Sea Gull Century - 2008

Seagull Century 2008

The day started out at our luxury accomodations at the Salvation Army ball field. There were probably a hundred folks camping inside the gym and outside the building. This location was as cheap as you could get in Salisbury this weekend. Another bonus was that we were only a mile and a half from the starting point of the century ride.



We started the day in 48 degree temps. I wore my jersey, arm warmers, a vest and pocketed two chemical heat packs.

M wore a jersey, jacket, and arm warmers.


The starting point of this 100 mile ride was at the Maggs Center, Salisbury University.


Here we are with 6400 of our closest friends.


That's me in the foreground in the pink jersey and bright yellow vest.


We saw three daddies riding with their little girls. None of these kids looked over the age of ten. Whenever we saw one of these young'uns, they seemed happy as punch. This must not be a new thing for them, I am guessing.


Here's M about 5 miles outside of Salisbury.


The first rest stop was at mile 21. There were bagels, cream cheese, and fruit. Normally, we don't eat this early on a ride, but who am I to pass up "free" food?



We passed this guy at about mile 15. He was peddling like crazy on this tall unicycle. We never saw him again after the first rest stop. (***This fellow found my blog post and commented: "I did finish the whole 100 miles. It was a lot of fun. I need some gears on that thing!"***) How funny that he found the post. That was one of the coolest things we saw on the ride.


Always a line at the porta-potties.


I shed my vest at the rest stop, and then had chattering teeth til we got here out in the sunshine.


I didn't realize that I captured this event until I looked at the photos later. This angry motorcyclist blew by us spewing "f-bombs." That disturbed me for a good while. Cycling out on the road can be a scary experience, and it's less comforting when nut cases are screaming at you.


Second rest stop. Mile 42. More liquids and porta-potties.


Another peculiar sight out there. Rollerbladers. I think that they didn't do the entire 100 miles, but I'm not sure how far they did go.


This is one of my favorite scenic spots on this ride. Every year I take a photo of us riding up to this little church. When I was little, our family would vacation on the Eastern Shore of Virginia to visit cousins. My uncle was a minister not terribly far from here, and I guess this little church represents that experience for me.


On the road leading to Assateague Island.


M and I on the top of the bridge crossing onto Assateague.


Lunch stop. Assateague Island. Mile 62.


Path to the beach. The sign is warning you to not mingle with the wild horses who live there. This day we didn't see the ponies; just piles they left behind.


Scenic bike shot on the Atlantic.


Lots of folks milling around, taking a break.


More long lines at the porta-potties.


Back on the road. Next stop, pie and ice cream.


Berlin, Maryland. Mile 73. This is such a quaint town. I'm sure the thousands of bikes rolling through create some amount of havoc....or pleasant diversion.




And then........the Pièce de résistance. Mile 83. Pie and ice cream. This rivals the 100 mile mark for me. This has got to be the most guilt-free dessert that I eat each year.



I stood up after this shot and immediately got charlie horses in my right quad. They drifted in and out for about five minutes. Ugh. This didn't happen until mile 92 last year. And mile 94. And mile 96. Thankfully, once I got on the bike again, the pain never came back.


The sky darkened up a bit and I felt some mini drips from time to time, but thankfully, we made it to the end dry.


I was concentrating so hard on keeping our mph average over 16, that I didn't take more pictures. I was peddling hard and trying to not cramp.

Here's the final shot. 100 miles. 6 hours 8 minutes.




You couldn't ask for a better day to ride a century than this one.