Thanks to all those who held training rides, especially Malcolm and Judy who drilled us in the ways of working in a pace-line, because we were as ready as we were ever going to be when 9 October arrived! Team Wells learned some important lessons on these training rides. Malcolm hit the target, when he told us, "It was a whole lot better learning the lessons during our training rides than at the Century." We saw more than a few cyclists that were "roasted-toasted-hung-out-to-dry" miles before the finish. Those training rides allowed us to have fun during the Century rather than suffer -- hence the name that Susan Adam gave us -- B-Fun-DOGS!
For Linda and me, sleeping on Friday night was difficult. The excitement and anticipation of actually riding 100 miles, or five 20-mile rides back-to-back, had us up at 3:15 AM. The B-Fun-DOGS (a.k.a., Beta-DOGS, and/or Bravo-DOGS) began with Teams Adam (Greg & Sue), Bird (Bob & Helen), Conway (Stu & Julie), and Wells (George & Linda) who had all agreed to a 7:00 AM start, which meant that we were rolling out of the hotel parking lot just a few minutes after 6:00 in order to drive to the college, park the cars, set up the tandems, and get going as close to 7:00 AM as possible. During George's first trip to the car Saturday morning (with a pitch-black sky overhead), he noted that there was a heavy mist, and if you didn't know it already, Salisbury is the home of Frank Perdue! (And, George thought he had his last whiff of this stuff when he retired!) It was both chilly and foggy, but the forecast was for mid-to-high 70's by mid-day (and the weatherman remained true to his word!). Most of us wore minimal layers but some additional layers, so most of us were pretty chilly as we "shoved off." By the time we reached the parking lot at the college, the place was filling up with cars and riders getting ready for the start of the ride, group photos were being taken, tactics discussed and, generally, it was "ordered chaos." There was a hum of excitement in the cold morning air.
The crowd at the start point wasn't too big as the B-Fun-DOGS gave Team Wells the honor of leading us all through the tunnel which is a walkway under busy Route 13 to/from the college. Linda looked at her watch -- it was exactly 7:09 AM as the B-Fun DOGS began their epic journey. There was the beginning of sunlight on the horizon even though a bit of murky weather due to the dampness and chill that was getting through the layers. For those who have not ridden this route, there is a rest-stop about every 20 miles. That turned out to be very good thing, especially for Team Wells since the ride they complete almost every day is 22 miles. There were already riders out in front of us and as we accelerated up to our pre-determined cruising speed of 18 mph, the riders ahead of us would occasionally appear out of the mists. There were also groups of riders who were faster than the B-Fun DOGS who would come past us shouting a chorus of the famous words, "on your left!," and melted into the mist ahead of us. The intersections were all marked with yellow and white seagulls and arrows. (As Brenda will tell you, the cue sheets weren't/aren't all that necessary.) For the first miles, there were both yellow seagulls for the Metric and white seagulls for the English routes. We managed to form up into our line pretty early and the traffic ahead wasn't all that dense, so passing slower riders wasn't difficult. After a time, Team Wells rotated off the front to the back of the line which was just a tad warmer because we were no longer punching a hole in the air. Gradually, the skies brightened, but the fog persisted in patches. After riding ten miles, Linda pulled out the first banana from one of George's jersey pockets and handed it to him. (This was an agreed upon tactic that Team Wells had decided was important -- eating something every ten miles.) For Team Wells, as cold as it was at that point, drinking was minimal. Fortunately, though, George had really hydrated before he left the hotel, so not drinking did not cause dehydration, although it did begin to cause another problem shortly before the first rest stop.
Legs pushing the pedals, breathing evenly, and maintaining a nice pace, the miles rolled under our wheels. We were on our way towards completing Team Wells' first English Century. We noted that Teams Adam and Bird were the talkers in the group while Teams Conway and Wells tended to be quieter. It was a good balance. In the parking lot at the college, we learned that Susan Adam had already completed about 15 English Centuries -- so, we had a seasoned pro in our ranks. Greg had also completed centuries, but not as many as Susan, but this was their first tandem century. By the time we were approaching the first rest stop, Team Wells was back in the lead. About two miles prior to the turnoff for the first rest stop, the additional water that George had drunk at the hotel had worked its way through his system and was demanding an exit. The road surface to the rest area changed from nice, smooth macadam to a rumbly chip-and-seal surface. Aarugh! Just what he needed -- and everybody on the B-Fun Team heard him! To be sure, George got razzed by the teams all the way into the rest area.
