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Permalink BL2U.com/events/carolina-century/ works when CarolinaCentury.com or RSNCC.com fail (Godaddy's fault).
Bike Ride'n'Roll to Benefit People with Multiple Sclerosis and to Fight Hunger
Saturday, October 24, 2015 • Gospel Baptist Church • 5945 N Church Street • Greensboro NC 27455
$35 or more (or FREE*)
to preregister by Midnight EDT, the
Wednesday before Carolina Century for
• 730am PREREGISTERED-ONLY start or the 900am, 1030am & 1230pm starts.
$50 or more
at
800am-1230pm
event-day registration for
• 900am Sleep-In Start
by Dale Brown of Cycles de Oro • 8.5-hour+ support
• 1030am Cozy Coffee Start (64 miles and less at 10+mph including stops)
rollout with extra sleep and warmer temps • 7-hour+ support
• 1230pm Kickoff Start (51 miles and less at 10+mph including stops)
ride while others watch football • 5.5-hour+ support
Marked Routes • Maps • Turnsheets • Abundant Rest Stops
Hot Chili Lunch • Grilled Cheese Sandwiches • More Goodies
Fast Hills • Smooth Rollouts • Rural Views • Crisp Skies • Autumn Joy
Yearly on the
Next-to-Last Saturday
of October
Carolina Century: where the fastest and the slowest going the shortest and the longest get great support that improves through the day, plus a full post-ride meal, because we plan it that way. We're going to be there ALL DAY, RAIN or SHINE, so you might as well come enjoy one last epic adventure before Daylight Losing Time, all to help people with Multiple Sclerosis have a better, longer life, and to fight hunger in the counties where we love to ride'n'roll.
1. Water. 2. Electrolytes 3. Calories (sports drink) 4. Encouragement 5. Concern.
We won't run out of sports drink. We won't thin it out. You want it weak? Add item 1. Add to that some strong, never-burned, coffee at mile 12 while you decide which route to take. We reserve the right to run out of useless junk food and homemade goodies...but we probably won't. We won't run out of a desire to see you have an epic day on wheels, and we will watch out for you and do our best to shepherd you along the course with refreshment and assistance all day. Then when you come home, we want to hear about your day while you enjoy hot chili, grilled cheese sandwiches, and other sandwiches you can make just the way you like them...'cause nobody can make a post-roll sandwich for you the way you can.
PREREG IS OPEN UNTIL MIDNIGHT EDT WED BEFORE CC SATURDAY. Prereg saves you big because it helps us plan and shows you care about MS rain or shine.
Thank you!
Night Before DINNER, 615PM Friday at Moose Cafe, is Dinner and Talk, NOT Prereg (over), Prereg Pickup (730am), or Reg (8am).
Everyone is welcome, but it is a Volunteer and Participant meeting to be informed and prepared for the next morning.
PACKET and PRIZE PICKUP is SATURDAY and DOES NOT START UNTIL 630AM for 730AM roll. Please give us the time beforehand to get ready.
EVENT DAY REGISTRATION STARTS AT 800AM (not 731AM) for 900AM ROLL. PREREG is for those who want to roll early.
Join us for the Night Before dutch treat dinner with the volunteers. Learn the latest news. No prereg or reg available. It's dinner and
Everything subject to change, including becoming better!
As always, the EVENT ORGANIZER rolls the 102 near, or usually at, the back. That way we know the rest stops won't run out and the chili & chee sammishes won't go missing. Stay ahead of me on your labor-saving device, and you're good. We would be honored to deserve your trust!
We have at least one DESIGNATED SHERPA that wants to help one or more first-time cenuturions by riding with them. In 2011, a woman with multiple sclerosis completed the 102-miler, and in 2012, a woman with lupus completed the 72-miler, with the help of our sherpa. Contact sherpa at carolinacentury period com with subject carolina century sherpa. Our sherpa hopes to guide you through your first century and bring you home in style.
We already have prepaid sponsorships for someone else to have a FREE PREPAID RIDE OR ROLL (PREREGISTERED BY EMAIL ONLY), so if money is the problem contact freeride at carolinacentury period com with subject carolina century freeride. This offer available until preregistration closes, but sponsored prereg will be by email. This offer is not available on event day, because we want you to plan and we want to plan for you.
On event day, SEE THE NEXUS, Johanna, for HELP or to VOLUNTEER at any point during the day. We won't waste you, and we have a wish list you wouldn't believe.
