Civil War Century - 9/6/08

[ny biker]

Yes, I think Virginia Beach has more to worry about. I hope the storm doesn't hit you too hard.

I just got another email update from the CWC organizers which included this:

"Though our intention at this time is to hold the event as planned on Saturday, we will contact you with any updates as they become available. The longer we wait to make our final decision, the better the fidelity of that decision will be, since weather predictions will become more certain. Though we might contact you with an update on Thursday evening (of course you can watch the weather as easily as we can), it is likely that any notice of postponement or cancellation will not occur until Friday afternoon or evening. So please monitor your EMAIL."

If anyone here who is planning/hoping to do the ride is not getting these Event Update emails, let me know and I'll do my best to post them here as soon as I get them.

[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.

[7rider]

So, it looks like the Big Red Train of the Bicycle Place folks will be a mini train this year, as a lot of folks can't make the Sunday date.
But DH and I will be there for an 8 a.m. departure. I'll probably be the only woman in a team jersey. Say "Hi" if you see me. Who else will be there?

[Zen]

I will

[Zen]

Did anybody ride?
I looked for a red train and the closest thing I saw was a Radio Flyer Wagon.

[7rider]

We were there.
Met by the white house near the registration desk.
Here's the motley crew.

[Kalidurga]

That's it? Just a photo? No ride reports from you or Zen?

[Zen]

I put mine under September 7 ride thread.

Did the lot of you ride together?
You must be slow,nobody like that passed me.
I even wore my AV jersey so you'd recognize.

[7rider]

I put mine under September 7 ride thread.

Did the lot of you ride together?
You must be slow,nobody like that passed me.
I even wore my AV jersey so you'd recognize.

Our group did the 100 mile route, which diverts from the 25 mile route right at the start, so we never would have seen each other once we left the start. We all started together, but we did not finish together.

My ride was disappointing. It started out fine....I felt that I was on track to meet my goal of improving my performance vs. last year's (103 miles, 6:58:00, 14.8 mph average) given the better weather conditions and the fact that I wasn't dreadfully sick the 2 weeks before the ride.

However, I had some nagging aches and pains through much of it - my left hamstring at the start - stretching it helped keep it in line -and my right hip/glutes were irritated for some reason. Around mile 60, making that looooong climb approaching the PA border, the route detoured to the left, and up a side street and much STEEPER hill. Unlike the first climb of the day, there were no steps on this hill. It was all UP.

Well, perhaps I was favoring my right leg with that hip pain, and it affected my knee. I started to get pain in my right knee, such that I NEVER got before. And the more I climbed, the worse it got. If I stood, it helped some. But I could not stand the whole way. I tried rubbing it out on the downhills (the whole day: 5 mph uphills, 40 mph downhills!), and I even convinced myself I could still do the whole ride when I bypassed the bailout point at mile 66. I figured the valley floor was reasonably flat, and if I kept the gearing low and the cadence high, I'd be okay. But it didn't work out that way.

By the time I got to the rest stop at the VFD at mile 75, I knew I would just be damaging my knee if I continued. So, a SAG van pulled into the lot just ahead of me, and I pulled up to the driver and asked "Is anyone going back to the start?" A volunteer with another van was, so .... so (and I can't say this without getting really upset), I got off my bike, the guy loaded up my bike, and I got in the van and got a ride back to the start (along with 3 others, ultimately).

It was only the second time in my life I had ever taken a SAG ride. I got in 75.2 miles, climbed over 6,100', and STILL averaged just 14.8 for the day! Grrrr... There's something about that number....grrrrrr.....

It just annoys me that I did the lion's share of the ride - most of the climbing, most of the miles, and STILL...when it was supposed to get easier, I had to bail.

But...I hear it was a dissappointing day for BPVC all around...DH started cramping and got dropped on a climb and did not finish with the group. Folks were dropping off the train left and right all day. Only about 5 of that whole group finished together.

Sigh...well...there's always next year. Now, this afternoon, I'm off to my chirpractor to have her work on my very tight and sore IT Band.

[Kalidurga]

Not every ride can be an excellent ride, unfortunately. Not sure if there's any tidbit of knowledge to be gleaned from this one, based on how you described it, but there had to be something you can come away with. The scenery, perhaps?

Zen, I don't keep up with the daily ride threads these days. Did you at least get pie?

[7rider]

Not every ride can be an excellent ride, unfortunately. Not sure if there's any tidbit of knowledge to be gleaned from this one, based on how you described it, but there had to be something you can come away with. The scenery, perhaps?

Zen, I don't keep up with the daily ride threads these days. Did you at least get pie?

Pie is at the Seagull. The CWC had the tomato sandwiches.

And...one bene of getting dropped off the back so quickly with this crew (if you can call it a bene), is that I do have more time to take in the scenery, rather than staring at the rear wheel of the rider in front of me, trying to hold on in the line. So...with my newer, smaller camera, I was able to take some scenery shots, which was pretty. So yeah....I got to come away with something good. Thanks, Miss Sunshine, for reminding me to look at the good things in life!

[ny biker]

I did the metric, started about 8:30 a.m. Didn't see anyone in the Bicycle Place kit.

My legs were pretty tired from the start for some reason, so from time to time I was suffering a bit. But the weather was beautiful and I got my tomato sandwiches so I was happy.

I also brought my camera along - usually I consider a camera to be unnecessary weight, but I want to bring it on the Livestrong Ride next year so I decided to start getting used to having it. I mostly took scenery shots of bridges plus some pics at Gettysburg to show my nephew who is interested in the Civil War.

I am really glad they were able to postpone it so we didn't have to ride in all that rain.

[7rider]

Did your friend from Ireland do the ride?

I never got my tomato sandwich! I got into the van directly from the road..didn't get food or drink (or avail myself to ANYthing at that pit stop!).

[Zen]

I never got my tomato sandwich!

That's because I ate yours.
They were so good I had two at the ride end.
and peppermint ice cream.
and snagged a huge peach which I ate last night.

I have some photos here