I signed up for the 100. But we got there late and were concerned about not making the rest stops, so we just did the 70 mile route.
*The weather and clothes:* The weather was about 70's-90's. Hot and humid. Bright blue skies with some clouds made for a beautiful day. I wore a jackpot-found-for-less-than-4$-at-a-Goodwill Ibex wool t-shirt, and wool 3/4 tights that I scored on clearance on Ibex site last winter. I've had the shirt for a couple years now and it is getting some small holes in it. My wife fingernail polished them or something like that to keep them from getting any bigger. Nike sneakers. Cotton socks. Summer Gloves. Helmet made in 2009, I think. *The Ride:* The 70 route is the same route as the 100, but eliminates a thirty mile loop that splits off the 70 course. I hopefully will do the 100 next year. Run by the Oxon Hill Bike club. The full 100 has ~3240 feet climbing/elevation? Not sure what the diff in those terms means, or if they are the same. A handful of short-ish, steep hills. The rest of the ride was gently rolling southern Maryland country road and shouldered country highway terrain. Beautiful. The last rest stop is at mile 89 mark on the century map, I guess 59 on the 70 route. If you make it to there, you can recovery spin the last almost totally flat miles to the finish if you are tired. At least on the 70 route you could. There was a beautiful new looking MUP for about 5 miles at the end that was flat and wide. As soon as you pop out at the end of it you are about .2 miles from the end. Traffic was light and the car drivers were friendly, even one slowing to ask me about the event. This is probably a good step up into a century with some hills if you are used to flat centuries and don't want anything too hard, but want to try a century that isn't flat. I would guess that upwards of 1000 people were there. When I was at one of the latter rest stops they said they counted about 575 people who came through so far. I am so glad that this century is offered. And only $30 to register and close to home!!! More info about the ride here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/70237737@N00/albums/72157658179109169 I think Palinscar and Joan from this forum are involved in this ride or have been in the past. I saw a woman at the finish picnic who looked like she could have been Joan (from pics I have seen on this forum of her) but wasn't sure and I was too shy to ask. Starts at a beautiful park with plenty of parking and the walk up tables to get wrist bands (no numbers for riders) were lickity split fast and very friendly service. *The bikes:* I saw no Rivendells that I was aware of!!!! Bummer. But I did see some other lugged steel. One was Japanese. Started with an H. "Hiroki"?!?! It was pink. No Palinscars or Joans that I met along the way. I saw more titanium than ever I am aware of seeing on an organized ride. Moots, and Sevens, and Litespeeds. Maybe one recumbent? No banana bikes. Lotsa alu/carbon One guy was on a gigantic bright blue cruiser bike. I think there were tassels hanging from the grips. I think I may have seen one tandem. I was on my 53 Bleriot. *The pictures:* Just a few. I'll post a video clip later. https://www.flickr.com/photos/70237737@N00/albums/72157658179109169 -- 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.