The Civil War Century 2013

Gorgeous, though somewhat chilly, morning welcomed us the brave souls preparing to ride 103.8 miles totaling over 7500 feet of elevation on a course sporting four mountainous climbs and connecting four Civil War era battlefields.  The ride, organized and hosted by the Baltimore Bicycling Club, started and ended in Thurmont, Maryland on September 7, 2013.  More information on the Century could be found at http://www.civilwarcentury.com/.

Gradually increasing elevation heralded us almost immediately following the start.  A total of about 7 miles or winding road made us climb through the Catoctin Mountain Park.  The puffing and paffing that could be heard were just introductory facts of life that gave us the flavor of the things to come.  At least for the ensuing several miles the road turned generally downward, somewhat so steeply that without much effort I was hitting almost 50 miles per hour.  The next notable climb, a rather steep but only about half a mile long, led us to our first rest stop in the Gathland State Park.  The Park is also the site of the Crampton’s Gap battlefield and includes a monument to Civil War Correspondents.  The Appalachian Trail too passes through the park.  A few short moments later, we continued down the other side of the ridge.  After several miles of passing through some really beautiful sceneries, we arrived in Sharpsburg; the site of the bloodiest single day battle in the Civil War – the Antietam battlefield.  Sharp right turn, literally, in the center of the town directed us North by Northeast; the direction in which we will be moving for almost another 50 miles.  Before reaching the next rest stop at Mt. Aetna, we passed somewhere the site of another Civil War battlefield site, the one called South Mountain battlefield.  The three aforementioned battles were part of the so-called Maryland Campaign of 1862. 

Following the short rest, with great food, gorgeous weather, and mountains that thus-far were behaving decently, the life looked good.  Then, the storm came in.  Not the weather-, but mountain climbing-related. A rather innocently appearing climb on a wide open road, also known as Raven Rock Road, or Route 491, was becoming gradually steeper.  Fortunately, after about a good mile, it appeared that we were almost over it, meaning that a climb down on the other side of the mountain will follow. Not so fast.  Right at the crest we had to turn left into Ritchie Road.  Let me tell you, Ritchie Road was a code name for another two miles of constant climbing up and up. Long and winding road, through the trees, as far as the eye could see was only going up and up. The pain and suffering, along with the pride of completing the climb relatively quickly I believe, guaranteed that I am not going to forget the name Ritchie Road easily.  To be fair, there was also about a mile-long section of Ritchie Road climbing down.

One covered bridge, several miles, an opportunity to bail out, later - another hill.  This good one-mile-long steep climb along appropriately named Jacks Mountain Road, with emphasis on “mountain”, was demoralizing to some point as it came after about 70 miles of prior riding and from the middle of it, one could see the remaining part of the climb menacingly pointing sharply up.  No wonder that somebody sprayed a smiley face on the pavement at the end of the climb. For all practical purposes the climbing long climbs up was over.  For the reminder of the ride there were only a few relatively short climbs as the road was generally winding down toward Gettysburg and back to Thurmont. 

The stillness of the Gettysburg Civil War battlefield is evident even today, a century and a half later. One could still feel the words of the Gettysburg Address echoing over the all-important meadows and small hills.  It is amazing how small, for example, a Little Round Top is, and yet, there it was: ornamented with scattered blocks of stone and numerous monuments commemorating particular events and/or people making those events “seven score and ten years” ago.  Could not help but think during those few minutes of riding by Little Round Top, how much the world history after the conclusion of the battle was shaped by what was happening here, at this very site.  Another thing that amazed me is how narrow those hills are.  For example, Little Round Top is only about a third-of-a-mile wide/deep with nothing but rolling meadows on the other side.  No wonder that those otherwise small hills had such a great strategic importance back then.  

The rest of the ride was relatively mild and, with the exception of another covered bridge, rather uneventful.  After six hours and thirty minutes of bicycling, it was all over.  Some good food helped us lick the wounds and emphasize the feeling of accomplishment.  Besides the experience gained, I would like to recognize the organizers for an exemplary organization and execution of the event.