ornoth_cycling | Entries tagged with wellfleet

The following is a transcription of a phone post that originally appeared in my main journal, here.

Okay, well, here I am in Wellfleet, with one section left of the ride. And it’s starting to sink in: (laugh) more the missing of Bobby Mac than the fact that it’s the last PMC. I’ve had certainly a lot more time to get used to the idea of a last PMC, and I wouldn’t have made the decision to stop if I wasn’t ready for it already. So we’ll enjoy that, but at the same time it’s also still a celebration of Bobby Mac and everything he did for the cycling community in Boston. He was just an incredible, marvelous man, and I can’t possibly begin to say enough about him, as was expressed earlier in my big blog post about him. So he’s definitely forefront in the mind, once I can think of anything but what’s on the immediate road in front of me and my aching body and so forth. And also it’s also the last segment of riding across the state. It’s the second time I’ve done it. It’s a big accomplishment in my book: a lot of hills, a lot of pushing the pedals. But it’s also been a good, worthy undertaking, as has the PMC in general. We’ll see. I’ll reach the finish line, but I won’t immediately post. I’ll probably wait a little bit; get some food and take a shower first, but I will do a voice post after I get into Provincetown, a little later, it’ll probably be mid-afternoon. But this will be a tough hour and a half of riding the last segment. Definitely feeling it, not just physically but also emotionally. That’s it; onward!

The following is a transcription of a phone post that originally appeared in my main journal, here.

Hello, hello! It is now 9:07 and I'm at Wellfleet, which is the last stop before the final segment to Provincetown! Now mind you there's still 21 miles left to bike, and there's some damned big hills in Truro and then there's the exposed Route 6 that we take into Provincetown and then we go out around Race Point in the sand dunes. So there's a lot of hard riding yet to go, but it's the last segment.

I'm feeling pretty strong and still averaging about 18 miles per hour, which is pretty high for day two and high in general. Also kind of strange: my heart rate hasn't really broken 80 percent at all. I'm not sure whether that's faulty electronics or whether my body has adjusted that much. It's kind strange; usually when I'm biking I'm around 85, sometimes 90-95 percent on exertions, so I won't argue. I still feel strong; I don't feel weak or anything, so whatever.

The last segment from Brewster was interesting. We got onto the bike path and it was still overcast. But it had just burned off and the sun came out when boom! we had a sun shower! So that was kind of interesting. It really came down for a few minutes and lightly for several minutes. So that was kind of nice and cooling. I had to stop and take care of the electronics, but that's why I carry Baggies. It was kind of nice and refreshing but it increased out moisture.

With the fog burning off, now it's just brilliant sun and very few clouds, so I think it's gonna warm up, although it's still only in the 70s here on the cape. So it looks like we're gonna be in good shape to finish without any crazy storms or heat or humidty or anything; the wind's the only question.

That's it; I'll probably make a short post in Provincetown just to get you caught up. Provincetown has chronically bad cell phone coverage, so usually when I send updates from there they don't get through very well, so I'll keep it brief in Provincetown. But then I'll have one more update very much later, at the end of Sunday, with a little bit more of a weekend debrief.

Right now I'm extremely happy. Again, having made $10,000, it really means a lot to me and it'll mean a lot as I cross the finish line, and it'll help me get over those last 21 miles of hills and valleys and wind and so forth!

I feel strong and it's been a really good ride, and it's ending very, very well. I'm real happy and wish you could be here because it's a beautiful day out on the cape, now that the fog has blown off. I will talk to you soon!

The following is a transcription of a phone post that originally appeared in my main journal, here.

Okay we're in Wellfleet, with just 20 miles left out of 192. Still feeling strong, and that's a blessing. As I always say in some of my writeups, riding the PMC takes strength and endurance and strength of will and courage and peresevence, and the reason why I do it is the fact that those same attributes are demanded in much higher quantities from cancer patients and their families, and they don't have a choice like I do to undertake that or not. So that's part of why I ride. Wellfleet is usually where I stop and reflect on the ride, and today obviously I'm reflecting on my friend Ken, who just went through hell during his six years fighting Hodgkins Lymphoma and eventually succumbing to it, and I really don't want anyone else to have to endure that kind of suffering that he went through. I also feel the same the reason why we're riding is for every person who ever finds themselves in the position of having to walk through the door of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the new Yawkey Center for Cancer Care. I'm very proud that that buliding has been built largely with PMC funding. It's going to do so much good, not just for this year but for decades, for generations. Hopefully the need for that building will become less and less over time, but there's a lot of cancer survivors out there too, and they also require care and attention as well. All in all, I feel that's an incredible result of this ride. Again I wish it wasn't necessary, but that's why we're out here. So that's the things I'm thinking about as I close this ride out over the next 20 miles. Weather-wise we had a little bit of a sprinkle while we were on the Cape Cod Rail Trail in Wellfleet, but it seems to have passed. It's still really overcast and threatening, but the roads are actually a little drier, since there hasn't been any precipitation since early this morning. So it looks like we should have a pretty good run in. We have a south wind, which is a tailwind for us until we get to Provincetown and do that crazy loop out Race Point. So we'll have a headwind at the finishing line and through the sand dunes, but otherwise it should be a nice, easy ride in. That's it from Wellfleet. The next update will be after the finish in Provincetown! Really looking forward to it, and obviously thank you to everyone for helping me be a part of this event and part of everything it accomplishes. It's very meaningful to me, so thank you.

