Seagull Century

[7rider]

DH and I will be heading out Friday evening.
We'll start with our group at 8 on Saturday a.m.
I suspect we'll need arm and knee warmers to start, but it looks like it should be a fine day!

Are you going?

[withm]

Yep, I'll be there. So far the weather forecast looks good - sunny, and no wind. But today is only Monday and a lot can happen between now and Saturday.... So who is the patron saint of cycling to whom we can direct our request for no wind?

I'm riding the metric. Will wear my AV jersey, but it will likely be covered up with a yellow jacket for at least the morning which looks like it will be chilly.

[madscot13]

I am so ready to ride!

[divingbiker]

Have a great ride, everyone!

[7rider]

So, how'd everyone do???

Was it an AWESOME day for a bike ride, or what?????

I can't imagine more perfect conditions for a ride out on the Eastern Shore (well, except maybe a few LESS riders! )...sunny, pleasant, and with hardly any wind for which the Eastern Shore is (in)famous.

DH and I hooked up with the guys from the Bike Place at 7:45 for some pre-ride coordination, before heading out promptly at 8.



However, traffic (both cyclists and cars) caused us to break off from the main group just outside the tunnel from the campus that goes under Route 13. We tried to sprint to catch on to the main group, but they were starting out fast and strong, and we quickly realized that it was a futile effort. We were better off conserving our strength for the rest of the ride. So six of us settled into a nice groove, pacelining at about 22 mph. We were often joined by others...and they'd fall off, we we varied in size from 6 to about 20.



We caught an earlier departing group of Bike Place friends at mile 33 and found the fast group at the rest stop at mile 40. We saw them again at the Assateague rest stop (mile 60), but we lingered as one of our group was Jones-ing for a soda, and we waited while she fulfilled her craving. So that was the last we saw of the speed demons until back at the University.



We had our pie-and-icecream at the last stop, and then like a herd of horses charging for the barn, set off for the final leg back to the school. Because we bypassed the first rest stop, we came in a few miles short on the route...97 miles, in 4 hours/41 minutes of riding, or 20.6 mph average. Wow! I did it. I made my goal...to do the Seagull in under 5 hours of riding. We had no mechanical issues in our group, the bikes were spinning like tops. It was great. I am so happy to make up for the disappointing Civil War Century!

The conditions were certainly ideal for a great ride, and I hope all of you who did it had a great experience.

[divingbiker]

Glad you had a good ride! That's a great picture of you and Tom.

[madscot13]

i didn't realize that you were one of the bike place cre. They were a formidable bunch!