My PMC 2014 Ride Report

2014 has been a record-setting PMC year for me.   2014 was my most successful fundraising year for the PMC to date.  This year also sets the record for the longest amount of time I've managed to procrastinate writing up my "trip report" for the ride...  I wish I knew why I'm such a procrastinator. But even if I knew why, I'm pretty sure I still lack the self-discipline to do anything about it at this point...   So, as usual, I will lead off with an apology, then get to the business at hand: finishing my PMC 2014 trip report.    I apologize for my tardiness.   Now, Let's get to it...

Dan's PMC list,
on my bike just before the ride

This year's ride was different in quite a few ways from all my previous 10 rides.  We lost Dan Field to brain cancer in July.   Dan was a brain cancer survivor who also rode for the PMC for many years.  In the last couple of years, however, his tumors returned and side-lined him from riding a bike any more. 

Dan had his own list of people that he rode the PMC for. For the previous 2 years that he was unable to ride, I carried it in his stead along with mine.  This year I had planned on carrying his list for him again since I knew he wouldn't be able to ride. However, when I'd told Dan that, I sincerely believed that he'd still be be around to see the ride. That was not to be.  This year I wrote his name at the top of his list and carried it on my bike, along with a picture of him. I also carried my own personal list, tucked away in a zip-loc. 

My PMC list, post-ride
winkles and all..

This year I decided to start my route at Babson College in Wellesley instead of my "traditional" start in Sturbridge.   The Wellesley start was added 10 or 11 years ago to the PMC to allow them to accommodate more riders  Logistically, it was easier for us to deal with starting at Wellesley, since it's about 20 miles closer to my home and dealing with getting to/from there was just simpler that Sturbridge.   The Wellesley and Sturbridge routes converge just before the "lunch stop" at Dighton-Rehoboth High School in Dighton, MA.  From that point all, there's just one route to complete Saturday: Mass Maritime Academy in Buzzard's Bay.

Saturday Start

The Wellesley start was rather "sedate", compared to Sturbridge.

Wellesley Start.  Where is everybody ?

There are probably several factors in play there: the start is 1 hour later than the Sturbridge start; people seemed to assemble more or less at the last minute;  the Wellesley route is shorter and less-hilly than the Sturbridge route and I think for that reason it attracts a higher median age demographic (ahem).   That said, the start was uneventful and the route was gorgeous.   I just wish that the weather had cooperated...

This year rain was predicted for the entire weekend, with little hope of reprieve.  But the PMC goes on, rain or shine.   The start from Wellesley went off without a hitch -- just muted (for me anyway) with a heavy "it's gonna rain any minute" gloom in the sky.   The rain managed to hold off until about 30 minutes into the ride. Then it continued pretty much the rest of the day, with the temperature steadily dropping as the day went on.    By the time we hit the water stop in Wrentham, anyone who had rain gear either already had it on or was putting it on.   Personally, I usually don't mind getting wet when I'm riding, since I'm typically drenched with sweat anyway on a ride like the PMC.  For me, rain gear tends to just "seal in my juices" more than keep rain off me.  So some cool fresh water from the sky would normally be a 'net improvement', right?   Well, sort of.  

This is the Wrentham Water Stop.
Everyone put on their rain gear here.  Except me.

The main reasons cyclists wear gloves is because their hands are always either resting on or gripping the handlebars of the bike.   The gloves provide a little relief for the skin, but also provide padding to help isolate some of the constant road vibration that's always being transmitted from the road to the bike and ultimately into your skeleton.   On the other hand (no pun intended) recumbent cyclists like me are immune to that vibration problem since we're leaning back without that pressure on our handlebars.  Consequently, I don't wear gloves for summer riding, since it's just another thing for me to lose.  (I do wear them in the winter to keep my fingers from freezing.)

However, on this year's PMC I found a compelling reason to wear gloves:  By 9AM  my hands were so wet and prune-y from the constant rain that I could no longer shift the gears on my bike!   My shifters are "twist grip" style, meaning that shifting requires me to twist part of my handlebar grip one way or the other to shift up or down.   The operable word in this case was "grip" -- none of which I had any longer;  I couldn't squeeze the shifters tight enough with my pruney soaked hands to generate enough friction to move it.      Had I had gloves on this would not have been a problem.

