I write this from air-conditioned comfort on the Tuesday after the 2022 PMC Ride- ahhhh. How hot and sticky was it out there is best summed up by this sign posted at White Crest Beach in Wellfleet (that I passed on Day 2). But as uncomfortable as it was at times, it was our first time back on the Pan Mass Challenge route since August 2019. Little did we know what lay ahead as we innocently pedaled along back in 2019....
First and foremost, thank you to everyone who contributed to my ride, to other riders, or who rode or volunteered. We have raised over $48,000,000 as of today, and I have far exceeded my goal by raising $28,000 for sarcoma research (and $133,000 over the course of my ten years riding the PMC). Thank you all for your amazing generosity!
On the PMC ride I primarily think of my daughter Sabina who is bravely battling clear cell sarcoma, but I also think of dear family members, many friends and work colleagues who are battling or have also confronted cancer in their lives. And on the ride, everyone has a cancer connection, either among their own family or friends, or the many Living Proof riders- riders who have had cancer or currently have cancer. One of our crew is Living Proof. And the many Pedal Partners, children who have cancer, who teams of riders support and meet up with during the ride. And of course the cancer survivors who cheer us on along the route. This is a powerfully emotional ride. It gets under your skin and lodged in your heart
Day Zero
The traditional PMC ride starts in Sturbridge and after 110 miles you arrive in Bourne at the base of Cape Cod. That's Day 1. Day 2 starts in Bourne and after 80 miles of biking on the Cape you arrive in Provincetown. As is our tradition, we tack on an extra day of biking on the front end by starting in West Stockbridge at the NY border to complete a true pan Massachusetts ride. This adds another 100 miles and lovely scenery biking through the Berkshires and the Pioneer Valley.
That first day is called "Day Zero" since it is unsanctioned by the PMC. Somewhere between 100-200 riders do Day Zero, mostly following "Team Huckleberry's" route. As the shirt says, Team Huckleberry has been biking the extra 100 miles since 1997 (we've been doing it since 2013).
Our Day Zero ride is made possible only by the terrific SAG support provided by Lisa, the amazing spouse of Paul, one of our crew. Lisa follows us in the team van, providing snacks, water, ice and moral support along the route (and carrying our luggage). Thank you Lisa!
We drove out to Western Mass Thursday night after a traditional Chinese food dinner at Paul and Lisa's house in Newton and spend the night at a hotel near the border, then bike to the border to start our ride.
Here's the de rigueur shot of us at the border, fresh as can be at 7 AM (by far our latest start of the weekend), rolling into West Stockbridge. The morning started off cool and not too humid as we rolled through quaint Berkshire towns like Stockbridge, Lenox, Lee and Beckett. We ride past quintessential Berkshire landmarks, like Jacob's Pillow, an Appalachian Trail crossing, and of course Beaver Storage.
This route has some pretty good hills to get up, but nothing too crazy (like starting this ride in North Adams as some people do). There's one particularly gnarly climb in Huntington. I was climbing beside a 25 year rider from Team Forza-G who had been diagnosed with metastatic melanoma (literally head to toe) in 2019 but had been treated and cured by immunotherapy and was strongly climbing up that hill.
My favorite part of the day is an incredible downhill that goes on for about 15 minutes, dropping down from Huntington into the Pioneer Valley- a descent of 1000 feet over that time frame. The morning was cloudy and around 80. so pretty reasonable, and was starting to heat up as we cycled through lovely Northhampton and reached our lunch destination, Atkin's Farm in Hadley at mile 63 by noon.
Rolling out of Atkin's, the sun was out and we had our first blast of heat as the temperature was now 90F. Heat was now going to be a factor, and we had 35 miles to go. I didn't take many photos in this stretch- it was "get 'er done" time as we rolled through Belchertown and angled more south than east to get to Sturbridge. We did make a stop in Palmer where we came upon a kid's playground. I said "I bet there's a water fountain play area there" and sure enough there was. Veronica, Paul, John and I played in the spray fountain for a long time like little kids (I wish I had taken photos or video!), cooling off tremendously. and looking much fresher (as shown below).
Day Zero ends with a long uphill 4-6% grade exposed climb that goes on for many miles. We had a thunderstorm just to our north that was motivating us into Sturbridge. We got in around 4 PM, missing a desired chance to swim in the lake because of the threat of lightning. We dropped off our bikes in the massive 6,000 bike parking area, got showered, grabbed food and beer and hung out in my hotel room and enjoyed the evening.
Day 1
Day 1 is an early impressive start as 6000 riders roll out of Sturbridge in a mass start, albeit at 5:30 AM. Well, a few of us overslept (particularly John and I who were staying at the hotel right at the start) and we missed the big start. Our buddies were amazingly chill that we had held them up and we got on the route way in the back of the pack to start our 110 mile ride to Bourne.
