KevinF

Did anybody do the whole thing today? Link to the ride: https://www.granitestatewheelmen.org/...C-HomePage.htm

A friend and I tried to do the ride today. The forecast was classic "unsettled", meaning that we expected to see every type of weather possible, but we also figured it would be an on and off again type rain.

The first 15 miles or so is a loop through some Massachusetts town. They have to make it the "Tri-State" ride somehow! We started at 7:15; semi-chilly with a light drizzle, but it wasn't too bad. The wind was blasting out of the south, so the first couple miles were a quick warmup into the wind, and what rain there was quickly subsided. I was beginning to think that we might just get lucky with the weather.

Eventually we hit the turn-around and started heading north. Our headwind instantly became a tailwind. Sweet! We started pretty effortlessly pushing about 20, which for a slowpoke like me is pretty impressive. They route you right past the start/finish area as you head north, so we had an opportunity to re-evaluate the clothing situation. Just as we got to the start/finish area it started raining again, so I thankfully kept my jacket (I had long sleeves on underneath and booties for my shoes).

After re-filling bottles, we turned north for the trip to Maine. The first couple miles are right along the ocean. Normally it's a gorgeous view but today we were getting soaked. On the plus side, we had a tailwind! Again, we were relying on the "unsettled" forecast to produce some decent weather eventually.

There is one long metal grate bridges that the ride organizers recommend you walk across, and one other metal grate bridge (from Portsmouth, NH to Kittery, ME) that the local police make you walk across. Most people walked the "recommended" one although I saw a large group ride across it. They all made it, although there was certainly some skidding going on. Walking across the bridges in the rain though reduced the energy output level for a minute or two and I was just frozen from then on.

It eventually did stop merely "raining" as it upgraded to "pouring" shortly after we crossed into Maine. My friend and I eventually pulled up and decided that this was "zero fun", so we bailed and turned for home. Needless to say, our sweet tailwind instantly became a headwind again. It was pouring so hard for a while that I didn't even really notice the wind. Once we got within about 10 or 15 miles of the finish it actually stopped raining (or maybe it was just drizzling -- it certainly let up), and then I really started noticing the headwind. It was actually a "nice" headwind, as I was soaked to the bone and pretty cold, so it gave me my first opportunity to really warm up all day (the ride is basically dead flat).

We wound up doing about 62 miles on the day; just over 4 hours riding time. We missed seeing any part of the Maine coast, which is a shame as it's really pretty up there. We saw a lot of riders turning around. Did any bikeforum members finish the 100 route? Did you ever get into any kind of clearing weather once you got into Maine? The ride is held again on Sunday, but the forecast is for even worse weather (high winds, thunderstorms), so there's no way I'm trying again (well, next year I'll be back).

I've cleaned the worst of the mud and sand off the bike. My jacket, jersey, shorts, socks, shoes, etc. might one day be clean and dry. Neither my friend or I had a flat -- thank God for that, as changing a flat in that would have added another layer of misery to our day. Plus we had some pretty scrumptious lobster afterwards, which is always good for cheering up the mood somewhat.

woodboy

I did the whole thing. It rained all the way up into Maine but stopped for the last 25 or so miles back into New Hampshire. Once we got back to Hampton Beach State park the sun came out. One of the guys I rode with did it again on Sunday and reported that the weather was even worse (harder rain, higher winds). I saw somebody go down on that first bridge -- I'm not so sure walking wasn't mandadory on that bridge too although there was no enforcement. Lots of flats on the road so consider yourself lucky you didn't get one. The Maine coast up around York Beach looked great with the rough seas. There were lot's of surfers in Rye beach, NH but you couldn't see them through the seawall. Lots of riders turned back or skipped the side loops -- didn't see anyone o the 20 mile loop around Rye. In all, it took about 6.5 hours in the saddle for the 102 miles (close to 8 hours total time with rest stops and flat tires). I'm glad I did the whole ride but was glad when it was over.

Ate fried sea swine (clams and scallops) at Markey's afterwards then drove 3-1/2 hours back to VT. Prying myself out of the car when I got home was the hardest thing I did all day.

Cycliste

I rode the century on Saturday, sure it was wet and haven't much to add to the account other than i am still cleaning sand out of my shifters . Drafting was a pain and gave up on it, though I met a rider with fenders who offered me shelter for a little while .

On Sunday, we rode the 25 mls course as a family with our tandem + a tag-along attached, that was real fun and the weather wasn't bad as someone mentioned unless it may have been earlier on or further north.
We encountered a heavy shower around noon, but were already inside having lunch .
Wind is often a challenge around Hampton/Rye, a very flat and exposed area. I believe it got worse after 3pm, we were already back by then. But on and all, Sunday was definitly a better day than Saturday.

jazzy_cyclist

My experience was much like Kevin's - a really wet ride on Saturday. After about 4 hours of the stuff, I decided to just be happy with a metric, although I realized that I screwed up the directions afterward anyway. I did the southern loop to Newburyport and back and headed north. When leaving the rest stop at 40 miles, I turned right, as everyone else was doing, but I really should have turned left to continue north. As it turns out, I had exactly 63 miles on returning since the metric didn't include that first southern loop.

One cool thing, I did get into a mini-pace line on the way back with a couple other guys for 10 or 15b miles which was lots of fun - helped avert some of the headwinds (of couse, you get the spray from the rear wheel of the guy you're drafting). This could be a spectacular ride in good weather, although it is basically flatter than a pancake. I'll try again next year.

Still haven't properly cleaned my drivetrain; ugh!