PPTC spring century - Fulton, MD

[ny biker]

Hi all,

If anyone is looking for a ride this Saturday (May 15), the Potomac Pedalers are having a "spring century" ride in Howard and Carroll Counties. It's an unofficial century in that there's no SAG. I've never ridden in that area before and I feel the need to explore new frontiers, so I'm planning to do the 50 miler.

This website has cue sheets, directions to ride start, etc.

http://fulton.sandglass.com

Ride distances are 101, 76 and 51 miles.

Here is the description from the PPTC newsletter.

CC/B/BB/A * 50-100 * MD * 7:30-8 AM * Fulton P&R
PPTC Maryland Spring Century. Show and Go. The route will cover Howard and Carroll Counties. Expect roads with low traffic and rolling to hilly terrain. From the ride start, the course will head into Lisbon. Once at the Lisbon Park & Ride (rest stop) - optional loops are available before returning to Fulton. PPTC will provide some refreshments at the Lisbon Park & Ride as well as have both 700 X 23 tubes and floor pumps on hand. Food establishments near the ride start, the rest stop and along the route will be noted on the cue sheets. No SAG, no painted markers. Ride Leaders: Ellen Bauman/CC, Geng Chan/B, Nancy Kotarski/BB . Rain Date May 16. For more information and directions http://fulton.sandglass.com .

[7rider]

This sounds really interesting.
I've never done a PPTC ride before.
How true are they to the classifications and how good are they about keeping a group together?
I think I'd be a B or BB rider. I wonder if I'd (1) have a group to ride with, or (2) be dropped on the century route.

[kmehrzad]

I've ridden with PPTC before and to answer your questions:

It's rather hard to tell the classifications because each time I've ridden with them (I'm CC), you've got B and BB riders joining the CC ride, as well. They just ride off and do their own thing. Actually everyone just kind of rode off and followed the cue sheet. However, I stayed with one guy most of the ride and then we all met back at a restaurant afterwards. Some got there early and started eating, others straggled in and sat down then ordered while the early birds were almost done, etc.
I think that's one thing that made an impression on me about PPTC ... people just took off and rode their own ride. Some may like that and others might prefer staying with a group.
Chances are you'd meet up with someone going around your pace and hang together.
This is how I see the group rides I've been on with them.

This sounds really interesting.
I've never done a PPTC ride before.
How true are they to the classifications and how good are they about keeping a group together?
I think I'd be a B or BB rider. I wonder if I'd (1) have a group to ride with, or (2) be dropped on the century route.

[ny biker]

I've ridden with PPTC before and to answer your questions:

It's rather hard to tell the classifications because each time I've ridden with them (I'm CC), you've got B and BB riders joining the CC ride, as well. They just ride off and do their own thing. Actually everyone just kind of rode off and followed the cue sheet. However, I stayed with one guy most of the ride and then we all met back at a restaurant afterwards. Some got there early and started eating, others straggled in and sat down then ordered while the early birds were almost done, etc.
I think that's one thing that made an impression on me about PPTC ... people just took off and rode their own ride. Some may like that and others might prefer staying with a group.
Chances are you'd meet up with someone going around your pace and hang together.
This is how I see the group rides I've been on with them.

I agree with this.

But, a couple of weeks ago I did their annual picnic ride, and in that case we stayed together as a group for a long time. After the rest stop we started to drift apart, but that might have been in part because some people stayed at the rest stop longer than others. I think it was different from normal weekly rides because there was a specific ride/cue sheet for each ride category -- there were no faster-than-CC riders on the CC ride because they had their own rides to do. I'm hoping it will be the same for the spring century. Although since it's a hilly ride I expect to get dropped no matter what.

[7rider]

They just ride off and do their own thing. Actually everyone just kind of rode off and followed the cue sheet.

