PMC 2012 Ride Report and Wrap-up

Well, this is a new record for me - and not one that I am proud of.  This year I managed to procrastinate writing this PMC ride report for more than 2 months.   You would think that after 9 years of this, I'd be tired of starting off with an apology.  Apparently not.

So, as always, I apologize for my tardiness.  In my defense:  I am at least predictably, reliably tardy...

Framing this year's ride: Dan and Jaybird

Going into this year's ride, I expected that it would be pretty much like any of the previous years' rides. And up until about 3-4 weeks prior to the ride, that expectation was correct.   Dan Field, a long-time PMC rider, brain cancer survivor and co-worker with my wife Sandy at EMC had a re-occurrence of brain tumors a couple of months prior to this year's ride.  Dan had recently noticed some motor control issues, and a trip to Dana-Farber confirmed that his cancer had returned.  He started treatment immediately, but since the muscle control symptoms would have made it far too dangerous for Dan to ride, he had to sit out this year's PMC -- at least bike-wise.

Dan and Jaybird

For the last few years I've been taking my "passengers" on the PMC with me: pictures and notes from people like you, in honor, support or in memory of people who have fought, or are fighting cancer.   A lot of people do this sort of thing -- Dan included.  Dan carries a list with him each year on his PMC ride of his own "passengers".   Sandy knew that he did, and how important it was to him -- so she spoke to him about it, and he agreed to let me take his passengers along with me on my PMC ride, along with my own "2012 passengers".   So as it turned out, "Dan's List" would still ride along on every inch of the PMC 2012 route -- along with my  "bonus" Day Zero ride from Littleton to Sturbridge!

In addition to my PMC passengers and "Dan's List", I also had one more stow-away on the ride this year: a little stuffed Blue Jay  (creatively) dubbed "Jaybird".   Dan has a collection of stuffed birds at work (the plush doll type, not "taxidermied"), and Sandy thought it would be fun to bring one of them along as a photo stand-in for Dan on this year's PMC ride.   So, I also packed Jaybird and made sure that he got into as many PMC shots as I could, sort of like the Travelocity gnome guy...   I uploaded those to Facebook as I went, and am also including them in this trip report.

The nuts and bolts (and chains and spokes) of the ride...

For this year's PMC I did a "3-day ride", like I did in 2010.  That's why I have the "Day 0" that starts before the actual "official" 2-day ride.  If you want to see my actual GPS logs, you can tune your browser to the following links:

PMC 2012 Day 0 : http://ridewithgps.com/trips/830932
PMC 2012 Day 1: http://ridewithgps.com/trips/830933
PMC 2012 Day 2: http://ridewithgps.com/trips/830934

For the GPS data, take the speed stats with a grain of salt, but the elevations and map tracks are pretty much dead-on.

As I said, this year I did a 3-day ride for the PMC, riding my bike from my house down to the Sturbridge start on the Friday before the ride.  Since I was able to finagle a hotel room (Thank you, Peter Floss!) in Sturbridge I could ride my bike down on Friday afternoon, enjoy the Friday night ceremonies and be able to get a good night's sleep before the Saturday start.   As a bonus, I also  didn't have to impose on anyone in my family wake up at 3AM and drive all the way to Sturbridge to drop me off or to pick up a car later on...

Friday, Day Zero:  A late start on a hot day...

You can never be too prepared.

Bike is ready to rock.

As you can see from the picture to the left here, the key to a successful ride is preparedness.  Aside from flashlight, extra batteries and bird, that's pretty much what I carry all the time, anyway.

To the right is my bike, in repose and ready to go on Friday at 11:06 AM.  You can see Dan's List on top of my trunk, in front of Jaybird.  My passenger photos are on the back of my trunk.   And that's my camel-bak hydration tube sticking out the top -- there's also a 50oz water bladder in the trunk, too.

I had to work Friday morning.  Fortunately, I was able to work from home so I could actually work in my biking clothes and hit the road as soon as I was done.  Unfortunately, I ended up stuck on a conference call until 11 AM, and by that time the temperature was already nearly 90F.  By 11:06 I was out the door.   The sky was clear, but the sun was already hot and I had a feeling it wasn't going to be a tough ride out to Sturbridge...

The ride from Littleton to Sturbridge is about 55 miles -- if you do it right.  However, as my mind was apparently still at work, I ended up taking a wrong turn around Harvard that tacked about 4 miles onto my ride at the start.  The error was compounded since it meant I had a long downhill going back into Harvard, and smack-dab into a stretch of road that had just been prepped for re-surfacing -- you know, the way they make it all rough and bumpy so the new asphalt gets a good adhesion ?  It was a lot of fun hitting that at around 40 mph on a fully-loaded bike.   Eventually,  I got my mind off work and my bike on the right path, then settled in for a long, hot but scenic ride.

