Sea Gull Century, MD with TNT

[GypsyAngel]

I bought my first road bike last summer but didn't feel comfortable on it after riding a MTB for a couple years.

This year I conviced myself to join Team In Training for the Sea Gull Century in MD on Oct 7 and have been consistantly riding with them for six weeks. I do 25 miles every Tuesday and Thursday and a team endurance ride on Saturday. Not a lot compared to others but a lot for me.

The other morning I was cycling on my own through the rolling farm roads of Lancaster County, PA and I thought "Wow... I love this. I love the feeling of cycling. I love flying down hills. I love the fact that climbing hills is getting easier. I love the feeling I get when I realize how far I've come. I love my road bike and how it responds. I love that I'm actually not bad at this sport. This is so cool."

Thanks for the tips I'm finding on the website... looking forward to getting to know some of you!

Gypsy

[Veronica]

The other morning I was cycling on my own through the rolling farm roads of Lancaster County, PA and I thought "Wow... I love this. I love the feeling of cycling. I love flying down hills. I love the fact that climbing hills is getting easier. I love the feeling I get when I realize how far I've come. I love my road bike and how it responds. I love that I'm actually not bad at this sport. This is so cool."


Gypsy

Yep! That's why I ride.

V.

PS There is ALWAYS someone riding more, faster, blah, blah, blah than you. Don't fret about that. Your ride is about YOU!

[AllezGirl]

You'll love the Seagull too, it's a great ride!

[Selkie]

I'm doing the Seagull, too---just the metric century, though. Also am doing the Covered Bridge Metric Century in August---it's in Lancaster and I've heard it's a superb ride.

[kerrybelle]

I'm planning to do the Seagull century, too. It will be my first! I thought the Covered Bridges ride was the weekend before the Seagull and counted it out. If it's in August, I'll be suggest it to my riding buddies. Do you have the info for it, Suzanne?

Veronica's right, there's always someone better, faster, etc. They probably weren't always that way either. I just worry about myself and am proud of my accomplishments!

Kerry

[latelatebloomer]

Hey Gypsy Angel! The Seagull will be MY first century, too! Maybe all the TE riders can meet up and ride together for a bit! I would just LOVE that.

I'm hoping to do the ride on my road bike, but if I'm not completely comfy on it yet, I'll do it on my hybrid come hell or high water.

My training looks like this - 3 midweek rides of 20 miles or more, working on get some speed (haha), an increasingly long weekend endurance ride (my trainer suggests breaking it into 2 shifts if I have to) with a recovery ride the next day. Stretching and ab work every day (ok, nearly) and upper body weight work. Oh, and making one of my rides every week a club ride so I'm more used to riding in a group.

Gypsy, Kerry, Mick - I'm in northern Bucks County. Any chance of a ride together before the Seagull?

[AllezGirl]

http://www.lancasterbikeclub.org/cbm.php

Here's the info for the covered bridge ride. It's a beautiful route...and a really fun ride. Just prepare yourself for the crowd, last year there were close to 3,000 riders. The first organized ride I did (on a hybrid) was the PA Dutch and the first organized ride on my road bike was the Lancaster Covered Bridge, there's nothing like saying "on you left" to an Amish horse and buggy!

[kerrybelle]

Gypsy, Kerry, Mick - I'm in northern Bucks County. Any chance of a ride together before the Seagull?

I'd be up for it, but I live near Toms River, NJ. I may be a bit far from you guys. Let me know and I'll see what my schedule's like.

http://www.lancasterbikeclub.org/cbm.php

Here's the info for the covered bridge ride. It's a beautiful route...and a really fun ride. Just prepare yourself for the crowd, last year there were close to 3,000 riders. The first organized ride I did (on a hybrid) was the PA Dutch and the first organized ride on my road bike was the Lancaster Covered Bridge, there's nothing like saying "on you left" to an Amish horse and buggy!

Thanks for the info. I'll have to look into it and see just how far away it is. If not this year, I'll have to plan it for next year.

Kerry

[Selkie]

I'd love to do some training rides with you, but I live in the DC area! :-) I plan to have some shoo fly pie after the ride!

[Rakekay]

Another century you might think about is the CBES century. I'd planned to do the Seagull last year, but they were predicting horrid weather, and it was going to be my first century and I just didn't want to do it under such miserable conditions. So I stumbled across the CBES century in October and did that one instead. It was incredibly manageable. There were only about 300 people registered for the whole thing, and that was split among 20-, 40- 60- and 100-mile options. I'd imagine there were only about 50 people or so doing the full century. It was nice not to have to fight the crowds at all. The only downside was that I was doing it by myself, and there were many stretches (especially miles 60-100) where I would go for miles and miles without seeing a single person on the road. Could have used a *few* people to keep my motivation up.

Anyway, a good century. You can check out this year's at:
http://www.cbes.org/events_biketour.htm

OK, I guess it's *really* called the Between the Waters Bike Tour. CBES stands for Citizens for a Better Eastern Shore, which is the group that puts it on.

Oh, and did I mention it's FLAT?

[jeannierides]

Hi all. I did the Ride Between the Waters last year with my SO. It's a beautiful ride, but prepare yourselves for the wind!!
edited to add... We did the full Century, and one of the downfalls is that there aren't many people and the routes weren't clearly marked...we rode for miles and miles without seeing anyone - or any sag support.

[jeannierides]

You might also consider this one... It's my personal favorite of fun Centuries!

http://www.greatpeanuttour.com/

I am smack in the middle of that picture!