PMC Tips #9: Sunday: Bourne to Provincetown

[ornoth_cycling]

This is the next to last posting 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!

Having just returned from the Outriders ride from Boston to Provincetown, it seems appropriate that today I'm going to talk about the second half of the PMC, which covers much of the same territory: Sunday: Bourne to Provincetown!

• Sunday, wear whatever jersey you want. If you're riding with a team, they usually wear their team jerseys on Sunday. I usually wear the jersey from my first PMC.
• There's no organized start on Sunday; plan to leave MMA around 5am.
• Don't believe anyone who thinks that Cape Cod if flat. There are hills. You'll see. Especially Provincetown, Truro, and the Route 6 Service Road in Sandwich, which has rollers you'll want to shoot over, if you can.
• There are usually ice pops at the Brewster (Nickerson State Park) water stop.
• After you leave Wellfleet, expect a brutal headwind on Route 6 all the way to Provincetown. If there's no wind on Route 6, don't worry: you'll run into it when you turn back from Race Point. It's nice to merge in with a paceline for those segments.
• Don't be fooled when you see the Pilgrim Monument and the "Entering Provincetown" sign. There's still several more miles as you loop out to Race Point and back into town.
• When you make the turn at Race Point, zip up your jersey and keep your eyes peeled for the event photographers!
• When parking in the bike line at Provincetown, sling your bike over onto the far side of the fence to avoid having it buried beneath other bikes or having to park at the way far end of the bike line. Loop your handlebars over the fence to make sure it doesn't fall down the other side!
• If you're meeting someone in Provincetown, make sure they're on the road early. Route 6 backs up something fierce on Sunday.
• Be warned that Provincetown has notoriously bad cell phone coverage.
• Don't bring soap into the showers at Provincetown; they provide special biodegradable soaps, since the showers run off into the harbor.
• You can wade in the ocean near the causeway behind the bike line in Provincetown, if you want to cool off.

Look for my tenth and final posting next week, when I share my experience on what you want to do post-ride!