Georgia Centuries

[skibum]

There's a bunch of centuries in Georgia in the upcoming weeks. I plan to do the full century for some and shorter options for others. I thought I'd share the list with the TE gals in case anyone is looking for a good organized ride.

9/5 Share the Road Challenge This one combines the 'Beyond Six Flags' route with the 'Silk Sheets' route. I love Silk Sheets, Beyond Six Flags is a little industrial. The ride benefits the Atlanta Bicycle advocacy group so it's a good cause.

9/11 Wilson 100 Nice route, well supported. It's considered to be somewhat flat compared to other centuries in the area so many riders try for a personal best century time on this ride.

9/17 Beautiful Backroads Century The name says it all. It really is a beautiful route through the rolling hills of north Georgia. I remember it having some of the best rest stops of organized rides in the area.

9/25 Six Gap Century and Three Gap Fifty One of the toughest centuries in the area. The century goes over six mountain passes with more than 10,700 ft of climbing. This is the area where they did the mountain stages for the Tour de Georgia.

10/1 Brawl 4 I just heard about this one recently and have never done it. It has 11,840 ft of climbing so it's not likely that I'll do it. Too much climbing after Six Gap the week before.

10/8 Tony Serrano Memorial Ride The ride is in memory of a local triathlete who was killed while riding his bike last year. It's the inaugural century ride; there was a memorial ride not long after his death last year but it was shorter. It looks like a pretty good route. Proceeds benefit bike safety and awareness programs.

If anyone knows of any other good organized rides in the area, please share. I'm always looking for something new to try out.

[shewhobikes]

Do you know anything about the Cruisin in the Country ride in early November?
http://www.claxtonevanschamber.com/historystats.htm

I've heard it's fun and a nice ride before (hopefully) the weather gets too cool. I'm in Birmingham and we have lots of rides every weekend close by through this month and next, also.

[skibum]

I know some people who did it last year. They said it was a great ride and plan to do it again this year. I'll have to check my schedule. If I can work it out, I'm hoping to go along with them.

[Pedal Wench]

Skibum - I've got the same list, but I'll add one more that's in the works...

The Southern Bike League (www.bikesbl.org) is talking about organizing a century (with shorter options) to raise funds for Katrina victims. It might be the weekend of October 1/2, and it will be the 'Land Of Sunsets' century. It starts at the Hiram trailhead of the Silver Comet, goes to Rockmart on the trail and then on roads to Alabama and back. I'll keep y'all posted.

I'm planning on all of them (slept through the alarm today and missed the Share The Road Century - ooops!!!) Look for everyone there!

[skibum]

Hey Audio-A, thanks for the info. I had heard there might be something in the works to benefit the hurricane victims but didn't know any details. I know it's probably hard to put something together quickly but you also want to have the ride while the tragedy is fresh in everyone's minds. Keep us posted on the details. That's one I'd like to do.

[skibum]

I haven't seen any more details on a possible ride organized by the SBL but I did see this blurb on one of the other websites I visit:

The L5 Flyers/Aarons Racing Team are planning a Hurricane Katrina relief ride on Oct. 1. Preliminary details can be found here.

It looks like the L5flyers are teaming up with Emory to put this on and the ride will start somewhere on the Emory campus.

[Pedal Wench]

Cool! (It's still me, AudioA, but I've changed my name!)

I had heard that the SBL org might combine efforts with the L5 Flyers, so this is probably what's happened. I would much rather have one well-supported, well-organized ride. Add it to my list...

By the way, I went bonkers-crazy and signed up for 6-Gaps. With absolutely no hill-training, I think I'll be lucky to make the cut-off times, but if you don't try, you'll never know what you're capable of! (Somebody remind of this when you see me sliding backwards down the hills because I just can't pedal anymore!)

[skibum]

I say it can't hurt to give Six Gap a try. I did it last year after only riding the front 3 a couple of times (considered to be the easier ones) and, while I was slow, I managed to finish. I borrowed a derailleur & cassette from a friend's mountain bike to give me some nice, low gearing. Then I just tried to keep my feet moving so I had enough momentum to stay upright.

My advice to make the cut-off time is to get at the front of the pack when they start the ride. Last year, there were so many people, they did a wave start. I didn't get going until at least 20 min into the ride. I made the cut-off but it would have been nice to have that extra 20 minutes just-in-case.

You'll have a blast! There's so many people out there riding with you and the scenery is so gorgeous that you almost forget how hard the climbs are.

PS - love your new screen name!

[Pedal Wench]

Oh - I meant to ask someone about the start. They say it's a 'flight' start. What is that? I've only done one ride that had an official 'start', and we all lined up and all rolled out together. All my other rides, you just kinda start when you want. Can I get an early start, or do I just push my way up to the front before we start off?

[skibum]

I think a flight start is what I referred to as a wave start. The ride starts as a left turn out of the high school. Last year, they had someone directing traffic at that intersection. They let a bunch of people go, waited 5 minutes, let more go, etc. I didn't notice if they were discouraging people from leaving early or not. But once it was close to the ride time, they were definitely controlling the release of the riders. I'm assuming they thought it was safer to have the riders spread out a little??

I kind of lined up in the middle of the pack as we were waiting for the start. I figured I'd let the faster riders go out first so I wouldn't be in their way. This year, I think I'll try to push my way up a little closer to the front at the start. I've been riding faster than I was this time last year but I still like the idea of having some margin on that cut-off time.

[Nanci]

Hey! I'm going to Six Gap, too. But I'm only doing the Three Gap 50. (But I'm doing the entire, I hope, Santa Fe Century the next Saturday, and about half of Horse Farm Hundred on Sunday, in Gainesville, FL). The way to recognize me is I'll be officially last!!! I'm nervous- I'm a weak hill climber to begin with, and these are mountains, not hills. But I do have a triple- that should help.

Nanci

[Nanci]

Ski Bum-

BF wants to know how the support is for this ride- how many sag stops are there, and what do they have at them?

Thank you,

Nanci

[skibum]

For the Three Gap 50, there's four rest stops. For the Six Gap 100, there's 8 rest stops. Basically, there's a rest stop at the top of every climb. Because Hogpen Gap is so long/steep, there's an extra rest stop about 2/3 of the way up. There's also an extra rest stop near the base of Wolfpen Gap. Here's a map of the route that shows the locations of the rest stops.

I don't remember exactly what they had at the rest stops. I think pretty much your cycling staples -- PB&J, bananas, pretzels, gatorade, water. Nothin too elaborate but sufficient to fuel you for the ride. I usually carry an energy bar or two on any ride I do just in case.

I don't know if you've heard but they maxed out on the 1500 rider limit about a month before the ride so they expanded the limit to 2000. They maxed out on that about a week ago so there will be a big crowd out there riding.

[Shaula]

Those who have done this ride - how are the hills? I'm looking at doing the 50 mile - my husband the century. I'm a newbie to cycling.

[Pedal Wench]

I'm not sure, but I heard it was a fairly gentle ride - rollers, and no huge climbs. I was thinking about this one, but it's too far from ATL. Just take it at your own pace, eat and drink often, and enjoy yourself!