orcanova

Anyone know why all these towns like Boonesboro had yard sales in every single yard?!? It was like Haloween or something. Is this an annual ritual or do these people do this every Saturday?

Anyone notice the kids with the Matchbox collection to end all all Matchbox collections? I was just mystifyed by all this...

Was it for our benefit? Like someone on a bike riding 104 miles would carry off a chester drawer (edit: corrected...chest of drawers!) or a book case?

Truly amazing...never saw anything like it...

thebchessl

I noticed that also. But it was a great ride.

orcanova

Yes. Awesome ride. Scenery was drop dead gorgeous. Going through Gettysburg was pretty awesome. It must have been about mile 70 or so so you were good and toasted, and it almost gave me goosebumps...the silence, all those cannons, I tried to imagine how horrible the carnage was.

I got smacked in the mouth by a giant wasp or hornet on a 45 mph descent. It wound up in my gum, stung the hell out of me on the inside of my lower lip, which is still massively swollen. It felt like geting hit with a slingshot. Just the impact alone probably gave me a fat lip, much less the little ****er stinging me as he died. I could taste his guts as he disintigrated on impact. The thing was huge.

Since my Orca frame got cracked on Tuesday, I rode my custom steel bike, which has TT geometry, set up with drop bars and a Syntace clip-ons. On those rolling hills, in that TT position, that thing absolutely tore up the road, with very little extra effort from me. The two guys I was riding with most of the ride were commenting on it and jumping on my draft, and we would make killer time. Not so great on the climbs though, but certainly adequate. If you saw me, it was two-tone purple: main triangle lighter purple/pink and fork and rear stays dark purple.

NoRacer

What time did you start, G?

Anyway, here's some camera phone shots that do not do justice to this ride. I wish I was more keen on taking more frequent shots with better subject matter--especially at Gettysburg:

https://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v2...slideshow=true

derath

Out in da country dem yardsales is da highlight of the weekend entertainment.

You can find a yardsale almost anywhere anytime.

Great day for a ride. Warmed up a bit at the end, but still nicer than the weather has been for most of the summer.

-D

orcanova

Hey, I started kind of late, at 8:45 AM. I got there around 7:30 AM but I was feeling pretty ill like some kind of stomach virus: gurgling stomach, nausea, slight sore throat. So, I had written off the ride at that point and offered to drive sag support with my truck. They didn't sound like they needed the help. Lines for the porta-potties were really long.

So, I drove away and found a public restroom at that restaurant with the red caboose. I sat for a long spell and every thing seemed to have gotten flushed out, and I felt better at that point. I decided to start the ride and see how I responded, figuring I could bail out at any point. Once I got warmed up on the first climb, I was feeling fine, although undernourished, so the rest of the day went great from there.

I did however, miss the first turn, and didn't realize it until four miles later, at the bottom of the mountain. I hitched a ride back up to the missed turn and resumed from there, so I wound up logging 108 miles for the day. At that turn I hooked up with a guy from Capitol Hill Bikes and his friend, and we all rode the rest of the century together. Nice guys from DC, the three of us similar in ability, and I'll probably riding with them more in the future.

Were you with those BCC riders in your pic? I think that group and us were passing each other a few times later in the ride. Total riding time for me looks about 6:20, 16.8 AVS, with 8018 feet of climbing.

(Edit: forgot to mention that after arriving, while my bike was still sitting in the back of my truck, someone apparently stole my saddle bag, which had my insurance card, (my only ID on the bike), Shenandoah Park season pass, $20.00 cash, tube, co2 and tire iron. I would have put my car key in there but it was gone. I stuffed the car key in an empty sport drink pouch with a fistfull fo Endurolyte caps and $30.00 cash. I lost the pouch, with my car key, on the road at some point, when returning it to my jersey while riding. Didn't realize it until later. My wife had to drive 1.5 hours from Alexandria with a spare key for me. Really pissed me off because they key would have been secure for the ride had the anonymous opportunist prick not nipped my saddle bag.)