Some may recall from my previous posts that the ride to Sturbridge from Littleton is a hilly one. (The GPS elevation data from my ride will clearly confirm that.)   The route is also extremely popular with my bitey little friends, Chrysops Atlantica (aka Deer Flies).

"Say hello to my bitey little friend..."

There's no other way to put this: these little buggers are insanely annoying.  Any time my speed would drop below 10 mph (as in climbing one of the uncountable tough hills), these guys would come from seemingly out of nowhere and start orbiting me, looking for a place to land and sink their nasty drilling proboscis into my flesh.

Scott Chamberlain, a friend of mine, recommended I look into a product called "Deer Fly Patches", which are essentially fly paper that you can stick on the back of your bike helmet.  Apparently, deer flies typically target the back of the head/neck area as a landing spot and end up getting stuck on the tape.  I checked out the product online and based on what I saw,  I will DEFINITELY be buying some for next season, and you can bet I'll post pictures if it works for me.

Back to the ride:  by 2 PM I'd made it to Holden for my usual stop at the Mobil station at routes 31 and 122A to refuel & stretch and was back on the road after about 15 minutes.   The sun was really hot, but fortunately the route had plenty of shade available, with relatively few wide-open stretches.   At about 42 miles in, around 3PM, one of my legs started to cramp up pretty hard.  Fortunately there was a nice big shady tree off to the side of the road and I was able to pull over, work out the cramp and rest for a few minutes and before heading off again.   I took it a little easier after that, and that was the last cramp of the day. The remainder of the ride into Sturbridge was uneventful, and I ended up rolling up to my hotel by 4:30 for check-in.

As I was riding my bike up to my room, I noticed a consistent "ticking" sound in my front wheel.  I stopped, got off and checked out my front wheel to find that one of my spokes had come un-attached at the rim and was flapping around.   The retaining nut had backed out and was clicking around in the interior part of my wheel.  This was unsettling -- I didn't want to start a 192-mile ride tomorrow with a spoke missing.   Fortunately, I knew that there would be bike repair services available at the Sturbridge Host Hotel.  So, after I went to my room and showered, I hopped back on the bike and toodled across town to the Sturbridge Host Hotel to do my registration, see if I could get my wheel repaired and get some dinner...

Some of the bikes parked at the Sturbridge Host on Friday afternoon.

By the time I got to the Sturbridge Host Hotel, registration was in full swing and there were already tons of bikes parked all around the hotel, with people milling around all over the place.   I parked my bike and went inside to register and get my jersey and wristband, then removed my bike wheel made a bee line to the mechanical support tent.

I figured that there'd be a long wait for mechanical assistance there, but I think I managed to sneak in at a lull while people were getting dinner -- I only had to wait about 15 minutes before I was able to hand my wheel over to a mechanic from Landry's.

It took him about another 15  minutes to fish out the loose nut, re-attach my spoke, true the wheel and hand it back to me. At which point, I was free to go and get some dinner (after I put the wheel back on my bike, of course.)

At dinner, I ran into Steve Bernacki, a former co-worker and friend who's been riding the PMC for the last several years as well.   I chatted with him and his wife over dinner, before I decided to make my way over to watch the ceremonies.

The seating inside the auditorium was crowded and hot, so I opted to watch the closed-circuit feed of the show outside in a tent.  (It was much more comfortable standing outside in the breeze than in that crowded, under-air-conditioned gymnasium-like room...)

Watching the Opening Ceremonies where it was less-crowded.

By about 7:00 PM, I decided I'd had enough, so I said goodnight, and biked it back to my hotel to get some rest....

Bike in my hotel room.
(My bike also doubles as a drying rack and a bird house.)

---

Saturday, Day 1:  Hot 

PMC Day 1.  Saturday morning came early.  So much so that it was pitch dark when I packed up, flipped on the F.O.G.  and mounted up for the short ride over to the starting area at the Sturbridge Host Hotel.   The bikes were starting to accrete in the starting area and people were throwing their bags onto the appropriate (hopefully) trucks, to meet them at Mass Maritime Academy in Bourne at the end of the day.

Early AM: staking a place at the start.
(You can see the WCVB TV truck in the background.)

Even at 4:30 AM in the pitch dark, it was already 70F or so, and the humidity was getting up there, as well.  It felt like it was going to be a 'sporty' day, weather-wise.    Oh well... nothing to be done about that, so I just focused on making sure I had enough coffee in me and water in my bottles before I started.