Faced with the prospect of riding the rest of the day on (essentially) a single-speed bike, I knew I had to take some action.   I ended up tearing off a couple of inch-wide strips from my bandanna.  Then I wrapped one around each grip shifter and tied them off.   The fabric was soaked, but still provided enough friction that I was able to change gears.  Problem solved, and I continued on the wet journey to Dighton.   I will buy a pair of riding gloves for next season.

We merged with the Sturbridge start riders just a bit before the lunch stop at Dighton-Rehoboth Regional High School.   This year was different: there was no dust storm there -- just mud.   Also, this year I had the bright idea to not ride my bike around the back like everyone else.

Dighton-Rehoboth Lunch Stop: In Through the Out Door

This year I rode past the school and dropped my bike at the exit; then I walked in for lunch through the exit, bypassing a lot of human/bicycle craziness.  (D-R is always a little crazy because it's major meet-up point for teams and riders. There are so many people trying to park their bikes, refill water, get food, potty etc that it gets pretty congested.   It only took me 10 years to figure out how to NOT contribute to that problem...)

After a quick lunch it was back on the road and into the rain.   As the day wore on, it got progressively cooler and cooler.   By the time I got to the Lakeville water stop (around 11AM) , I noticed that I'd actually started to shiver a little.

Lakeville Water Stop.  (Pedal Partners Tent)

That told me I needed to get moving NOW.  The faster I rode, the warmer I'd feel and the faster I'd get to Mass Maritime for a hot shower and some dry clothes.

The rest of the ride from Lakeville to Mass Maritime was a blur.  A wet, cold blur.  There is actually a water stop in between Lakeville and MMA, but I haven't bothered to stop there since my very first PMC.   By the time you're within about 10 miles of MMA, you really don't want to stop -- you just want to get to the end as quickly as you can.  (At least I always do.)     And the weather this year just made me want to get to MMA that much faster.

Last leg of the Saturday ride, to MMA. Some salty signage.

I didn't keep a GPS track log this year, so I don't know exactly when I rolled into MMA on Saturday. I think it was around 1PM.  I do recall that I was early enough that I was actually able to make a reservation for a massage, instead of waiting standby.   This year, Sandy (my wife), Kevin (son) and Elise (Kevin's girlfriend) were volunteering at MMA.   It's always special when your family is there to meet you, especially after a miserable wet ride.

Twin recumbents, in repose, nose-to-nose at MMA.

They were hard at work, smiling.  And I was smiling, too.  And shivering.  Sandy was in charge of directing folks around the bike parking area at MMA.  The weather really raised the level of difficulty for that job this year; the continuous rain caused the plywood supports for many of the bike stands to collapse, leaving a pile of bikes knotted together sort of like that "barrel of monkeys" game I remember as a kid...   However, in spite of all that, Sandy managed to find the time to direct someone riding my bike's "twin" to park on the fence next to mine. I really got a kick out of it when I walked back out to the bike paddock later to find two mango yellow Bacchetta Corsas parked nose-to-nose.

After I found my gear, showered and got a massage, I reconnected with Sandy, Kevin and Elise and had some food.  They were tired, wet and cold by that time so we said our goodbyes early and they headed off to warmth and dry clothes.   I hung out a little while, but soon just headed off to my room for some ibuprofen, warmth and sleep. I put in earplugs and I'm sure I was asleep by 7:30.

The Sunday Ride

The day started as usual at about 3:40 and I did my "slow roll" of packing up and enjoying a couple of cups of nice hot coffee and some breakfast ahead of the "sleep-in" crowd.  
There's really no point in hurrying out too soon, since we're not allowed to cross the Bourne Bridge until 5AM. (They mark off a section of the southbound lane for bike traffic from 05:00 to 08:00.  You can cross earlier if you feel you must, but you have to dismount and walk your bike over the bridge on the sidewalk.  It's just as easy to wait.)   As it is, I also have to wait for the trucks and luggage crews to arrive/assemble so I can give them my luggage, so it'll meet up with me at P-Town.  (There's a rhythm to everything and after 11 years, I've finally learned it.)  

