The Eastern PA
Flèche
Thursday 2 May 2019
12:00 EDT Earliest Start Time
12:00 EDT Earliest Start Time
New for 2019: PA Randonneurs has secured use of the Trexlertown Velodrome (officially the Valley Preferred Cycling Center) near Trexlertown, PA as a finish venue for the 2019 PA Flèche. The track surface itself will be open for our use (weather permitting) from 8-10 AM on Sunday for fleche team victory laps.
In light of recent RUSA recommendations regarding waivers and in addition to the electronic waiver included in the on-line registration, ALL RIDERS must provide a signed RUSA waiver to the RBA before Teams will be permitted to start. Blank waivers will be provided to Captains as Teams are created in the registation system. Captains are responsible to collect and gather signed waivers from all team riders. These are then to be sent to the RBA. Original documents are to be mailed to the RBA. Even if a particular rider is not 100% certain of their ability to ride, send a waiver just in case. Extra waivers can always be disregarded, but riders cannot start unless a waiver is on file. Any rider arriving at the finish for whom a signed waiver was not received prior to the start will be scored as a DNS which has the potential to disqualify the whole team.
Valley Preferred Cycling Center has its own waiver for riders wishing to ride on the velodrome at the finish. Copies of these will be provided to Captains along with the RUSA waiver. To avoid having to keep track of whether a rider is allowed to lap the track on Sunday morning, I am asking that all riders return this waiver along with the RUSA waiver.
The Valley Preferred Cycling Center (also known as "T-Town" for its proximity to Trexlertown, PA) is the cycling capitol of the Lehigh Valley. The velodrome is world famous, and the roads in the Trexlertown area are known for being some of the best by cyclists worldwide. T-Town hosts the world’s premiere weekly racing series each summer, as well as national championships, large group rides, Fondos, charity rides, UCI cyclo-cross events, etc...
Valley Preferred Cycling Center’s Velodrome is as 333 meter concrete track, 28 degree banked turns, and straightaways banked at 12 degrees. There are 4 restroom locations in the plaza area, along with both a men’s and women’s locker room.
Valley Preferred Cycling Center offers ample, free parking. You may leave cars overnight there starting Thursday. Please place your cars in the roped off area near the stone barn.
Suggested parking locations for the start/finish are public places, with theft and vandalism a real possibility, especially in cities. Park during the event at your own risk. Please do not leave valuables in your car during the ride.
There are hot showers and locker rooms at the velodrome facility, and we will set up some rough bunks for sleep deprived riders to catch a safety nap. Other than these basics, there will be no lodging available at the track itself. If you need something better than this, there are several nearby hotels that are an easy bike ride away. There is a special group code "LVELGP" for velodrome events at the Allentown Park Hotel.
There is a large, tent-covered area adjacent to the track near turn 4. This is to the left end of the track as viewed from the road. Arriving teams should take the left side entrance and follow the path to the left of the concessions. The tent covered area is where finish refreshments will be set up and where you can enter the track itself for a victory lap.
This event is a randonneur-style, flèche team event sanctioned by RUSA and ACP and counts toward the R-5000 medal. Allowable start times are from noon Thursday through 10 AM on Saturday. A minimum of 360 km must be covered within 24 hours with no rest stop longer than 2 hours. Teams are composed of 3 to 5 bikes and each team designs their own route, converging to the common finish destination.
All participants are obliged to follow the Rules for the Flèches-USA, as well as local vehicle laws (PA, NJ, NY). Safety is a primary concern. Please read these Safety Instructions.
Please include a list of controles for your proposed route when you submit the route for review. Be sure to provide the complete name and address of the establishment, along with a phone number. Route approval is based upon meeting the minimum distance between controles (safely navigable by bike) as well as meeting the 22-hr controle criteria. You may submit your route in an on-line application, such as RideWithGPS, or it may be a cue sheet with a list of controls. If you use on-line means, please either provide the requested control information in the GPS map itself or in a separate list. Cue sheet submittals should be delivered in a spreadsheet format that is accessible using MS Excel. I encourage Captains/route designers to contact all controls to confirm they remain in business and will be open when you plan to arrive. Though the Fleche rules include steps to take if you arrive at a control only to find it unavailable, you can avoid disruptions by taking this step beforehand.
Once the proposed route is approved by the RBA, the list of controles are to be added into a Flèche control card prepared in Jake Kassen's Card-O-Matic applictation and a copy of the card copied into the RBA's CoM account. After route approval, any changes to the controls you plan to use must be submitted to the RBA to confirm that the minimum controlled distance is maintained.
A minimum of 25 kilometers must be ridden in the final 2 hours of the event. Proof of passage, such as a store receipt or stamp, must be obtained at the end of the 22nd hour at some location. Due to the new destination, recommendations for establishments meeting the 22-hour distance criteria are not available.
Be sure that the minimum distance is covered (360 km). There should be several controls along the route, probably not much further than 100 km apart. If the route is not a straight run at the finish, then any "corners" should be set at controls to show that no shortcuts were taken. Mileage credit will only be given to the shortest distance navigable by bicycles, between controles.
Traditional merchant receipts are permissible. When submitting receipts, only one set of receipts is required for the entire team. These should remain with the Captain's brevet card and identified with the control name or number.
Photographs are permissible provided 1) every member of the team is visible, 2) the location can clearly be identified and matched to a control on the team route, and 3) the Captain sends the photographs electronically to the RBA/Organizer at or before the time the completed brevet cards are turned in. Team Name & Control name or number must be clearly noted in the email and provide a way to identify each attached picture.
Post card controls are permissible provided the team name and control number or name is clearly identifiable. Post cards should be sent to Pennslyvania Randonneurs, 1700 Sullivan Trail, #103, Easton, PA 18040-8333. Every team member should sign the card. Bonus points are awarded to teams who provide catchy rhymes, prose, or remarks documenting their experience on the post cards.
Please note that the 22-hour control requires a means to document the departure time at the location. A text message to the RBA/Organizer is NOT an acceptable proof of passage.
EVERY rider shall note their arrival time at EVERY checkpoint control on their brevet card. Blank brevet cards will not be accepted at the finish.
Loop courses are NOT permitted. The start location must be significatly different from the finish, and a road may only be used once (crossing at a single point is allowable). Please get your start location approved by the RBA before you start to design your course.
Parking is typically available at the destination location so teams may leave one or two cars there to shuttle bikes and riders back to the starting location after the finish.
A shuttle service (like one typically used to get to an airport) is one suggestion to get team members back to a common location.
Registration includes Brunch Banquet at the finish (Sunday 8AM-11AM) and access to showers at the Velodrome. We will even have a few spaces for tired riders to rest before traveling home. Overnight accommodations also available several nearby hotels.
| Apr 9 | Team Captain registration closes |
| Apr 13 | Route submission deadline |
| Apr 28 | Rider registration closes |
| 2 May | Noon: Earliest start time |
| 4 May | 8-9 AM: Preferred start time |
| 4 May | 10 AM: Latest start |
| 5 May | 10 AM: Latest finish |
| 5 May | 8-11 AM: Brunch Banquet |
The online URL for this event info page is
https://parando.org/info/event/2019-05-02/360
For all other information about Pennsylvania Randonneurs, visit our web site https://parando.org/