I wouldn't mind that so much if the roads were marked. But it says that there's no road marking, so that's when I freak out. I'm not a big fan of following cue sheets. A friend of mine who has done PPTC rides (but not this one) says I'd have no trouble finding a group to hang with.
Hmmmmm..

e.t.a. I had sent a query to the point of contact on the website. This was her reply:

We expect 100 - 300 rides. The groups may start out together but basically they form and re-form. We will regroup in Lisbon up to 3 times - that is if you are doing the Century. With the number of riders we expect - I am sure you will have someone to ride with.

Also - you don't have to decide on the 100 until you finish 50. The first 25 loop out is rolling, the second loop is a little hilly, the third has a good climb in downtown Sykesville, coming back the fourth loop is rolling. You have plenty of time to decide how much you feel like riding. With the weather being so nice - for me I want to stay on the bike. But again, with having Libson Rest Stop at the center - it is easy to evaluate your needs.

I wish they had a map of the routes on the site.

[ny biker]

I wouldn't mind that so much if the roads were marked. But it says that there's no road marking, so that's when I freak out. I'm not a big fan of following cue sheets. A friend of mine who has done PPTC rides (but not this one) says I'd have no trouble finding a group to hang with.
Hmmmmm..

e.t.a. I had sent a query to the point of contact on the website. This was her reply:

We expect 100 - 300 rides. The groups may start out together but basically they form and re-form. We will regroup in Lisbon up to 3 times - that is if you are doing the Century. With the number of riders we expect - I am sure you will have someone to ride with.

Also - you don't have to decide on the 100 until you finish 50. The first 25 loop out is rolling, the second loop is a little hilly, the third has a good climb in downtown Sykesville, coming back the fourth loop is rolling. You have plenty of time to decide how much you feel like riding. With the weather being so nice - for me I want to stay on the bike. But again, with having Libson Rest Stop at the center - it is easy to evaluate your needs.

I wish they had a map of the routes on the site.

Yeah I printed out the cue sheet and followed it on google maps yesterday to see where it goes.

I love maps so I don't mind following cue sheets on rides. I also like to make my own modifications for future use to avoid higher traffic roads, add or subtract a few miles, etc.

I sent a message to a friend who does BB rides to see what his experience is in terms of groups staying together. I'll let you know if I hear back from him today.

[ny biker]

Just heard back from my friend -- he says the BB/B riders don't necessarily ride in a group. Something to bear in mind...

[ny biker]

So, this was a really nice ride. We did the 52-mile option. There are some hills, a couple requiring the granny gear (for me) but also some really fast downhills and nice flat stretches. Lots of farmland and houses with big grassy yards. If you like the Civil War century I think you'd like this area.

There's a Harris Teeter and a gas station across from the ride start in Fulton, plus a gas station/convenience store and other food options at the rest stop in Lisbon, so you could easily do this ride on your own without a club to organize it. 25ish miles to the rest stop in Lisbon and 25ish miles back to Fulton. Two optional loops that begin and end at the Lisbon rest stop let you do a total of 76 or 101 miles, if you want. Or if Lisbon is is close enough to where you live, you could use that for your starting point and do one or more of the loops from there.

It only took me 45 minutes to get there from Arlington. Fulton is not far outside the beltway, southwest of Columbia. Lisbon is NW of Fulton and southeast of Frederick.

Two caveats, at least for the 51-mile ride -- riding past all those open fields means some long stretches without shade, so if you want to try it on a hot day, make sure you start early so you're done before the hottest time of the day kicks in. Also I would not try it on a very windy day.

Cue sheets and info on the ride start and rest stop are here:

http://fulton.sandglass.com

I believe Potomac Pedalers will do this spring century again next year.

[Becky]

I would have loved to do this ride, but had to work today. I think that DH and I will do it some day when we're off, since the club graciously posted their cue sheets.

Thanks for the review, nybiker! It's good to know that it's a nice route with available food stops.

[7rider]

Thanks for the heads-up on the ride! Glad we finally got to ride together.
I rode to the ride from my house and ended up with 74 miles for the day and about 4500 feet of climbing. Since a fair bit of it was on our standard Howard County loops, it's easy for me now to tack on bits and pieces of the route to add to what I already know for some nice long training rides.