The weather Saturday should be perfect for Dream Ride Project’s ride of attrition, the annual Nightmare Tour of Lancaster County. The ride circles the 177.8-mile peripheryof the county, beginning in Marietta at dawn.
The temperatures are expected to be unseasonably mild, with a high in the upper 70s, low humidity and now chance of rain, the Millersville University Weather Center is forecasting. Last year’s ride was also on a mild day, under cloudy skies. The 2005 ride was in more characteristically August weather. Many riders dropped out from the heat and humidity.
A total of 82 riders are scheduled for Saturday’s event. The course includes the southern end River Hills, ridden in the morning, and the brutal 22 percent climb of the Swamp Church Road hill, in the northeastern tip of the county, in the afternoon, after 108 miles.
Last year, the first rider to finish, Ed Hein, completed the course in 10 hours, 22 minutes. The last to finish, Ronaele Foss, of Colorado Springs, Colo., returned to Marietta in 21 hours, 25 minutes.
Clouds are expected to move onto the county’s skies by Sunday morning, with showers possible in the afternoon and evening. That could put a damper on the Lancaster Bicycle Club’s Covered Bridge Metric Century.
Riders will start beginning at 7:30 a.m., from the Greenfield business park, William Penn Way near Greenfield Road. They may ride 15, 31 or 62 mile courses. The metric century, 100 kilometers or 62 miles, passes through seven covered bridges. With 3,000 riders participating last year, the Covered Bridge ride in the largest organized bicycling event in the county.