The Night Before Carolina Century dutch-treat dinner is usually at 6PM at the Moose Cafe, Sandy Ridge Farmer's Market. Come meet the volunteers and some of the participants, ask questions about the routes, and enjoy some home cooking in a laid back, quiet atmosphere at moderate prices. Please RSVP to nightbefore at carolinacentury period com with subject carolina century night before.
We usually stencil our c within a C navigation logo using durable paint so you can enjoy the Carolina Century routes any day of the year without paying. But once a year, we hold the Carolina Century to help people with multiple sclerosis, and to provide extraordinary support for those reaching for goals. Volunteers who ride'n'roll also register and pay! The other 364 days, we hope those who can't afford our fee will love the routes and markings enough to join us next year as a paid or sponsored rider...or better yet, as a volunteer.
Don't give up after September's success. Try something amazing before the end of the season!
The Carolina Century wants you to go beyond your limits for people facing tougher limits every day.
Some people get confused at the Carolina Century because we add SURPRISE REST STOPS as the day goes on to help those who need it more. These may consist of a table out on a grassy corner with 1. Water. 2. Electrolytes. 3. Calories. 4. Volunteers (if we have them). Enjoy! We move supplies forward on the course, and volunteers backward, to give the few...who still need it...more, not less, so they can reach for their own incredible achievement. We also need volunteers at the end of the day to serve those who worked all day and to help clean the church a bit before we lock the doors after dark.
Come play and work with us again on OCTOBER 18, 2014...RAIN OR SHINE
We picked our date using the weather almanacs to minimize the chance of rain (on average over the years, based on data), to maximize the amount of daylight within that good weather range, to extend our training season, to offer a full century after many have already done 2-day centuries, and to not fall on National Egg-Throwing and Pranks are Fun Day.
We'll be there rain or shine for those who want to roll, but we respect your knowledge of your own safety. So if you won't ride'n'roll for any reason, at least join us to have lunch together (registration for extra lunches for those who did not register to ride'n'roll is also available on our form).
The WORSE the weather, the MORE we need you as a paid donor or surprise volunteer to help the riders'n'rollers, the volunteers, and let's not forget, the people with MS. It is Carolina Century day, and we want you to be part of it in the ways that work best for you...on or off the road. Let's build something beautiful no matter the weather.
Carolina Century was created to be a fundraiser for you...open to all Tanglewood teams or individuals who want to volunteer to earn donations to MS for your next Tour to Tanglewood for MS Bike ride.
After your ride & hot meal, please consider helping us help others' dreams come true out on the road.
The longer they are out there, the more they need it!
BASIC DONATION SHARES RULES. ALL PROCEEDS GO TO FIGHT MS THROUGH THE TOUR TO TANGLEWOOD. SOME COULD GO THROUGH YOU ON YOUR BIKE.
You & your family above minor age can earn up to $200 (or up to the minimum fundraising requirement) in donations to your fundraising account in the next Tour to Tanglewood for MS Bike Ride based on your hours of volunteering for Carolina Century compared with the total hours donated (volunteered) by all volunteers.
There are no promises. You are volunteering, not earning a wage that would require you to pay taxes. Please volunteer as if you would get nothing in return.
* REVISION: Everyone can earn up to the minimum amount, EVEN IF they have already earned their minimum. It's all going to MS and if you want to try for a higher level, give it a go! We will not "punish" you for your early hard work getting past the minimum!
* Keep in mind that even in good years, the donation to MS share was only $9 to $11 per vol hour, so if you worked all 13 hours of event day, you would still need some other time on other days or other fundraising to get you to a minimum.
To have a donation posted to your Tour to Tanglewood fundraising account, you must:
* Sign in and sign out with the Nexus as a volunteer on event day in person or by phone by saying you are signing in or out;
* Keep track of your hours and tasks, and with whom you worked (names are useful, sometimes), where;
* Email your volunteer report to email address voltrack at carolinacentury dot com;
* Sign up for Tour to Tanglewood before you need donations to hit your account;
* Send Blake a fundraising email from within the Tour to Tanglewood Participant Center with your donation link;
* Request your donation 30 days before you feel you must have the fundraising (packet mailing day?).
2011 donations were $9 per volunteered hour; 2012 donations were $11 per volunteered hour; based on your hours divided by the total volunteered hours
times the proceeds of the event after expenses, not to exceed $200 (or the next year's minimum) per person.
If it rains, or proceeds are lower, costs are higher, or volunteered hours are greater, for any reason, donations will likely be lower per volunteer hour of course. So let's remember to go in and volunteer as if we'd get nothing out of it but helping people be epic in the cause of helping people with multiple sclerosis live better lives... and that's a lot.