Beginning at the second mile, Teams Bird and Adam started a song. They changed the words from "100 bottles of beer on the wall, 100 bottles of beer, take one down pass it around, 99 bottles of beer on the wall" to "98 miles of road to go 98 miles of road, pull for a mile, drop to the back, 97 miles of road to go." We sang this to each other after each time team Bird or Adams finished a pull. We did get some strange looks from the other cyclists, but then again, who cares -- we were having fun.
Shortly after we arrived at the first rest stop, the A-DOGS -- Teams: Boyd/Allison (Malcolm & Judy), Cook/Prudhomme (Mark & Cheryl), Dittmar (Richard & Michelle), Dodson/Emerson (Dan & Michelle), Isherwood (Larry and Brenda), Mast (John & Greta), Snope/Nicolich (Dave & Susan) and Willard/Hamanaka (Walt & Claire) rolled into the rest stop. They had begun their adventures about 7:30 AM, less than a half an hour after we had gone thru the tunnel. It was really good to see them all. Even though we could not maintain their pace, we all were participating and we all were going to finish. After a brief exchange of greetings and the B-Fun-DOGS were making their way back out to the road. Fortunately, it was still early so we could actually ride our tandems back to the road. (We had been warned that later in the day, walking to/from that first rest area was the only way you could navigate that particular road). Team Conway took the lead as we started the second 20 mile ride. Finally, the sun started to overtake the fog and we began to warm up. We traded leads about every three to four miles keeping a nice 18 mph pace. These roads were, as advertised, flat with Linda noting that the bubble on the inclinometer never left the middle of the range. Then the really fast riders began to overtake the field. Loud choruses of "on-your-left!" filled our ears as they went flying by. That isn't to say that we didn't pass our share of single riders as we maintained our pace. Then, from behind we heard a loud series of "Woof-woof's" and the A-DOGS came flying past us. It was good to see them again. We avoided the temptation to join their train because we knew that trying to match their speed would only lead to toasted legs. Shortly thereafter, Linda peeled another banana and George knew that another ten miles had passed under our wheels. Not only was this going to keep up our strength but it told me when we had completed half the distance to the next rest stop. (Okay: for those who don't know, George doesn't have a computer because he finds it to be both distracting and demoralizing.)
As we pedaled on, one single rider gave George the infamous "she's not pedaling" line. George replied, "Of course, she is, because I'm not, after all I have to steer, brake, and shift -- she has to do something!" While all the tandemists caught the joke, Bob Bird told us on Sunday, at breakfast, that the single rider had a shocked look on his face and didn't say another word.
There is one good side to being on the front of the line -- the captain gets to look at the scenery, not just the wheel in front! When you're in the line, you must pay more attention to the line ahead of you. Otherwise, a distraction can ruin your whole day, which is what we saw later in the day on a couple of occasions -- bicycles all over the road due to cyclists inattentiveness and also becoming tired and distracted. Malcolm said it best at Sunday breakfast, "...my view of the scenery was 'there's Larry's cluster, and I don't want to lose it." Yet, being in the middle of the line is great because you find yourself coasting at 18 mph with very little wind in your face. Actually, it can get a bit warm. As we approached the second rest stop, with the sun in full glory, it was definitely getting warmer. Team Wells was on the back of the line when George decided to push the long sleeves of his base layer up to his elbows. The left arm worked just fine. However, the right arm, which had the "Livestrong" band, was also pushed up to his elbow and the band started to work like a tourniquet. George's fingers started to become numb so he worked the yellow band down to his wrist. Shortly thereafter, we pulled into the second rest stop. This one was just water, sports drink and a large row of Port-a-Potties. (Thank you.) While in line for "the facilities" George took off the base layer as he was getting really warm in the sunshine. Then filling his now-empty hydration pack, he had a chat with John Mast. John and Greta had been with the A-DOGS and asked if they could join the B-Fun-DOGS. Of course! Now we had five teams and longer rest periods between pulls on the front -- this would become really important as the day progressed. Refreshed and re-grouped, we started off on the next 20 mile segment of the ride. None of us felt as though we had ridden 40 miles, but we had! We were surprised at our sense of well-being. As we rolled down the road, we entered a shaded area and the world got cold -- real fast. While George found it refreshing (he sweats like a draft-horse), there was general complaining amongst the pace-line. We eventually came out into the sunshine and started getting warmer again.
