Sweet Sugarloaf & Pork Barrel Centuries
Saturday was a beautiful day in the Nations Capital. I started riding a little before 6am, forgot my helmet and had to turn around, so I was a little bit late at the ride start in Rock Creek Park nearly 28 miles later. It really felt like a spring day, especially since Squadra Coppi and DC Velo were out in force. There was a little bit of rain just past the 70 mile rest stop, but that passed quickly. I stopped briefly at lunch and then pushed on with Bob Sheldon, Jeff Radan, and one other rider, but I was dropped within a mile. I eventually caught up with Bob Sheldon and we rode about 25 miles together. The route was pretty weird, we actually had to walk through a field to get from one road to another and then in DC we went through a gazillion turns to get back to Rock Creek Park. Traffic was messy in Georgetown, so I was the fastest thing on wheels. The batteries in my headlight went out near Falls Church, so I stopped at a 7-11 to get new batteries.
I am amazed at how well the Cateye EL500 works. First of all, those batteries went through RAAM and may have been used in Brevets. Second, it throws an amazing amount of light down the road. I would say its brighter than my cateye halogen and lasts about 10 times longer.
Back to the ride. I was feeling strong, but getting low on energy and eventually bonked in Vienna. I made it to Reston (4 miles from home) and stopped at a McDonalds to grab some cheeseburgers. While that probably wasn't the best choice, Powerbars weren't getting the job done and I was out of Perpetuem. I eventually got home at 7:30 after 157 miles.
Sunday was cold, but clear and the ride was relatively flat in the beginning. I showed up late and time trialed to the first rest stop and was able to catch up to the group. I actually stopped for lunch at the Pig & Steak (great sweet potato fries - bad Beef BBQ Sandwich) with the group, I was feeling really low on energy. I was able to keep up with the tandems after lunch as they set a blistering pace. The ride was 102 miles.