Why don't more people ask!? Everyone is welcome and encouraged (whether or not you plan to do the Carolina Century) to take our
What Did Survey Participants Say After Riding or Rolling the CAROLINA CENTURY in 2010?
Of those who responded to each of these various questions (different numbers of responses per question of course) in our 2010 ride survey:
• 100% said our start location AND parking AND indoor facilities (separate questions) were good/very good.
• 100% said our trunkstops and rolling rest stops were good/very good.
• 100% said the lunch conversation AND lunch atmosphere AND lunch volunteers (separate questions) were good/very good.
• 100% said the welcome home AND the finish check-in (separate questions) were good/very good.
• 100% said the Surprise Rest Stop was good/very good.
• 100% said Scalesville Fire Rest Stop AND Sandy Cross Country Store Rest Stop (separate questions) were good/very good.
• 100% said the Finish Line Rest Stop/water/gatorade/colas/coffee/tea were VERY good.
• 97% said we lived up to our promises well/very well.
• 97% said the Carolina Century was a good/very good value.
• 97% said route scenery was good/very good (88% VERY good).
• 97% said rest stop worker friendliness was VERY good.
• 97% said route RESIDENT friendliness was good/very good.
• 97% said the quality of the route they did was good/very good.
• 96% said Bethany Fire RS was good/very good.
• 96% said the thank-yous and goodbyes were good/very good (we missed one).
• 96% said route STORE staff friendliness was good/very good.
• 94% or more VERY MUCH AGREED they got enough water AND enough gatorade AND enough good rest stop snacks (separate questions).
• 94% said route safety was good/very good.
• 94% said they thought they'd do Carolina Century again the next year (56% 102; 17% 64; 14% 51).
• 94% said our effort AND our results (separate questions) were good/very good.
Please take time to participate in our rest stop favorites survey, and please do come back to check on carolinacentury.com soon for news and for early signup specials.
$35 is not much for all this goodness, but for someone worried about where their food money is coming from, it is too much! You can help. Just use the dropdown menu above to select "Sponsor Unknown Person $35" and donate $35 or more to sponsor a participant you know, or let us pick one based on their private statement of financial need. For each $35 we get in online donations, we'll do our best to find a person going through hard times economically who can ride with pride for people who can't. And if you're on the short side of money right now, let us know early and we'll try to find you a sponsor.
Not free, but prepaid by someone you don't know. Some generous people have signed up to supoort you to ride free if you are unemployed, or underemployed enough to qualify for government aid. They selected "sponsor unknown participant" or paid too much on purpose so you could roll. I'm the only one who needs to know. If you're thinking of doing a free ride this weekend and you qualify for this, let me say this one includes 8 rest stops at least, plus hot chili based on mom's recipe and a sandwich you control so you get it right. We want to help those worse off than us, and hope those better off will help us do that. Wherever you are right now, it's where you are, not who you are. We want to give you a way to give and receive help. Feel bad about needing to ride free? Come enjoy the ride, then roll up and volunteer to make the Carolina Century shine for everyone who was behind you. Then write about the experience and tell others about your day. That's plenty.
PLEASE BE SURE TO PREREGISTER if you want to roll at 730am or any time before 900am. Otherwise please register at 8am and wait until 9am to start. You may preregister for the 730am or 9am start. Please pay cash if you can at the 8am registration. We'll take a check but we go shopping for some perishables AFTER reg so we waste as little as possible. Every roller gets everything we give anyone until we close at 542pm, but we don't want to be wasteful in providing abundance.
Participants needing more than 8.5 hours to do their selected distance should preregister online and arrive in time to roll out at the sunrise start, 7:30am.
Participants needing 8.5 hours or less of support may bring cash to register from 8:00-8:45am for the 9:00am sleep-in start.
In past years, Carolina Century Charity Bike Ride for MS included participants from at least 39 cities: Archdale NC, Banner Elk NC, Beech Mountain NC, Boone NC, Burlington NC, Cary NC, Chapel Hill NC, Charlotte NC, Columbia SC, Denton NC, Durham NC, Elon NC, Grayson GA, Greensboro NC, Hickory NC, High Point NC, Jamestown NC, Kernersville NC, Lexington NC, Liberty NC, Madison NC, McLeansville NC, Morganton NC, Raleigh NC, Randleman NC, Reidsville NC, Rock Hill SC, Rural Hall NC, Smyrna GA , Smyrna GA, Sparta NC, Stokesdale NC, Summerfield NC, Thomasville NC, Tobaccoville NC, Trinity NC, Wake Forest NC, Whitsett NC, Wilmington NC, Winston Salem NC.
