The following is a transcription of a phone post that originally appeared in my main journal, here.
Hi! A quick update from Sturbridge: it's 5:15 and we're gearing up for a 5:30 departure. Things seem to be going well right now. 70 degrees out, which is a very nice morning; often it's much colder. I haven't run into Jay yet but hope to, and looking forward to a nice ride, now that I don't have to worry about wheels and turned ankles and being late and various arrangements like that. So looking forward to a good ride today. There's a possibility we might run into some showers, but right now I'll take that. Looking forward to a real good ride and the next update will come shortly.
The following is a transcription of a phone post that originally appeared in my main journal, here.
Hey it's 6:45 in the morning and I'm at the first stop in Whitinsville, and we pretty much flew on that segment. Now that I've stopped, I'm kind of sweaty, but it wasn't bad out on the road: kinda cool, clammy, humid, but cool enough so that it wasn't a problem, but I think it's gonna warm up very quickly. I'm just gonna grab some Gatorade and get out of here. So far so good. The wheel has successfully navigated the first segment, so pretty happy with that, and just pretty happy overall. Just want to stay ahead of the crowd. That's it, I'll talk to you again soon.
The following is a transcription of a phone post that originally appeared in my main journal, here.
Okay, we have arrived in Franklin, the second stop. It's now 7:50, which puts me... 7:50? Puts me about 25 minutes ahead of schedule, so I'm moving right along. I know Jay's 20 minutes behind me, so I probably won't see him until Mass Maritime probably. Just gonna do a little stretching, get some ice and Gatorade here, and get out of here because I want to stay ahead of the pack. But so far a great day. Bike's holding up well; I'm holding up well, although I'm feeling a little crampy. And since I won't be pacelining and drafting other people, I'm gonna be taking it a little bit easier and being a little more conservative for the next couple segments. So I'm gonna nurse it from here on in, but I'm still making good time. Next update from the lunch stop!
The following is a transcription of a phone post that originally appeared in my main journal, here.
Okay, I'm just about to leave the Dighton lunch stop, which is surprising because of course it is only 9:42, so I'm making better time again. And my legs are getting tired, right calf is kinda crampy... But yanno, those are things I that can manage much better than mechanical issues, and there have been no mechanical issues. I still want to get out of here quickly to stay ahead of the crowd. But on the way out I ran into my friend Jeff, who actually isn't a rider. He came up... he's visiting from California to support Team Kermit, which is another group of riders. He happened to catch me in the parking lot as I was leaving, and I'm very glad that he did because it was nice to catch up and say hi. I also found the blueberry that was stuck in my sandals from... I had dried fruit to eat while on the bike, and it's really a mess because it was there for two or three segments of 75-degree bike riding. Speaking of which... right now it's about 83, but that's in the sun. Conditions are perfect really. There's a little breeze, so it's nice and cool on the bike; it's a little hot when you stop. Filtered sunlight, generally just a beautiful day, as long as we stay away from thunderstorms later in the day. All's well, having a great time. 36 miles left to MMA, but first there'll be two more waterstops in Lakeville and Wareham, so I will talk to you from there.
The following is a transcription of a phone post that originally appeared in my main journal, here.
Hey, we're in Lakeville and it's only 10:34. 82.26 miles in, and I really actually can't believe that beause my legs are still strong. I'm averaging 18.5 mph, and although my legs are burning, I seem to be reaching every rest stop before I anticipate it, so it's not this game of like "When's the next rest stop?" Feeling really strong. It feels like the whole route is shorter in every way than I remember. Doing really well, again gonna do the same thing: a really quick in and out, just grab some ice, maybe a little stretching, and keep going. The sun has really broken through the clouds -- high thin clouds a little bit -- but it's really warm out now. It's above 80, so when you stop it's pretty moist. Otherwise having a great ride, the only thing I wish was that Jay was here, but he's a good 20 minutes behind me at least. Things are going well, and I guess I'll catch up with him at Mass Maritime. Look for me again very shortly; I'll have a message from Wareham which will be the 100 mile point, which apparently is about 15 miles from here. That's it from Lakeville.
