2018 - My year in Running and Cycling

Tarwheel Century

Willis River 50k

With one more event in my schedule (Seashore 50k on 12-15) I decided to do a year-end retrospective. What went right, what went wrong and what did I learn?

I felt great when I signed up for the Georgia Death Race and the Ute 100. They were my two big goal races for 2018. In both cases I decided not to make the trips and cut my losses due to injury. I finally figured out prior to the Outer Banks Marathon for me it is better to show up undertrained and uninjured than to be trained and injured.

The Barkley Fall Classic would have been a goal race, but I've been on the waitlist two years in a row. At least I got to do it twice, with one marathon finish and one DNF.

The year definitely had some highlights. I got to run Grayson Highlands Half with my daughter, I rode Pedal for the Pig with my son and I did the Dogwood and CHKD races with Marie.

I still really like trail races. I did fine in all of my half marathons.

I DNF'd Eastern Divide 50k, but it didn't feel like a DNF. I got to run about 16 miles in beautiful mountains until my knee started bothering me from miles of continuous downhill running.

I DNF'd Night Train 50k. I felt fine, but once the sun went down I had no desire to run another 15 miles by myself. It just didn't seem worth it.

Highlights on the bike would have to be the two mountain events. I've already signed up for Gran Fondo Alleghany and will probably sign up the Mountain Mama Roadbike Challenge again. The great thing about the mountain rides is the scenery. You suffer going uphill, but you're usually rewarded with some nice long downhill stretches.

I'll probably do some more of the flat centuries just because they're nearby. Tarwheel Century was my least favorite due to the horrible winds.


1-21 Willis River 50k
2-25 Colonial Half Marathon
3-31 Georgia Death Race (DNS)
3-31 Dogwood 12-Hour
4-14 Tarwheel Century Ride
5-6 Grayson Highlands Half Marathon
5-12 CHKD Run/Walk for the Kids
5-20 Bust the Banks Half Marathon
5-26 Pedal for the Pig Century Ride
6-16 Eastern Divide Ultra 50k (DNF)
6-30 Night Train 50k (DNF)
7-21 Gran Fondo Alleghany (AG 3rd)
8-4 Mountain Mama Roadbike Challenge
8-11 Ute 100 (DNS)
9-8 Surry Century Ride
9-28 OBX Cycle Races 40k & 20k (AG 1st)
10-20 OBX Century Ride for Life (Cancelled due to TS Michael debris)
11-11 OBX Marathon
12-15 Seashore 50k

Two Lane Blacktop - My 2018 Tarwheel Century Ride

I never imagined I would become a road cyclist.

Becoming a mountain biker after being a trail runner felt very natural. Both groups share the love of hilly single track trails, preferably in the woods away from civilization.

Becoming a road cyclist did not feel natural. I always felt like an imposter, especially when it came to the colorful outfits road cyclists wear. (I know the idea is to be seen by drivers on the road.) Also road cyclists speak a different language.

One of the rites of passage to becoming a "real" road cyclist is to complete a century ride. Ultrarunners call it a 100-miler, cyclists call it a Century ride. Go figure. Also note it's a ride, not a race. Obviously there are cycle races too.

Anyway the point of a century ride is to cover a predetermined route with support. Ultramarathons have Aid Stations, Century Rides have SAG (Support and Gear) stops. 

I completed the OBX Century Ride last fall and had a blast. I immediately started looking for more. Unfortunately the OBX Century Ride was the last one of the season. Finally I found the Tarwheel Century Ride near Elizabeth City, NC on April 14 and signed up for it. There are lower mileage options, such as a Metric Century (62 miles.) In ultrarunning it would called be a 100k. I think they also had a 33-mile option.

T-Shirt

When I arrived at Camden County High School for the start I was surprised at how many cyclists there were. I later read there were about 270 riders. I spotted a rider who had done the OBX Century and we chatted for a while.

Getting ready

There was supposed to be a pre-ride briefing but it never happened. Everyone just spontaneously pulled out of the parking lot at 8:00 a.m and took off down the road.

We were given paper cue sheets which tell us where to turn but they weren't necessary. As long as you paid attention there were color coded arrows on the road telling where to go. Century riders followed the yellow markings, Metric Century riders followed the blue markings, etc.

For the majority of the time I rode by myself. My pace didn't seem to match anyone else's. I wasn't pushing hard but I wasn't going slow either. I was a little jealous when I saw club riders in groups taking turns at the front pulling their groups into the wind.

Speaking of the wind, it was out of the SSW which was exactly the direction we were going for a lot of the first two or three hours. It wasn't bad at first but got progressively stronger throughout the day.

I was glad to finally get to the first SAG stop. It looked a lot like an ultramarathon aid station. I felt right at home there. It had all of the usual pretzels, cookies, candy, etc. Apparently this stop is famous for its deviled eggs. The lady there told me to have as many as I wanted so I ate four halves. Was that wrong?

SAG stop #1

They put up stands to park your bike on. It reminded me of a triathlon.