We'll accept checks, but if you can bring cash or prepay online, that helps us buy supplies for the event. We'll buy as many perishable supplies as possible after registration. Just in time management cuts waste and gives more to our cause.
To volunteer (and earn donations to your NEXT YEAR'S Tour to Tanglewood for MS fundraising, see below), email us in advance preferably, but by all means if you need to, just show up! Ask for THE NEXUS, Johanna (yo hah nah). She is the keeper of the wish list of hopes and dreams for the day. Every volunteer is applied to building support for the rollers and volunteers still out there. Consider your day might not have to be over and you can shepherd some people home like someone did for you. Remember?
We hope to be better than we promise. But if you see something we need to fix, please gently, safely, quickly call the Nexus, and if finished, please offer to help fix it now if you can.
If you can volunteer we can make the Carolina Century even better! Please email me so we can use your skills and time to greatest effect (take out the spaces and funkiness that follow): ccinfo at carolinacentury.com.
How does the Carolina Century get better when everyone's getting tired? When riders finish, we have a long list of hopes and dreams for them to fill if they'll be so good as to give back to the sport and further to the cause. We fill gaps forward and backward from the start (which we call rest stops 0 and 9). We have permission to use EVERY fire station and a few other select geographic locations for full rest stops or trunkstops (a trunkstop is a rest stop that is packed up and in the trunk but still functions for powder and water at least). We fill our hopes and dreams with volunteers and relieve the ones who have been out there since 630am.
Why would a participant volunteer after it's over for them? Because it doesn't have to be over for them. In fact the experience may be just about to begin, and they know more than anyone else what it is like to be slower, because they were in the past. And if they are riding or skating Tour to Tanglewood next year, every hour they serve earns them a donation share to THEIR Tour to Tanglewood fundraising NEXT year, but we like to spread things around so we probably will not give a donation share greater than $200 to their T2T account. The more popular the volunteers and rollers make the event by making it amazing, the more people we will be able to get to their minimums so they can ride the tour even if they do not move in circles of people with much disposable income...or if they hate to ask people for money. Serve. Sacrifice. Fundraising. How great would it be to end this year knowing that you pay reg for T2T and set higher goals, but the fear of having to write a check for the minimum is over. Without fear, love might have some room. Our team still gets some of the fundraising because not everyone will ride next year, but this is meant to be a fundraiser for all those who say they hate to ask their friends for money. We made this event so they can serve instead of or in addition to rolling...and earn donations that we turn in but they get credit for. It all goes to the same cause, but instead of one person standing up with a big check, the volunteers who worked hard get a boost to their own fundraising. And other people just do it because it feels good. Some people donate their hours to someone who rolls next year's Tour. The only person whose hours do not count is the guy who started the Carolina Century. They don't count in the total and they do not earn donation shares. By rewarding volunteering, don't we get a better event? And the BETTER Carolina Century is, the more an hour of human experience will earn in donations for people with multiple sclerosis. Aren't cyclists and skaters some of the best rest stop workers and drivers? The organizer rolls near the back so we know that "everybody gets what anybody got." In general, ten hours of exercise is harder than five, so as the day goes on the Carolina Century must get better. And when we can't do that, we don't have enough volunteers or riders and we do not do Carolina Century.
The Carolina Century's goal is to support 10-22mph Avg Including Stops if you preregister and start at 730am (hoping to also cover 12-22mph for 900am). How do we plan for that?
Volunteers love to help. That's why they're volunteers. But they want to know when they need to be there and when they can leave without breaking any promises. We have rolling support including trunkstops after rest stops are closed, but they want to know what we and what participants have agreed upon. Here it is:
At the Carolina Century we use a rest stop speedsheet that shows every rest stop and for every route that it serves, the mileage at that point. It also shows when a 22mph roller will arrive, and when a 10mph roller will be there, for every route, for each time on every route it arrives if it does so more than once, for both start times. For people that sleep in, we offer 12mph support for the full century, and may still be open if you are slower, but the speedsheet tells volunteers when they can begin to pack up. Some will move on to another location to serve you again, because our event is designed to get better, not worse, as the day goes on.
EVERYONE (participants, volunteers, anyone) is welcome to meet us for the NIGHT BEFORE CAROLINA CENTURY dinner and route preview Friday evening. We can't buy your dinner, but we'd love to meet you and have you meet the volunteers who will serve you the next day. Check the NEWS items at the top of the page, but it's usually Friday evening at 6PM. Please RSVP if you are coming. The meeting is not required but it can greatly increase your fun the next day!
