On October 8, I rode in the Sea Gull Century cycling event that started and ended on the Salisbury University campus in Maryland. This was my second century ride of the year, and also my second ever.
Overall, this was a well-run event. The course was well-marked. The roads were in very good condition. The course is a circle, east of the city of Salisbury, on very flat terrain. The rest stops were well stocked with food and drinks. This is a popular event with clubs coming from far away to participate. The event was sold out.
The weather at the 7AM start was chilly and overcast and breezy. I wore a helmet liner, arm warmers, base layer, jersey, and gilet. I was especially glad for the gilet when it started raining after about mile 42. The rain lasted only a few minutes and the roads dried out over the next hour. The sun came out at about 11AM. I was finally able to take the arm warmers and gilet and helmet liner off at the last rest stop at mile 82.
Shortly after I made the last turn onto the road to Assateague Island, I was passed by two ambulances with sirens on. I soon arrived at the scene of the accident to which they were responding. I’m not one to linger and stare at an accident so I didn’t see much, but I did notice several bikes in the ditch and EMTs working on people who were out of sight. They were all gone by the time I came back past the same spot. This was the only accident of which I’m aware.
Speaking of Assateague, this was my first visit to the Maryland part of this island. The bridge climb was short and steep and easily the most prominent “terrain” feature of the ride. There were no horses around, probably because there were so many people, but there was a lot of horse shit. This was my favorite of the rest stops, with lots of room and food, right there next to the Atlantic Ocean.
I finished the ride under sunny skies and in gusting wind, riding through the tunnel, emerging to ride through a sparse crowd and cheerleaders cheering. I was really tired and ready to be done.
I was careful to take a few days off the bike before the event so I could start rested. Unfortunately, I hardly slept the night before, just turning over and over in bed. I had a COVID booster vaccination on Wednesday and, while I’ve had no serious reaction, my shoulder has been sore, my armpit is swollen, and my resting heart rate has been elevated ever since. I have no idea whether this contributed to my poor sleep, but I was not 100% when I started the ride.
I loaded up on calories the day before, and I ate before the ride. I wasn’t hungry but ate at each rest stop: I’ve never before had so many bananas in one day. I was especially fond of the Fig Newtons at the last rest stop. Because it was so cool, I didn’t sweat much and wasn’t thirsty, but I drank at the rest stops.
This was my second century ride, but my first was not a typical century. My first century, during RAGBRAI 2022, was a west to east ride with a near direct tail wind nearly the whole day. Also, there weren’t many pace lines in my first century, and the ones that were there were small. The Seagull Century is a circuit. And there are lots of club pace lines. I think the first one that passed me had 200 riders. The ones that followed were more like 20-50 riders. The rest stops were also different. During RAGBRAI, there were no designated rest stops, only pass-through towns where I could buy food and refill my bottles. The Seagull rest stops had bananas, bagels, cookies, and other snack food. So I stopped at each rest stop, as compared with RAGBRAI, during which I stopped when I wanted to. Now obviously I could have stopped anywhere I wanted during the Sea Gull, but I didn’t.
I was hoping to finish faster, but, given the wind, my lack of sleep, and the lingering effects of my COVID shot, I think I did OK. My final results: 101.0 miles, 1,004 feet of climb, 6:08 hours of moving time, 2,874 active calories.
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| Seagull Century Route |
