Pug

Anyone else riding it? I just registered. If anyone is interested in riding in a group, please PM me and I'll get it organized. This will be my first time. I'm looking forward to the challenge of 6,900' of climbing. Would like to hear hints/tips from anyone who's done it in the past.

2012 Civil War Century

JimF22003

Hi Pug. I've done it three times, and am signed up again for this year. I've had a bunch of setbacks unfortunately due to emergency surgery in April. Hopefully I'll be trained up enough to make the ride by then. If not there's a pretty nice "bail out" option at about mile 70 I think that lets you basically coast back into Thurmont.

There are a couple of nice long not-too steep climbs, including right out of the gate when you climb up the Catoctin Mountains (past Camp David basiclly, although it's not marked anywhere.) There's also a pretty nice long climb out of Smithsburg that can get hot because it's exposed.

Other than that it's mainly rollers, some of which are pretty steep.

It's a well-run event. Have fun!

datlas 

At least one guy from my club is doing it. He has done it before. He says it's an amazingly good ride. Pretty tough too.

If you want his contact info, PM me and I can check with him. He's probably looking to do a 17MPH average pace.

Pug

JimF22003, best wishes for a quick and full recovery. Hope to see you there!

ks1g

I've ridden it twice and plan to ride it again this year. Bring your climbing legs & gears (last year, 50/34 compact + 12-32t cog. SRAM Apex FTW!). And good brakes for some of the descents (Weeeeeeee!). Event is well-supported. Route is well-marked and includes portions of the Antietam and Gettysburg battlefields. Due to the elevation changes, the weather can vary quite a bit to include fog, mist, rain, to hot sun. Stay fed and hydrated. Knowing how to change stance/pedaling/cursing to uncramp one leg (or two!) while on the move may be a useful skill! Anyone planning to ride it should not wait for last minute to sign up as the ride has a registration cap and sells out.

Check ridewitgps, mapmyride, Strava, Garmin, etc. for examples of the route and ride histories.

songfta

Done it four times, all enjoyable. Not as challenging as Mountains of Misery or Mountain Mama, but plenty hard. If you are a strong rider, standard gearing (53/39 front, 11-25 rear) will more than suffice (the steepest stuff is "punchable" with a quick burst). I have compacts on my road bikes, where the front is either a 50/34 or 50/36, and I run 12-27 or 11-26 cassettes, and I've never once had to drop into the lowest gear on the Civil War course. Your mileage, of course, may vary.

It's well-run, and the ice cream truck at the end is a lovely treat, especially if the weather is hot. Sign up early and enjoy!

(Note that I don't plan on participating this year - taking a year off from the CWC so that I can enjoy it more in the future!)

mendoza99

If you are selling, I am interested in buying a registration for the 2012 Century send me a note. mendoza 99 at gmail dot com


Thanks

Rodrigo

telebianchi

Does anyone know how to transfer their registration? Due to injury I won't be able to do the ride. I already have somebody lined up who will take my spot (sorry, mondoza99) but I am not sure how to make that happen since this would have been my first year riding CWC.

I've emailed the Baltimore Bike Club but have not heard back from them (no problem, I'm sure they are busy with final preparations).

Does CWC send a packet in the mail prior to the ride? Or does a person just show up with their Active.com registration number? Do they check the name on the registration against the person standing in front of them?

Hope that's not too many questions. I just want to make sure that my friend taking my registration does not run into any problems on the day of the event.

Thanks!

JimF22003

The year before last I had to miss the ride because I unexpectedly had to be out of town. I "gave" my registration to somebody I never met over the internet just by telling them my name. They just signed in as me when they got to the registration area. Low-tech, but it worked.