The following is a transcription of a phone post that originally appeared in my main journal, here.

Well, I'm not sure what time it is, but have arrived in Wellfleet, which is the last stop before Provincetown, so I'm on the last leg from here on forward.

Wellfleet is kind of interesting because half of the land in the entire town of Wellfleet is the Cape Cod National Seashore, and 70 percent of all the land in the town is actually under some sort of protection, because it's toward the scenic end of Cape Cod. The Cape Cod National Seashore, which President Kennedy authorized -- I believe in the early 60s, like '63 -- has reserved a great deal of this land for future public use.

One of the beaches here in Wellfleet is called Marconi Beach which is historic because obviously it's the site of the first tranatlantic radio tranmission, which happened in 1903.

Nice to have actually a minute at this stop to actually stop and and enjoy the ride and thank everyone for their support, rather than chasing around mechanicals. Things are going well.

At this point, probably the rest of the ride I'm just gonna bear in mind the millions of people who contract cancer each year and the millions more who die of it each year. and the sheer number of people here who are trying to do something about it, and have accomplished a hell of a lot. By the end of this year the Pan Mass Challenge alone will have raised over a quarter billion dollars, not million but billion dollars, over $250 million, probably close to $270 million, for the fight against cancer over its 30-year history, obviously this being the 30th year ride.

So something to celebrate, something to enjoy on the last segment of my journey before getting to P-town and closing the books on another Pan Mass. Obviously this leg is always kind of a little bit melancholy because it means the end of something that I've spent the last eight months working for, and have appreciated all the support and interest that people have shown for supporting me doing it. It's very, very much appreciated, obviously it also does a hell of a lot of good for Dana-Farber and for the fight against cancer.

So with that, I'm off on the road on the final segment, and I'll send you another update from P-town.

The following is a transcription of a phone post that originally appeared in my main journal, here.

Well well well, it's Wellfleet! 170 miles into the ride, with about 21 left. This will be the longest segment of today at 21 miles. This is the last water stop, but there's a lot of riding yet to do, especially coming up Route 6 against the wind along Pilgrim Lake. However, I've been really strong today; surprisingly after pretty much using it all up yesterday. I've been steadily increasing my average speed and I think I'm up to 16.6 now, which is pretty impressive, I'm happy with it. Still been having a good time. Been pushing it along pretty good, but I've been with packs and drafting a little bit which helps the average speed. But gonna take a few extra minutes here because the next segment is long, and as the ride starts to wind up I kind of take a little extra time and relish the ride. There's no real need to show up in P-town early, the way you do in Sturbridge [ed: actually Bourne] to get a massage. But generally happy. Just gonna savor the last segment of the ride and just take it easy and enjoy the reward for the fundraising that I've done. And obviously you guys have a role in that, or at least the people who have donated, and I want to again thank you for that. Look for another update: it probably won't be in an hour; it might be in an hour and a half. I'm on target for a 10:45 arrival at P-town. Glad to have everybody's thoughts and well-wishes and money of course, and we'll see you in P-Town. Talk to you later!

The following is a transcription of a phone post that originally appeared in my main journal, here.

Hey, we're here. We are in Wellfleet. This is the last stop before Provincetown, so the ride's almost over and I'm taking my time and kind of enjoying the scenery on the cape. We got our first view of the ocean on I think it's Ocean View Drive in Wellfleet, which is a pretty substantial climb, but you get a beautiful broad expanse view of the ocean. And from there you turn left and cross the cape over to this water stop that's in the middle of Wellfleet. There's some good sand dune rollers and kinda scrubby pine trees and stuff along that route. It was fun. It was still very crowded and I'll be getting into P-town with the rest of the group by the looks, but I'm really enjoying it, taking it a little bit easy. My knees and my neck are starting to act up a little bit, but not bad. I've conserved energy, and the next leg to Provincetown: I think it's gonna be challenging, because there's a real strong wind out and that stretch on Route 6 is completely open for about 5-10 miles, and so that's gonna be a real hard haul, I think. But it'll be fun; I'll take it easy, and this is the time to use up all that energy I've stored over the course of the past two days. So we'll hit it, and make it into P-town through the sand dunes, and I'll give you a call from there. But for now it's starting to warm up, and gonna hit the road again soon.