Backroads Century – Who Is Going?

[Rootchopper]

This was my third year in a row doing the metric century at Backroads.

Many, many thanks to all the people that made this ride happen. You did a wonderful job. Great check in, t-shirt pick up, mechanical support, rest stop food and porta potties.

The weather was incredibly nice all three years. The Potomac Pedalers really ought to diversify into meteorology.

My helmet is off to the vastly improved road etiquette of the riders over last year. There were handful of people who were challenged by the stay-to-the-right concept but they were very much in the minority. Local car and truck drivers were very patient with us too.

I only have a couple of suggestions for a better ride next year.

1. Will the leaders of the pace lines please call out your passes? This may be the norm but those of us riding on the right often can’t hear you coming. Some of the riders in the pacelines were within inches of my left arm.

2. For some reason the second rest stop at the Fairview church only had fruit. Some solid food (Goldfish or pretzels) would have been helpful. (The volunteers there could not have been nicer, though.)

If I make it four in a row, I’m bringing my recumbent. I want a piece of some of those amazing downhills on a faster steed than my touring bike.

[consularrider]

@krazygl00 32025 wrote:

… I was a little perplexed by the potatoes however. They were good, especially with some kosher salt, but I thought they were lacking something. I asked how the tradition started because they are pretty much the Colombian recipe for papas saladas (salty potatoes), but the volunteers didn’t know. I found myself wanting a giant hunk of chicharrones to go with them

… All-in-all a great century. I had forgotten to start my computer until about mile 3, so by the ride end I only had 98-point-something miles. You’d better believe once I got back to the car I spun that rear wheel til the odometer read 100.1 I’ll be damned if I’m going to ride 100 miles and not have it show on my computer :p

Something I heard is that potatoes have about as much potassium as bananas, that staple of cycling rest stops.

As far as distance, the cue sheet said the century was 100.2 miles, but as I went around the traffic circle heading back to the finish, my Garmin was reading 99.8 miles. Since the Garmin Edge 500 changes its display as you pass the .05 mile mark, I couldn’t be sure I actually hit 100 miles just because that’s what was on the display. So I went past the first turn off and looped back into the parking lot. Final total, 100.37.

[Tim Kelley]

@Rootchopper 32054 wrote:

My helmet is off to the vastly improved road etiquette of the riders over last year.

Quick, put it back on! We don’t want to get a helmet debate started again!!

[krazygl00]

@KS1G 32047 wrote:

The route was very well marked and I probably could have skipped the cue sheet – although it was handy for the “what’s next?”. I did not plan to rely on it, but the Garmin Edge 500’s “course” function worked pretty well – especially the one time I overshot a turn and it told me immediately. Definitely adequate for navigating the turns, as long as you don’t stray too far off course (and rememebr to check that display). It did have an annoying habit on some straight sections of signaling “off course” followed a few seconds later by “course found” – GPS location randomness at work. I think I was able to catch on to one of the PPTC organized groups midway on the 1st loop until the 1st water-only stop (many of them stopped, I didn’t) and an impromptu group helped keep my pace up for most of the way from midway to White Post. End of ride sports massage was best $20 I’ve spent in a while, and 100% agree on the Rita’s at the finish.

I loaded the GPX files from the official ride site into my Garmin 705 and they worked FLAWLESSLY. Right up until the point that the unit stopped giving me directions at all That was at about mile 75, and all I had to do was re-start navigation so it was no big deal; I’ve heard others have encountered this bug. And actually I didn’t need directions really until about mile 90 when I found myself riding alone slogging it into the home stretch. I had the cue sheets folded inside my pocket the entire time.

Rolling time was 6:10, 7:00 total (dawdled too long at the high school mid-ride). Skipped the water-only stop on the 1st 50 and only used White Post on the 2nd 50. Swiper – 6:30 is a great time, while Back Roads does not have many long sustained climbs, the ups and downs take their toll and you have to be able to maintain a good clip on the gradual climbs and with the headwind we had at times.

Seriously?? Your paused time was 00:50 for the whole ride?? That seems…crazy. Mine was 02:25 and I didn’t feel like I was spending much time at the rest stops at all. I definitely didn’t skip any of the stops, that’s for sure. You must be a MACHINE!

[consularrider]

@krazygl00 32063 wrote:

… Seriously?? Your paused time was 00:50 for the whole ride?? That seems…crazy. Mine was 02:25 and I didn’t feel like I was hurrying through the rest stops at all. I definitely didn’t skip any of the stops, that’s for sure. You must be a MACHINE!

My rolling time was 6:16, 7:03 total. I skipped the first water stop and the final stop at 91 miles, but took time to hit the port-o-johns, refill the fluids, grab a bite to eat, and chat with the few riders I knew (and some others).

I want to give a big thank you to whoever was marking the course! I didn’t have to refer to the cue sheet a single time to figure out my turns. I did check it a few times to see how it compared to my Garmin distance readout. Since the turns were so well marked, I didn’t miss any, quite a change from my Saturday ride!

[RESTONTODC]

I enjoyed this ride. It was well organized. The area drivers were great. They passed us slowly.

Thank you to the police officer with flashing light at Route 7 crossing. It helped to slow down cars so we can cross RT7 safely.

The only complaint is the long line for bathrooms in the High School to do my number 2 business. The bibs put additional delays on the bathroom usage time. I wish they install the Johnny potty additional to the school bathrooms.

[vvill]

@consularrider 32059 wrote:

Something I heard is that potatoes have about as much potassium as bananas, that staple of cycling rest stops.

Interesting. Maybe that explains why I was craving more when I rode last year. I ate 2 or 3 I think, and I’m normally not a big fan of potatoes.

[Author]

Posts