Cartersville GA Century

[ATL Laura]

Has anyone done the Cartersville Century in Georgia before? http://www.cartersvillecentury.org/
Its going to be my first century and I’m wondering what others have thought about it.

Thanks!

[kabewyou]

I have done it in past years, not last year. My recollection is of a nice ride, relatively flat and smooth, with good support I might have to try it myself again this year.

[skibum]

I did it as my first century 3 years ago. I haven't done it since then because I always seem to be travelling that time of year. I'll miss it again this year too.

I remember it being a nice route and it was well-supported. It was a very good choice for a first century.

[ATL Laura]

Thanks for the info...smooth and flat was what I was looking for .

[HoddyToddy]

I haven't actually done this one, but the Beautiful Backroads is also in C'ville and is on 9/22. Always my favorite. Truly is beautiful and you just can't beat a century that offers beer at the finish! (Begins and ends at the Budweiser brewery!)

Jenny

[Pedal Wench]

I'm hoping to do this one again this year too. Last year, I was chased by a horse that hopped his fence. I hope to visit him from across the fence this time.

[cyclingmom01]

If I'm not totally wasted from the Savannah Century, I'm planning on doing the one in Cartersville. I hear that it's great.

[ATL Laura]

As soon as my paycheck clears this week I'll be signing up for the Beautiful Backroads Century. I didn't realize that there was beer at the end, what a nice surprise

I'll have to do a poll as it gets coser to 9/22 to see who else will be there, it would be nice to meet some more TEers.

[HoddyToddy]

I'd really like to do it this year. BUT, I'm pregnant and I may be too darn big in the tummy by then! And of course, no beer for me.
I find that a nice cold beer after the ride really relaxes those aching muscles!

[MommyBird]

I decided to resurrect this thread instead of starting my own.

As I have said in multiple posts, I had a goal of completing a century by my 50th birthday which was this past Sunday. I have been riding regularly again since I got a road bike for my anniversary last October.

Time has been very tight this spring and early summer with rowing, forensics, Mt. Mitchell for hubby, VBS, camp and college orientation, etc...I was afraid we wouldn't be able to fit in a century for me.

But the waters parted and I did another search and found a big ride in Georgia that wasn't on the GA Ride website. The Cartersville Century.

We had been to Cartersville several times for gymnastics meets with our youngest son. It is a beautiful town. This century is billed as the 2nd largest GA ride. I did my first metric this spring at the Best Dam Ride which is billed as the 3rd largest ride. I am still not sure what bills itself as the 1st ride.

I had a pre-ride nutrition and hydration discussion at my LBS so I was prepared with electrolite tablets, HEED and an energy bar if needed. I have never had a problem with cramping like so many people describe, not just cyclists, but I wanted to be prepared just in case. My husband likes Sustained Energy but it makes me gag so I was a bit worried about the HEED. My first bottle was citrus which was OK and very drinkable. My second was lemon-lime which was very acceptable. I feel comfortable making it my flavor of choice from now on.

I think I felt cramps coming on twice. Once in my lower back on the right side. I was afraid it was a problem with my kidney but it went away almost instantly when I took the electrolites. Thank goodness it must have just been lower back muscles. The next time it started between the outside toes on my left foot and crept up the side of my leg to my knee. Disappeared as soon as I took more capsules. Like I said, cramping is not an issue with me but I have a mental image of what they may feel like from watching others. Even though these episodes were no more than light aching they felt like they could get painful. I took capsules several more times just for good measure.

I am prone to exercise headaches and did not want to ruin my weekend with one so I was mindful of my hydration and calories. I also used my Kafka neck cooler. It got too heavy for the longer ride so it came off and on. I think I am going to remove half of the beads, make a second scarf and partition the beads in 5 or 6 compartments to keep them distributed around my neck. I love the scarf, I have never gotten a headache when I have used it but it was just too heavy for more than 40 miles.

At the start my husband took off with the lead group and I was somewhere in the middle. The lead pack stopped at the second rest stop and he wasn't ready so he did the double back and was the lead guy until he missed the next right turn. When I was at rest stop #2 a support worker was in a panic because it had been reported that the marker had been painted over and people were getting off course. I hoped Dave wasn't one of them but he was the first one. He ended up following the markings for a BCC ride and realized he was off course when he ended up back at the first rest stop. He asked directions from a local and they put him on a direct route to rest stop #3. His detour added about 5 miles to his ride. His big disappointment was that he lost the front pack. He had been expecting them to overtake him after their stop so that he could jump in with them again.

After rest stop #2 I was committed to the 100 mile ride. This put me near the back of the pack and people kept passing me. At rest stop #3 I wasn't sure if I was last, but I knew I was close. People were dropping like flies around me but I was rolling on slow but just fine. Through the remainder of my ride I would have clean-up wagons stop to check on me if they passed while I was pausing to drink, eat or text my husband. They always had jersey clad guys in the back seats and bikes in the rear. I would assure them I was fine but slow.

I didn't get a chance to draft once on this ride. It was all me. Riders of my speed tend not to ride in a pace line when they get in groups. Instead they spread themselves across the road, bob, weave and make passing difficult. It is very frustrating for me since I have a lot of experience drafting with my husband and now my son. Some rides I get the chance to catch the occasional pace line and it is a blast while I can keep up. I guess I need to get faster.