RATBOY

THIS JUST IN....

"Yesterday at our bicycle event, a rider was seriously injured when he was struck by the side view mirror of a pick-up truck. We have been requested by the Pennsylvania State Police to contact Trooper Michael Fortley if you witnessed the accident or moved the bicycle off the road.
The rider is in critical condition at York Count Hospital. The driver stopped at the scene and was shaken up by the accident. The phone number for the dispatcher to provide information regarding the accident is 717-334-8111.
Thank-you for any assistance you can to Trooper Fortley.
Howard Rosenbaum
CWC07 Event Director"

Ritehsedad

Its yard sale season.

maddyfish

I'm always shaken up a little when through stupidity I nearly kill someone. Hang him.

jccaclimber

I forget what time in late summer/fall it goes on but a couple of years ago I was down there about this time and I remember ads for the world's largest annual yard sale. Perhaps its related?

NoRacer

We happened to meet at one of the rest stops (Mt Aetna VFD, I believe). Because they did voluteer duty for the event, they only did the 77 mile route.

Well that sux! You should contact the BBC and let them know of your loss of the saddle bag, which precipatated the other loses later. They need to know so that they can provide better security.

You should be able to contact them at:

https://www.baltobikeclub.org

orcanova

Wow...I bet thats it...it was like a big festival...evryone had a yard sale going...

NoRacer

Thanks for posting that. I was just about to do the same after seeing it on the BBC listserve.

af2nr

It must be a national thing cause they were all over our century down in AL too. All most seemed there were more yard sales than cars. Of course it made for lots of people watching all of us rolling by and scratching their heads...

mark_dc

Here are some photos I snapped along the route. Mostly while going up hill.

Checking in, 7:30am



Me and my riding buddies. We didn't stay together too well. Too much variation in our riding styles.



A gentle rise after Catoctin Mountain Park.



Waiting for a fellow cyclist...



Down hill!! I stopped to get this one.



The descent before the climb to the first rest stop.



Rest stop two.



The long climb...I zoomed in, these guys weren't so close but they were flying. These two photos were taken 14 seconds apart, same focal length. I was probably doing about 8mph, ten tops, here.





Nearing the end I was burning up and out. These guys were too fast for me at anytime in a long ride.



I averaged 15.7mph, 6:38 riding time. Total time was 8 hours, 30 minutes of which were spent at the accident scene, mostly useless. I didn't see it happen. I passed the cyclist earlier and he passed me as well. I hope he comes through okay.

Elric

I think I had a bookcase on my back while going up Raven Rock Road

It was good meeting you there (funny coincidence!). Sorry about the loss of your saddle bag, but it sounds like you had a good ride.

orcanova

Elric...your first post...! (I guess Alvin is a BF member but hadn't posted yet, so this is his first post.)


Yes, I met Elric (Alvin) on the ride, and its really kinda funny. To all you BF'ers, here's the story. He had PM'd me in the thread about my cracked Orbea frame, to give me the name of an Orbea dealer with great discounts on demo frames. Very nice of him.

So, here I am at the first rest area, about to leave, and this guy is on a blue/black Onyx, which looked similar to my Orca. I had just told the story of how my Orca frame was cracked to the guys I was riding with, whom I had just met. I said "see, this looks like the frame I just cracked," as I pointed at Alvin's bike. He looked at me with a quizical look and said, "hey, didn't I just message you about your bike on a bike forum...?"

Out of 4,000+ people, it felt like a small world that we had just PM'd each other here on BF.

Anyway, great to meet you Alvin, and thanks for the help. Sorry I couldn't chat longer, but I didn't want to slow these guys down since they were leaving. I'm sure we'll see each other again on some regional group ride or century.

NoRacer

Here's the latest and greatest version of the CWC photo slide show. The slideshow now contains the pix from mark_dc and bobbyc:

https://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v2...slideshow=true

jkizzle

the big yard sale thing you are talking about is the annual dixie highway yard sale, running from michigan to florida, all the way down us 127, fyi