Voice Post: 2012 PMC Saturday: Sturbridge

The following is a transcription of a phone post that originally appeared in my main journal, here.

Okay, it's not yet five in the morning, but I'm here and lined up at the start in Sturbridge. Pretty good morning. It's extremely humid and a little bit foggy out, but at least it's warm; it's certainly in the 70's, so no worries about being cold this morning or anytime during the rest of the day, I'm sure. It's supposed to get pretty hot, but so far feeling a little rough from lack of sleep, but otherwise looking forward to a good ride.

This first segment will be pretty quiet, mostly jostling through the large pack of riders. This portion of the ride does go through mostly wooded areas down around some ponds and lakes. It's kind of scenic, but it's also usually a little bit chilly, so I'm glad that it's not too cold this morning.

Looking forward to a great ride, lining up, getting in touch with old friends, supporting new riders, and just getting into the whole vibe of Pan-Mass and the importance of the cause to all these people: both the riders, the volunteers, the PMC staff, and all the people who line the route. It's usually an emotional send-off and lined with a lot of spectators, so the first segment is always kind of fun, even though it's still pretty crowded as far as bikes on the road.

But that's it. The next stop will be at Whitinsville, maybe an hour and a half or two hours from now, because we still have a half an hour before the ride actually takes off. Looking forward to sunrise at some point today, but it certainly hasn't happened yet! We'll get there I'm sure. Next update soon!

Voice Post: 2012 PMC Saturday: Whitinsville

The following is a transcription of a phone post that originally appeared in my main journal, here.

Okay, it's quarter of seven and we're at Whitinsville. Highlights so far: very foggy and misty and humid. Just pouring sweat off me, even though it's not hot yet, although it's going to get hot, as it's starting to burn off now.

I missed Jay, my friend, when we started out, but I just ran into him, so we're gonna go on together. The key here is to keep ahead of the crowd, so I'm gonna keep it quick and keep moving.

Highlights so far... There was a trumpter playing the Emprire Strikes Back Imperial March tune as we came down one screaming descent. And some of the scenery: the ponds covered in mists, with a blue heron out there standing on the rocks in the quiet pond. It was really nice.

Other than that, I'm averaging about 20 miles per hour, which is ridiculously fast, and that'll certainly slow down. This is always the fastest part of the ride because it's mostly downhill.

There's also just a ton of riders out, so I want to try and get ahead of them. That's it for now. Next stop in Franklin in about an hour, about quarter of eight.

Voice Post: 2012 PMC Saturday: Franklin

The following is a transcription of a phone post that originally appeared in my main journal, here.

Haha surprise! I'm in Franklin. I completely lost Jay on that whole segment, but now I've run into him again at the rest stop, so we're gonna try that one all over again.

Another very fast but very soaking wet, humid, misty, hot segment. Feeling pretty good, the legs are a little bit tight, but you know everything's going very well. Just generally having a decent time. Been pushing it along, but I think I'm gonna take it a little bit easier from here on out. Trying to stay ahead of the crowd, still,

So far it's nice. The crowds aren't huge in terms of the spectators as compared to normal, but it's always good to have people out, and there are sufficient people out to cheer us on. And gawd there's a lot of riders! Which means I want to keep moving to keep ahead of them.

Otherwise... Jay's inserting ice cubes inside his bandana! So we're trying to stay cool, and the best way to do that is to stay on the road and keep a little breeze in our faces.

We're gonna move on, but things are going well so far. And we're a good 43 miles into the ride, so we're more than a third of the way in: close to halfway almost, maybe in another hour or so. The next call will be from the lunch stop at Dighton.

Voice Post: 2012 PMC Saturday: Dighton

The following is a transcription of a phone post that originally appeared in my main journal, here.

Okay, it's 9:30 am and I'm at the 'lunch' stop in Dighton, 70 miles into the ride.

It's gotten about ten degrees warmer, so now it's about 81-82 degrees, and still crazy humid. The sky is kind of mixed overcast and sunny, so there is a little bit of respite from the direct sunlight. But we're coming out of the woods and going into the more exposed coastal section of the ride. But generally doing well.

I did spend this past section riding with my buddy Jay. We took it a little easy because he of course rode 95 miles yesterday on PMC Day 0 from the New York border. He spent like 12 hours in the saddle, so he's a little tired. Plus my right knee's acting up a little bit; it's just painful to put a lot of torque on, so I'm taking it a little bit easier as well.

I'm not gonna spend much time here at the lunch stop, again just going to fill my bottles and go, mostly because it allows me to stay ahead of the bulk of riders. And it means I can take it a little bit easier while I'm on the road: rest a little bit on the road, and then I don't have to stress too much about my arrival time in Bourne at Mass Maritime.

That's it from here; doing pretty well. But again, very hot and humid, and just gonna nurse it in from here. Not gonna stress it too much, and still making incredible time. A 18.5 mph pace is pretty ridiculous, but that's coming down quickly.

That's it! I hope you're all having a wonderful day, and again thank everyone for both their interest and their support because it means an awful lot, and it's been a wonderful year from a fundraising and support standpoint. So much appreciated!

See you at the next stop in Lakeville, which should be around 10:30, okay? Talk to you later!

