Category: R. Massachusetts

This year’s Pan Mass Challenge fundraising goal is $34 million. That’s $42.50 for each of the estimated 800,000 miles ridden this weekend. For the 29 years of this event’s existence, cumulative contributions exceed $238 million. In 2007 fully 100% of every rider-raised dollar was directed to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, where it was spent on cancer research and care for those who are fighting for their lives.

After 52 days on the road, on July 22 I coasted into the beach at Portsmouth, New Hampshire with 39 others. Among those waiting for me, my father stood at the edge of the sand. He is 84 years old and in the past dozen years he’s faced down cancers of the colon, prostate, bladder and lung. Although he is worn from those battles and from aging generally, he traveled several hundred miles to be there. His hands trembled as he took photographs of the official “wheel-dipping” ceremony, the conclusion of the official America by Bicycle 2008 Cross Country Challenge.

August 2 – Sturbridge, MA to Bourne, MA
112 miles officially (3,946 cumulative)
110 miles actually (3,983 cumulative)
80 degrees, cloudy and humid at departure
92 degrees, cloudy and humid at completion
Average speed 18.0 mph

As the seconds ticked toward 6:00am the crowd’s palpable sense of the excitement grew. The several thousand riders in the Sturbridge Host Hotel parking lot were restless and eager to get started. As the final words of the Star Spangled Banner resonated through the heavy morning air, a shout arose from the crowd and the 2008 Pan Mass Challenge was officially underway. My friend Terri (a breast cancer survivor) and I started together, but for most of the day I pedaled alone. Riding “alone” in the Pan Mass Challenge, however, is not unlike walking “alone” in Midtown Manhattan at noon on a warm sunny day. I was one among a multitude.

For eight miles between the second and third rest stops I latched onto a pace line. The name tag of the young woman at the back of the line was pinned to her saddle bag.

“Jenna I’m on your wheel. Okay with you?”
“Sure, but no aerobars.”
“Don’t worry. I don’t have them.”

Laura rode in front, straight as the proverbial arrow and maintaining a constant pace, just a little too fast for comfort. The resulting level of exertion was a reasonable mixture of demanding and tolerable. Julia and Jenna rode behind Laura, and all three controlled their bicycles like professionals. For this short segment my speedometer never went below 20mph. There was no rotation and everyone stayed in his or her place.

I crossed the finish line at 1:09pm, substantially earlier than in any of my nine previous years of participation. The digits 109 hold special significance for those of us who make a living in the thrilling world of Tax Accounting and I wondered if I should consider this to be divine confirmation of my career path. Is it fate or predestination perhaps? Or maybe it’s simply the sort of endless punishment common throughout the best-known work of Dante Alighieri.

After a quick shower I enjoyed the short and mediocre massage for which the Pan Mass Challenge is deservedly famous. Afterwards Terri’s husband Rob and I met at the finish line under a gradually darkening sky and we watched Terri roll in, followed moments later by our friend Doug. Doug has ridden in 27 Pan Mass Challenge events. He is my hero.

Shortly thereafter the angry sky released a deluge, drenching those riders still out on the roads.

August 3 – Bourne, MA to Provincetown, MA
80 miles officially (4,026 cumulative)
76 miles actually (4,059 cumulative)
75 degrees with dense fog at departure
90 degrees and sunny at completion
Average speed 18.4 mph

At 5:00am we pedaled into the darkness and dense fog. Terri and I again set off together, and as we crossed the Bourne Bridge a bagpiper was at the crest preparing his machine. We rode past, sorry to have missed him. A few minutes later, however, we passed beneath the eastern abutment of the bridge and entered the service road beside the Cape Cod Canal. From there we heard the piper playing “Amazing Grace” and the echoing notes seemed somehow softer as they emerged from the mist that rose from the canal almost all the way to the paved surface of the bridge.



After six quiet miles on the smooth and level access road we passed under the structurally identical Sagamore Bridge near the northeastern end of the canal. From there we headed eastward along the bicep of Cape Cod, on the rolling hills of Route 6A.

Just before the second rest stop riders passed “Da Hedge” in front of the Cape Cod Sea Camp. Behind da hedge hundreds of people congregate to cheer, yell, blow horns and otherwise encourage the passing cyclists. The volume is astonishing. It’s hard to believe they can make so much noise.

At 7:15am I pulled into the “lunch” stop at Nickerson State Park in Brewster. Jack, a young cancer survivor, was there wearing the America by Bicycle T-shirt I sent him and handing out necklaces. He’s 12 now, and quite a bit taller than he was last year. In three years he’ll be old enough to ride in the Pan Mass Challenge. I know he’ll do it.



At the final rest stop I met Steve and Jon, brothers from my hometown. When we were kids their house was just down the street and up the hill. I graduated from high school with their sister Nancy. Maybe she and I will have the chance to talk about the Pan Mass Challenge event at our 35 year reunion later this year.