Somewhere after the second rest stop, Sue Adam worked out a version of the old High School cheer with Team Mast. Now we had a second song being sung: "We are the DOGS, the mighty, mighty DOGS, everywhere we go, people want to know who we are, so we tell them..." At this point they inserted a howl. It was our "theme song" for the rest of the ride. The song was sung often when we passed other groups along the way.
This area of the middle of the Delmarva Peninsula is farming country. Most of the roads are two-lane country roads with minimal traffic. I think the locals either stay home or get out of town the Saturday prior to Columbus Day because they know that 6,000 bicyclists will take over their roads for that day. As the B-Fun DOGS rode along, we noticed that many of those who stayed home were out cheering us on. There were a couple of little girls who had set up there own version of a rest stop with free iced tea and lemonade for the riders. And there was yet another group that rang there big cow bells as we went flying by (just like at the New York City Criterium that is held the first Sunday in August following the Tour de France). Generally, most of the drivers were just as courteous to the cyclists as the cyclists were to the drivers and to all the other Seagull Century riders. The fact that the group with which we rode was planning to complete an English Century probably had something to do with the civility of the riders. We saw all kinds of bicycles, from recumbents, to trikes, to... well, technically, they were called bicycles. There was also a large contingent of riders for the Leukemia Foundation. You could spot these folks from a distance because they all had some kind of do-dad on their helmets (Hershey Kisses, Pink Pigs, etcetera), and they had their own cheering section and support staff as well.
Oh yes, there was one short section of deep gravel where Team Wells, imitated Lance Armstrong by opting for a bit of cyclo-cross to avoid the deep gravel on the turn. Shortly, we restored our bunch and pedaled on. (Oh, George does 'love' chip-and-seal!)
As we approached Assateague State Park, the breeze picked up and amplified the effort that was required to maintain the pace of the group, so it was a bit harder to keep the pace going. Then, off in the distance were two of the three climbs of the entire ride -- the camel-back bridge which you had to cross -- to and from the island. A camel-back has a short, steep span that when looked at from the side, resembles the hump on a camel. We kept up our pace as we approached the pedestrian path bridge and rode between the safety cones. What we hadn't been told was that under the cone was a big metal pipe filled with concrete -- hit that puppy and here's another way you can ruin your whole day! This is where we showed the flatlanders that "Tandems Can Climb!" We flew past more than a few struggling singles. We crested the bridge and then enjoyed the ride down the other side -- more cones at the bottom -- yikes! Once on the other side of the bridge, we were at the third rest stop. This one was filled with cyclists in various stages of energy depletion, having finished the first half plus 13 miles of the ride. This stop was huge! There was a long walk between the port-a-johns, food and water -- at opposite ends of the parking lot. So far, we were feeling really good. 60 miles under our legs and we just didn't feel it, yet, but Susan Adam warned us that the 60 to 80 mile leg was the most difficult of the ride and that we had to be cautious not to over-do our pace. Keep it smooth and sane was the way to go for the next segment of the ride. By this time, Linda was getting pretty tired of bananas, as much as she enjoys them. She told George, "I don't think I want any bananas tomorrow morning, for breakfast, honey." Sunday was a banana-free day for Linda even though she passed right by them at the Breakfast Nook. (You'll have one on your cereal Monday morning, Linda.)
John and Greta noted that this was their first time riding in an "organized pack" and the camaraderie made a real difference in the experience of riding a century. This was most important to them during the leg between the Island and the last rest stop. Having fellow DOGS around them made their experience better than the other centuries they have ridden.