Voice Post: 2012 PMC Saturday: Lakeville

The following is a transcription of a phone post that originally appeared in my main journal, here.

Whew! Well, it's 86 degrees out now and definitely a steambath, but I am now 84 miles in, at Lakeville. I left Jay behind at the lunch stop.

Still well ahead of the crowd. I kinda took it easy on that segment and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. Basically there's two segments left: from here we hit Wareham and then we hit MMA, which is a mere eight miles past Wareham. We're getting toward the end of it, but there's still a lot of pedaling left to go.

It is now 10:41, which puts me about ten minutes behind a record pace. But I'm not trying to set any records today, just trying to get to MMA in time to get a nice long, cold shower, and then a (hopefully longer than) 15 minute massage. I'm looking forward to that after such a hot, wet, sticky day in the saddle.

My thighs are starting to feel a little crampy, and my knee continues to bother me. I'm taking care of those, just kind of taking it easy and letting the miles go by. I'm pretty happy, just a little moist right now, but otherwise just generally having a good time.

I was hoping to meet up with my buddy Bobby Mac at the mecahnical tent, but he doesn't seem to be at this stop, as we expected him to be, but that's alright. A lot of respect to Bobby and all the people at Quad Cycles that I ride with out in Arlington.

That's it for now. I need a little rest and will take a little bit of a break at this stop, since I am ahead of the pack, and then just mosey on down the road to Wareham, which is the last long segment of the ride. That's it from here!

Voice Post: 2012 PMC Saturday: Wareham

The following is a transcription of a phone post that originally appeared in my main journal, here.

Well, we made a hundred miles in six and a half hours, or a little bit less, and I'm now at Wareham. Before I left Lakeville we had a nice Italian ice, a lemon ice slushy thing, and stepped into a mist station: they have water sprays and I did that here, as well.

It's now above 90 degrees and we're definitely out of the protected section of the forest, so it's damned hot. It's not as humid as it was, but it's definitely baking now.

There's eight miles left to go... Unfortunately it's a nasty eight miles: it's thru the middle of Onset, which is kind of touristy and crowded, and then down along Route 6, which is just highway commercial hell.

But soon enough we'll make the turn down Adcademy Road into MMA, and it'll be nice to have a nice welcome from the crowd and then get a long, cold shower and then a massage. I'm looking very much forward to that after a really sticky, messy, gritty, all-around wet, ugly day. Despite that, having said all that, it's been a good day in the saddle, and I'm definitely enjoying it, although I'm definitely feeling it now.

I had to back off quite a bit. My legs aren't as bad right now because I did have to back off. I've been having some cardiac drift, so I've been having a hard time keeping my heart rate below about 85 or 90 percent. But it's not much longer to the end and then a well-earned rest.

I'm making good time -- not quite record time -- but definitely beating the crowd, and should have no line for the shower or the massage, I would think. But that depends on me getting off my butt and getting back in the saddle again, so that's what I'm off to do!

As usual, I will not make a post immediately upon arriving at the finish. I'm headed straight to the shower and then the massage, and then maybe we'll talk... So I'll talk to you again in maybe an hour or two.

Voice Post: 2012 PMC Saturday: Bourne

The following is a transcription of a phone post that originally appeared in my main journal, here.

Okay, we're here at MMA, and the riding portion of the day is over, thankfully! I got a nice long shower, because I got here pretty early and I had the area to myself. And I just finished up with my massage.

I also was delighted to discover that there was a little ice cream truck that they have on site, so I had a free ice cream and a Pepsi, and just downed those as soon as I crossed the finish line, then showered and massaged. Everything's good. I'm still coming down, as far as heart rate and general fatigue level.

I've already been in touch with Jay. He's already arrived, so I'll synch up with him and certainly other friends along the way. I'm looking forward to a long afternoon just hanging out, eating a lot of food, and just enjoying the breeze.

The last segment was really hard of course, but it was only eight miles. It was complicated by some construction and bridge work. As soon as I left the Wareham stop we got our first views of the ocean and also our first significant breezes and headwind. Which wasn't that bad, but it certainly has cooled this immediate area along the coast off. It's only 86 here as opposed to more than 90 that it was at the stop in Wareham. It's gonna be a nice afternoon here, I think. I probably still need to put on some sunscreen.

I'm generally pretty happy with the day. Very tired, and I need to let my muscles and my knees recover, but that's the agenda. I'll be hanging out here at MMA until about 6 o'clock, so I'll have close to five hours here to just hang out and recuperate.

And then of course I will bike another hour out to my hotel in Sandwich, which gives me about another ten or fifteen miles, crossing the Bourne Bridge and going along the bike path up to the hotel... but that's another story!

The next post will be an end of day recap after I get back to Sandwich and have dinner and so forth, so that will be a little late in the evening.

Other than that, I finished in good time: I think it was seven and a quarter hours for 110 miles, and generally happy with the performance. No mechanical probs and just overall it was a good day, aside from the fact that it was oppressively humid. But it could've been a lot worse, and I certainly prefer hot to cold.

That's it, kind of a wrap-up from MMA. I'm very happy and now just gonna sit back and relax and enjoy the afternoon with all my friends here at the Pan-Mass.

Thank you again for your interest, and I'll talk to you again this evening!