Voice Post: 2014 PMC Day 1: Sturbridge

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

Good morning! It’s a little bit after 5am, and I’m at the PMC start for my 14th and final ride and the weather isn’t bad right now: it’s about 66 degrees, which is surprisingly warm; it was supposed to be much colder. It’s wet and a little sprinkly but the rain really hasn’t arrived yet, and if we’re lucky won’t arrive until midday, and hopefully by then I’ll be pretty close to the end. Still, I’m rigging for foul weather and expecting the worst. So we’ll see how it goes. I’m also pleased that it’s so warm because I left my arm warmers and my rear fender in my friend Jay’s car last night. I’ll pick them up partially along the way at the second water stop. But if it was colder or wetter, I would have missed those this morning, badly. Looking forward to the ride, looking forward to having today over, mostly because of the probably discomfort from the miles in my legs from yesterday, as well as the rain that’s promised. But had a very inspirational opening ceremonies last night; check it out on the web on wbz.com. They have a lot of their stories from the PMC this year online that you can stream. Otherwise, I’m just gonna go line up, wait for a little bit, and then hit the road. I will be posting updates as much as I can, pending the obvious intervention of rain and so forth. Tracking should also be up at this point, so feel free to follow me on that, which is at whereis.ornoth.com. That’s it for now; hopefully my reports will continue to be positive. (laugh)

Voice Post: 2014 PMC Day 1: Whitinsville

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

Hi! It’s — I’m not sure what time it is… 6:58 — so it’s 7am! I’m in Whitinsville, which is the first stop. It’s been steady sprinkling, but the roads aren’t bad: they’re wet in places and dry in places. I’ve been very cautious on the descents. I’m still in the middle of the pack because I couldn’t get lined up toward the front, so it’s crowded & wet. Gonna grab some water and maybe some food here, because I’m not carrying food with me because I’m carrying my rain jacket rolled up in a jersey pocket; so that pocket got overwritten by the rain jacket. Otherwise generally happy. It’s 62 degrees, which is tolerable. Still heavy overcast, but there’s kind of a hint of blue sky, although the rain is definitely promised. That’s it for here; I’ll try to check in again from Franklin, which is another hour away.

Voice Post: 2014 PMC Day 1: Franklin

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

Okay, I’m at Lakeville [error: actually Franklin]. I synced up with Jay to get my fender and arm warmers, which is good because it started raining about half an hour ago in earnest. It’s steady; it’s not real heavy, but I’m fully soaked. Still gonna forego the rain jacket because it’s warm enough to just deal with it anyway, and it really holds the sweat in. 42 miles in, still got another 70 miles to go. Not feeling bad, doing okay, still in the middle of the group, and will probably stay that way at least until lunch. Generally morale is positive despite the rain, but it’s gonna be a messy, slick ride in. Doing okay, making okay time, but not pushing it. We’ll see how it goes from here, but generally happy.

Voice Post: 2014 PMC Day 1: Dighton

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

Okay, it’s just past 10 o’clock, which is about half an hour behind schedule for me here at the Dighton lunch stop. Doing okay; it was pouring shortly after leaving Franklin, but it seems to have mostly stopped for the moment. The roads are still very wet, but it’s not actively raining, so I’m drying out a little bit. Also had food here, which is good because I wasn’t carrying any, as I said. Definitely starting to get tired; the miles are starting to add up. Started getting tired about five miles short of this rest stop. Hopefully that isn’t a trend that will continue. I usually start getting tired around the next stop or the one after. But considering I’m at mile 175, I’ve almost put in one full PMC already over the past two days, so I guess I have a right to be tired at this point. Downed some food and gonna continue on, probably take it easy into Lakeville. Fortunately, although I’m still in the pack it is starting to thin out, which is nice. That’s it for now.

Voice Post: 2014 PMC Day 1: Lakeville

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

Okay, were in Lakeville now. It is 11:10, which means I’m still about half an hour behind schedule, which puts me finishing around 1pm. We’ve got one more stop in between, which I think is about an hour from now. It went back to a heavy sprinkle and the roads are still very wet. Had some ugliness on a gravel part of a road they had un-paved and turned into a gravel road temporarily. But generally doing okay; my neck and shoulders are aching quite a bit, mostly because of spending a lot of time in the drops, I think. Otherwise things are mostly okay. Not necessarily losing too much power, but I’m back at an aerobic pace. But other than that, still trying to maintain the positive attitude, which is okay. It did cool off a little bit; it’s about 60 degrees right now, which is right about the edge of being comfortable, but I still have the rain jacket if I really need to suit up, but I don’t expect to need it. That’s it from here; generally making progress, although at 84 miles, that means we still have about 26 left to go, so we’ll see how that goes. Gonna take it easy and nurse myself home, and then I’ll have something like 210 miles under my belt of the 290 we have to go. That’s it for now.

Voice Post: 2014 PMC Day 1: Wareham

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

Hi, in Wareham at 100 miles. It’s 12:18, so I’m still nearly half an hour behind schedule. It’s definitely pouring rain; soaked to the bone. Definitely having neck pain issues. Not much I can do about that on the bike, but I’ll rest it here for the final eight miles left to Bourne, at which point a hot shower hopefully will be waiting for me. That’s about it; I’m gonna cut it short because the rain makes the cell phone hard to use. That’s it for now.

Voice Post: 2014 PMC Day 1: Bourne

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

Well, I got in around 1 o’clock which is about half an hour later than usual. That whole last segment was pretty much pouring rain with a strong headwind, and it was pretty brutal. And it is continuing to pour here at Mass Maritime in Bourne, although I’m gonna try and […] massage and so forth. […] the prospect that the rain might let up, but I don’t see that happening. Definitely finished the day and the ride, but still have about 10 miles to ride to get to the hotel. But generally just got completely soaked. Just finished my shower which is a good thing, but it’s gonna be kind of pointless. Gonna try to find shelter here […] to do anything. That’s it for now; probably will update you maybe later tonight or first thing in the morning with an update about how things have gone since arrival here. […] but the riding is over for the time being. […]