Seagull Century

I don't think it could have been a better day for the Seagull. Bright sunshine, very little wind and cool, dry air. It rolled, 4 hr and 10 minutes by my watch.

Being a Seagull Century virgin, I was a little apprehensive the night before because of all the stories I heard about the DC Velo pain train. This sparked my pathological fear of being dropped with 50 miles to go. On top of that, nothing gets the adrenaline pumping like leaving yourself enough time to get to Salisbury, but realizing AFTER going over the Bay Bridge that you forgot your helmet; Doh! I did manage to get back to Annapolis, get the helmet and in 1.5 hrs get to Salisbury, park, change and ride to the Hardees. I was actually the first Latitude rider there!

Crisis averted, Michel was next followed by Sue, Dennis, Tom, Ace, Amanda and Ty. On top of that, we had a definite John Ver Bryke sighting! We rolled out a few minutes after 8 to a nice tempo, weaving around the crowd. I was not fully prepared for how this was going to go; there are a LOT of riders of all walks of life on this ride. Some try to hop in, some wander all over the road, some wave... Anyway, we stayed left, and it was interesting balancing the riders on the right and the oncoming cars on the left. For the first 20 miles past the first rest stop (that we skipped), it was dodge and weave. After that point, it steadied out considerably and the train built steam until the second stop.

After a nature break and some food, a few DC Velo guys started rolling, so Tom, Michel and I rolled out slowly. We were anticipating the train coming by, but in the end our pace ramped up a bit and we formed a nice rotating paceline. This was the hardest point of the day because there was a little easterly headwind, and no train to hide behind! Nonetheless, we ended up getting to Assateague ahead of the rest of the group by a couple minutes. Funny, just before the bridge to Assateague, a pony wandered on the path, and left a nice large present for the rest of the riders. Assateague was spectacular, especially today. I've been to Chincoteage, and the lower part of Assateague, but never this part.

More steady tempo riding until the last rest stop. Unfortunately SuePerFlat got delayed fixing a puncture, but she and Dennis just rolled in as we were leaving, so they hopped on the train. Things definitely stepped up a notch in the last 20 miles. I was surprised that I still felt pretty good, less tired than a typical Saturday ride. Given this, I started spending some more time up front, taking some pulls with Ace and John Ver Bryke, who rode very strong given that his longest ride recently was about 35 miles! In the last 10 miles, there was a camera van with a guy sitting in the back of the mini van with the hatch up video taping the group rocking along. I hope that video will be available some place because he had an awesome vantage point. With a couple miles to go, there were attacks that pretty much broke up the group. John, Tom and I were up towards the front with Ace off the front with the leaders. Not sure how he faired in the final sprint, but I think he sealed the deal.

We stopped in Easton at this little hole in the wall BBQ place which was just what we needed! For anyone who has never done this, I highly recommend it next year. Take my word for it: it feels good to loose your virginity at 47!