Speaking of coffee, I would like to point out that Dunkin' Donuts is a long-time PMC supporter and donates an awful lot of coffee, comestibles and personnel.  For the benefit of those among you who may not know of Dunkin' Donuts, they've been running an ad campaign for several years along the lines of "<insert name here> runs on Dunkin'".   I will absolutely confirm that large parts of the PMC ridership (myself included) do in fact "run on Dunkin".   If you don't get to the coffee area at Sturbridge early, you will end up standing in a loooong line of forlorn, half-awake people. (If you can imagine a line of Lycra-clad addicts waiting outside a methadone clinic, you start to get the picture.)

After choking down a bagel and 2 coffees, I filled up my water bottles and camelbak, then headed out to the parking lot to claim my spot in the starting area.

The "fast riders" are grouped to the left of that
 orange barrier.

While I was standing around waiting for the start, I took a few pictures, tried to relax and hoped silently that at least there'd be no rain today.  5:30 finally arrived, and within seconds of finishing the National Anthem, riders started to pour off onto Route 20, headed East, 8 or 10 abreast.  Even though the sky was overcast, he start was amazing, as it always is...

Jaybird guarding my bike at the starting position...

Jesus, a volunteer at the Whitinsville water stop meets Jaybird.

The hills around Charleton were a little rough.   And that's where the riders start to break up a little, with the hill-sprinters pulling ahead and everyone else chugging along.   With the high humidity and everything, I had to stop and work out cramps twice before 7AM.   Between those little episodes and stopping to help a guy fix his bike, I really wasn't making very good time. For some reason I often find myself on the PMC thinking about "making good time" instead of just enjoying the ride.  When I do, I try to remember why I'm there, make the mental correction and just look around.   It always works. I reached the first waterstop at Whitinsville at around 7:30, and the sun was out in full.  

I only stuck around Whitinsville long enough to "change my fluids", grab a bite and let Jaybird out for a picture.  You can see him here with Jesus, one of the MANY wonderful water stop volunteers.  Jesus was a little uncomfortable holding a doll, but he was a good sport. ;-)  By 7:45 I was back on the road and headed to Franklin.

Yours truly, headed into Franklin.

At 9:09 AM I rolled into the Franklin water stop.   The Franklin stop is always crowded for some reason.   I don't know why, since the number of riders is constant.   I think it's probably because it's easy to get to by car and riders' friends and families come there to meet up with them. (My wife, son and even my mom helped out at the Franklin water stop one year.)   At any rate, it's always a hoot.  This year's theme for the volunteers appeared to be "Hawaiian Luau", as there were a lot of them in grass skirts with leis.  I didn't tarry too long at Franklin, but you can certainly get mesmerized by the constant arrival and departure of cyclists -- and all the ensuing spectacle.

Franklin water stop volunteer.  (Chicks dig Jaybird.)

After tending to my physical needs, I brought Jaybird out for a photo-op, introduced him around then packed and was back on my way before 9:30.

The next stop on the trip was the lunch break at Dighton-Rehoboth Regional High School.  Just a couple of miles before the Dighton-Rehoboth stop is where the "Sturbridge Start" riders converge with the PMC riders who start at Babson College in Wellesley, MA.  Historically, this confluence (or soon after) is where accidents often seem to happen.  Happily, I didn't see any here this year, and the merge seemed to occur smoothly.  I ended up rolling into the D-R parking lot at around 11:20 for a quick re-hydration and some food, then was back on the road by 11:35 AM.

Jaybird chillin' at
DHRS while I eat lunch.

The next stop on the Saturday ride was the Apponequet Regional School in Lakeville.   The Lakeville stop is the next-to-last stop before ending the day at Mass Maritime Academy in Bourne.   The Lakeville stop is also the designated water stop for PMC riders to meet their Pedal Partners.  I had arranged to meet up with Dan and his wife at the Lakeville stop so I could finally meet him in person (Did I mention that I'd never even met Dan ?), chat and get a photo.  When I got to the stop, it was after 12:30 and the sun and heat were in top gear.   It's a very busy water stop, and I figured I'd have to walk around searching for Dan so figured I'd try to find a shady place to park my bike and look.  (The Apponequet School stop is pretty much just an enormous open parking lot in front of a school with about 2 trees, so there were only a couple of shady places to go to.)    As it happened, I ended up practically running Dan over with my bike, since he and his wife Donna were also looking for shade...  Dan and Donna were meeting up with the "Team LEGS" cyclists that Dan has ridden with for several years.   They were all extremely supportive of Dan and were sad that he wasn't going to be able to ride with them.

