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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