Eastern PA 300K / 200K
Water Gap
Saturday April 18, 2015
General Info
This ride is a randonneur style event sanctioned by RUSA and ACP. Choose between an ACP sanctioned 300k or 200k course.
First time riding with PA Randonneurs? Read an overview of what to expect on your first PA brevet. All participants are obliged to follow the rules for riders as well as PA and NJ vehicle laws. Unlike organized century rides, the course will not be marked -- riders will need to navigate with a cue sheet.
Start/Finish Location
Hampton Inn
1915 John Fries Highway
Quakertown, Pennsylvania 18951
DIRECTIONS
Tel: 215-536-7779
Traveling far? A limited number of rooms have been reserved with a special group rate of $105/night:
- Group Code: REM (available until 4/12)
Make your own reservations ASAP. Looking for somebody to share a room? Make a connection using the message board.
Registration
Electronic Registration Form
Pre-registration required.
All riders must sign waiver
For PA Club Members:
$35 due at sign-in
For Guests:
$40 due at sign-in
Schedule
4:00AM Sign-in, Bike Inspection, Breakfast Buffet
4:50AM Rider meeting
5:00AM Riders depart
20.0 hr. time limit (300k)
13.5 hr. time limit (200k)
Daylight hours: 6:19 AM - 7:43 PM
Event runs rain or shine.
Post Ride
Shower available at the hotel
Relax in the hotel lobby/dining area and join us for pizza. Share your epic stories, tales, and goals for the coming year. Rooms available at the hotel to rest before traveling home.
Ride Description (updated 4/6/10)
The Water Gap edition of the PA300 combines the Classic and Hawk's Nest editions of prior years. This year's edition of the Water Gap 300k is similar to the 2009 edition, with the following changes:
- Start/Finish is at the Quakertown Hampton Inn
- First controle stop is Cherryville (instead of postcard drop at Danielsville).
- We'll head a bit further north to Hainesville
- At Portland, we'll continue down along the Delaware River through Belvidere and Stewartsville instead of heading over to Great Meadows.
Taking advantage of the light traffic in the early morning hours, we head directly through Bethlehem towards the first controle stop in Cherryville. We then make our first crossing over the Applachian Trail at Little Gap. After an exhilarating descent past the Blue Mountain Ski resort, we follow the valley road which offers spectacular views of the mountain ridge off to our right as we head to the controle stop in Water Gap. The 200k riders will split off here and head south for the return leg along the Delaware River.
300k riders will continue on north along the Delaware River on the PA side of the Delaware Water Gap Recreation Area -- the "easy" way through the park -- and cross at Dingmans Ferry to the NJ side of the park. The NJ side, with it's many steep rollers and big climb to Millbrook Village, is the "hard" way through the park back to Water Gap, but it is certainly one of the scenic highlights of the route. But first we'll make a controle stop at Flats Deli in Hainesville, the northern extent of the course -- the tuna subs are highly recommended. We make our next crossing of the Appalachian Trail, this time, along the I-80 bridge pedestrian walk way (where we actually ride on the trail).
We continue down the Delaware river through Portland where the 300k and 200k routes converge. The return leg continues along the Delaware River through Belvidere, jogging over to Stewartsville and eventually over to the fabulous Muscenetcong River Valley and on to Riegelsville. At Riegelsville we follow quiet backroads through Bucks County back to Quakertown.
There are several steep, extended climbs. A triple or 39x27 is highly recommended.