2022 Civil War Century

 

This Civil War Century may be the last century I will ride.  The metric's are so much more appropriate with a good 4 hours of riding.  I was very determined to make this right, despite the difficulty of the 4 categorized climbs and the sheer hardness of it all. 

For motivation, I bought myself the official jersey of the ride.  No way I could skimp on the century distance looking that good :-)

I took the ride slow and easy.  The first climb was 7 miles and meandered up as best I could.  It was an ok climb and pretty carried on to around mile 30 when the 1st rest stop appeared.  Each rest stop had peaches and I ate my share.

The 3rd climb is basically 22 miles. It's a gradual ascent and then gets a bit complicated for the final few miles.  I remembered this beast from prior rides.  It really is a hill killer.  However, I crested the top and did my impression of Julian Alaphillipe as I stood up and pedaled hard down the backside.

The final luncheon highlight was the Antietam Creamery truck.. The ice cream really was that good.  We'll see where the future brings us.  Right now I'm coordinating the Great Pumpkin Ride metric.

Strava results: Civil War Century

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2019 Civil War Century

It's been a while since my last century and I thought I would jump right back in with both feet.  Well, the Civil War Century is all that and more.

Pre-ride smiles all around

Dan Wolfe and myself have ridden many rides together, as well as the Civil War Century a couple times before.  I guess it had been too long to remember the pain as was evident in this pre-ride photo where we are all smiles.  The ride starts with an 11 mile climb so the smiles wear off quickly.

33 miles down and already the climbing is just crazy.  Looks mostly downhill after mile 10 to mile 30 but those downhills go fast and then it's back to 1st gear.

The ride goes through Gettysburg and Antietam battle fields.  I was able to snap this picture as I slogged up the hill.

Dan loves horses, I think.  We had to pull off for a stretch and get this shot.  I was starting to feel a bit of the legs around this point, which may have been ~50 miles.

The course changed up a bit.  Neither Dan nor I remembered too much of it.  I do remember the mostly 27 mile climb from mile 40 to 67.  Dang, those last 2.5 miles uphill with grades between 5%-10% are just brutal.  Avoid Ritchie Road at all costs in the future!

As expected, my body was telling me that I had enough for the day by mile 60.  There is a "bail out" at mile 70 which cuts off 20 miles.  Over 6000' feet of climbing and 5 hours of riding in the saddle makes for a pretty satisfying day, and we weren't done yet.  Dan decides to ride the whole enchilada.  Turns out the "bail out" was the best decision of the day, as it allowed me to ride down 10 miles of the initial descent.  Oh man, long descents are the greatest reward for the climb.

I finished up, changed clothes, grabbed a bite to eat at the finish area and was settling in waiting for Dan to arrive.  And guess what, Dan pulls over at a Seafood Restaurant 10 miles from the finish and opts for a pickup.  I think he just didn't want to make me wait.  Check out these videos.

And here's the finishing photo!

Dang do we look good for such a ridiculous suffer-fest!  We're looking to get in one or two more long rides this year.  Please reach out to us if you're interested in suffering with us :-)

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2018 Reston Century

2018 Reston Century

Me!, Dan, Jackie and Dave

Let's start with the OMG weather was AWESOME today!!!!  I hope everyone got outside because these beautiful days don't come around enough (on weekends).

Jackie met up with on the course and asked if she could ride with us.  She like the fast pace.  In the end, I think Dan and I would only slow her down.

It was a fast ride through 50+ miles and then reality kicked in to slow it down a bit.  Still, rolling country side was great workout and plenty to look at.  There are some serious mansions out there, and I'm wondering who cuts that grass?  No way are my kids willing to mow multiple football fields worth every week.

My sister Rita was at the ride.  She and her friends rode the metric.  Let's be honest, she looked better at the finish line than I did.  Maybe even at the start :-)

As always, the post ride meal at the Reston Town Center was well done.  The Mediterranean salad was the bomb and the pasta was quite good.  I wish I could have enjoyed it more but I was dragging ass.

