Based on a permanent route from Roger Hillas, this ride goes out on the Maryland side of the Potomac River before crossing into Virginia, and returning using the W&OD Trail. Enjoy Georgetown Cupcakes towards the end before finishing at Cafe Vino.
Ye Olde Frederick 300 is a club favorite, designed by Crista Borras and ridden almost annually since the late 1990s. Starting from Frederick, the route heads north, skirting South Mountain as far as Thurmont and then turns west to climb 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. Along the way it climbs Jacks Mountain Rd, with its multiple false summits and swooping descent to a covered bridge.
From Arendtsville, the route turns northwest and begins a long, stair-step climb with many steep sections, just to get you properly fatigued before the climb up Big Flat. After turning left on Shippensburg at mile 59, you’re finally ascending the false summit before Big Flat (altitude 1650 feet) before a rapid descent to a stop sign at Pine Grove Rd, followed by the real climb to the summit of Big Flat (altitude 2040 feet). Nine miles–including the sweetest descent on any of our routes–brings riders to a much needed rest stop and control in Shippensburg.
By this time, you’ve done about half the climbing of the ride, so keep your spirits up, it does get a little easier, with the lovely sequence of Mud Level Rd, Oakville Rd and Red Shed Rd. If you want to get back to Frederick, there’s just one more big climb over South Mtn on Whiskey Springs Rd, and then the terrain is rolling all the way home, with a stop in East Berlin for pizza, to get you ready for that long haul down to Thurmont for a final chance of resupply before the last miles in to Frederick.
SAVE THE DATE!
Many randonneurs consider the fleche to be one of the most fun (and often challenging) events on the schedule.
What makes it fun? You’re riding with friends and team mates, all working together toward a common goal. Plus there is the fleche breakfast, where friends and riders gather, regardless of whether they rode or finished.
What makes it challenging? It’s a 24-hour, 224+ mile ride. You may be on a team whose route is more or less challenging. And … the timing of the fleche is usually determined by the week after Easter, which of course is variable. So some fleches are characterized by bitterly cold weather; for others, heat may be a challenge. Sometimes the weather is lovely, others the weather is appalling.
Most teams will want to start riding the fleche at around 7am on April 15 so that they can finish 24 hours later at the fleche “target,” LIKELY IN ARLINGTON, and join other exhausted and elated riders for the celebration breakfast and to share stories about their adventures.
Critical deadlines for forming a team, getting a route approved, or becoming a team member are shown further below. But first …
What is a fleche and what are (some of) its rules?
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. Minimum distance is 360 km, which must be covered in 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.
Fleche target: the IHOP, 935 N Stafford St, Arlington, VA 22203, where on Sunday April 16, teams will meet for a hearty post-ride breakfast. (Note that the target does not have to be the team’s final control.) Breakfast is not included in the fleche fee. If you would like to bring a guest, please do so. This IHOP is a block from the Balston Metro, for an easy departure by transit.
Allowed start times: Most teams will want to start at about 7AM on Saturday morning so that they can finish at 7AM on Sunday morning and join other exhausted and elated riders for the celebration breakfast. Team members are welcome at the fleche breakfast whether or not they successfully completed the fleche.
Fleche rules: The fleche has its own set of rules that are somewhat different and more arcane, than those for a standard brevet. Some of them are summarized here:
A full understanding of the rules, especially for the 22-hour control is essential for achieving a successful finish. Team captains are welcome to contact me with questions. And 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.
Fleche Team Deadlines
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. The schedule will be:
Captains, see “Fleche Captain Application” below.
Team members, fill out the registration form and send it to your team captain!
Captains and team members must register online at dcrand.org/, entering all of the information requested–especially phone numbers and emergency contact–and following the payment instructions there. Note: For insurance reasons, RUSA membership is now required to ride a fleche.
Team captains are responsible for collecting applications from their team members and submitting them on time, the second deadline noted above. In other words, team members should send the forms to their captains, and then the captains should submit them as a group. Please contact Bill Beck (william.a.beck@gmail.com) 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 are essential for finishing and enjoying a fleche. So I encourage all new teams to schedule at least one or two shakedown rides together, perhaps on a 200km (or even 300km) permanent route.
In case of Inclement Weather: Because each team rides its own route, weather conditions might be acceptable for some routes while unacceptable for others. If the weather forecast looks questionable for the region, team captains will be contacted, and they will be required in turn to contact their team members. For this event as for all events, it is up to each individual randonneur to decide based on the best information that they have available whether they think it is safe to proceed. Whether or not you ride (or complete) your fleche, you are welcome at the fleche breakfast, which will proceed as long as the hotel is open.
Fleche Team Captain Applications
Fleche captains will submit three items found in this folder.
1) Registration form by, March 20
2) Route application form, by March 20
3) Fleche Team Tracking Sheet, by April 08 and confirm that all team members are registered
Routes that do not include a completely-filled out DCR Fleche Route Application will not be considered. Note that if your proposed route has been approved within the last three years, you will not need to fill out the detailed Route Justification section. All other routes will require detailed route justification. This is no more and no less than what is required when you submit a route to RUSA for approval. So … if you’ve submitted a route to RUSA, you know what to do; and if you get a fleche route approved, then you’ve had good practice for submitting a route to RUSA!
It is up to prospective fleche captains to take the time to justify the route. The organizer’s job is to review the justification — typically that can take an hour per route — not to work out the justification for you.The route information can be submitted electronically to william.a.beck@gmail.com in PDF, MS Word, or MS Excel format. Ideally you will include a route file created in RideWithGPS; Garmin Mapsource is also acceptable; either of these will be much appreciated, but not technically required.
The Lady and the Barons takes advantage of cycling roads and trails in Anne Arundel and Calvert counties. The name of the route is derived from the namesakes of the two counties, Lady Anne of Arundel and the Barons Calvert. The terrain is gently rolling with a few steep pitches along the way, as it travels from Severna Park to the Chesapeake Bay and then touches the Patuxent River twice. These are some favorite cycling roads that only see the big towns of West Annapolis (early in the morning) and Chesapeake Beach.
The “Mother of all 300’s” 300km, is a Lynn Kristianson route starting from Middletown, VA. We’ll ride it in the original, clockwise direction, as it was ridden for the first time in 2005. The subsequent year’s ride description on the website described it as the “appallingly hilly but GORGEOUS 2005 West Virginia 300km.” On the plus side, quoting from a check-out-ride report from 2006 posted by Chuck and Crista “The pure serenity, mountain roads and sensually stimulating vistas in this route are like a dream and are unmatched by anything anywhere else that I have ever ridden.”
Controls with services are almost 100km miles apart and there are few conveniently-located services in between. Bring extra food and extra water bottles. Fair warning! For more detail, see below …
Park at the extremeties of the parking lot. There will be safety inspection before the ride, starting at 4am.
The ride starts south from Middletown, working its way to the endless rollers and stunning mountain views of Back Road. The riders then climb the 3 miles over Wolf Gap into WV (there is a delightful spring on the left, it’s on the cue sheet; look for a white plastic pipe about chest height). After the summit, there is a long, streamside descent and then a long, gradual climb over Mill Gap through the GW National Forest. A second fast descent brings riders to WV259. You can control either at the Lost River General Store, but it doesn’t open til 10am, or at the Lost River Grille, a mile down 259. It’s a Grille, not a convenience store, so it has excellent breakfasts, lunches, pies, etc, but not gatorade, bottles of water, or candy bars. A piece of pie might be your fastest way out if you’re in a hurry. Your first opportunity to resupply on-bike-eats is either mile 91 or mile 109. So whatever you want to eat on the bike for roughly the first century needs to be carried from the start.
