April 17 ride

[kmehrzad]

LOL - I did that ride yesterday. It was probably the best one ever, winds notwithstanding. In all, there were 899 riders registered - a huge jump from the 400 or so from years past. Now if only they could design a route that didn't have that silly leg running up and down Rt. 1. Most of the people in my group rejected that leg entirely, and substituted other roads instead.

The wind - gusts over 25 kt by the end of the ride - certainly made it interesting.

I wish I would have known you were riding on Saturday, it would have been nice to meet up. This was my third year of doing the event. The routes, in my opininon, were not that well marked and lots of people were lost. At one point I was in a nice pace line rolling along then we all turned together and I realized the road wasn't on my cue sheet (they must have been doing the 35 mi.). Several of us turned around and then I was on my own again.
The trip down Rt. 1 and back was a waste, just a mileage eater. It was boring and there were lots of small stones to avoid along the shoulder. I didn't even think about substituting those miles for something more interesting, but I'm not familiar with the area so just stuck with the original plan.
The winds at Holts Landing were pretty powerful. At times it felt like the bike and I were going to be picked up and blown sideways. Did you have an encounter with the dog on Burton Farm Road? The event organizer called the police to monitor the situation and have the owners pen the dog.
All in all, it was a great experience and a fine day. On Sunday I rode the Junction and Breakwater Trail from Rehoboth to Lewes. I always enjoy that ride.

[roadie gal]

SO and I took the RV, and the pooches, and drove down to Yuba City to do the Bike Around the Buttes 40 miler. Norcal peeps, check this one out for next year! It was a beautiful ride around the Sierra Buttes, through rolling, grassy hills and orchards. The rest stops were placed perfectly and the volunteers were a great bunch. Best of all, the money goes to the local juvenile diabetes association.

[MommyBird]

No ride on the 17th. We spent time un-winterizing the fresh water tank of the Airstream and took a 120 mile country drive in search of canned hams, mini-streams and vintage trailers. Had to stop at Heavy's BBQ in Crawfordville, GA, for some local flavor. DH and I split a pulled pork sandwich and each had a "sweet-tea". This place was like stepping into the past. It was a real road house. Tin roof...rusted.

Our ride was on the 18th. The Seventh Annual Best Dam Ride on Clark's Hill Lake (or Strom Thurmond Lake, but I still can't call it that. What right did SC have to rename a lake that it shares with GA?)
My goal was my first metric century (which I had planned to do last weekend but the roads around Lake Chatuge were too busy for my taste so I only did 31mi)
I made it this time with ease.
The hard part was around 50 miles when the route overlapped my "regular ride route" and it had me "heading back to the barn" for a stretch. I live in the country fairly close to the lake and the ride came within 5 miles of my house. Then I turned left onto a road that had me backtracking on another of my "regular routes". Wow, what a difference! I usually descend the hills that I was now climbing and they were really long and steeper than I expected. Plus, we had a strong headwind.
As I was in the final miles of my ride I was passed by the lead century group. I am pretty poky.
When I got to the finish I only had 60 miles on my odo so I rode past and turned around so that I would get in my whole 62.
We had catered pulled pork, fixins and more "sweet-tea" at the finish line. Plus, a majestic view of the dam.
Oh, and I made BBQ for dinner Friday night. Who knew I would be eating pulled pork all weekend?

[MommyBird]

I forgot.
The Best Dam Ride is for the Medical College of Georgia Burn Center.
After years of saying we need to be a sponsor of this ride, my DH finally didn't let it slip by. So our company was a major sponsor this year. Another T-shirt with our name on it. As usual, I gave mine to my youngest son.

Now, I am looking for an 80 mile ride to get me closer to my 50th birthday century.

