Northeast - Air Force Cycling Classic, Arlington, VA

Anyone here doing the Crystal Ride at the Air Force Cycling Classic?

I did it last year and it was a lot of fun, its pretty flat except for a giant hill at the end, nice support.

Sounds interesting. I will probably try for the 100KM (8 laps) in 3.5 hours (that's just better than 17 MPH). http://www.usairforcecyclingclassic.com/. Hope my travel schedule will permit it.

You might want to post this one on the Southeast discussion that covers Virginia.

thanks, the dc/va/md area is in that wierd no mans land in terms of which forum to place things in. ill repost over there.

last year i completed 5 laps, but i was riding a fixie. i could have done another lap but they closed reentry to the course about 45 min before the end of the event.

Just coming across this post now (usually I am over on the mechanics forum. I and sevral buddies did this ride yesterday. It was great fun and I managed to do the 100k in just over 3 hrs. Too late for this year but I'd recommend adding this to your calendar. The timed aspect was a nice change of pace from the usual untimed century fundraiser. Plus it was on the margins of a pro race so Frankie Andreu kicked things off.

It was a great ride. My only disappointment was that they got off to a half hour late start so those of us in the middle who had been pacing at a little over 18 mph didn't get the full three and a half hours promised. Only made 87.5km when they closed off the course. Means I need to work harder next year.

It was a great ride. My only disappointment was that they got off to a half hour late start so those of us in the middle who had been pacing at a little over 18 mph didn't get the full three and a half hours promised. Only made 87.5km when they closed off the course. Means I need to work harder next year.

Yeah, that late start was a drag. I was fading fast on the last couple of laps but made it through the 7th lap with time to spare. However, when I got to the hill up to the memorial on the 8th lap -- at about the 2:55 mark for me -- I discovered to my surprise that they had closed down the course 1/2 way up so I didn't get to do the whole hill (bummer, right ;)). A couple of my buddies finished lap 7 just inside 3 hrs but weren't allowed to continue. Can't really blame the organizers for the morning thunderstorm that delayed things, but I would have thought they could have left the course open until at least the 3 hr mark. Still, it was a great event and the support people worked hard to clear puddles from some of the wetter spots.