Terry Wild Goose Chase ride

[withm]

Wow! What a fun weekend we had. We met at the Blackwater NWR Visitor Center and then headed over to the kayak launch just a few minutes away. We were treated to a gorgeous sunny day with just enough light breeze to keep us from getting too hot. Unfortunately I got sunburned instead despite a liberal application of sunblock.

We saw several bald eagles, and you can actually see one in this pic. It's the black blob in the 2nd tree from the right. It's hard to take a photo like that from a floating boat - the boat bobs up and down and well so does the camera. But it gives you an idea of the beautiful setting.

The rest of the photos show Mr. 7Rider, 7Rider, DivingBiker, Kalidurga, & my friend Annette - not necessarily in any order, nor do they all show in any one pic. We got pretty spread out.

The bike ride was great. I had no problems with the route markings but I guess if you ride 18-20mph maybe you did have to make some turn on short notice - but the cue sheets seemed to be pretty good so you do have warning that a turn might be coming up.

But no Porta potties at the rest stops? What's up with that?

It is true that the food at the rest stops did not include much in the way of real food, but I did actually eat my first shot blocks - cran-raspberry and was surprised to find they weren't bad. I did not sample the drink mixes they were offering because if I sacrificed an entire water bottle to something that was not palatable I really would have been an unhappy camper. The bananas were good, but some bagels and peanut butter would have been better than the candy bars. By 30 miles I was really hungry and found a granola bar in my bike bag. It must have been in there for months cause I nearly broke my teeth biting into it. Just a little bit stale.

OK so potties and food notwithstanding, the ride itself was in a fantastic setting. I just kept thinking if the sun had been out what a beautiful day it would have been. One of the Friends of Blackwater volunteers had a spotting scope set up on Wildlife Drive and we were invited to stop and take a closer look at whatever he had in his sights. We saw a white pelican, along with more eagles, blue herons, ibis, egrets, and a bunch of other birds. Oh and a couple snakes. (OH! and we had a close encounter with a couple local fishermen with a trashcan full of huge snapping turtles). Had it been a tad warmer and sunnier I would have stopped a lot to take pictures as there were some really wonderful settings in the marshland. Sadly the last 10 miles or so were fraught with drizzle, rain, and headwinds 15-20 kt so by then all I really wanted to do was finish.

I rode the 43 mile ride with DivingBiker and we traded some diving stories along the way. She was very patient waiting for me to catch up when we hit the headwinds and I appreciate that. She also adjusted my rear der cable so the bike would stop shifting by itself every once in a while, which made the rest of the ride much less stressful for me. With only 156 miles on the bike - the cables were stretching out a bit and it really needs a little more adjustment. And I was able to produce a tie wrap to secure her broken spoke. By the end of the ride we both had noisy bikes. We never did figure out what my bike noises were but tomorrow I'll get it up on the stand and take a look.

We both ran into other friends from the DC area so that was fun too.

I have to give great praise for Georgena Terry for even putting on this ride. They donated over $18,000 to the Friends of Blackwater from the proceeds of the ride. That's incredible! Well done!

The door prizes seemed endless - and a lot of people did not stick around to participate in the give aways. That made better odds for those who did. I won a pair of Voler bike shorts! Woo Hoo! Some people gave their tickets to those of us who stayed till the bitter end, and I guess some of those tickets were winners. The new Goretex jacket they gave away had a $400+ retail price but wow - what a very well designed jacket. Don't remember the name of it but how many $400 bike jackets are there? Yikes! The Isis bike was won by a girl who had just bought a Madone recently. She looked totally shell-shocked at winning. Nice bike too!

But all I want to know is how did I miss the deep fried pickles? That sounds pretty bizarre and I don't know if I'd be game enough to try them.

I had a great weekend and would not hesitate to do this event again. In fact I would even plan a weekend in May or June, or in October and ride the Easton-St. MIchaels-Tilghman-Oxford loop on Saturday, go to the winery in the afternoon, and ride Blackwater on Sunday. Just need to find a free weekend.

Great fun meeting you all!

[HillSlugger]

Ahh, I recognize Tam with her hat and her legs hanging out of the cockpit!

[Kalidurga]

Ahh, I recognize Tam with her hat and her legs hanging out of the cockpit!

But did you see that Regina's picked up the same paddling method?

[HillSlugger]

I didn't notice that. Sure, she has her legs out of the cockpit, but you've got it goin' on! Attitude, baby!

[jeannierides]

Good morning everyone. I'm late posting my thoughts on the WGC. We stayed another night in Cambridge, and followed the tornadoes through the Norfolk/Hampton Roads area coming back last night. We had planned to stay a couple of extra days and do our own riding through Blackwater, but the weather was just too bad. We did do a drive through the area, and a return visit to the Visitor's Center. We had an opportunity to see the eagles again, and the ospreys (who have another egg since yesterday). We saw loads of herons and egrets too!

It was great meeting all of you! After all this time of posting in the forum, it's great to put faces to names! Maybe next time we can actually have a chance to chat!

My SO and I did the 25 mile ride. This was my first *official* ride since the accident last year. I was thrilled to be able to do it! Realistically, my thoughts about the ride are colored quite a bit by the fact that I almost wasn't able to do any more riding. I think I've proved that doctor wrong on a number of levels. Anyway, the ride... It probably could have been marked a little better, and they probably could have ordered better weather... but I thought, for Terry's inaugural WGC ride, it turned out great! Blackwater Wildlife Refuge is an awesome experience, and WE helped Georgena raise over $18,000 for the Refuge! Most awesome!


I would encourage all of you to go to the Terry Bicycles forums and post your thoughts & suggestions there. That way Georgena will see them (she reads and replies often) and give them the consideration necessary.

On another note, IFJane's wedding was the MOST fun wedding I've ever attended! Of course, I dropped my kazoo... so had to hum the wedding march!

[Kalidurga]

Congratulations, Jeannie, that had to be one very satisfying ride for you You and withm are right, it is terrific that so much money was raised and I'm sure changes will be made to improve next year's event. We'll just have to figure out how to guarantee sunshine!

(Sorry I didn't stick around to chat when we met up, I had a very sudden need to get to the end of the ride, if you know what I mean (and didn't even make it that far) )

[jeannierides]

(Sorry I didn't stick around to chat when we met up, I had a very sudden need to get to the end of the ride, if you know what I mean (and didn't even make it that far) )

Don't worry Kali, we totally understood! And, yes, it was most satisfying.

[Bad JuJu]

I am SOOOO envious of you all! I rode and paddled in the refuge a couple of years ago on a Womantours tour, which I extended to ride by myself a couple of additional days. What a gorgeous place that is, and it's so great the Terry is working to preserve it.

Did any of you see any of the enormous bald eagle nests? I got a photo of one that looked like it was the size of a Volkswagen! See it here:
Tour de Chesapeake

It's cool that so many TE'ers were able to meet and ride and paddle together.

[7rider]

But did you see that Regina's picked up the same paddling method?

Picked it up?????
Girlfriend, I don't need you to teach me how to chill in a kayak!! Relaxation is my middle name!

[Kalidurga]

Picked it up?????
Girlfriend, I don't need you to teach me how to chill in a kayak!! Relaxation is my middle name!

Take another look, I did not specify that you'd picked it up from me. I'm quite sure there's nothing I could teach you about any sport

[7rider]

Take another look, I did not specify that you'd picked it up from me. I'm quite sure there's nothing I could teach you about any sport

Yeah.....
but you IMPLIED it.....

Sheesh...gotta watch you like a hawk!