[kenyonchris]

Did the Sea Otter Classic on Saturday. We signed up for the 45 mile ride, but DH messed something up in his headset, so we spent an hour in Monterey waiting for the bike shop to open so he could get it fixed, turned out to be a missing compression ring from when he put it back together (in the dark) at the hotel out of the bike case. We caught up to the end of the pack at the bottom of the hideous climb back up to Laguna Seca. It was a truly hideous climb...but happy to say that we both made it up...he hammered it up and would stop to wait for me, I would slog on past.
At one point I gasped, "Thank God. A little downhill. But why am I still pedaling?" He says, "That's not downhill. Its just less uphill." THAT is a hard day.
Day off yesterday, today we are doing 17 mile drive.

[withm]

Did you have an encounter with the dog on Burton Farm Road? The event organizer called the police to monitor the situation and have the owners pen the dog.

That ride is in my back yard so I am fortunate to know the roads, and the pitfalls of some of them.

I had heard about a dog problem at one of the rest stops, but had forgotten about it by the time we got to that part of the ride. But, since a couple of us had time constraints, we skipped that littled loop, stayed on Burbage another 1/2 mile or so, and picked up the route again at Blackwater.

There is a house on Burton Farm with a big kennel out back where the dogs always bark, but from the confines of the kennel. I've never encountered the dogs outside the kennel when I ride in that area, but I do have a friend that will never go down that road again because she once had a dog running free over there.

I thought about soliciting TE people to come join this ride, but there were so many complaints about last year's ride I was afraid to suggest anyone venture across the bridge for this one. I already had houseguests for the ride, and a full weekend planned with unrelated events, so would have been a poor hostess. Maybe next year we can pull together a biking and kayaking weekend a little later in the spring.

[kmehrzad]

I thought about soliciting TE people to come join this ride, but there were so many complaints about last year's ride I was afraid to suggest anyone venture across the bridge for this one. I already had houseguests for the ride, and a full weekend planned with unrelated events, so would have been a poor hostess. Maybe next year we can pull together a biking and kayaking weekend a little later in the spring.

Hmmm, what were the complaints you heard from last year's ride? I thought it went fairly well. I know there was a new route due to road construction, but thought they did a nice job going around it. I did have two BIG dogs chase me last year somewhere about 3/4 into the 50 mile ride. One was at my heels and I pedaled my heart out to get away (reminded me of my childhood days when I had to outride the dogs in my rural neighborhood).

Pulling together a biking and kayaking weekend sometime next year (or in fact, later this year) would be awesome. Several of us are talking about doing just that during the weekend of the Wild Goose Chase ride in October. Have you registered for that ride out of Cambridge, MD?

[withm]

Hmmm, what were the complaints you heard from last year's ride? I thought it went fairly well. I know there was a new route due to road construction, but thought they did a nice job going around it. I did have two BIG dogs chase me last year somewhere about 3/4 into the 50 mile ride. One was at my heels and I pedaled my heart out to get away (reminded me of my childhood days when I had to outride the dogs in my rural neighborhood).

Pulling together a biking and kayaking weekend sometime next year (or in fact, later this year) would be awesome. Several of us are talking about doing just that during the weekend of the Wild Goose Chase ride in October. Have you registered for that ride out of Cambridge, MD?

Last year there were MANY complaints about the poor road conditions & road choice, to handle 700+ riders . The food seemed to consist of white bread and peanut butter only. And the biggest complaint was not enough porta potties leading to lines of 30 riders or more at each potty. They did much better on all counts this year, save for the junk miles on Rt. 1. I can't remember if it was last year or the year before that the potties at one rest stop were delivered 2 blocks away from the actual rest stop at Selbyville. Talk about confusion!

I'll be at Wild Goose again this year, with kayak. Last year I missed the paddling due to a funeral, but did make it in time for the ride. Paddling over there is lovely.

[Aggie_Ama]

We did 30 miles, DH was sweet and came along to keep me company before hammering off to do intervals. The rain and thunderstorms flirted with us but never materialized. It was sticky humid though. I kept myself sane but looking at the pretty wildflowers and baby animals on the ranches.