Off the island meant a trip over the motor vehicle side of the bridge. The police alternately stopped cars or bicycles at the base of the bridge. Fortunately, as we approached, bicycles had the right of way so we didn't lose momentum on the way up and over the bridge. The downhill saw the fastest speed of the ride as we coasted down. So far, more than halfway through the ride and we were all feeling pretty good. With the five of us working together, the 20 miles between rest stops translated into about two turns per team on the front. Not bad at all. George's plan for regular eating and drinking was working well. George has always gotten thigh cramps on rides around 60 miles and had an idea that they were due to running out of fuel and getting low on potassium (hence the bananas). So far, no cramps. Even the sports drink that he made -- (one cup each of orange and cranberry juices mixed with 1/8 tsp salt) helped keep the electrolytes in balance. The fourth, and final, rest stop was the one everyone talked about because it is the famous "pie and ice cream" stop. I think some of us got a whiff of the goodies because the pace crept up, occasionally, and then returned to "normal." At 83 miles logged, we were now beginning to "feel" the ride in our legs. The good part was, that once we wolfed down our pie-and-ice-cream, there were only 17 miles left. We were having a good day. We noticed that others riders weren't having a great day. In those last miles we passed an area where a pace line had gone down hard and one cyclist was on the side of the road holding his arm (broken collar bone?) while others were sorting out bikes, water bottles and other bike stuff strewn across the road. This only meant that these last miles were probably the most dangerous of the entire ride.
That last leg was okay but, as we began to fatigue, the line began to accordion out and back and that attacked the legs. As much as we might have wanted to slow the pace, our butts told us to speed up and get to the end. It was a classic legs versus butt argument -- in the end, the legs won. Then we hit the last climb of the ride at 97 miles. The line fell apart. Those with the legs for it, powered up the grade while the others struggled to keep a descent pace. This really hurt. Fortunately, there were only three miles left. The bad news was, that there were still three miles left to pedal. We re-formed the line and kept pedaling.
Finally, there it was -- the tunnel back to the college. Suddenly, all the fatigue left our bodies as we powered down the slope and up the other side, emerging from the tunnel at 2:56 PM (Linda looked at her watch, once again, but this time thru eyes of tears because of the cheering crowd all around us. (Good thing she wasn't doing the steering.) Rounding the corner we pedaled towards the official finish line where six Salisbury University Cheerleaders in a 3-2-1 pyramid were chanting a cheer. George didn't quite get the words of their cheer because suddenly there was a mass of bikes, pedestrians, etcetera all over the sidewalk. George put his foot down when a group of singles passed him on the left while the other four teams made a left turn into the area where people were parking their bikes. We finally got to the rest of the B-Fun DOGS and realized that we had done it -- all 100 miles. All four of the original teams plus the Masts had made it in together -- we didn't drop anyone and we all had a good ride! The practice that we had leading up to the Seagull also assured that we maintained a safe pace-line. Our mission was accomplished. Even through her tears, Linda beamed with pride because of our accomplishment. Sweaty, tired and elated, we collected our souvenir tee-shirts and walked our tandems back to our respective modes of transportation that would return us to the Hampton Inn, where we showered, changed clothes and returned to the campus for the dinner we had purchased as part of the package.
The dinner was at the college cafeteria and, even though it wasn't a four-star restaurant, there was a wide selection of food and lots of it, too. Even though we had devoured lots of bananas, cereal bars, fig newtons, water, sports drink, etc., for almost seven hours, we were so hungry that just about everything looked delicious. Being hungry and tired it worked for all of us. The lights went out in Room 209 at 8:26 PM as Linda and George lay their exhausted but happy bodies on their bed for the second and final night at the Hampton. They were asleep very soon after their heads hit their pillows. We were awake at 6:11 AM Sunday morning. Following three sets of goodbyes (George couldn't get Linda out the door of the Breakfast Nook), we got into Linda's Saturn, at 9:44 AM and started for home. As we left the canopy of the Hampton, we waved goodbye to Susan of the B-Fun DOGS Team who was sitting in their van, getting ready for their trip back home. Very light traffic just about all the way. Before arriving home at 3:15 PM, we made three stops -- to empty one tank, fill up another, and have lunch at Alexis, our favorite diner which is less than two miles from our home.
It was a lot of fun. Rumor has it that Brenda may be convinced to organize another one of these for 2005. Team Wells will consider that a real possibility.
Hope you all enjoyed reading about our adventures at Seagull Century 2004. Team Bird is already thinking about this because they said "We had a great time and Helen wants to go back next year. I can not believe we finished and felt as strong as we did. Two weeks earlier at Malcolm & Judy's we were more tired after the 70 miles than we were after the 100." For Team Adam this was the largest ride they have ever done and they are looking forward to next year.
Talk to you all again. Hope to see lots of you next Sunday in Tuckerton. Hey, that ride is "only" 50 miles -- piece of cake!
Linda & George Wells
Leaders - Doubles Of the Garden State