A few ride options coming up this fall include the Backwoods Century, the Pumpkin Ride and the Shenandoah rides (Matt, prepare my bed!).   I'm targeting at least a couple this Fall.

I hope everyone is training hard on their bikes.  Many miles ahead!

Ride Hard or Don't Ride At All.

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2018 Chocolate Tour

2018 CHOCOLATE TOUR

The other weekend (August 3-5) Danimal Clarke and myself heading north to participate in the Penn State Chocolate Tour bike ride.  Not a century this time, our goal was the 75 mile route.  Spoiler alert .. one of us was over that distance and one of us was under ... you guess?

First let me throw many kudo's in Danimal's direction.  One is he's got a sweet F150.  Pretty much like the ride below.  And you know what an F150 can do?  That's right, it tows!

Danimal's F150 Ride

Popup City

What Danimal doesn't do is drive the F150 when towing, so yours truly got that assignment.  The ride up was uneventful (as opposed to the ride back).  We drove up Friday to Harrisburg East Campground.  This was a surprisingly nice campground.  It was your basic pile in the RV's in a small area, but the grounds and facilities were a step up from the rest.

We arrived, popped the pop-up and and played charades.  Well, no charades, but we did hang out at the site until we got sleepy.  The other really nice part about riding with Danimal is that he's an heating/air conditioning guy.  Focus on the air conditioning.  It was a very muggy kind of evening and then turned torrential rain.

This saved us

I haven't seen rain that hard or that substantial in a very long time.  It absolutely poured on us all night until 5AM. And the popup kept us dry and the air conditioning kept us cool.  Dang that is sweet machine.
We got up early, drove over to Hershey for the start of the race and never thought twice about the rain the night before.  However, Hershey tends to be the highlands of the area.  The 75-mile bike route takes us through the lowlands.  It wasn't too far into the ride before we found all that rain.

Here's a picture of the first rest stop.  Remember, this ride is just outside Hershey so what do you think is piled high at every rest stop?  No issues with getting a sugar high on this ride.  Notice the Payday's are gone, I took 5.  No worries, there were huge stores of this stuff under the table.

Plenty sugar for everyone

Now I'd like to show everyone the wrong way and the proper way to cross a flooded road.  Notice the video on the left.  Danimal straight up pedals through the water.  Notice the soaked shoes and the monkey butt .. well, you can't see his monkey butt but believe me he's got it now.

On the right side is the preferred method to cross flooded roads.  Notice how dry and safe everyone stays.

Danimal did really well on this ride through 37 miles.  To his credit, he made it that far with absolutely no training, no dieting, no preparation, no strategy or forethought.  Way to go Danimal!  You really know how to tackle a course!

That's supposed to be a road

Moo!

So Danimal hopped in the SAG vehicle and road around for a couple hours delivering water to riders and helping the distressed.  So here's a third kudo for Danimal, he definitely is willing to help people in need.  I kept riding, ignored those in need, and found those "3 moderate climbs" the ride definition mentioned.  Overall this course was pretty much flat with very mild rolling hills.

We met up at the finish line for some mac-n-cheese and various non-candy items.  Then headed back to the campground and hit the pool!  Yep, that campground had a very nice pool.  It was quite relaxing to sit in the a floaty chair, feet on the coping, and closing my eyes.

Like a seasoned pair of campers we are: Danimal forgot the steaks and I forgot the grill.  So we headed out for a tremendous steak dinner.  Again, an awesome night of sleep in a cold pop-up.  I did make omelette's in the AM.  I had to cook at least one meal.

As I mentioned the ride home was a little more exciting as I almost wrecked into a car.  I'm pretty sure that car would have taken the brunt of it.  Overall, a peaceful weekend away and a good time to boot!

Danimal is targeting the Great Pumpkin Ride in Fauquier County on Oct 27.  It's a 67 mile ride.  Let's see how Danimal prepares :-)

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Deep Creek Century 2018

Deep Creek did not disappoint this year.  Last year my IT band kept me at 75 miles, two years ago felt so poorly only made 62 miles, five years ago was the only 100 mile victory.  2018 is a new year, with a new course, with a new can-do attitude and most importantly .. a new 2018 Specialized Sirrus!