Like I said, I'm a slow-starter in the mornings, so it made me laugh when I saw how "fired up" those volunteers can manage to be at 5AM.   Check out this video below:

I realize that the video is dark and indistinct (but at 4:30 AM, everything is dark and indistinct), so I'll explain. This video is of a  group of volunteers loading up rider luggage onto one of the trucks. There are several different luggage trucks, headed to different destinations (Two finishes at P-Town and one back to Wellesley).  The audio portion of this clip is actually more to the point than the video.  The level of energy these guys had at that time of day was pretty impressive and it made me laugh.   I guess they figured if they were going to be up and working, there was no reason that ANYONE else should be sleeping...   And this was just one of the trucks. ;-)

I got across the Bourne Bridge and down the canal before the Sun really started to come up.  The day was gray and overcast, but mercifully there was no rain.

Brewster Water Stop -- Lots of TV coverage this year.

By 6:25 I rolled into Barnstable, followed by Brewster about an hour later.  Although we were well into daylight it was extremely hazy since the cloud cover was still pretty solid.  But the important thing is that there was NO RAIN.  And that was good, because I'd lost my "make do" shifter grips from Saturday and didn't feel like shredding my bandanna again.

My Private Water Stop

There's a spot in Wellfleet that I like to stop at every year.  It's not a water stop -- but it is a stop on the water, for sure.  It's at the top of a decent climb that's a parking lot for a walk-down to the beach.   Although I've never taken the time to walk all the way down to the water, it's nice to just dismount for a few minutes, stand there and watch the waves break on the beach.

My "private water stop" near Wellfleet.

Now that I think about it, that time on the beach is about the only time on the entire PMC weekend that I can actually be alone with my thoughts for more than a couple of minutes. (It's a little dangerous to get "up in your own head" while you're out on the road.)   Here, there aren't any riders or volunteers rushing around -- it's just the ocean and me with my thoughts and my "passengers".   We all get to share a few minutes of quality quiet time there, just to take it all in. Then I saddle back up for the last stop before P-Town.

The final stretches into P-Town were pretty uneventful: still no rain, and the headwinds around Truro were mercifully weak this year.  I rolled into the "Family Finish" at P-Town around 10:20 AM.   I decided to try and capture the last couple of minutes on video.

One of the downsides (if you want to call it that) of arriving that early is there's not yet that many people at the finish to greet you.  On the other hand, there is no wait at the showers and there's plenty of hot water!   Oh! And this year was the first time ever that beer was available at the Family Finish.  The P-Town Inn Finish is on private property, so there's no restriction on their ability to serve beer.  However, the P-Town Family Finish is on public property (the school and ball fields), so alcohol is verboten.  However, this year some diligent PMC organizers negotiated a "beer garden" location on some adjacent private property.  And thus, in 2014 the first ever Family Finish beer was enjoyed, virtually in the shadow of the Pilgrim's Monument.  Hopefully it will be back next year. And hopefully with a little more seating.

A PMC Miracle: Beer at the Family Finish. ;-)

The boat ride back to Boston was uneventful. Within about 5 minutes of getting off the boat in Boston, I met up with Sandy and Alyssa, got the bike on the car and we were on our way westbound in record time.   Another PMC was in the bag.  All I had to do was write it up...

The Big Finish

I said at the start that this was a record year.  Thanks to the generous support of my sponsors this, this year I was able to raise a grand total of $8,356.12.   That exceeded my fund-raising goal this year of $8,000 and is also the most I've ever been able to raise for the Jimmy Fund.

To my sponsors, I cannot thank you enough for being so generous this year.   Every penny of that money is going directly to the Jimmy Fund for cancer research and treatment. Every penny is needed, and every penny is appreciated.   We'll know soon whether or not we met our overall goal for 2014 this year.  I'll let you know.

I will be riding in the 2015 PMC next year, so you'll be hearing from me again in 2015. (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.)

Thanks again, and bye for now.