The following is a transcription of a phone post that originally appeared in my main journal, here.
Okay, I'm in Wareham. That's 100 miles in 6 hours and 10 minutes, which is damned good as far as I'm concerned. However I completely and utterly jinxed myself with my update from Lakeville, because everything hurts now: neck, legs... The warmer it gets, the higher my heart rate goes. Definitely that last segment was a trial, but there's only 8 miles left of kinda mixed... Some of it's very scenic, some of it's extremely urban... Or not urban but junky suburban strip mall kinda stuff. But right now I'm going to take a little bit of a break, because I think I've earned it at this point. Then hopefully the last 8 miles my legs will have recovered and it'll just be a victory lap. Doing really well and enjoying the ride when I'm not focused on the pain. But definitely remembering the stories from the people that I've met, the people who are sponsoring me, of course Ken's story, as well as the people who are lining the route. It's just very moving that so many people care so much about this cause. But I'll defer that and think about that while I'm passed out laying down on the grass here! Next update... I will not give an update when I arrive at Bourne, but after I've showered and massaged I'll do a lengthy update. Look for that in an hour or two.
The following is a transcription of a phone post that originally appeared in my main journal, here.
Okay I'm at Mass Maritime Academy in Bourne. The last leg was incredibly windy, and it's very windy here on campus. I managed to finished the entire course in 7 hours which certainly is impressive, given that it's 110 miles. It's very sunny here and very windy. It looks like it'll be a great afternoon. I stayed 20 minutes ahead of Jay all day, so basically kept pace with him, which is good since he's 17 years younger than me! I also just got out of the massage session that we get -- we get 15 minute massage sessions -- and I actually had three women giving me my massage. Usually it's one; if you're lucky you get two people. So that was really nice, so I'm feeling a lot better right now. Next stop is gonna be the food tent, but overall today went astonishingly well despite running out of gas toward the end of the ride, but that's to be expected when you're doing 110 miles! Generally now just need to come down, get my heart rate down, get some food in me, rehydrate, try and put some fuel into my body for tomorrow, which I am steadfastly going to refuse to think of right now. Going to spend the afternoon hanging around near the Cape Cod Canal, which is always a beautiful place. I may stick my toes in the ocean in Buzzards Bay, track down some buddies, just hang out, and then make my way up to Sandwich. The next upate that you'll receive will be from my hotel in Sandwich sometime this evening. Right now I'm having a great time and obviously wish I could communicate that to everyone who sponsored me, everyone who is interested in my ride, because it is a very moving experience and a great weekend, sharing the mission and how much we've accomplished with 5,000 other riders and 3,000 volunteers. It's a huge sense of camaraderie and working with and for other people's benefit. It's very moving, but right now *I'm* moving: to the food tent! So I'm gonna cut this short. Talk to you later, bye!
The following is a transcription of a phone post that originally appeared in my main journal, here.
Okay, Saturday night's update from the hotel in Sandwich. Made it here okay although it was really windy crossing the Bourne Bridge and otherwise things were okay. Came in, had supper, hit the hot tub actually, which was kind of nice. Discovered I had blistered one of my toes in my cycling sandals, so took care of that. Otherwise had a real good day. Very tired, so I'm going down right now, going to bed. Up tomorrow morning at 5 with an anticipated 6am depart. Gonna try and meet up with Jay. I did meet up with him at Mass Maritime, but would actually like to do some riding with him this weekend. The sad news is that tomorrow looks like it's going to be a pretty substantial rainstorm. At least it'll be mid-70s temperature-wise, but it's gonna be a washout by the sounds. It eventually may be clearing off a little bit in the afternoon, but the morning (obviously we're leaving at 6am) the morning's gonna be pretty wet. Really not looking forward to that, but it'll just slow down the Sunday ride a little bit as well. Next update probably may be around 6, when I leave here, or it may be a little bit later at the first rest stop, which I think is in Barnstable, which is not very far down the road. But I'm gonna get some shuteye and try and let the legs recuperate overnight, and I'll talk to you tomorrow.
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