RickF
10-08-2007, 08:22 PM
My daughter Missie Vess, her husband, Dave, Leigh (Missie's colleague from the Goddard Spaceflight Center), and I completed the Sea Gull Century on Saturday. It was the first Century for all of us, and we all did well. We completed 99.0 miles by my computer, but 100.4 miles by the cue sheet, in 5:54. If my computer is correct, we averaged 16.8 mph, but if the cue sheet is correct, we averaged 17.0 mph. Either way, we were pleased with our rides.
The ride starts and ends at Salisbury University on the Maryland Eastern Shore and heads southeast to Assateague Island (home of the Chincoteague Ponies made famous by by Marguerite Henry’s 1947 children’s novel Misty of Chincoteague, and the subsequent sequels Sea Star: Orphan of Chincoteague, Stormy: Misty’s Foal, and Misty’s Twilight). We did not see any ponies, but we did see a lot of horse biscuits along the path on Assateague.
The ride has been named named among the top 10 century rides in the nation by the Bicycling magazine. The Washington Post names it "by far the most popular local century" in the Maryland-Delaware-Virginia region. Although the start was a "show and go" start with riders starting any time between 7:00 and 9:00, you could not be anywhere on the route and not see at least 30 other riders. There were enough riders that there was a constant stream of riders, but not a crowd, along the entire route. The 100 mile route and the 100 K route separated at about mile 7, but I am sure the 100 K route had just as many riders as the 100 mile.
The rest stops were a little sparse compared to what we experience at the MS 150. There were only four rest stops for 100 miles. The first rest stop was in a park where the only toilet facilities were the standard park toilets. There was plenty of water, Gatorade, fruit, bagels, and cookies at that stop. The second stop had plenty of Port-a-potties, but no food - only water and Gatorade. The third stop, which was the one on Assateague Island and the other point where the 100 mile and 100 K routes crossed, and which was billed as the lunch stop, had only fruit, cookies, water, and Gatorade. There were enough port-o-potties, though. The fourth stop, which was at mile 83 had homemade apple and cherry pies and ice cream. The ice cream was in preformed balls and must have been stored in dry ice, because they were as hard as rocks. There was live music at the fourth stop, but we only stayed long enough for the ice cream to melt enough to eat.
The route had a little more elevation change than the MS 150, but there were no hills to speak of. The bridge onto Assateague looked intimidating, especially since we had already ridden 62 miles by the time we got there, but once we were climbing, it was not nearly as bad as it looked.
About 200 yards out of the fourth rest stop, I had a flat (number 6 since August for those who are counting with me). I think it was a burr, because I pulled several burrs out of my socks and out of my daughter's tires at the end of the ride. I could find nothing wrong with the tire, but there was a pin hole puncture in the tread side of the tube. I think I am going back to Armadillo tires. They are 35 grams heavier, but I had never had a puncture with those.
Here are a few photos. There are more on my snapfish account: http://www2.snapfish.com/share/p=93881191886959556/l=306377025/g=80658497/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB
The ride starts and ends at Salisbury University on the Maryland Eastern Shore and heads southeast to Assateague Island (home of the Chincoteague Ponies made famous by by Marguerite Henry’s 1947 children’s novel Misty of Chincoteague, and the subsequent sequels Sea Star: Orphan of Chincoteague, Stormy: Misty’s Foal, and Misty’s Twilight). We did not see any ponies, but we did see a lot of horse biscuits along the path on Assateague.
The ride has been named named among the top 10 century rides in the nation by the Bicycling magazine. The Washington Post names it "by far the most popular local century" in the Maryland-Delaware-Virginia region. Although the start was a "show and go" start with riders starting any time between 7:00 and 9:00, you could not be anywhere on the route and not see at least 30 other riders. There were enough riders that there was a constant stream of riders, but not a crowd, along the entire route. The 100 mile route and the 100 K route separated at about mile 7, but I am sure the 100 K route had just as many riders as the 100 mile.
The rest stops were a little sparse compared to what we experience at the MS 150. There were only four rest stops for 100 miles. The first rest stop was in a park where the only toilet facilities were the standard park toilets. There was plenty of water, Gatorade, fruit, bagels, and cookies at that stop. The second stop had plenty of Port-a-potties, but no food - only water and Gatorade. The third stop, which was the one on Assateague Island and the other point where the 100 mile and 100 K routes crossed, and which was billed as the lunch stop, had only fruit, cookies, water, and Gatorade. There were enough port-o-potties, though. The fourth stop, which was at mile 83 had homemade apple and cherry pies and ice cream. The ice cream was in preformed balls and must have been stored in dry ice, because they were as hard as rocks. There was live music at the fourth stop, but we only stayed long enough for the ice cream to melt enough to eat.
The route had a little more elevation change than the MS 150, but there were no hills to speak of. The bridge onto Assateague looked intimidating, especially since we had already ridden 62 miles by the time we got there, but once we were climbing, it was not nearly as bad as it looked.
About 200 yards out of the fourth rest stop, I had a flat (number 6 since August for those who are counting with me). I think it was a burr, because I pulled several burrs out of my socks and out of my daughter's tires at the end of the ride. I could find nothing wrong with the tire, but there was a pin hole puncture in the tread side of the tube. I think I am going back to Armadillo tires. They are 35 grams heavier, but I had never had a puncture with those.
Here are a few photos. There are more on my snapfish account: http://www2.snapfish.com/share/p=93881191886959556/l=306377025/g=80658497/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB