Seagull Century Ride - A wonderful experience!

Bike packed and ready to go! I only need to throw the wheels on top.

The road to Assateague Island. You can see two of the only four hills on the course in the distance.

The wild horses on Assateague.

Pie and ice cream under the shelter at the last rest stop. :)

Go Team! :)

My adventure started last Wednesday when I spent about an hour trying to fit my bike into the small case I rented to ship the bike on the airplane with me. I started by removing the seat, post and all, and the handlebars from the vertical post. Then, off came the pedals. It's always a little tricky to figure out which way to turn the pedal wrench since it is different for each side. Finally, I removed both wheels. After fiddling for another half hour I figured out the best way to orient the handlebars on the frame to have the best chance of getting everything in the case. But, it was still not good enough. I removed the rear derailleur. Close, but not quite enough. Finally, the skewers came out of both wheels and the case closed easily. I took a picture so I would remember when it came time to pack it up again.

I met my teammates at the airport on Thursday morning for the 1 hour flight to Baltimore. Our coach had driven the day before to Salisbury, MD. taking the tandem bicycle that one couple on our team would ride on Saturday. A two hour shuttle ride from the Baltimore airport brought us to our Holiday Inn in Salisbury and we set about unpacking an assembling our bikes. That evening, we road (by car) to Ocean City, MD. to take a walk on the boardwalk by the sea and to sample the local fare at a very nice restaurant.

The next morning, I was up early for a 10 mile ride with the team to check our bikes and warm up for the ride on Saturday. At the expo that afternoon, I bought a couple of CO2 cartridges for my pump and a pair of bicycle shorts, and picked up my official Seagull Century shirt. Later that evening, we all went to the TNT inspiration dinner and turned in early for the big event on the morrow. I had brought my heart rate monitor and discussed with the coach my plan to start the ride with a slow warmup, making sure that my heart rate generally stayed below about 120 bpm. He was fully supportive and planned to stay back in case anyone on the team needed assistance. I was expecting to do about 12 mph. But, as it turned out, that was a low estimate.

On the morning of the big day, we were all up at 6AM grabbing bananas, orange juice, bagels, or whatever to fuel ourselves for a long day. The start was a rather informal affair. The expectation was that every one of the 8,000 to 9,000 registered cyclists would start some time between 7AM and 9AM. We left the hotel on our bikes at around 7AM and a mile and a half later merged with the riders about 2 blocks from the starting line coming out of the tunnel that we would enter on our way to that same line for the finish of the ride some 9 hours later.

There were nine people on our team. Six took the lead. The coach, myself, and one other rider stayed together a short distance behind the leaders. We met the lead group at each of the 4 rest stops on the course and close to the end of the ride where we all finished together. The day was clear with ideal temperatures from 50 to 70 degrees F (10 - 20 C). The course was mostly flat with only 4 sizeable, but short hills. The real challenge was the wind. It was mostly at our back on the way out. But, for the last 30 - 40 miles we faced up to 30 mph head winds most of the time. The rest stop at about 65 miles was on Assateague Island, where we stopped to admire the wild "animals" with their bicycles and a few wild horses. The real treat was the apple pie and ice cream which was served at the 85 mile rest stop. This has come to be a much anticipated tradition for this particular ride. I ended up in a ditch at the side of the road when I clipped the rear wheel of a teammate while negotiating a narrow shoulder in a fierce head wind. Nothing wounded but my pride, I was quickly back up and on my way. The whole team reassembled a few miles from the finish and ended our ride with our famous cheer - "O" "H" ... "I" "O". It was a gratifying end to a long and enjoyable day!