The following is a transcription of a phone post that originally appeared in my main journal, here.
Good morning! It's now 6:20 in the morning and I'm just leaving Sandwich. Not much to report. It did rain heavily overnight but right now the sky is blue, there's a couple of puffy clouds. The ground's are a little moist, but not bad. So hopefully the roads will be okay and I'll stay dry. The radar also looks good. So far so good. It's 71 degrees out and I'm about to rejoin the rest of the riders on Route 6A to Barnstable, where I'll be in probably about an hour. That's it, I'm gonna try and have a nice relaxing ride today.
The following is a transcription of a phone post that originally appeared in my main journal, here.
Okay, we're in Barnstable at a little bit past 7:00, almost 7:15, which is about on schedule. Weather looks beautiful so far, except it's pretty moist and humid from last night's rain. It's starting to warm up. Ran into Tony here. This is gonna be a real quick stop hopefully, because I'm in the middle of the pack. Otherwise things are pretty happy. Running into a few people I know, but gonna try and get in and get out here.
The following is a transcription of a phone post that originally appeared in my main journal, here.
Okay, we're now at Brewster, 151 miles into the ride, and the second stop of today. It's now 8:15, which is right on schedule. The next segment is another 18 miles and then things start getting really hard. But right now doing well. Sweating like a pig, though, because it's still really humid from last night's rain, and we haven't really got much of a sea breeze going on here. So although it's not really that hot (it's mid-70s) but definitely sweating like a pig. But enjoying the ride, running into people I know, and just thankful for everyone whose supported me to be able to ride the PMC for these eight years. That's it for now. I'll check in in another hour which will be at, uh, at some place further down the road (heh), at Wellfleet, which will be the last stop on the ride before Provincetown. Now we jump on the bike path, so I'm gonna do the same thing: fill the water bottles and get out, hopefully before the crowd, although I'm still in the thick of the crowd. Talk to you later!
The following is a transcription of a phone post that originally appeared in my main journal, here.
Well well well, it's Wellfleet! 170 miles into the ride, with about 21 left. This will be the longest segment of today at 21 miles. This is the last water stop, but there's a lot of riding yet to do, especially coming up Route 6 against the wind along Pilgrim Lake. However, I've been really strong today; surprisingly after pretty much using it all up yesterday. I've been steadily increasing my average speed and I think I'm up to 16.6 now, which is pretty impressive, I'm happy with it. Still been having a good time. Been pushing it along pretty good, but I've been with packs and drafting a little bit which helps the average speed. But gonna take a few extra minutes here because the next segment is long, and as the ride starts to wind up I kind of take a little extra time and relish the ride. There's no real need to show up in P-town early, the way you do in Sturbridge [ed: actually Bourne] to get a massage. But generally happy. Just gonna savor the last segment of the ride and just take it easy and enjoy the reward for the fundraising that I've done. And obviously you guys have a role in that, or at least the people who have donated, and I want to again thank you for that. Look for another update: it probably won't be in an hour; it might be in an hour and a half. I'm on target for a 10:45 arrival at P-town. Glad to have everybody's thoughts and well-wishes and money of course, and we'll see you in P-Town. Talk to you later!
The following is a transcription of a phone post that originally appeared in my main journal, here.
Okay folks, it's 11:00 and I am here in P-town, having finished the 2008 Pan Mass Challenge successfully. Very happy, and the only real snag, which I failed to mention because it happened right after I hung up with you back in Brewster, was I was setting my bike down I actually punctured my big toe (since I'm riding in sandals) with the chain ring teeth, which means I've got to do a little medical attention. I had to get a little bit at Brewster, but still finished the ride and it's fine: it's just a little cut that will need some attention. Other than that everything's happy. Glad to have finished the ride, glad to have had everyone's support and interest over the past eight years in doing this ride and the important work of raising money for cancer. Prior to this weekend I had just exceeded $40,000 in funds raised lifetime, and obviously there's a bunch of people who have still promised donations which I hope to collect and add to that sum before the end of the year's final tally. You can expect an email and travelogue some time soon along with photos, videos, maps, GPS logs, blah blah blah. I hope the live coverage has been of interest and appreciate your interest in reading it and/or listening to it. That's all for here. I may do a text post later in the weekend but this is the wrap up for live coverage from here for this weekend and glad to have had your interest again and your support. It's been a wonderful weekend. We managed to avoid rain except for the commute to the hotel last night, although it's pretty omminous here today. And we have a lot of wind to fight on Route 6. But that's it. Once again thank you to everybody and that's a wrap for 2008!
