Oley Valley & Hopewell Furnace
200K Brevet
Saturday 5 December 2026
07:00 EST Start Time
07:00 EST Start Time
The ride will start at Chez Eby, located at 2010 W. Girard Avenue in Philadelphia. Bathrooms will be available, and riders are welcome to leave a bag at the house during the ride if needed. See the information to the right (or below on mobile) for more details about the post-ride soirée.
The nearest convenience store is Fairmount Mini Market, located at 1811 Ridge Avenue.
Street parking is very limited near the start/finish. Some parking may be available on S. College Avenue, about two blocks away. If you park near the start, be sure to check posted signs for time limits and other restrictions.
There is usually plenty of free, unrestricted parking along Sedgley Drive in East Fairmount Park, approximately one mile from the start. Another option is the paid parking lot next to Eastern State Penitentiary at 2201 Fairmount Avenue, about half a mile from the start.
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 numerous lodging options in the city of Philadelpia, please book your arrangements with a hotel directly.
The ride will finish at Chez Eby, the home of PA Randonneurs club member Peter Eby, located at 2010 W. Girard Ave., Philadelphia.
In addition to serving as the finish control, Chez Eby will host our PA Randonneurs holiday gathering. Riders and club members are invited to stick around after the ride to relax, enjoy some food and drinks, and celebrate another year of riding together.
The holiday gathering is open to anyone who has ridden with PA Randonneurs or is interested in riding with us in the future, whether or not you are participating in this brevet. Significant others are also very welcome, so please feel free to bring a partner along.
The club will provide food and refreshments, and everyone is welcome to bring a dish or drink to share. Bringing something is completely optional.
Join us for one final 200K of 2026, followed by the annual Pennsylvania Randonneurs Holiday Soirée! Club member Peter Eby has generously offered to host both the ride start and our post-ride celebration at Chez Eby in Philadelphia. Whether you're riding the brevet or just coming to celebrate, we hope you'll join us for an evening of food, drinks, and good company!
The soirée is open to everyone who has ridden or volunteered with PA Rando, as well as anyone interested in becoming part of our randonneuring community.
A few notes about the soirée:
Riders are welcome to leave a bag at the start with a change of clothes for the soirée.
Feel free to bring a snack, dessert, or other treat to share. Contributions are appreciated but completely optional.
The soirée is BYOB. The club will not provide alcohol, but you're welcome to bring your own beverages and leave them at Chez Eby during the ride.
Spouses, partners, friends, and fellow riders are all welcome!
You do not need to ride the brevet to attend the soirée. We'd love to see you whether you're riding or not!
Visit the scenic Oley Valley and Hopewell Furnace National Historical Site on this challenging 200K.
The route starts out at Chez Eby in Fairmount before winding along the Schuylkill and Wissahickon to arrive in the suburbs via Stenton Ave. Some riders may be familiar with the route out to Evansburg Park, featuring highlights such as the colorful house at Yost and North Wales and the sheep on Heebner Road.
After Evansburg, the route turns north toward the first intermediate control, Hennings Market, complete with a café. From there, you will continue northwest past Green Lane Park and arrive at the second intermediate control, Redner's Quick Shoppe.
As riders make their way through the rolling hills near Boyertown, they'll pass through the historic community of Hill Church, named for St. John-Hill Church, whose roots date back to the mid-1700s. The church was originally established by Pennsylvania German settlers and was known by several names over the years, including Oley Mountain Church and Weidenthal ("Willow Valley"). The present church building dates to 1853, but the congregation's history stretches back more than a century before that.
Hill Church is a reminder of the region's rich Pennsylvania German heritage. For generations, the church and its historic cemetery served as a center of religious and community life in this rural corner of Berks County. Today, the surrounding farmland, wooded hills, and winding country roads offer riders a glimpse of the landscape that shaped these early settlements.
After Hill Church you’ll turn southwest towards the Reading area, rolling along roads that will be familiar to some, and cross Griesemer’s Mill Covered Bridge (1862), one of just five covered bridges remaining in Berks County.
You will cross the Schuylkill River to arrive at the third control, a Turkey Hill in Birdsboro. Take the opportunity to rest and prepare. The most challenging climbs of the brevet are now before you in and around French Creek State Park, comprising the last unbroken forest in Southeastern Pennsylvania. The park is a popular bike camping destination.
The purpose of this gratuitous climbing labor is a ride past Hopewell Furnace, the cradle of American Industrialization, where you can pick apples in the fall.
Finally, the moment you’ve actually all been waiting for...no, not another historical site: a Wawa controle! After filling up on whatever you traditionally partake of at this holy establishment, continue east through Yellow Springs and Phoenixville before arriving in historic Valley Forge Park.
Roll past the memorial arch and keep an eye out for deer as you head towards the Schuykill River Trail and roll back to Manayunk along the river before reaching the city and returning to Chez Eby for the club's holiday soiree.
This route has several steep and extended climbs. Sufficiently low gearing is recommeded.
| Date | Finishers |
|---|---|
| 2023-11-11 | 52 |
| 2025-12-06 | 15 |
This ride is a randonneur style bicycle event under the sanction of Randonneurs USA and Audax Club Parisian. Completing this event can help you train and qualify for Paris-Brest-Paris and earn RUSA and ACP awards. You need a current RUSA membership to ride this event. You can sign up for RUSA here.
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 local vehicle laws (PA, NJ, NY). Safety is a primary concern. All riders must sign a waiver. Please read these Safety Instructions.
To receive credit for finishing a randonneuring event you must complete a brevet card as required by the rules. PA Randonneurs accepts traditional brevet cards filled out with stamps/signatures and backed up with merchant receipts. PA Randonneurs encourages use of the eBrevet cell phone app. (Version 1.3 minimum required) as an electronic brevet card assistant. Nevertheless, you must check into all controls on the app -- or provide traditional proof for each control. Your finish time and finish code from the app must be written on the paper card, along with your signature, or you may be disqualified.
These events are not for beginners. The courses are hilly. You may face extremes of weather: heat, cold, wind, rain. The roads are unmarked and open to automobile traffic. There will be night riding in the longer events. There is no sag wagon. Complete several ordinary century cycling events before starting a 200K brevet; complete several 200Ks before starting a longer brevet.
The online URL for this event info page is
https://parando.org/info/event/2026-12-05/200
For all other information about Pennsylvania Randonneurs, visit our web site https://parando.org/