I finished at 9:53am, about 40 minutes earlier than in 2007 and certainly earlier than in any other year.

My friend Michele met me in Provincetown. In 1993 Michele began the fight for her life. For a decade she battled Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, undergoing two transplants and numerous regimens of chemotherapy and radiation. Later she fought off breast cancer with the same determination. On this day she stood on the sidewalk with her husband and family. Happy and healthy, she cheered and applauded as riders rolled across the finish line.





Several hours later Michele and her family, Terri, Rob and I rendezvoused at Sundae School in Dennisport. I enjoyed a high fiber low calorie hot fudge sundae, with both whipped cream and marshmallow toppings. But no sprinkles…..I’m trying to watch what I eat.

*****

The ride across North America is over, and the ride across Massachusetts is over. Emotionally this is a curious combination of euphoria and melancholy. It is exciting to have done this, and inside my otherwise deeply flawed memory, every one of the 54 days is a precious jewel, to be frequently revisited. It is sad, however, to realize that it really is over. I miss loading my luggage in the trailer and riding off on unfamiliar roads in flyover country, wondering what the day will bring. I miss all the new friends I met on the ride.

At times I wondered whether I could do this. Others also expressed doubts, and such qualms were not unreasonable. Now I look back at 4,000 miles of roads, mostly well-paved, up and down mountains and sometimes headed into brutal headwinds. We had rainy days, but precious few of them. I feel strong. When I consider the uncertainties I had before the start in California, I realize that I was so much older then; I’m younger than that now. Apologies to Bob Dylan.

Think about something special you want to do. For me it was a long bicycle ride and for others it’s something different, but come up with something that most people would not do. I wanted folks to look surprised and say “You did WHAT?” There are no guarantees and you cannot know what the future holds. You owe it to yourself to find a way and DO IT.

Thank you everyone for your support and encouragement. We ride from Sturbridge at 6:00am on Saturday August 1, 2009, in a mere 8,624 hours.

Category: Q. New Hampshire

As you know the cross country tour is over. It feels strange to wake up and not have to load luggage into the van or pedal off on unfamiliar roads for an 80 miler.

Before I'm finished, however, there will be several more missives. I may write one about this weekend's ride with my regular group...the first such ride for me in two months, and of course the Pan Mass Challenge will take place on August 2 and 3.

Meanwhile, I need to thank some folks.

1. Thank you to my wife Sophie and my sons Chris and Jon. I missed you and it's nice to be back with you again.

2. Thank you to my brother Chris and my niece Rachel for coming to New Hampshire to pick me up. Thanks also to my father and uncle for being at the finish line.

3. Thank you to my friends Sandy and Barbara for being at the finish line.

4. Special thanks to my boss Steve for his encouragement, and to his boss David for the same, albeit one level further up the corporate organization chart. While we're at it, thank you Genworth Financial, Inc for being so flexible.

5. Thanks to Alex, Andrea, Joe and Jim on my team at work, for chipping in and compensating for me during my absence.

6. Thank you to Ed for setting up the blog on the Team Nature's Path web site and tweaking it when it needed tweaking. And especially for dealing with me, considering that the vast majority of blog problems arose from operator error. I am not all that good with modern technology, and the world is a safer place since I am not operating any heavy machinery.

7. Thank you to Chip of Nature's Path for sending the all those yummy Optima bars.

8. Thanks to Ben of 3 Sports for sending the replacement tires and for intervening with UPS when the shipment was delayed and misdirected.

9. Thanks everybody for your encouragement and support throughout this adventure. I have sincerely appreciated all the comments left on the blog and sent by email.

10. Thank you to all my sponsors for their donations. We are over $10,000 for 2008 alone, and the next few contributions are likely to bring the total for the our years of participation all the way to $49,000. The challenges are serious and the need is great. Such support is simply awesome.

The 2008 Pan Mass Challenge will begin in 177 hours

Category: Q. New Hampshire

54 miles officially (3,834 cumulative)
56 miles actually (3,873 cumulative)
Not very many feet of climbing
75 degrees and mostly cloudy at departure
90 degrees and mostly sunny at completion
Average speed 14.1 mph

This was the Big Day for the Cross Country Challenge. Check that one off The List.

Steve is from Tasmania, an island south of Melbourne, Australia. Several years ago a car slammed into him at high speed. He is now blind in one eye, partially deaf, and cannot ride a standard “diamond frame” bicycle for any significant length of time. These inconveniences did not dissuade him from riding across North America. In Tasmania he trained for short distances and ordered a semi-recumbent bicycle to be built and delivered to California for the cross country tour. It’s heavy with very low gearing, and for 3,800+ miles Steve pedaled it slowly eastward, up and down mountains, across deserts, through cities, small towns and farmland. Sarge is from Trinidad, an island in the Caribbean. He is an experienced long distance cyclist. Although he could travel swiftly, completing each day’s ride among the early finishers, he chose instead to pedal with Steve….every day. At our dinner the evening of July 21, our fastest rider George spoke of Sarge and his devotion to his friend. George told us that “loyalty” is not found under the letter L in the dictionary. Look instead under the letter S for Sarge. He suggested and all agreed that Sarge and Steve should lead our group to the Portsmouth beach.