I had my first clipless fall. I think it was at rest stop #4. As I left a group of walking dead I failed to notice that this was a switch-back rest stop. As I was turning left to go down hill, I notice the marker about 15ft up the road from the driveway telling me to go right and up hill. I did a quick u-turn, ran out of road, came to a stop, unclipped on my regular side which was uphill and fell to my clipped-in downhill side. Skinned my knee and elbow a little bit. Luckily the rest stop was so far from the road that I don't think anyone saw me and if they did they were too tired to help anyway. It was a pitiful stop.

The next stop was a rogue rest stop. An adorable little country church set up a couple of tents. All they had was water and ice but it was very welcome. This was the point that I needed to mix my second bottle of HEED. I also had brought my new 24oz polar bottle for water. The morning had been milder than the weather channel had predicted but the sun was getting high and hot by this stop. I was glad to have a large insulated bottle.

This was the most convoluted and twisty-turning ride I have ever done. My more experienced husband felt the same way. The markings could get confusing as there were several other events on the road as well and they were all in the same orange paint! Sometimes our route would cross over the others and at other times it would go the same way. There were several times that you would get to an intersection and there would be a rats nest of various ride markings, all in orange and you would have a terrible time making out the CC marking. Sometimes the CC wasn't in the rats nest and you would ride for miles before you knew you were still on the right route.

In the 70's I passed one of these confusing intersections, didn't see CC and so kept going straight. Shortly after I was stopped at a light, looking at a highway overpass and on a corner with a gas station. I saw two riders coming up behind me who had kept straight as well. We all got out our near useless maps to try to figure things out. An old guy in a tattered t-shirt with an official looking sheriffs pin on it came out of the gas station and out to us. He was a crusty old guy with a terrible speech impediment but I figured he liked to be helpful because of his pin. One of the guys tried to get him to point out our location on the map but the map was so bad and he was so difficult to understand that I knew another approach was necessary. I asked him if he had seen a lot of bikes passing through the intersection and over the highway all day and he gave me an enthusiastic yes. I made the decision to keep going, the guys followed and we eventually started seeing CC markings again and came to the last rest stop where I had a special treat. My husband was there waiting for me!

I took off before my new riding partners and my husband would drive ahead and wait at intersections here and there to squirt me down with cold water. What a treat!

I made it back to the park with just under 97 miles on the computer. That would not do for me. I went back out on the road and made some loops in the parking lot until I broke 100 miles. I had to do the same thing to get my metric century in April.

Then the nice support crew served me a hamburger and Dave and I went back to our hotel to clean up and rest. We found a cute little local flavor restaurant to round out our visit to beautiful Cartersville, GA.

I really enjoyed the ride. The support was first rate with the exception of the map and markings. But that just made the ride a bit more interesting. The southern hospitality was great. They even had watermelon at some of the stops! My favorite food.

I feel great. My husband has some sore muscles and is a bit peeved that I don't. The problems I did develop are terrible heat/short rash on my thighs. Not painful or itchy and fading fast. The last two fingers on my left hand were slightly numb through Monday. I have a skinned knee and elbow from my fall. The strangest thing is that I have reduced strength in my arms and hands. It is returning faster in my left arm. It hampers my small motor skills and squeezing the most. I could barely hold a pen Sunday.

Now I am hoping to do a metric with my son in July. He will ride with his dad and I will poke along somewhere behind them.

[skinimini]

Great job MommyBird! I wasn't able to do the CC last weekend--maybe next year. I remember from last year that they had terrible markings in some places. Sounds like they haven't corrected those issues. Hope your arm gets better.

Thanks for sharing your story!

[skibum]

Congratulations on finishing your first century! Cartersville was my first many years ago. I wasn't able to do it this year because I was in Virginia visiting family and doing some riding there. My DH and several friends rode it and said that many people had troubles with cramping so it sounds like you did a great job with your hydration and nutrition to keep the cramps away.

This century is billed as the 2nd largest GA ride. I did my first metric this spring at the Best Dam Ride which is billed as the 3rd largest ride. I am still not sure what bills itself as the 1st ride.

Since there are so many cyclists here, there are several rides that are close to the metro Atlanta area that get a big turnout. I've never seen anyone billing themselves as the largest but I'm guessing that Six Gap would beat any other ride out there. The Cartersville century gets around 900 riders. Six Gap limits the number of riders to 2500 and usually sells out. It's quite an experience at the start to be surrounded by so many cyclists.

I'm glad you enjoyed the ride!

[MommyBird]

My husband did Six Gaps last year.
He did rides 20 years ago when there weren't many available.
Took a bunch of years off and just rode on his own but got into doing rides again a few years ago. I can't believe how many are out there now!
We are having so much fun doing them together now that I am riding.
We are hoping to do the Hospitality Highway with our son on the 11th. Just the metric since he is a newbie. We are just not sure he will be ready. He has been dealing with a terrible chest cold. Not sure if he picked it up helping at VBS, at youth camp, sitting for the ACT or helping with rowing camp. All I know is he has been pretty sick. But he is young and should bounce back quickly. He is quite fit from rowing but he needs time in the saddle to acclimate his bum for a long ride.

[Pedal Wench]

I think 6-Gap is the largest too. Not sure if I'm gonna do it again this year. I missed CC this year too since I was in Colorado, but I'm thinking about doing a 600K in September, so I need to probably hit all the centuries I can until then.

I've heard that the Hospitality Highway ride is a bit hillier and harder than people expect. Stick with the metric so newbie son doesn't get in over his head.

We are hoping to do the Hospitality Highway with our son on the 11th. Just the metric since he is a newbie.