19, which will provide an excellent training and shakedown opportunity, especially for newly-formed teams. So I encourage all Fleche teams to also participate in the Dart and discover any problems with organization or rider pace in time to make corrections before the Fleche.