On this day everyone left the motel with a sense of excitement and good spirits, and we pedaled off under a cloudy sky with the knowledge that today’s ride would be short and relatively easy. We had done all the heavy lifting. After passing through some pretty towns we rendezvoused at Rye Junior High School, four miles from the beach. Only a few wispy clouds remained and the sun glowed against a pale blue sky. When all had arrived we arranged ourselves in formation, with Sarge and Steve side by side in the front row. A police cruiser with lights flashing moved into position in front of the group, another took its place behind us and we headed off for the final few miles. Ten minutes later in a sudden blast of sensation we could smell salt water and hear gulls calling. As we came around a curve the Atlantic Ocean appeared before us, spanning the entire field of vision before us. Forty cyclists shouted and cheered, and the driver of the lead police car turned on his siren for the final approach to the beach.

The sand was warm between my toes and my bike light in my hands as I strode to the water and dipped my front tire. I couldn’t resist lifting the machine over my head and letting out a whoop.



For many, family and friends were there to see us dip our front tires into the Atlantic. For some, the distance between home and New Hampshire was too far for that. I am very fortunate in many ways. My wife, father, uncle, younger brother and niece were there. Sandy, a friend from work was also present, as was my friend Barbara, who has ridden across the country five times (the first time when she was 54 and most recently when she was 71)

On August 2, about 219 hours from now, we will ride from Sturbridge for the 2008 Pan Mass Challenge.

Please visit my Pan Mass Challenge profile page at: http://www.pmc.org/mypmc/profiles.asp?Section=story&eGiftID=RT0014

Category: Q. New Hampshire

86 miles officially (3,780 cumulative)
88 miles actually (3,817 cumulative)
6,475 feet of climbing
68 degrees with light rain at departure
80 degrees with light rain at completion
Average speed 14.6 mph

Tomorrow we’ll dip our front wheels in the Atlantic Ocean in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. That will be the end the cross country bike tour. Eleven days later the Pan Mass Challenge begins in Sturbridge.

At various times today I rode with Jay, Skip, Don, Bill, Seattle John, Jose, Alan and Fred from The Fleet and also the John and Amy unit. It’s a happy coincidence that during this penultimate day I could ride with so many member of our happy group. Less than a mile from the motel we crossed the New Hampshire border on our way to some of the steepest hills of the tour. Light intermittent rains cooled us off all day. We needed it. After moseying around a bit in our final state of New Hampshire, we faced a nine mile climb led to the first SAG stop. Our route sheet warned that some parts of the climb would be as high as 10%. The reality was that in places it exceeded 18%, three times as steep as the climb to Monarch Pass in the Rocky Mountains. This is a truly astonishing angle of ascent. With no exaggeration I write that several times I inadvertently lifted my front tire from the ground. It’s not easy (or wise) to pop a wheelie on a road bike.



After a short downhill we climbed another ten miles up Pitchers Mountain, and the incline here occasionally exceeded 15%. I was literally soaked with sweat when my wheels rolled over the crest, and I leaned on the handlebars as I coasted down the other side. A pretty lake appeared as I rounded a curve near the end of the descent. Other cyclists were there and I stopped to take a photo of the peaceful scene. A local woman was there and as we spoke I learned that she is from my hometown, Norwalk, Connecticut, and she is related to Karen, a friend who graduated high school with me 35 years ago. Small world, for sure.



The route sheet called for a left turn on Meadow Rd at 72 miles. I reached this intersection to find Alan, Bill and Fred digging in the bushes searching for a street sign that might have fallen from the empty signpost nearby. Apparently they had made a few wrong turns earlier in the day so they were not certain of the mileage. With my odometer as confirmation, plus the affirmation of a passing motorist, the four of us rode onward. Shortly thereafter as I was riding in front of this group I came to the intersection with Joe English Road. From behind and slightly below, Alan asked how it looked. I looked ahead and cringed. “It’s ugly up here.” Without further ado I shifted down to my second gear, knowing that in moments I would need to click it down to first. Most of this hill varied between 12% and 15%, but in one place is hit 22%. I truly don’t know how I got the bike up over that hump, but I did not get off and walk.

At 88 miles I rolled into the motel in a state of utter exhaustion. My wife Sophie, my father, my brother Chris and my favorite niece Rachel were waiting for me. I had not seen anyone from my family since May 31 and this was a very emotional moment. Jay’s wife Pat, his daughter Allison and his son-in-law Mark were also there, cheering on the riders as they emerged from the rain to finish a difficult day’s ride.



Tomorrow we are scheduled to ride 54 miles Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

Please visit my Pan Mass Challenge profile page at: http://www.pmc.org/mypmc/profiles.asp?Section=story&eGiftID=RT0014