Let's start with the weather as it was a miserable forecast.  It looked like it was going to be thunderstorms from Friday afternoon all the way through Sunday afternoon.  The ride was Saturday.  It was such a bad forecast I was going to convince my trusty century companion (Mom) to stay home because the tent was gonna leak.  On Friday I checked the State Park and both cabins became free, guess some people can't handle the weather!

Drizzle, Sun Burn, Drizzle, Sun Burn

The cabin upgrade from the tent was a decision worthy of a pat on the back.  Mom and I declared "Let It Rain!!!" It ain't technically camping, but it is so much nicer.  There are two rooms with a queen up front and two sets of bunk beds in the back.  I would have taken a bunk bed but they were made for 5'10" or shorter unless you wanted to rest your feet on the far wall and your head on the near.

We needed a hearty pre-ride meal so off to the Deep Creek Seafood House we went.  Hey, I got a $10 off coupon in my ride bag.  Mom was ecstatic with her oysters and lobster bisque.  I opted for the lobster bisque and a burger w/fries.  Isn't that a dinner of champions?

Saturday morning weather really was unbelievable.  Weather people are the only one's who can be wrong everyday of the week and keep their jobs.  It was remarkably nice for all but 10 minutes of the ride.  There were patches of drizzle making way through the valleys which kept the temperature cooler.  So drizzle was followed by bright sunshine, then a little drizzle and more sunshine.  I'd take this riding weather for any ride.

About to start pedaling

Of course my trusty century companion wasn't the only one with me on the trip.  Enter Dan Wolfe!  Dan and I have ridden many rides together including Two Peaks as a training ride a few weeks ago and Deep Creek 5 years ago.

Dan Wolfe - Gitting'er'Dun!

There were a few highlights on this course, and those mainly include mountain climbs.  Right out of the gate there is the climb up Wisp Mountain which is about 500' over 1/2 mile.  Doesn't sound tough, huh?  Try it at 7:30am.  There were 6 timed climbs and they were brutal.

Stay down, stay down ...

One must remember that for all things that go up they also go down.  At mile 16 there is a straight descent that screams for speed.  Note to Toni Binning, I was wrong about not being able to coast to 53.5 mph.  At some point maybe around 50 mph I had a very real feeling that I should keep my head down and butt up.  If I had gotten at all vertical I'm pretty sure I would have pulled a ET fly high!

At mile 70 there is the Savage Mountain climb composing a 4.3 mile 1500' climb that took me 46 minutes.  That was the hardest hill on the course with an average grade of over 10% (that is really steep).  This hill truly was no fun at all.  "Just Keep Pedaling", thanks for the advice Amy Charity.

And let's not forget Killer Miller, Bowman Hill, Sam Friend, White Rock, Blue Lick, Westernport Road and Dry Run .. isn't that nice, they all have names.  These mountain climbs are simply too difficult to describe, one must climb them to appreciate them.

I like peanuts

Random shot - whatever!

At the top of the Dry Run climb at mile 86 is where the course finally gets manageable.  The final 18 miles is rolling terrain and was quite fast.  The last 10 minutes of my ride is when the downpour occurred.  The rain was really coming down and I was only a few miles from the end.

Crossing the finish line was an exhilarating moment.  After the previous 2 years of failure I really wanted to make the full century.  Am I going back?  Not sure, but I will always carry fond memories of my 4 rides through Garrett County.

Thank you Mom for being there for me :-)

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Rehoboth Beach Half-Marathon

Why would anyone want to travel to Rehoboth Beach in December to run a half-marathon?  Good question, the answer is because Dave Kelly would.  Dave starts training and shares his plans with myself, Danny Clarke and Tom O'Reilly.  Of course we are in so we register right away and start running.

Training went fairly well for two us.  Come race time Christy (Danny's daughter) takes his bib # and runs the official fastest half-marathon Danny will ever run in his life.  To his credit, Dave still ventured down to Rehoboth to support us.  Tom successfully ran his first half-marathon and is looking for more.  And I ran my fastest half-marathon as well, and am paying dearly for it.