Dan in his Team LEGS jersey at the Lakeville water stop,
posing with Jaybird.

I chatted with Dan and Donna for a while, and asked Dan to pose with Jaybird.   He was a little surprised, but a really good sport about it all.   I decided it was time to hydrate up and get on the road again, once someone grabbed the microphone at the DJ tent and started singing Springsteen at the top of their lungs...

Onward to MMA.    The rest of the ride from Lakeville to MMA in Buzzard's Bay is reasonably flat.   And that's a good thing, because after biking 100 or so miles on a hot day, you really don't greet hills with as much "enthusiasm" as you might think...  By the time I leave Lakeville, I'm ready to just "be there" and looking forward to a shower, massage and a beer.  In no particular order.  In fact, there's even one more water stop after Lakeville at Decas Elementary School in Wareham that I (and a lot of other riders) don't bother stopping at, since it's only 10 miles from end at MMA.  It hardly seems worth the time and effort to get off and on the bike when there's only 10 more miles to go.   So, as usual I just hammered down and skipped the Decas stop, headed straight for MMA.   After all the stops and slower pace (trying to avoid more cramps in the heat) I ended up at MMA at 2:30 PM -- about an hour and 15 minutes later than my arrival last year.   I parked my bike in the paddock with all the others, prepped it for the night and set off to find my son and my luggage...

My steed, tucked in for the night at MMA. (At least it won't get lonely.)

Did I mention that Ben and his girlfriend Sarah were volunteering at MMA this year ?  Ben and Sarah were volunteering at MMA this year, so Ben also volunteered to bring down my overnight gear for Saturday (otherwise I would've had to carry it all on my bike from Littleton to Sturbridge on Friday).   So, I called Ben's cell as soon as I arrived and we managed to find each other after about 15 minutes.

Jaybird guarding my bunk aboard
the USTS Kennedy. 

We hugged (even though I was sweaty as all hell) and chatted for a while. Their shift was done and they were just hanging out, enjoying the scene at MMA as people arrived.   We chatted for a little and they walked with me to the ship, where I established my bunk for the night and got a nice hot shower.

Once showered,  I made a bee-line for the massage area, stopping only to pick up a pint at the Harpoon Brewery tent along the way (important for balanced electrolytes).   Ben and Sarah came over and chatted with me while I waited in line for my massage (it was about a 45 minute wait).  They even offered to fetch me another beer while I waited!  I reminded Ben that we were spending his inheritance, but he got one for me, anyway.  ;-)   Ben and Sarah left soon thereafter, and I was on the massage table within minutes of finishing my drink. Perfect.   It's amazing how much difference a good massage makes after a long day on the bike.  Interestingly, the benefit (for me anyway) is not so much in the immediate relief, so much as the pronounced improvement in mobility the next morning.   My first PMC, I didn't get a massage and could barely move the next morning.   Every year after, I made sure I got a post-ride massage and never had any more issues.   The people who donate their time and effort to provide rider massages are all licensed professional masseurs and masseuses.  They work non-stop for 4-hour shifts, massaging cyclist after cyclist -- a new one every 15 minutes.   They are a God-send.

After a good massage, it was time to get some food.  The food tent "big top" area was in full swing.  There was just about any food you could want there.  I can't recall what I ate, but I know I ate plenty. Nobody goes hungry at this place.

Saturday afternoon dining in the Big Tent at Mass Maritime Academy... 

Happily "fed and watered", I found a place to sit out in the grass and listened to the band play for a while.  By about 7:00 I was starting to feel tired, so headed for the ship.   I was in my bunk by 7:30 PM, and out like a light soon thereafter.

Sunday, Day 2:  Steamy start. 

PMC Sunday always starts early, but somehow I always seem to wake up before my cell phone alarm goes off.    I was up at 3:30 off the ship for breakfast before they were finished setting up, which I like, because it forces me to sit down with a cup of coffee, wake up and go through my mental checklist before taking off.  It was an incredibly warm and humid morning.  I couldn't see any stars, so I knew the cloud cover was pretty complete. There were showers forecasted and  I just hoped I'd be in P-Town ahead of any rain.

My fellow early AM caffeine addicts at MMA.

After filling my tummy and my water bottles, I dumped my back on the truck for P-Town and headed out to find my bike.   By 4:30 AM, I was back on the road, headed for the Bourne Bridge.   By about 4:50 AM I was stopped at the approach to the bridge, waiting for the OK from the State Police to proceed. (We have to wait for them to finish sectioning off the Southbound lane for bike traffic, which they're supposed to have done by 5AM.)   As we sat there in the dark, I looked over at the big "time & temperature" billboard on the right side of the road and noticed that the temperature at 4:55 AM was already up to 74F -- and it was still dark.   By 5:03, we got the OK to proceed and everyone headed up the long incline of the Bourne Bridge.

