Long Distance Competition/Ultracycling, Randonneuring and Endurance Cycling - Seacoast Century registration

Looks like I missed the Aug 31 deadline for registration for the Seacoast Century ride in Maine, NH and MA. I really wanted to make this my first century attempt. Anyone have a take on whether I could just go anyway , but not use the services? I can live without the T shirt, and I expect there should be places to get food and water along the way? Is this considered bad etiquette?

There's a group ride planned for that Saturday to "open" the New Hampshire leg of the East Coast Greenway. You could ride that, then tack on some miles around the seacoast. There's a lot of brilliant riding here.

I signed up last weekend, intending to do my first century at this event.

I've ridden the Seacoast Century route "on my own" a couple times. From Hampton Beach, the route goes into Massachusetts for about 20 miles, then goes right past Hampton Beach again. So you can just stash two bottles in your car and carry a third for the first leg. Stop and pick up the other two, and continue on. It's what virtually everybody does anyway.

The next 80 miles get a little more interesting. You do go right through Portsmouth, NH and Kittery, Maine, but there isn't a single convenience store on the "official" route in either of those towns. I always did some "wandering around" and found a store.

There's pretty much nothing after that until you get up to the York Beach area in Maine, and there is a store right on the route there.

Edit: the route has a lot of out-and-back sections, so you see Portsmouth, Kittery and York twice each. The turn-around point is a little north of York, so when I did it, I'd stop somewhere in Portsmouth on the way north, in York on the return trip, and then in Portsmouth again on the way back.

That should be enough to get you through the ride. Basically, don't expect to see lots of stores on the actual route, because they aren't there. i.e., be prepared to do some wandering around to find a store, or stop pedestrians to ask directions, or something.

I've ridden the Seacoast Century route "on my own" a couple times. From Hampton Beach, the route goes into Massachusetts for about 20 miles, then goes right past Hampton Beach again. So you can just stash two bottles in your car and carry a third for the first leg. Stop and pick up the other two, and continue on. It's what virtually everybody does anyway....
Basically, don't expect to see lots of stores on the actual route, because they aren't there. i.e., be prepared to do some wandering around to find a store, or stop pedestrians to ask directions, or something.

I like to do charity century rides, as a motivation to train for them. This year, I was going to do the Prouty ride in New Hampshire, but at about six weeks into my training, I realized it might be nearly impossible to get from Boston to NH in time to start the ride on Saturday. So on the day of the Prouty Ride. I did my own self-directed century at my convenience, a "surrogate" century, and made a donation to the sponsoring Cancer Center.

I might suggest that in a similar way, if you follow the route a charitable organization has set up, consider it a charitable "surrogate" ride and send them a donation. I found that I could be self contained with just a rear trunk type bag, though I did make one stop at a store at about mile 85.

there is always the CRW century on the 21st. i didnt pre register for the seacoast either. the CRW ride you can register day of. http://www.crw.org/FallCentury.htm