Pre-race with Christy

Dave's not wearing his running clothes

Tom's a little nervous but ready

This is the look of someone who knows she's fast

13.1 miles is a long ways .. a long long ways.  I went on several 5 mile jogs around the neighborhood and failed miserably whenever the path went "up".  So I decided to spend a bit more time on the treadmill at work while watching Punisher episodes on Netflix.  I highly recommend this activity.

My long run training consisted of a single 9.4 mile run from home to WTW, around the fields, around the track and then home.  I also ran the Chesapeake Bay Bridge 10k and completely fell apart at mile 5.  Oh, and there was the Frost 5K run at Jordan's middle school.

Although I'm not the true "specimen" as is Danny Clarke, I still managed to suffer through the run and post a legitimate time for me.  The run through 6 miles was just fine and no issues.  I started to feel a tight calf at mile 7 and managed it the rest of the way.  Mile 7 was about the time I saw the winner blaze by me in the other direction.  Sort of knocked me to the side with the wind wake he was laying down.  Turns out he was just shy of being twice as fast as me .. that's a win! :-)

But holy smoley's I was getting a little tired come mile 9.  The last few miles were difficult.  I just kept trudging along while trailing a lady with "Oileey" written on the back of her shirt.  I never did catch up to her to ask what that meant.

Post race with our proud medals.  I've never felt worse.

Post race meal of champions

Fortunately I have a great family who was willing to come down to Rehoboth to pick me up and spend the post-race victory with me.  I had reserved a cabin at Cape Henlopen State Park for Friday and Saturday nights.  Danny and Christy left Sat AM so it was all mine.

I'm not sure Danny and Christy appreciated the luxurious amenities at the State Park.  Geez, this cabin had a small fridge, heat and cooling, plus 2 rooms and 6 beds.  To me it's Glamping, to them, it's prehistoric.  

The family found me dead asleep late Saturday afternoon in the cabin. Let's just say I was in no hurry to move at all, much less get out of bed and go to the outlet stores.  But I did, and we had a great meal at a 50% off for runners and guests pasta place.

Cape Henlopen cabins

We made it down to the beach Sunday afternoon.  A little overcast so we left our swimsuits in the car.

Overall I think it was a great weekend.  Next time I really should train up a bit more so I don't feel so incredibly poor after the run.  I did recover pretty well on Sunday and rode into work on Monday.  I had planned on running the Holiday Half Marathon this Sunday, but I have a new appreciation for being able to walk and I'm not ready to forgo it at this time.

Family Portrait

Happy running to all!

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Lifeline 100 w/Jon Chen

LIFELINE 100

The Lifeline 100 is a fun local ride which loops north and south of Annapolis, Maryland.  It's easy on the knees as there is "only" 2400' of climbing for a metric century (65 miles).  Yes, this was supposed to be a full century ride but my IT-band got sore early (why I don't know) and 65 miles is 25 miles further than Jon Chen has ever ridden.

Weather was great, a little cool to begin.  I still say the worst part of these trip is getting up at 5am and change.  It's an easy drive to Kinder Farm Park for the start.  A "show-n-go" so we took off as soon as we got there.

First Rest Stop at Mile 20

We rolled along the course at an easy pace starting on the Baltimore/Annapolis Rail Trail.  It's similar to the Washington/Old Dominion Trail but shorter.  This ride does have well stocked rest stops.  The first stop had spring rolls and some deli sandwiches with an awesome chipotle sauce.  

Mile 40

Around mile 18 I started getting a sore IT band, boo!  Not sure why but clearly I need to get back on the foam rollers.  I made up my mind pretty early this was going to be a metric century due to the knee, bummer but we'll live to ride again.

Jon did really well on the ride despite being pushed a bit to keep the pace.  I knew he was close behind due to the effort noises 😀  Near the end of the ride Jon says, "Why are you still going so hard?"  Well, near the end is no time to slow down!

We rolled into the finish both happy to have completed the ride.  Many more rides to come!

Metric Century Finishers!

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