The humidity was very high, even in the am, and now it was going to be a major effort to hydrate, stay as cool as possible and stay ahead of muscle cramps with lots of electrolytes. As we found out later, it was determined that this was the third worst day for heat/humidity the PMC had ever experienced. Veronica had learned a cooling hack from watching the Tour de France where on brutally hot days the
riders use panty hose filled with ice and knotted on both ends to wrap around their necks while they are riding. Veronica brought three pairs of panty hose with her on the trip and she and Paul had used this trick on Day Zero. Paul demonstrates below. His expression in the last photo says it all.
I resisted the panty hose hack until Day 1, then in the face of the searing heat, gave it a try. Wow! For the rest of the day, I refilled them at every water/ice stop. As Paul said, "I can't believe that my ride was saved by panty hose". But it was. Especially on a day where heat exhaustion was rampant and many riders were picked up and driven in to the finish.
This was a day of mechanical issues for me and multiple saves. I had had rear derailleur issues on Day Zero that I was able to get through, but now my front derailleur was giving me issues. The mechanics on this ride are incredible, although the mechanic below missed the reason why my front chain was not shifting on to my front chain ring (he got it working but it wasn't sounding smooth).
After leaving a late morning water stop, I was pedaling along and the crank arm (which attaches your pedal to the bike) came off the bike leaving my left foot completely unattached to the bike with the crank arm hanging off the pedal and my foot! It was looking pretty grim as I had lost the cap to the crank arm that is used to get the crank arm back on the bottom bracket. But luckily my buddy Paul is as mechanical as he's resourceful and used a rock and a part of a tree limb to bang the crank arm back into the bottom bracket and I was able to cycle on (without having to be picked up by a van and driven to the next water stop). [For the mechanically minded among you, Linda later correctly pointed out that this was the reason for my front derailleur issues as the crank arm was already coming off the bottom bracket when the mechanic attempted to adjust my front derailleur.]
One of the unique and moving things about the PMC ride are all the people lining the route cheering us on, spraying us with water hoses, handing out water (even Bud Lite, which is very close to water), and ice pops! Some streets take PMC support very seriously and of them all, Cherry Street in Wrentham takes it to another level. Steel drums, bag pipes, drummers, it's an amazing experience.
Paul and I rode together over the 110 miles, enjoying the southern Massachusetts countryside, keeping cool with our panty hose ice packs, and consuming a lot of water and electrolytes. This is a long day in the saddle, and the temperature and humidity can take a lot out of you, but hey it's the PMC and we are riding to fight cancer so perspective always helps when you are starting to fade a bit. We rolled into the Mass Maritime Academy in Bourne around 4:15 PM and were happy to stow our bikes, take showers, set up camp for the night, and slake our ravenous appetites for food, beer and some chill out time. Remarkably we were all asleep by 9 PM, and the air was decent as a steady breeze was blowing all night.
Day 2
Our earliest wake up is on day 2, at 4 AM (eeks), as thousands of cyclists are rousing from sleep, packing up, having breakfast and getting ready to pedal the length of Cape Cod to P'Town. The light at the Cape was lovely in the predawn, but the air was already heavy with humidity. as we woke up our biking legs over the Bourne Bridge.
After crossing the bridge we make our way to the Cape Cod Canal, and watch the sunrise as we pedal at a fast clip along the Canal bike path.
Cape Cod miles fly past- funny how an 80 mile ride seems short after doing two back to back century rides. What makes the miles go even faster and what fuels us for the weekend are all the amazing volunteers, over 4000 who make this event possible. Pictured below is Mike who has been dressing up like Fred Flintstone for years. Mike had started riding the PMC after a friend had passed away from
cancer. He rode the PMC for ten years, then inspired a group of women to ride the PMC. When they asked if they would see him on the ride, he said oh you will notice me, and that's when he came up with the idea of dressing up like Fred. He's done it ever since. And then there are people like this cheerful fellow, who I nicknamed, creatively enough, Watermelon Man (I asked him if he knew the song), who was keeping up with the high demand for watermelon. And all the people who cooked for us. Members of the Sarcoma Cycling Brigade, the team I raise money with, worked tirelessly barbecuing chicken for many hours in the hot sun in Bourne.
The scenery on the Cape is lovely, but by this point in the ride we are moving fast and looking forward to the finish line so I did not stop for many photos. I finished the ride with John, who I drafted behind on the Rt 6 causeway when I was running out of gas. That pull energized me to finish strong on the Truro hills.
Crossing the finish line is always a rush, as we are greeted by a throng of cheering people. It was great to be reunited with my amazing riding crew, as we said goodbye to the 2022 PMC. One that we were very glad to be back in person for once again. COVID willing, we will be here again for 2023.
Thank you for following along and for contributing to the ongoing fight against cancer. We have much more work to do. This ride is dedicated to Sabina's brave battle against sarcoma and the hope that a new cure is just around the corner. A new cure fueled by critically important fundraisers like the PMC.
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