Civil War Century - 9/6/08

[7rider]

Hi there.
I just registered DH and myself for the Civil War Century today.
The ride is Saturday, September 6th, and this year, it's limited to 1600 riders, with no walk-in registration. That last part is a bummer, as that's what we did last year, but c'est la vie. Now we must commit. DH and I registered for the 105 mile ride. It is a challenging ride, to say the least. Tons of climbing.
So....who is up for a challenging ride through the mountains past historical sites (Antietam gave me goosebumps)?
Register early, if you're going. I hope to see you there!

[Zen]

(Antietam gave me goosebumps)

How so?

[7rider]

How so?

Don't rightly know. It just did.
Coulda been the beginning stages of heat exhaustion at that point, too.

[juliemcd]

I plan on doing it, but only the metric century, with an eye on doing the century next year...
Thanks for the tip on registering early, I will do so ASAP...

[HillSlugger]

I'm not sure yet. If I do, it will either be the 50 or the metric.

[Zen]

I'm in.

[7rider]

Just got this email


To the CWC2008 Participants: THE EVENT IS POSTPONED UNTIL SUNDAY, SEPT 7! The Reasons for our Decision:======================Please realize that there is no solution that will be optimal for everyone ??? So we have done the best we can with the information that is currently available. After much discussion of the CWC committee leadership, and much examination of the weather trends, we have decided that the most prudent decision is to postpone the CWC event until Sunday morning. Though events of this nature rarely cancel due to weather, the current forecast for Saturday is severe enough that we believe it could present a danger to you, our participants and volunteers. By postponing until Sunday, we believe that many of our participants (we hope most of you!) will be able to enjoy the event, though a day later. The weather forecast (this one from Weatherbug.com) seems to have been trending toward a worse weather event rather than a better one, compared to earlier predictions. The current predictions (as of 11:40 AM on Friday) are: Saturday: Rain with isolated thunderstorms. Rain may be heavy at times. Strong winds with highs in the mid 70s. Northeast winds 15 to 25 mph...increasing to east 35 to 45 mph in the afternoon. Chance of rain near 100 percent Sunday: Partly sunny. Highs in the lower 80s. Northwest winds 5 to 10 mph. Realize, of course, that weather predictions can change, and Saturday's (or even Sunday's) weather could differ from these predictions. But for us to be able to re-organize the event for Sunday, this was the latest that we could make our decision. Another factor is that our Amateur Radio operators, CARA, have been mobilized by Howard County for Saturday to support any weather emergencies that occur, and thus would not be available to support us. Though we believe that cell phones may have been sufficient to support our SAG service (though with spotty coverage), the loss of these very capable volunteers would have been difficult. What we are Doing:===============We are contacting all of our suppliers and support services. We have been contacting our volunteers to determine if they are available to support the event on Sunday. We are answering the flood of EMAILs and Phone Calls that have been pouring in. Issues with delaying the event until Sunday:================================Of course there are many things that may affect the event, since we are delaying it:1. We may have fewer volunteers. Of the 120 volunteers that we had lined up for Saturday, we have heard from 75 of them. We have been fortunate to have had offers of help from additional folks that had NOT volunteered for Saturday. So currently we have 55 confirmed volunteers. We are still attempting to contact the 45 volunteers that we have not yet heard from. We expect that we will have 2/3 of our original compliment of volunteers. 2. We do not have access to our final rest stop, Barlow VFD. This rest stop was 18 miles from the end of the 50, 63, 75, and 100 mile routes. The prior rest stop, Fairfield VFD, is 29 miles fro the end. We believe this is tolerable, and we plan to have SAG vehicles available during that final leg of the ride to provide water and snacks. 3. We are uncertain of our 25-mile rest stop on the 100 mile route. We believe that if all else fails, we will be able to set up in the Gathland Parking lot, if not the pavilion. 4. We are unsure of having as much maintenance support for you on Sunday. We are still looking into this issue, but we believe that most of you are experienced riders that know how to handle "maintenance situations". A Caution for you, our Riders:=====================Since there is a possible severe weather event on Saturday, you will need to be extra careful for gravel and debris in the roads. This debris, of course, can be a danger, especially on fast descents. Be extra vigilant! The debris also tends to cause more flat tires - carry extra tubes and patches! And be prepared to follow your cue sheet, in case the weather has obliterated any of our markings on the road! Schedule for the Ride:================ You all received our first communication about the check-in and schedule for the ride, etc. Included below is a recap (with the days adjusted). In addition, the following new notes apply: 1. Though we have canceled the event room that we had scheduled for the Cozy Restaurant tonight (and rescheduled for tomorrow night), a few of us will be available for pre-check-in tonight at the Cozy restaurant, between 7 and 9PM. Stop by to say "hi" and/or to check-in for Sunday, morning. 2. The event room in the Cozy has been re-scheduled for tomorrow night, and you are welcome to join us for dinner and/or event check-in then. 3. Since there inevitably may be people that do NOT get the word about our postponement, several of us expect to be present at the site tomorrow morning. We will be able to do the ride check-in for Sunday if we are there. (HOWEVER, regardless of the weather, there will be no ride on Saturday.) 4. CWC@baltobikeclub.org will be monitoring and answering EMAIL tonight until 11PM, and most of tomorrow. Please understand how busy we are with the arrangements and be patient! Conclusion:=========We have had many (often constructive) comments about the weather and how to handle the event from the participants and volunteers, and also from many folks that are not currently volunteers or riders. We appreciate the constructive comments. We have also had many wonderful and understanding responses from our participants, and we really have appreciated them. Organizing an event of this size is a very difficult and time-consuming undertaking for an all-volunteer group. And an unexpected weather event makes the situation incredibly more difficult. So we believe that you will all be very understanding and patient with us. We pledge to do the best we can to make this an enjoyable event for you on Sunday! Finally, we are very sorry for the inconvenience to you, our participants, that is being caused by this unfortunate weather! NOTE: Active.com adds a link at the bottom of each EMAIL to "unsubscribe". Please do NOT click on this link if you wish to receive further EMAIL about CWC08 or notification for CWC09!

[ny biker]

You beat me to the punch - I was about to post the same message.

Based on the weather forecasts I was looking at, it seemed like it would be possible to do the 50-miler or metric without too much trouble - it would be raining but not too windy in the morning. I was more concerned with the drive back to NoVa afterwards, which would be about 90 minutes in good weather but no doubt considerably longer in wind and rain.

Anyway, now let's hope there is not too much flooding, storm damage and debris. And hopefully everyone who's closer to the shore will not get hit too hard.