This year I rode the Snow Hill Course - Salisbury University, MD to Snow HIll, MD loop. About 102 miles. They also offer a 100 mile course called the Assateague course that runs from the school to Assateague Island to the beach and the Atlantic Ocean and back. I did it last year, and this year tried the Snow Hill course, since I hadn;t done it before.
*Weather:* Gorgeous. Blue skies, 50's-80's. Crisp air. Not too hot or sunny. Headwindy during miles 20-75 or so. They were mild, not frustrating, but they did slow one down. Sporadic after that. I wore two thin wool shirts, Descente cycling shorts, Nike shoes, Summer gloves, ankle socks, Wal-Mart 10$ cheapy glasses frames with clear display plastic lenses and a stick on rearview mirror on them. *The people:* 1. Saw a woman on a blue Betty, must have been during the first 15 minutes of the ride or so. I was trying to keep up with my riding buddy as he was making his way through the starting crowds, so I only made time for a "Nice Betty!" as I rode by. It was a very pretty blue Betty Foy. They look much better in person than in pictures. 2. Two people complimented my "old bike". I told them it was made in 2013. 3. Saw a young lady on a Schwinn World Sport Mixte with drop bars. Dia-Compe centerpulls, Suntour derailers, and an old Sugino triple crankset. She said it was her 30$ garage sale find, and that she came to do the metric century also offered at the event today, but decided to do the full century instead. Her longest ride ever before the event was 30 miles, she said. I saw her again at the 75 mile rest stop and she was cheerful and looked like she could easily finish the whole century. I hope she made it. What a brave and cheerful young lady. 4. Saw a burgundy steel Holdsworth lugged Reynolds bike ridden by a very cheerful middle aged woman who was gleefully gushing about steel being perfect for 50-100 mile touring rides like this century. Her confidence and optimism about riding was contagious and refreshing. I asked her if her Reynolds bike planed, and she said no. But she did feel that steel smooths out the ride and absorbs the bumps. *The bikes:* The Betty was the only Rivendell I saw. I also saw lotsa alu and carbon bikes. I saw the Holdsworth and a few Rivved out Treks, several tandems, a unicyclist on a huge unicycle, and a child (~11 years old?) on a drop bar bike. I saw no French looking Rando type bikes that I recall. *The ride:* My riding buddy and I got off to a strong start, making our way through the crowds and blasting off down the flat country roads of the Eastern Shore, MD. And I mean flat. I think the Seagull Century is an excellent first century for anyone because there are no hard efforts unless you get slammed by headwinds, which can happen I hear. But last year and this year were not bad. 2013 had almost no headwinds at all on that ride. The air was still for the first 20 miles this year. Made for "Yeee-haw!" riding down the pine laden, marshy, flat, smooth, shady roads. I was on my Riv build 2013 Blue Sam, and he was on his Trek with flat bar road bike. This was the 3rd century on my Sam. Crisp, beautiful morning in the 50's. Big crowds until after the first 20 mile rest stop, when suddenly everyone seemed to vanish. I had heard the Snow Hill loop was less popular than the Assateaque route offered. And I guess the three routes branched out after the first rest stop. It is nice to not have to worry about pacelines zooming by you and crowded roadways. So the sparsely populated route made for peaceful riding down quiet roads with minimal traffic and it was fun to see the same riders along the route as we leaped frogged each other along the way at times and encouraged one another. The headwinds started at mile 20 and lasted pretty steady until mile 75. Nothing frustrating or hard, but enough to knock a couple mph off your bike computer. Still very pleasant riding, though. I noticed the roads seemed to switch from very smooth and fast surfaces to this kind of very rough, pebbly tar that was a slower surface. We kept going at a pace that was a little higher than a "forever pace". I started to get sugar crashy around mile 50 for a few miles for some reason. I briefly stopped for 1/2 a peanut butter granola bar, Gatorade, and most importantly prayer, and then rode on. My energy came right back and I rode strong for the rest of the ride. We rode through tree lined roadways, and open farm fields where you could survey the landscape as you cruised along. Dry fields of golden crops of (soy bean?) looked like fields of yellow flowers at first glance. One dried corn field I saw had green vines with large purple flowers growing up the stalks. Deeply setback homes made for long, dark, gravel driveways that were fun too look down through heavily wooded areas. Many farms had large chicken coop compounds that were interesting to see and smell, but also made me reflect on the ethics of factory farming. Some homes had signs of protest by the road. I didn't clearly understand, but something about re-zoning going on that was going to bring factory farms to certain areas and the residents were not happy with the possible health hazards. Some locals were waving and smiling as you rode along the routes. Some cheered riders on. We arrived in time for pie and ice cream at the 77 mile point Nassawanga Golf Course rest stop. Shady trees and a beautiful waterway gave me an opportunity to take a nice pic of my Sam in the shade. My riding buddy was plopped under a tree and fluttering his lips in deep sighs of relaxation. An older man, this was his 25th or so, I think, Seagull Century. He encouraged me to start doing these rides and I am glad he did. They are a lot of fun and I have very much enjoyed the last two centuries we have done together. For some reason, I felt very energetic during the last leg of the ride and wanted to blast on ahead, but my pal was getting a little tired. So I kept pace with him, sometimes going on ahead a little, though staying in eyeshot of each other. Towards the end we stuck togetheras we had been doing the whole ride, and we cruised back into Salisbury State feeling great. *The Bike:* I love my 2013 41 Noodle Sam Hillborne bike. I have commuted and ridden training rides on it and 3 centuries now in great comfort. It is my favorite bike and the most comfortable and best bike I have ever ridden/owned. I pretty much rode in total comfort the whole century. A little shoulder stiffness at times, but went away just as quick as I would notice it. I have a Flyer saddle on it, use MKS Touring pedals and sneakers, and Hetre tires. I really enjoyed this Seagull Century. I think it was one of the best rides I have ever had. I thank the Lord for blessing me with such great rides and I hope there will be more to come. Here are a few pics from the ride. Enjoy!! https://www.flickr.com/photos/70237737@N00/sets/72157647743544830/ -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
