Sunday, August 25, 2013

The sun is rising over Oshawa

We've had another DNF - Bob C.. He wasn't going to have time to sleep in Napanee and bailed short of there.

That makes four, so with 45 starters and three already complete we have 38 riders on the road.

I'm expecting Ken and Michael in the next hour or so unless either of them found somewhere to sleep along the way.

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Saturday, August 24, 2013

Sunday 00:50 Sharbot Lake -- Final Rider Through

Another close encounter with a closing time.  This time 3 mintues.
Bon Courage! 
Now rewarded with a relatively easy 80km of flat and steady 100m decent into Napanee control, 10-13C, calm winds, waning gibous moon for company. 
 
Guy
 

Renato in @ 00:56

We now have three riders in. At this point several riders are on the course between Napanee and Oshawa but no one is expected for the next couple of hours so it's sleep time !
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First riders in !

Marcel and Brian came in at 11:55. Renato is 27 kms out.
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Saturday 20:12 -- Lead riders approaching Rice Lake

Brian Brideau and Marcel Marion are approaching Rice Lake.   Renato Alessandrini is about an hour behind them.    Ken Bonner is also on the road past Napanee.   It looks look first finishers will be in between 23:30 and 01:30.
 
Guy

Saturday 20:09 -- Plevna Done!

As the sun set in Plevna, the last rider arrived with 42 minute margin to closing time.  It was a different rider than the one that previously achieved the 1 minute margin in Barry's Bay closing time.  Carey and Terry, the roaming and rhyming duo, the coffee-fairies who yesterday delivered sunrise coffee to Central Control, are closing Plevna.
 
Guy

The day & a spot of confusion 6:20

A snapshot of life on the road supporting Randonneurs ...
 
Met with Stan and Paul
> . Drove back up route intercepting riders to Sharbot
> . Continued back to Plevna
> . Waited as riders in now up to 10 - Brideau Alessandrini Bonner akbarian Rosburg Kenny Sturgil Jagel perman Marion
> . Headed back to Sharbot and updated Vytas
> . late lunch at spuds and made sure that arrangements were squared away
> . Forward on route passing Renato
> . Got call from Nuala because she heard from Brideau that there was no one at Colborne - we hadn't told the riders that this was store control
> . Gave sign in sheet to Macs clerk which might or might not get completed
> . Stan will tell riders about control procedure
> . Now waiting for Renato and will then advance and wait for riders to catch up
> . Will end up in oshawa to check riders in and help Nuala and Guy.
 
From Dave, posted by Guy

12:20 at Napanee -- Brian chasing Marcel

Brian is 15 minutes behind Marcel. 
 
Guy

A Close Shave at Barry's Bay

Final rider in at high noon, one whole minute ahead of the cutoff.  Fortunately, there is a 30km of "relatively" flat section before the next series of hills to rebuild some cushion.  Unfortunately, this section alos has Schutt and Snake River climbs that would make nice downhill ski runs in a different season.
 
Guy

04:40 Saturday -- All riders safe into Bancroft

Last arrivals at 3:30 and 4:40.  Unfortunately, the final rider had taken a wrong turn en route to Bancroft.  Most riders have left Bancroft
 
Guy

Friday, August 23, 2013

Three Amigos

Renalto and Brian arrived at Barry's Bay at 00:34 and can "smell the barn".  They announce they plan to ride straight through to Durham.  Meanwhile, one wonders about the sleeping plans of Marcel who arrived/left Barry's Bay some 4 1/2 hours earlier and is somewhere down the quiet roads. 
 
A calm cool and potentially foggy night with Bancroft currently reporting 6C, 6C dewpoint and calm winds.
 
Guy

Antici....pation

Hills??? Only 50% done and the worst individual climbs yet to come:  Siberia, Schutt, Snake River, ... and that's only the first half of tomorrow.  More to come.  Hope your low speed balance is good.
 
Guy

Images and sentiments from riders in Bancroft

Renato Alessandrini and Brian Brideau were first into the overnight control in Bancroft at 15:49 Friday. First to bed also.

I did not immediately recognize Ken Bonner when he arrived. He looked a bit ragged. Quote, "This is a hard course."

Quote from Alberta Randonneur Steven Kenny, "This is harder than Paris Brest Paris. These hills... wow."

Friday 15:50 -- Riders beginning to Arrive at Bancroft

The blackout period is over.  First group of 3 riders in.   Based on Midland departure time, at least one did 311km in 10hr45min for a 29 kph average speed through some pretty and hilly terrain, some of it wickedly steep (up to 18%).  Fast. 
 
Guy

All riders through Housey's Rapids

Last rider through at 13:58, 50 minutes cushion to the closing time.
 
Guy

No news from Eagle Lake but don't worry

First riders into Eagle Lake were expected about 9-10'ish.  However no news to report due to very poor/no cellphone coverage from Control.  Got a text message warning about the poor coverage.  Wonder from where it was sent :)
 
Guy

9:20 -- All riders through Big Chute

Big Chute closes with 40 minutes to spare.  42 riders on course.  Pierre Coutu dropped by Central Control at Oshawa bringing back 2 drop bags and 1 bike from DNF riders.  He wryly reported that one of the riders was "not happy" being woken up from the comfy bed at Midland.   Ah, one of the heartbreaks of randonearing ...
 
Guy

Fort Irwin 8:00 a.m.