The course then proceeds north and west as it follows the streams up and down through many small valleys on its way to Romney. Thirty-six miles into this leg, we avoid a 1.3 mile uphill climb on busy and shoulderless US50 by taking Sand Hill Rd instead. The downside is that we miss some resupply points on US50 at the top of Jersey Mtn. But these are only a mile off route at mile 91, and it’s a nearly-flat mile, so not a very big deal if you’re low on water or food. The terrain moderates somewhat until a climb before the Slanesville control.
Coming into and out of Slanesville, riders face a moderate climb, but then get a respite for the next fifteen miles, riding along the beautiful Cacapon River to Capon Lake and Capon Springs. Climbing back over North Mountain, the riders will pass through apple orchards, gaining elevation up to High View, VA. Riders are now on a gradual descent punctuated by short, steep climbs. About 42 miles into this leg, the Shawnee Springs Market is about a half mile off route. It closes at 9 but if it were a control, the control would close at 9:12, so most riders should find it open if they need it. Another twenty miles later, the penultimate control is an INFO control at the Crossroads Grocery. The store closes at 9pm, but the control is open until 11:16. READ THE NEXT PARAGRAPH TO DRAW OUT THE IMPLICATIONS! More orchards form the scenery for the return to Middletown–though many riders will pass them in the dark.
Riders who arrive at the mile-131, Yellow Springs control after 5 are at risk of arriving at the mile-169.7 Crossroads Store after it closes. But there is an off-route store at mile 151, Shawnee Springs Market, that closes at 9pm. HOWEVER, riders who arrive at Yellow Springs after 6:50pm are at risk of missing even the Shawnee Springs Market. The best advice: Load up on water and food at mile 131 to make it to the end. That way, when you get to mile 151 you can evaluate whether to stop for more food and water, or just continue on with what you have. If you get to Shawnee Springs after it has already closed and you are desperate for food and water, call to see if a volunteer can come out to the Crossroads Store. But plan to mark this down in your lessons-learned book: You shoulda carried more food and water from Yellow Springs.
This classic route tours scenic roads before climbing Wolf Gap and finishing on rolling Back Road. Lunch in Capon Bridge at Farmer's Daughter.
Designed by Crista Borras and ridden by the club in different forms since the late 1990s, the Northern Exposure 400 kilometer brevet is a beautiful and challenging expedition to Newport PA on the Juniata River. Many of our brevets ride through Cumberland Valley in the region of Shippensburg, PA, leaving us to wonder what is in the mountains to the north and west of the valley? This brevet answers that question. Alternatively, the USGS answer to that question is that the Cumberland Valley is part of what it defines as the Great Appalachian Valley and the mountains to the north and west are part of the Ridge and Valley Appalachians.
Starting from Frederick, we ride north on familiar and easy roads to Thurmont. We cross Catoctin Mountain on Sabillasville Rd heading into the Michaux State Forest, one of the more beautiful and easygoing crossings. This is the same route that the South Mountain 600 takes on the first day, as far as Sabillasville, but there the routes part, with the Northern Exposure route climbing over South Mountain and into and across the Cumberland Valley. From Roxbury, riders climb over Kittatinny Mountain into the Path Valley, with its picturesque Amish farms and long mountain views.The route continues northwest through the Path Valley and Horse Valley to East Waterford, followed by a gentle climb over Tuscarora Mountain and then a scenic cruise to Newport.
After a stop in Newport, riders climb over Blue Mountain, back into the Cumberland Valley. After passing Children’s Lake in lovely Boiling Springs, riders return to familiar roads, joining the route of the Frederick 300 for the return over South Mountain on Whiskey Springs Rd, eventually passing Lake Meade, controlling at East Berlin, continuing on through Thurmont and the relatively easy terrain back to Frederick.
There are many stop-lights going through Frederick. Please respect these as the cross traffic is sometimes fast and hard to see. The roads in Frederick may be rough–showing the effect of a long winter plus construction; exercise suitable caution. Going out through downtown Frederick in the morning is especially nice. Watch for traffic when you return to Frederick as it will likely be heavier that going out.
Description to be provided.
An overnight 400k to prepare for PBP. This will be an unsupported ride with no volunteer at the start/finish hotel.