My bike

After heading into the wind all morning I finally reached the turnaround point at the Pasquotank River/Albemarle Sound.

Southern end of the course

After a while I reached the 2nd SAG stop at a park. Off in the distance you could see the giant blimp hangar. My photo doesn't do it justice. Thankfully, they had spray on sunscreen there which I applied liberally. Otherwise I would have fried. It got very warm after lunch. I doubt many people were used to that heat.

Blimp hangar in the distance

Much of the ride is on country roads, past farms. When it's open like this you have no relief from the wind.

Two lane blacktop

Before the third SAG stop a guy pulled up beside me in a pickup and asked if I was okay. I said yes, but I was sick of the wind. Because there were a lot of loops I kept finding myself heading into the wind. It had to be 25mph at times. I kept having to downshift. A couple of times out there I remember thinking I should have done the Singletrack Maniac 50k instead. It would have been easier!

The 3rd SAG had a real treat - ice cold raspberry smoothies! The volunteers there were super friendly and funny. It was a nice break.

I finally finished after 7 hours and 32 minutes. Would I do it again? Probably, but I would hope for less wind.

My Strava track

Organizer photo - I'm the 3rd rider back

2018 Willis River 21k / 35k / 50k

I'm a big fan of Dan Pulskamp's races. When he announced on his Virginia Adventures LLC Facebook page he was assuming directorship of the Willis River 50k trail race I signed up almost immediately. The race would be put on as an old-school fatass event. Meaning there would be no entry fees, no race shirts and no medals. Fine with me. Each runner would donate some food for the aid stations. Dan asked for small donations to cover miscellaneous expenses such as insurance. We had to pay the $5 parking fee.

When I arrived at Bear Creek State Park near Cumberland, VA at 7:30 it was a chilly 31 degrees. I met Jeff L. and his wife in the parking lot. When I signed in Dan told me this wasn't going to be a "concierge" event like the Night Train 50k was. He said this would be a "masters level" technical trail run. Somehow I had it in my head that this would be another "rail trail" event. An easy, mostly flat run on a path where there used to be railroad tracks. Wrong.

The Willis River

I met Craig R. right before the pre-race briefing.

Craig and Jim Selfie

The Trail Head

I enjoyed the course a lot due to its variety. A good portion was lightly travelled single track through woodlands and along the river. The trail was marked with single white blazes. You really had to pay attention to stay on course. Well at least I did. I was running solo about 70% of the time. Every so often there would be a double white blaze indicating a major change in direction. Dan and his crew had also put up some white confidence streamers where the trail might be confusing.

On the Willis River Trail

One of several icy stream crossings

Probably the most fun for me was the stream crossings. There was no way to avoid getting your feet wet, unless you searched for a better location upstream or downstream. I think most of us just blasted through. After the first time it was no big deal.

Omar asked me to photograph him crossing the stream

There were some pretty decent hills. My Garmin battery died at mile 17, but going by some other's posts there was about 1,900 ft. of climbing in the 35k option.

There was a dirt road section which was a nice relief from the technical single track.

And there was a section that had been recently logged. I wish I had taken a photo. There was no shade there and it looked like a foreign, muddy war zone.

The green reminded me spring will come

The course was an out and back. On the way out there were some shaded areas that still had quite a bit of snow. I figured I would get some pretty photos on the way back. But no, it had all melted by then.

For most of the way back there were three women together just far enough behind me that I could hear them but couldn't see them. Finally, with about two miles to go they passed me. I think I was the last 35k finisher and my time was about 6:30.

I really enjoyed this event and highly recommend it.

I Bought a Bike on the Internet

As soon as I finished the Outer Banks Century Ride for Life I knew I was hooked on road cycling. I decided to look for a reasonably priced road bike that I could use to do more century (100 mile) rides. I knew I wanted an aluminum frame, disk brakes, wide-ish tires and a Shimano 105 groupset.

I visited a local bike shop but their prices seemed higher than I was willing to spend.

I found a Raleigh Merit 3 on Amazon for over $500 off retail and ordered it. Two days later the box arrived. Raleigh is not a glamorous brand but hey most bikes including the high-end ones come from Taiwan or China.

Bike In A Box

The bike was 85% assembled and arrived with no damage. Basically, you put the handlebars, seat, front wheel, pedals and front brake on yourself. They even include the tools you need in the box.

I put the whole thing together without reading the instructions.

Almost Done

There were a few part parts remaining that I wasn't sure about until I chatted with my son.

Mystery pieces

The black rubber things are for routing the front brake cable through the carbon forks. The hollow tube centers the brake cable on the connection to the front brake. The two shiny pieces are end caps that you crimp onto the cable ends so they don't fray.

It took me quite a while to get the front and rear derailleurs adjusted properly as I had never done that before. I kind of expected them to be pretty close out of the box but they were way off. I watched a couple of YouTube videos and got everything working correctly.

After a couple of short rides I can say I'm very happy with the bike. It shifts great. It has a little bit of elastic in the stem and seat post to absorb bumps. The handlebars are very comfortable due to their oval shape and a lot of cushioning.

All Done