The 2016 Carnivores: Rain, Snow, High winds, and an ambulance ride

The Carnivores were one of 10 teams starting the DCR fleche on April 2, 2016. Two veteran Carnivores (Kelly Smith and me) were joined by Caroline Brosius and Nigel Greene at the Key Bridge Marriott at 5:45AM so that we could ride 6 miles to the official start at a Starbucks in Falls Church, VA where we met up with the final team member, Mitch Potter. What a few days ago had been a nice weather forecast for sunny skies with temperatures in the 50s had degraded to a forecast of rain, high winds, temps dropping into the 30s, and maybe even some snow near Gettysburg.

Carnivores Mitch, Bill, Caroline, Kelly, and Nigel ready to start at the Falls Church Starbucks

Our route (shown here) was designed by original Carnivore Crista Borras and has been used for many years. It is fairly mellow, with about 11,000 feet of climbing over 228 miles, and passes places for sit-down breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It is not meant to be a suffer fest.

Kelly motoring in the rain on the W&OD

After eating some calories at the Starbucks and getting our cards signed, we set out at 7AM into a light rain. The first 38 miles of the route follows the W&OD trail to Purcellville, where we headed westbound on Rt 7 and a climb to Snickers Gap. This is one of the more dicey parts of the route, with cars and trucks passing at high speed and a shoulder that sometimes gets pretty narrow. But we were rewarded with a sit-down breakfast at the Pine Grove Restaurant, which even had gluten-free blueberry pancakes for Caroline. Furthermore, the rain had stopped and had not been hard or long enough to soak my shoes inside neoprene shoe covers.
 

Caroline climbing Rt 7 to Snickers Gap

The next stretch to Shepherdstown, WV may have been only 30 miles, but we stopped for our second sit-down meal, this time at the Blue Moon Cafe. Fellow Carnivores Crista Borras, Chuck Wood, and Chris Mento had ridden out to join us for lunch, and were waiting with an outdoor table. Unlike earlier in the day, the skies were sunny, and with the courtyard fence to block the wind, it was downright pleasant eating outside.

Eating outside in Shepherdstown with Chuck, Crista, and Chris

The next section to Clear Spring can be one of the hardest of the ride despite it's innocent appearance on an elevation profile. That's because the final ten miles are in exposed, open countryside and the road heads west, straight into prevailing winds. It lived up to its reputation, but we finally arrived at our convenience store control where Kelly inhaled a slice of pizza and the rest of us stocked up on candy, chips, etc. The bad news was that due to the wind (and all of the sit-down meals) we were at the late end of our time window for finishing in time.

After Clear Spring, the route makes a turn to the northeast to Chambersburg, PA, and what a difference a turn makes! The wind that had been relentlessly in our faces started pushing us along so that instead of 10 mph, we were now often going 20! Also, the late-day light was beautiful on the farmland. And by the time we bought more food at our convenience store control in Chambersburg, and added clothes for the dark and increasingly cold ride to Gettysburg, we had gained almost an hour back on our schedule.

Nigel enjoying sunny skies and tailwind on the
way to Chambersburg, PA

The leg to Gettysburg proceeds mostly along US30, which has lots of traffic, but a wide-enough shoulder that it feels safe. The road tilted up more and more as it climbed South Mountain, until we finally pulled off onto Old Rt 30 for the exhilarating descent through the dark to Gettysburg. Our designated control there was King's NY Pizza, but I suggested that since it was still dry and relatively warm we instead control more quickly at the nearby McDonalds and not waste the dry time sitting inside a restaurant. Everyone agreed, so we rode a block down to the McDonald's. We hadn't been inside for 5 minutes when a viscous wind starting whipping the trees outside and it started pouring rain. We had gotten inside just in time to miss the leading edge of the storm front! The radar on my phone suggested that the front wasn't very wide, so we decided to wait inside until it passed. That only took about 30 minutes, but the temperature had dropped into the low 40s. Brrrr!

A wind-whipped flag just south of Gettysburg

We all added clothing layers and set out for our next stop in Frederick. The rain had mostly stopped, but the wind was still strong, gusty and blowing across our path. A headwind may be the most tiring, but a crosswind is the most dangerous. Our route to Frederick followed about 20 miles along the shoulder of US15. The cross winds were strong the whole way, but during one section appropriately marked by a sign saying "Gusty winds next mile," Kelly was almost blown off his bike. He got a foot down, but then the wind started sliding him and his bike sideways along the pavement. He and I walked the next few hundred feet before the wind abated somewhat and we remounted. Then light snow joined the wind, just to make the weather buffet more interesting.

Caroline & Nigel riding through wind-driven snow

Usually, the Carnivores kill time at the McDonalds control in Frederick to avoid getting to our 22-hour control too early. But there was no time left to kill on this ride, so after waiting for the slow service (cars at the drive-through had a higher priority than people standing at the counter), we gulped our food and headed south on MD355. This section is always one of the toughest. There are no big climbs, but a series of 6 big rollers that feel harder with 200 miles in the legs.

We arrived at our 22-hour control, an IHOP in Gaithersburg, with 45 minutes before we had to leave. But unfortunately, the server said that they were busy, so wouldn't be able to get our food soon enough for us to be out by 5:00AM, and we just ordered drinks. (Good thinking by Mitch to ask about the timing before we ordered.) Eric Williams arrived with his team a few minutes after us so they also did not have time for real food.

Ambulance for Caroline

After getting the all-important receipt and signatures close to 5:00, we continued south on MD355 (Rockville Pike). We left the IHOP 5 minutes before Eric's team, but it wasn't long before they blew past us as if they REALLY wanted to get to the finish fast. All was well, and everyone was in good spirits as we cruised toward the intersection with Old Georgetown Road, when I heard a loud crash sound behind me and Nigel saying something like "Oh no!". I circled back to see Caroline lying flat on her back and not getting up. She was alert and raised her arms, but said that her shoulder hurt badly. The fork and front wheel of her bike were totally separated from the rest of her bike. Since that meant that she had been pitched head first onto the asphalt, we were afraid of neck and head injuries and I called 911 for an ambulance. Meanwhile Nigel and Mitch helped Caroline and covered her with a space blanket to keep away some of the cold wind. The ambulance arrived in only a few minutes and, after doing a few tests, the paramedics helped Caroline to her feet and led her to the ambulance. Nigel made arrangements with a nearby Starbucks to store Caroline's bike, but the paramedics came back and took it into the ambulance. At that point, the remaining 4 Carnivores found themselves standing on Rockville Pike with 4 working bicycles so we rode on to the finish, arriving 2 minutes before our finish time of 7:00AM.

Mitch and his wife Amy went to Suburban Hospital to visit Caroline and bring her back to the Marriott to retrieve her truck while the rest of us met the other teams at the post-ride buffet. Caroline ended up with a mean looking black eye and a cracked vertebra which will require her to wear a soft neck brace for a few weeks. Thankfully she avoided what could have been an even more serious injury with long-term effects, and she is now an even bigger advocate of helmets! We're hoping she will be in the Carnivores finish picture next year.

Four Carnivores at the finish, with Caroline there in spirit.
(Photo by Mike Wali)