102-mile Carolina Century Color Speed Elevation Profile
Routes are designed with numerous rest stops, but also with many convenience stores along the way.
More notes...
Our route philosophy is to start a bit further north of Greensboro than most events, then head south early while we're fresh and traffic is low. We get in a couple of lake crossings to wake up, then leave for a day of countryside views. This way, we don't come back into Greensboro late, when we're at our most tired and so are the drivers who are on their way to something busy and important. On all routes, including the western loop, the populated sections are completed first, so as the day goes by, the views are better and the finish is still in green rolling hills.
We borrowed from parts of Mike Clark's Tour de Triad for Leukemia & Lymphoma for our 102 route's western loop. We made changes to maximize bucolic splendor and smooth, fast runouts, but we owe lots to Mike's vision and planning, and will always remember the rolling rest stop he provided up at Belew's Creek when we blew by the Fire Department there.
We also borrow from the old GVC Red, White & Blue Show'n'Go route. We had a great day, part of it lost and happy, when we missed a turn due to a downed street sign and had some joyous moments along the way. I knew I had to go back up there and look around, because it was non-stop glory that day. These loops are nested so we share the same first twelve miles and come together again for the final miles.
Our routes are subject to change as needs arise and new opportunities for fresh asphalt present themselves, but you can be sure we've thought about the route first and last, because without a great route, the event can only be good. These are the best routes we know, period.
The Carolina Century invites all to come and enjoy our favorite smooth, hilly, gorgeous roads for the Carolina Century for Multiple Sclerosis. We want to help people who can't enjoy rolling the way we do because of MS, and to show you some of our favorite roads and scenery in our part of North Carolina.
We want to be the century for everyone, including slow cyclists, who have long distance goals but can't find support. Come try a leisurely century with ten hours of support, on a fun but challenging, beautiful and safe course. Preregister and leave at 730am, or sleep in and roll out at 900am. You decide. Get it over with or make it last, then have lunch (or early supper!) when you get back to the church.
So forgive our enthusiasm and come love our supersweet routes. We have the very finest and kindest folk to sacrifice a day for us all in the service of a great cause, helping those with Multiple Sclerosis. If you've done Tour to Tanglewood Training Rides or the venerable Tour de Triad, you'll know Val & Jim, Mike & Elaine, and Law for great rest stops and refreshing conviviality. Many of the Fire & Rescue stations know we'll be coming by and some are hosting our rest stops, as this seems the very best place to rest, since we know they have plenty of water and medical care if anyone needs it. We've talked to local stores so we'll let you know which ones will welcome you and want to help you have a safe and happy day.
If you preregister and start at the early rollout and average 10mph, we'll be there to support you for 10 hours (if you rollout at the sleep-in start on any non-century route, we'll support 10mph for you, too.). If you think you're going to ride but can't preregister please write me so we can plan for your presence (take out the spaces and funkiness that follow): ccinfo at carolinacentury.com.
The Start/Finish parking area is graciously provided by:
Gospel Baptist Church (
http://gospelbc.org
),
5949 N Church St,
Greensboro, NC 27455
LatLon: 36.225364,-79.790987 or +36?' 31.31", -79?' 27.55"
NOTES FOR CYCLISTS
AIRPORT & HOTELS
ALL bicycle shops ANYWHERE still have a chance to be part of Carolina Century this year. 17 years from now you won't get to say it's your 20th year if you wait, but Cycles de Oro will. Send us a tech and your logo tent. Send us a driver in your logo van. Send us your team in your logo kit and pay for them to roll the 102 for MS! Your potential customers will be there, and so will their word of mouth! Are you sure you're going to have more important customers every fourth Saturday of October than the charity minded rollers with disposable income at the Carolina Century, doing it for people who can't because of Multiple Sclerosis?
Also, charity rides, businesses and individuals who care about MS...you can offer a substantial gift or service to help us help others. Offer yourself! Our volunteers will start before sunrise and quit after sundown, but you can give us any amount of time and we will not waste it.
The Carolina Century was founded and is brought to you yearly by ROADSKATER.NET and the family and friends of our Team of skaters and cyclists who have participated in the Tour to Tanglewood for MS since 1999. Some of our team have completed both days of every year of the Tour since 1999, logging well over 1,200 miles in the Tour to Tanglewood alone. The Carolina Century is our way of thanking the cycling community and of joining with them to ride, roll and work to help others to give meaning to our otherwise at times tedious and empty workouts! Thank you for anything you do or have done to ride, roll, sponsor, donate or work for Carolina Century and for people with any hurt, anywhere.