Start Location: Lyme Consolidate School, Lyme, CT
Finish Location: French Fender Day Event, Lyme, CT (About 1.5 Miles from start)
No parking at the finish location; Park at or ride to the start.
Start Time: 7am
Ride Leader: Ted Shwartz
Lights: Optional
Distance: 100k (64 Miles)
Time Limit: 6 Hours 40 minutes
Cost: $5 (Must be a NER member!)
Rider Cap: 20 Riders total. No exceptions!
Map & GPS File: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/31204003
Cue Sheet: See above RWGPS Link
Sanctioning: RUSA Only
Registration: Register on BikeReg
Come join NER on a special populaire preceding the famous French Fender Day gathering at the house of framebuilder J.P. Weigle. French Fender Day is a gathering of craftsman frame builders, classic bike aficionados, and randonneurs. It’s a small social gathering of people interested in classic bicycles and traditional building building techniques. NER is not affiliated with the event directly but thanks to ride leader Ted and the generosity of FDD host Peter Weigle we’re able to offer this populaire as a nice pre-ride for people heading to the event. Riders do not need to stay for the festivities, but if you do, there is a $25 cash suggested donation at the party. If attending FFD, please ride a bike fitting with the theme of the event!
Due to limited space at FFD, NER is only able to accommodate 20 riders on this ride. Pre-registration and NER Memebership required.
Important Consideration: French Fender Day has a rain date but this event will not be rescheduled or postponed as RUSA regulations prohibit rain delays. If Peter delays FFD, this event will be canceled and riders will receive a $5 refund.
Ride Leader Ted’s notes:
This is a special Populaire timed to coincide with Peter Weigle’s French Fender Day. You get a 102k, French Fender Day (FFD) and Peter Weigle all in the same day. You owe it to yourself to go to FFD at least once, while PW still does them. Peter asked that we limit the brevet to 20 people so as to not overwhelm FFD (which will have 50-100 other people attending).
Registration for the Brevet is $5. If you would like to attend French Fender Day at Peter Weigle’s there is an additional donation of $25 to cover the expenses of the day, and the memorable spread that PW puts on.
There is a bit of climbing on this route, about 4300 feet.
We start at Lyme Consolidate School (about 1 1/2 miles from PW’s house) and head South East through Lyme to Rocky Neck State Park for a view of Plum Island, Orient Point and Montauk.
Next we head North to climbing to Montville and then descending to Bozrah. We turn West and climb along the Yantic River until we get to Colchester which is the high point of the day.
From Colchester it’s almost all downhill to Peter Weigle’s. This is my favorite part of the ride. Some of you may remember this downhill from the Berkshire Brevet Old Saybrook 300k. The descent to Devil’s Hopyard and then to Peter’s is just pure joy.
We will ride past the start point, to get to Peter Weigle’s for the last control and FFD. Parking is extremely tight at Peter’s. I ask that you finish your ride at PW, and then when you are done at FFD, ride the approximately 1.5 miles back to the school when you are ready to go.
