2012 Civil War Century

I've been looking forward to the CWC ever since last year when the rider limit prevented me from attending.  How cool is the name, "Civil War Century"?  This year I signed up with plenty of time to spare and I'm really happy I got in ... despite the pain and anguish of riding 103 hilly miles and a massive thunderstorm.

Driving up to Thurmont MD on Saturday AM was pleasant.  It's the first time in a long time that I watched the sunrise.  No traffic.  Just a lot of Radio Disney (my kids music tastes are affecting me) with some Hair Nation mixed in on XM.

Jumping forward, I'm on my bike, I'm pedaling with 1,599 other riders, and right out of the gate it's an ascent.  7.5 mile climb up ~1,200 feet.  With a total elevation of ~8,800 feet, this is my second hilliest road ride of the year.  The first was the Gran Fondo Garrett County of ~14,400.  I was ready for the Gran Fondo as I had been training well, but I haven't ridden much in the past 1.5 months due to vacation and an awful 2+ week bout of poison ivy (thanks for the vicodin, Danimal).

Speaking of that poison ivy, I was just trying to do a good samaritan duty of clearing the trail along my route to work.  In a t-shirt and shorts, no gloves, here's what I cleared.  I had no idea it was all poison ivy.  Won't go into the details, but it was an horrendous 2 weeks.  See that nice pruning line?  The County is going to finish the rest of it for me.

I was cruising along taking in all the scenery, towns, and "country smell" through mile 36.  Every time I catch that scent, I think of a college buddy Thomas Dahl.  He'd catch wind of it and say "Smell That Country!"  The initial climb was behind me, lots of fast downhills (max 49mph), and it was beautiful rolling countryside.  The low elevation point of this ride is at mile 36 (326').  The highest elevation (1760') is at mile 61.  I'm a math minor so I can compute this stuff, so that means for the next 15 miles it's mostly 1400' uphill.  It was quite a humbling hill, especially approaching mile 61.

Peaking over the top, I thought I was in the clear and would roll to the finish.  Wrong.  Mile 75 is when that incredible thunderstorm rolled through and changed the riding experience.  It was awesome!  I could see the rain coming at me from across the field and just like that it was like a typhoon.  I donned my raincoat (thankfully I brought it or I would have froze) and only pedaled for a moment.  The force of the front of the storm is impressive.  Lightning was exploding around us.  But there was no way I was taking cover because I had a massive tailwind pushing me 20-25 mph without pedaling!

Around mile 85 I started to peeter out and was ready for this ride be over.  After that initial storm surge, the wind died down and it just rained for the remaining of the ride.  It was quite refreshing.  I really do enjoy riding in the rain.

I didn't put in a whole lot of effort the last 15 miles.  Just rolled through the countryside.  I could see Marymount College and knew I was getting close to Thornton.  Entering the town, I was expecting to see the parking lot around every street turn.  It was continued disappointment as the turns kept coming and there was no parking lot in sight.  Eventually I rolled in and was pretty beat.

I treated myself to a fine buffet lunch at my favorite Thornton Family Restaurant.  Not sure why Patrick Binning thinks this place is awful ... I love it.

Garmin Ride Stats:   http://connect.garmin.com/activity/220333704
103 miles
6:42 riding time
7:24 total time