Seagull Century 2004

Sixteen tandem teams arrived at the Hampton Inn on Friday 10/8/04 at varying times, with 8 teams gathering together for a pasta loading dinner early in the evening at Zia's Pasteria. Then it was off to the university for a visit to the vendors area and a snack & drink socializing event. Then early to bed for a very early awakening for a 6:00 breakfast at the hotel.

One group of 4 teams decided to start their ride at 7:00 AM (George & Linda, Stu & Julie, Bob & Helen, Greg & Susan). Our group of 8 teams started at 7:30 AM (Larry & Brenda, Dave & Susan, Malcolm & Judy,Walt & Claire, Rich & Michelle, John & Greta, Mark & Cheryl and Dan & Michelle). The remaining teams all left on their own.

There were over 6,000 people registered for the Seagull, some doing the metric and others doing the Assateague Island 100 mile century. The weather in the morning was cool and foggy, in the high 50's, but it did not take long for the sun to come out and the temps to rise into the pleasant low 70's and the winds never blew harder than about 5 mph. After the initial large starting crowd subsided, we were then warmed up and got into a paceline formation. It did not take long for a crowd of single bike wheel suckers to latch on to the back of us. This was pretty much the scene for the rest of the day at the tail end of our group.

We arrived at the first rest stop, 22 miles into the ride at just about the one hour mark and caught a glimpse of the other group just getting ready to leave. We snacked and used the many port-o-johns and took off on the next 20 miles to the next rest stop.

There were cyclists of all kinds riding all types of bikes attempting to accomplish the 100 mile goal. We had a very good paceline going and we were having fun working together as we were taking in the excitement of the massiveness of this ride event. Along the way we spotted a group of DOGS jerseys ahead working in a nice paceline themselves. We all hooted, hollered, laughed and barked at each other as we passed. We thought that this must have looked quite amazing to the other riders. We wish we could have seen it from their perspective.

We reached the next rest stop at 42 miles at about the 2 hour mark. We got snacks and used the numerous port-o-johns and took off again before our legs got "cold". Unfortunately there was a recent tarring and stoning of one road, but we were able to easily detour around it with the map on the back of the cue sheet. We picked up the pace a bit and the group was now 6 teams. The others thanked us for the first 50 miles and some joined the other group behind us.

We rode over the bridge to Assateague Island where the wild ponies live and some were visible from the road. If you don't know about the wild ponies please research it on the web, it's quite interesting and there are some books about it. Some are stories and some are from scientists that lived there for 10 years and studied them.

We arrived at the Assateague rest stop at 63 miles at about the 3 hour mark. We took a little longer here since this was the "lunch" stop which was very simple, but you could also buy food there at the concession stand since this is a state and federal park. We were greeted by the Oscar Meyer Weiner Hot Dog car, and we all sang the song and got a wiener whistle and our picture taken. Walt, I hope it came out & you send it in!

We then took off for the last rest stop where they serve pie & ice cream or you could buy hotdogs or burgers and they have a live band playing very upbeat and enjoyable music. We continued our pacelining and arrived at the last rest stop at 84 miles at about the 4 hour mark and again saw the other group arriving as we were getting ready to take off again.

By this time some teams were tiring or just wanting to back off and enjoy the ride a little differently. So after a fairly short time at this rest stop the 6 teams were now one 4 team paceline and two single teams conquering the last 18 miles of the ride. We were riding in a bit of a headwind since the mid-way point, so the "return" part of the ride was actually harder, not only because it was into a mild headwind, but because it was miles 62 thru 100.

We continued our group effort as we all grew a little more weary but still excited to be nearing the finish line. Our group had now become 3 teams and some single bikes on the back. We pushed through the last 5 miles and at 3 miles were cheered by a local family with a sign letting us know there were only 3 miles left and good luck. In the last mile the single bike riders thanked us for the "tow" and proceeded to pull ahead,... but alas,... we would not let that happen. :-). Teams Isherwood, Boyd/Allison and Cook/Prudhomme arrived together at the end, where we were cheered by the Salisbury Univ. cheerleaders at the banner finish, as were all riders who accomplished this feat. Finishing but a few minutes after were Team Snope/Nicholich, and we all finished the 100 miles in a satisfying record accomplishment of under 5 hours. Following not long after were Teams Dittmar and Willard/Hamanaka. The other group finished not long after with a record time accomplishment for them of under 6 hours.

We were happy all DOGS made it safely through the 100 miles and 6,000 plus bike riders. We then got our event T-shirts, returned to shower at the hotel, and again visited the vendors area at the univ. & snacked, and some received well-deserved massages, then met for dinner at the cafeteria for an all-you-can-eat buffet. We ate, talked, laughed, and returned to the hotel. Some went to the game room/pool/hot tub while others went right to sleep.

The next morning we all visited each other over breakfast at the hotel and discussed the adventures of the day before. Then it was off for a 3 to 5 hour drive home for all of us, depending on where you lived. Hope you all made it home safely. Only 363 days until next years Seagull, as Dave Snope would say! :-)

Team Isherwood

Friday night greeting

Early AM

Getting going

To Assateague

Rest stop(s)

The big finish and aftermath