Arrived in Fort Irwin a while ago. Tried forward and back tracking looking for cell service without any luck. The plan is to staff the Control but we won't be able to provide updates unless we find wifi.

Pete Dusel and Michele Cannedy are on their way here, I believe. Michele has had to DNF but she's going to pitch-in.

Dave.
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Aug 23 5:18 am

Renato and Brian arrived at Housey's Rapids a little while ago. They are warming up in John Maccio's car. The temperature is just over 10C / 50F.
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Friday 05:06 -- Lead riders reach Housey's Rapids

2 riders, on little/no sleep, have reached Housey's rapids.  Meanwhile, the most recent arrivals at Midland where at 02:40.  One rider is yet to arrive at Midland ... ah but still 1 hour before closing.

Thursday, August 22, 2013

All through Eugenia; Trickling into Midland

Last riders through Eugenia at 20:30.   They face a decent, climb and second decent of the Niagra Escarpment on their 103km journey to Midland.  It is however a net 220m decent down from Eugenia.  The lead group of 3 riders reached Midland at 7:45.
 
Guy

4:30 - Eugenia

5 riders through so far and more on the way. We've had two riders DNF.

Jerry and I are holding the fort until Pete Dusel gets here.

Dave.
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Secret control "out of the bag"

Secret control was in Grand Valley (196 km).  First and last rider times spread over 3 hours: 11:24 to 14:39.   Battling the heat (26C), humidity (62%) and most notably a NW 26kph wind gusting to 35kph (as reported at nearby Orangeville). 

45 Started the Granite Anvil

Clarification on the number of starters:  45 riders started this morning.  No tandems, 1 recumbent. 

All riders passed Belfountain

Final rider through at 12:25.  Special mention for #48 Frederic Perman:  He was in fact with the earliest group to arrive at Belfountain (9:20), but his time entry on the rider progress webpage was delayed till now.

Nearly all riders through Belfountain

As of 11:28, all but 4 riders have checked into Belfountain

Most riders through Belfountain

47 riders started this morning.  As of 11am, there are 12 riders yet to check-in to Belfountain.  They have until 2pm to do so.

Lead riders past Belfountain

At 10am, lead riders are 10km past Belfountain.  Belfountain arrival times will be posted soon.

Aug 22 - they're off !

All riders are on the road as of 4:00 a.m.  The weather is great so far ... stay tuned.

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Aug 1 - registration almost complete

All are signed in but three.  One has been in touch with me and hopefully the other two will show up this a.m.

The day promises some rain (70% chance) and then great weather for the balance of the ride.

Ready to go ... breakfast starts in 25 minutes !

Monday, August 12, 2013

Aug 11 - pre-ride one complete !

The riders finished up at 10:59 a.m. (Stephen and Albert) and 11:24 a.m. (Carey and Guy) for times of 78:59 and 79:24 respectively.  They had beautiful weather, which we hope will continue for the second pre-ride and the main event, but of course we'll only know that for sure after all the riders are finished !

We have some routing changes to make due to construction and have already made a menu change at Bancroft.  We'll need that routing change prior to the second pre-ride that starts just 3 days from now.

It's all coming together !  We have the medals and many other items already in hand for the riders and we will shortly start food shopping. 

Our first conference calls preparing for this edition of the Granite Anvil started last summer.  Here we are, a year later, and it's coming together.

Sunday, August 11, 2013

Aug 11 - less than 100kms to go

Our four pre-riders and their support vehicle are now north of Cobourg, within 100kms of the Oshawa finish, or at least Stephen is, since I'm looking at his SPOT.  So far they have not been very far apart and I would expect that they'll finish together, after this adventure !

Aug 11 - 6:00 a.m.

The last four riders are on the road ... wait, there are only four riders !

They got into Napanee a little after 6pm yesterday and despite a little confusion at the front desk of the motel, stopped there until midnight.  I'll address that confusion shortly !

They are now west of Brighton, expecting to finish up late morning.  We'll have a few things to discuss at our Granite Anvil conference call tomorrow night and with the volunteers on Tuesday.

Thursday we start the second pre-ride ... yikes !

Saturday, August 10, 2013

Aug 9 - pre-ride # 1, Bancroft and beyond

The riders made it into Bancroft around 8:30 last night, definitely an easier day !  After dinner and some sleep, they hit the road again and are now at Barry's Bay, day 3 well underway. 

Bob Kassel joined them for dinner last night in Bancroft.  He was originally going to be doing this pre-ride but an achilles problem spoiled his riding plans.  Regardless, he was there to cheer on the riders !

We will likely be doing some more re-routing, since there's another area around Eagle Lake that might be under construction when we host the "main event".  Dick, Jerry and I will be doing the second pre-ride and will be able to test out any changes in routing.

Onward !

  

Friday, August 9, 2013

Aug 8-11 pre-ride is underway !

Yes, the first pre-ride is underway.  With Dick Felton and Peter Grant supporting, the group of Stephen, Carey, Albert and Guy made it to Midland before midnight.  It was a long day, made longer by multiple stops with the support vehicle.

Day 1 is the hardest day with almost 400k of riding.  The next three days are 300, 300 & 200km respectively, much more manageable.  Day 1 also has a lot of climbing.  

They've already found two spots that require re-routing due to construction, so this is a very good exercise.  We're also "road testing", if you will, the motel and food arrangements and making a list of all establishments open along the ride.  This should be very helpful for the riders.

The group left Midland around 5am this morning and are already past Big Chute.