Seagull Century

[Zoomie80]

Saw a couple of Serottas there...did anyone else go? It was miserably wet and windy--morale was not good (seems like every turn brought us into the wind); focused on a good spin and concentrated at getting to the rest stops. Hammered the last 15 miles of the 100 (a tailwind!) and felt good about finishing strong. Crosswinds going over bridge to Assateague Island had us leaning hard into the wind to stay up; gusts made things really dicey--definitely not a good day for deep rims or wide bladed spokes.

But...coolest thing was riding with my spin class instructor, a 64 year old retired dude who's a personal trainer at Gold's Gym. Seagull was his first ride on his road bike this year, second ride overall (first was 52 miles w/ me on his hybrid). The dude hammered into the wind...I knew he skated (in-line skates), but later learned he skates 50-80 mile on weekends...and leg presses 1035 lbs! I also chatted briefly w/ a 60 year old dude...told me his daughter (college age) just got her bike and rode it 25 miles at most. I remember passing her a few times and saying HI...the pink hi-top Converse Chuck Taylor's were definitely eye catching! Last saw her around 75 miles and she was still smiling! Youth...gotta love it!



Cheers!
Zoomie

[Sandy]

You must be one tough dude (or dudette) to do the full 100 miles, from what I understand about the weather. Great job!


Sandy

[Scrafford]

My wife and I rode the Century also. The wind was much worse than the rain. The pie sure tasted good at the end. I own a Serotta and I'm not sure anyone could read the decals by about mile 60 with all the grime on the frame. We also had 3 flat tires due to the grit on the road. Not a pleasant century, but one that we will always talk about. This is the third time in four years that the weather has been miserable. Not sure if we will keep the tradition up on ending the century season with the Seagull. :bike:

[Smiley]

Good on you Zoomie for going out and doing it, last year after getting rained hard on I could not sell my wife on doing it again especially since the temperatures were much colder this year. How was the turnout , many people must of bagged the gig .

[billrick]

I woke up at 4:30 am for the drive out, checked the weather and saw 30 mph wind gusts, and went back to bed. I'm a wimp. I can handle wet but not heavy wind for 100 miles.

For those that did it, I salute you!

:beer:

[Zoomie80]

Scrafford--I'm w/ ya on the road grime...mine was pretty well covered in muck as well. I washed my bike yesterday and noticed a part of the front derailleur clamp closest to the rear tire was a bit sand blasted from crud coming off the tire. Sorry to hear about your flats...seemed like I saw more folks than years past fixing flat tires this time. Don't know if you saw any crashes but I was "involved" in one and almost a victim of another. I was in a loosely formed self-organized paceline when I felt a lateral bump on my rear wheel--next thing I hear are three bikes hitting asphalt; one dude bent his rim bad enough that opening the brake calipers was not enough to allow the wheel to spin. Fortunately someone had a spoke wrench. I was at the back of another group when someone in the middle of the pack yelled "check out that beer jersey" and next thing I see are bikes going down in front of me. I was near the edge of teh road and rolled into the grass to avoid running over a bike and rider. One bike (Lemond ti and carbon) had its Record brifter whacked pretty bad--mounting clamp by mounting bolt snapped by force of impact; saddle rail was also bent witha very visible downward tilt to the right. Rider had a little road rash but was not thrilled about 50+ miles on a bent saddle--I'd feel the same way too.

Sandy, billrick--thanx for the props...things like this are a deposit in the bank of mental fortitude...and makes for great stories at the end! :)

Smiley--attendance seemed fair; a little bigger than last year but nowhere near as large as 2002-2004 (perfect weather in 2004; 2002 and 2003 both rained in the morning but dried up and became sunny around mid-day). No doubt the weather kept a good number of folks away. Vendors sold a ton of rain jackets and glasses with light colored lenses Friday evening.

BTW, I saw two fixies out there...got passed by one of 'em...dude was hauling tail and made it look effortless.

Cheers,
Zoomie