Tar Wheel Century

The Tar Wheel Century is coming up. It will be held on April 26, 2008. This is a great way to get in a long ride at your own pace. It starts at Roanoke Bible College in Elizabeth City and is fully sagged covering mostly back roads through the town of Hertford and then to Edenton where they have a stop at the waterfront that is approximately the 57 mile mark. Then a ride back to Elizabeth City that covers some of the same roads (but not all) as the SAG Stops are reused. It is very, very, very flat - maybe one 'hill' which is an overpass.

Eric has emailed to see if they still have openings, they do, and to see if I can get the 08 route (here is the one from 06 - it will be the same unless there is road construction) There is also a 1/3 century (33 miles) and a metric century (62 miles/100K) if you are not up for the full 100 miles.


It is $35 and if you sign up by 4/4/08, you get a shirt. The proceeds go to local charities and 2 scholarships for area seniors. I did the ride a number of years ago but did not finish - pushed too hard early and cramped - So here is my proposal for the Rocky Mount crowd. . .


I realize that some of us are doing White Lake the next weekend so these could be more than you wish to ride during your taper time. If we get a group to go, I will be the pace police and I say we stay between 15 and no more than 18 miles per hour with a goal of averaging 17 mph for the full ride. That would mean that from start to finish - including the SAG stops - about 6 hours and 40 minutes (10 minutes per SAG - which should be longer than necessary - too long and you start to tighten up).


I am planning to drive there the morning of the event from Rocky Mount (leave RM at 5AM - preride meeting at 7:30) and I can fit at least 4 others in my truck with bikes. Showers are provided at the end so we won't all be too offensive on the drive back! Please let me know if you are interested in the event so we can organize a group and register before April 4th. -- Eric Seale