Arriving at the water stop in Brewster on Sunday AM.
(Look! One hand!)

By 5:13 AM I was cruising along the Cape Cod Canel at a steady 18-20 mph, enjoying the warm, dark morning breeze in my face.    I arrived at the Barnstable water stop at 6:28 AM, had another cup of coffee and refilled my water bottles with gatorade.  Less then 10 minutes later I was back on the road.

Jaybird posing at the Brewster
Water Stop

Starting in Brewster, MA there is a long stretch of the PMC that goes along the Cape Cod Rail Trail.  There's a water stop just before we get on that stretch of the ride, and when I rolled in around 7:30 AM, the place was hopping.  I think the "theme" at this water stop was "Margaritaville" since everyone seemed to be dressed like they were headed to a Jimmy Buffet concert, and that song happened to be playing.  Jaybird posed for a photo and I tended to refueling/dumping, then we were back on the trail by 7:45.   So far, the weather was holding for me, and I was making decent time.

The Cape Code Rail Trail is an absolute joy to ride on.   It winds through some really gorgeous marshes and wooded areas, and is pretty darn flat. (Railway beds have very mild grades.)   However, the PMC ride really only uses a small section of it -- I'm not sure why, but I think it may be that the volume of PMC riders might cause too much crowding on the trail, combined with the usual "weekend cyclists" on the trail.   (I did notice a lot of signage on the trail warning people about "increased cyclist volume" expected for Sunday morning.)    By 8:35 I'd arrived at the Cape Cod National Seashore and the long hill up Ocean View Drive.  Even though it's a bit of a slog getting up that long hill, there are several places on the climb where you get such a great view of the ocean off to your right, you can't help but smile.

After Ocean View Drive in Wellfleet, there are a still a few more hills. ;-)

Jaybird is a chick magnet

At the top of one of those hills I always look forward to seeing our two "PMC Over the Hill Cheerleaders".  These two women have been there in the same get-ups every year that I've been doing the PMC.  This year I stopped and talked with them for a while and had Jaybird pose for a picture with them for posterity.  They did tell me how long they'd been doing their cheerleading thing, but I'm sad to say I forgot -- but I do know that they've been doing it longer than I've been riding the PMC.  Interestingly enough, they remembered me from prior years because my bike is unusual.  (Out of the thousands of cyclists on PMC weekend, there are usually less than a dozen or so recumbent bikes, so we tend to stick out a little more.)

After they kidded me about "lying down on the job" with my bike, I figured we'd run out of things to talk about, so Jaybird and I mounted up and headed on to the Wellfleet water stop -- the last one  before P-Town.  We arrived at the Wellfleet water stop at 8:51 AM, stopping just long enough to do the needful and snap a pic, then we were off on the last leg of the Sunday ride.

Jaybird at the Wellfleet water stop

The ride from Wellfleet to Truro was beautiful, but uneventful.  There are a few spots where the sand from the dunes drifts out into the shoulder of the road, so you have to watch out for those areas.  (I get more nervous riding with sand or ice on the road more than I do with broken glass.)    Jaybird and I arrived triumphantly at the Provincetown Family Finish at 10:26 AM, after 3 days and 251 miles of cycling.  I still had plenty of time to pose for a picture, have a shower, eat and then make a leisurely walk down to the 12:00 "fast ferry" to Boston.

Provincetown finish line!  Woo hoo!

The ferry to Boston was uneventful. I was on the same boat as my friend Pete Floss, and when we arrived both our wives were there to meet us when we arrived.  (There's something special about having someone to greet you when you get off a boat or a plane.  Don't know what it is about that...)   Anyway, the four of us chatted all the way back to Littleton and everyone was home and dry by 3PM.  

"Commit. You'll figure it out."

So here we are at the end of my 9th PMC ride and trip report.   Thanks to everyone's support, I was able to meet my personal fund-raising goal of $7,000 for the year.  (My final amount was $7,245.)   We won't know for another few weeks if we were able to meet our overall goal of $36M for 2012.   When the results are in, I'll be sending out an email.


FYI. I will be riding in the 2013 PMC next year, so you'll be hearing from me again in 2013. (As always, if you'd prefer not to get my PMC emails, just jot me a quick 'please stop' email and I'll promptly remove you from my email list.)

And finally, I would like to thank each and every one of you one more time for  your support, comments and encouragement.

Thanks and bye for now.
/doug