PMC Tips #8: Saturday: Sturbridge to Bourne

[ornoth_cycling]

This week, the rubber hits the road in my series of hints, tips, pointers, and advice for other Pan-Mass Challenge charity riders. These are the things I've learned during more than a decade of participating in the PMC.

The full list of posts will be compiled and permanently available online at http://www.ornoth.com/bicycling/hints.php

Whether you're a first-timer or a longtime veteran, may you find these ideas useful, and I hope you have a wonderful PMC experience!

I've spent the past seven weeks talking about everything you need to think about before the ride... Now let's talk about the first segment of the ride itself: Saturday: Sturbridge to Bourne!

• Riders are asked to wear the official event jersey on Saturday.
• Bring arm warmers for Saturday morning. It's often cold at 5am, even in August. You can strip them off later.
• In the morning, do a couple laps around the parking lot before you line up for the start, just to check your tire pressure, brakes, and gears.
• Unless you're a very slow rider, line up in the fast group at Sturbridge. So many people fill that group from the back that anyone in the other two groups automatically winds up at the very tail end of the ride amongst the slowest riders.
• Don't sweat the ride route. It'll be thoroughly marked, there'll be lots of other riders, and there'll be lots of volunteers guiding the way. You shouldn't need any maps.
• Don't sweat the hills. Yeah there are some, but if you've done hill training, you'll be fine. The miles are more strenuous than the hills.
• Watch out for the route merge just before the Dighton lunch stop; it's really dangerous.
• If you're curious about what your century time might be, the Wareham stop is almost exactly 100 miles from the Sturbridge start.
• The final leg of Saturday's ride, from Wareham to Bourne, is only 8 miles. But riders are tired and it can be both congested and commercial, so be extra careful on this segment.
• When you arrive at the finish, get your luggage and go straight to the showers, then quickly to the massage tent. Neglect this rule and you won't get any massage.
• Even if you get a late massage appointment, you can sit in a "standby" area and take any tables that are still open after the scheduled riders for that period are accommodated.
• You can wade in the ocean behind the dorms at MMA, if you want to cool off. Or perhaps "freeze off" is a more accurate term.
• The tugboat dock, next to the canal, is one of the more quiet and peaceful spots to relax at MMA.
• If you're riding with a team, official photographers take team and Living Proof portraits Saturday afternoon at MMA near the flagpole by the canal.

Next week I'll go over the second half of the ride, as we follow Sunday's route from Bourne to Provincetown.