3. complete a century ride (32x32)

Although it wasn't on my 31x31 list, last year I rode a metric century portion (68 miles) of the full 100 mile Sea Gull Century in Salisbury, MD. The trip was such a great time, I was still living in Wilmington, DE, Beth Anne and Megan scooped me and Dottie before driving the length of the Small Wonderful into Maryland for a weekend of camping and riding. The DC Chain Gang had organized three adjoining campsites, for about 20 people. Kevin was the camp cook making some kind of Frankenstein mac n cheese with velveeta, kielbasa, and hot red sauce the night before the ride. The morning after the ride we had bacon beignets. and that could be the end of the story, because they were just so stinking amazing. I think we brewed eight pots of coffee too. I went into the Sea Gull not really knowing how far I was going to be able to ride, but giving myself permission to go until I felt like stopping. The first 40 miles were pretty solid, but I was feeling a bit of pain in my knees by the second pit stop. I thought I could make it to the third stop, which was on Assauteague Island. Somewhere between miles 50 and 60 it became apparent that I couldn't urinate anymore even though I felt like I had a full bladder, which worried me, a lot. a lot of a lot actually. I was SO lucky that Kevin had decided to ride with me even though I was going super slow, stopping a lot, and basically struggling with the ride. We made it to the island in time to catch the last SAG van and met up with everyone at the beer tent in Salisbury.

There was planning and then some unplanning for the Capitol to Capitol century in Richmond this weekend. People are so awesome and generous and it makes my heart feel full when I think about the friends in my life today. Tiffany rearranged her plans to visit DC to do the ride (which is on her 40x40 list), Matt let her borrow his touring Masi, Charlotte lent me her bike rack, Jacob taught me how to put it on my car correctly, Velocity bikes rented us space to clean and fit our bikes, and then Brendan, Grayson, and Therese let us crash their campsite.

how to NOT attach the bike rack: like Egon said, never cross the streams, it will be very bad.

at velocity, cleaning and fitting

on the road again, just can't wait to get on the road again!

We camped at Pocohantas State Park for Friday night, everyone (except me) set their alarms for 5:30am. The century started at 7:30am. We had the fastest registration time, EVER. Tiffany and I were even on the road before Brendan and Grayson (Therese was meeting up with some other friends and riding the 50 miler), and then were quickly passed by both of them. There were rest stops (which they called feed stations, which is entirely too reminiscent of an agricultural reference for personal comfort) about every 12 to 15 miles. We stopped at each one, filling up on water and carbs for me, simple sugars and nuts for Tiffany. The first four stops felt solid. Between miles 60 and 80, I hit a wall. We took some ibuprofen at the 62 mile stop, I thought I was only going to be able to make it to the 73 mile stop, but it was a phantom stop and didn't actually exist! So we kept on riding. Once we got to the 86 mile stop, there was no way I was getting on the SAG with only 14 miles left to go, we kept on, with alacrity! Although we were a little turned around about 3 miles away from the finish, the last leg through the wooded ravine was absolutely breath-taking and as we rolled up to Rockett's Landing around 4:00pm, Brendan was there waving us in! People were cheering and waving and made such a fantastic welcoming, I'm still a little shy about it. Grayson and Therese were there waving and cheering too, last year's event was Therese's first century, making it a neat little connection with her. We sat on the green and ate bar-be-qued chicken, finished all the water and stretched. One of my favorite parts of these events is the debriefing that occurs afterwards, getting everyone's input from the rest stops, the traffic, the course, the other participants, the trials, and the sights. For example, no one else noticed the huge deer carrion or the half-dozen vultures picking at it on the side of the road around Mile 17, which Tiffany described as grotesquely National Geographical awesome.

The difference between Mile 28 and Mile 86 is pretty clear I think:

MILE 100! this is a big deal!

afterwards, I noticed the heinous jersey burn, oh well.

I could still feel the saddle for most of Sunday and my shoulders felt a little sore, my legs felt absolutely fine though. I had heard that there's a wall you hit after 60 miles and as soon as you work through it, the rest of the ride is cake. I'd like mythbusters to take a look at this phenomenon (baht-doo-bea-do). I have a few more centuries planned this summer too: North Fork Century and the Sea Gull again in October. Hopefully, we'll get to do some informal centuries with the DC Chain Gang as well!