It also makes you 29% more humble.

 

2022 Harbor to the Bay Ride

After canceled/modified rides in 2021 and 2020 it was fantastic to get back to doing the real Harbor to the Bay Ride.  Boston to Provincetown in one day with 100% of the money raised going to the beneficiaries.  I had a really solid day on the bike.  Most importantly thanks to you I raised more than $11,000 (including the very generous matching from MathWorks!).  Every dime of the money raised goes to the charities doing really important work helping HIV+ people.

One of the local TV stations was at the start of the ride.  Their report features a familiar face.  NB, don't try to stand between a camera and me.

At the finish. My wife & daughter know enough not to get too close.

The H2B is The Big Cycling Event for me.  I approach every bike commute, ride, and gym workout with the idea that "I'm training for the Harbor to the Bay".  Yes, this might be overkill.  Additionally, it can make it tough to sleep the night before the event.  And that is kind of what happened this year.  I'll have to work on that.

In any case, I was up & at 'em at 4:50 AM.  Everything was laid out for the ride.  It was chilly out, 55F/11C, so that included a vest and arm/knee warmers.  As the day warmed up I removed and stowed them in the big pockets in the back of my cycling jersey.  After a quick breakfast I was out the door & cycling to Trinity Church in Copley Square for opening ceremonies.  It was great to see a number of friends who also do the H2B year in and year out. I got to talk to my friend Carolyn who has been doing AIDS Rides since the first Boston New York AIDS ride back in 1995.  Carolyn was going to do the new 20 mile loop in Provincetown with Joe Richard.

There are several options for the H2B.  Boston to Provincetown, the Bridge to Provincetown (about 65 miles), the new 20 mile loop, and being a virtual rider (do your thing & raise money).  It's all good and a great way to get involved.  

I was really antsy to get out on the road, to the amusement of my friend Andi (when will they start? The sun is already up! Let's get out there!).

Impatiently waiting to roll out with Andi.

Tim has yet to learn I will take the photo. I will always take the photo.

My impatience continued even after we got out on the road.  I was pretty far back in the pack of cyclists (about 90 of us started from Boston this year, so I heard).  We were going at a rather stately pace.  Well, there's always one way to get the pack to ride faster -- I rode faster and got to the front.  Sure enough all the strong cyclists responded in kind and started going faster than me. Whew!  I hung on for a while as we maintained a good 19 mph pace.  This also meant that I dropped my friends Andi and Tim.

I was able to hang with the fast group for a while. Probably until we got to the first real hilly bits around Quincy.  The first pit stop is in South Weymouth only 15 miles into the ride.  I grabbed a little something to eat and saw Tim and then Andi roll in.  Andi was coasting because she had snapped her bike chain!  It's a thing that can happen.  Fortunately, one of the volunteer bike mechanics fixed the chain and she was able to continue riding.  

Not wanting to dally much, I pressed on.  Just past the first pit the character of the roads changes. It becomes just a bit less densely settled and a lot more pleasant to ride.  Maybe around where you hit Abington?  I rode with a small ad hoc group for much of this section, maintaining a nice pace.  There are pit stops every 15 miles or so, sometimes even closer.  The second pit in Halifax featured some peanut butter & jelly sandwiches which were great.

On the approach to Plymouth there are some pretty big descents followed by ascents that are just a tad longer.  If you know they're coming you can take advantage by really sprinting on the downhill so you can zoom up the next hill.  Which is exactly what I did.  There was a red light at the crest and one of the other riders caught up to me and said "you really had a game plan for that, didn't you?".  After that there's another screaming descent down into Plymouth proper.  I was hanging with another rider as we were dropping down doing close to 40 mph when I heard his tires slip out a bit from under him.  I think he tried to avoid a pothole and oversteered a bit.  He kept the rubber side down and it was just a scary moment.  At high speeds you steer with your hips, not the handlebars, and you have to try and keep it subtle.

Mouth full, sitting down at the Plymouth Rest Stop
It was still cold enough to keep those arm warmers on.
Note the extra cool "I can store my sunglasses upside down in my 
helmet vent" look. Indicative of the serious cyclist.

By now I had long finished the bike bottle of iced coffee I had started the day with.  At the rest stop in Plymouth I cracked open the first of the two Forto coffee shots of the day.  Yeah, on top of the sub-optimal sleep I also had to manage my very serious coffee habits.  My friend Richard appeared at the rest stop while I was sitting there.  He's done the ride many times and ironically he too had a really bad night's sleep.  Actually, his sounded far worse than mine.  He had a bit of a head cold and had taken a non-drowsy cold medication.  As he found out the non-drowsy part is practically a guarantee!  I left the pit stop saying I was sure he'd pass me on the rolling hills on the way to the Cape Cod Canal.  As it turned out, he didn't! Definitely a mark of how little sleep he got since Richard is normally quite a bit faster than me. 

Well, I banged out the next twenty some odd miles and then I was at the canal.  It's always a great feeling to see the bridge over the canal and those wind turbines.  Just bicycling the sixty miles from Boston to the canal feels pretty substantive.  The old abandoned Friendlys was the location of our lunch stop.  And it was where my friends Jay and Jen were crewing!  I pulled up and asked for a fribble.  Instead I had my choice of PB&J or a hummus wrap (donated by the good people at the Bread & Roses bakery).  I went with the PB&J.  Jay came over and we talked a bit.

No fribbles, but I did give Jay an inner tube for a bike tire that I had found by the side of the road.  I'm sure he will treasure it. Oh, he chucked it.

Well, after my quick lunch I kept moving (just as Tim and then Andi pulled in too).  This time I didn't hop back on my bike - the rules are you have to walk over the bridge. Ugh. Walking is for suckers.  Anyway, you get across and you are ON THE CAPE.  Flipping to the B side of the ride, it's a whole new day.  Well, it feels like that anyway.

It had warmed up nicely by this point and all my cooler weather kit was rolled up and tucked into my jersey pockets.  I also had my mini pump, reading glasses, and cell phone in there.  On the bike in a snack box I had a bunch of my own cycling food and a battery to charge my phone if necessary.  Under the saddle I had a bag with the tools to repair a flat tire.  Essentially, the stuff I carry with me on any long ride.

Moving through Bourne and Sandwich I got to the access road that parallels Route 6.  This kind of features the same rolling terrain you deal with from Plymouth down to the canal.  Except the elevation tends to go up.  The canal was dug at a low point in the terrain, naturally.

The route for the middle of the day, across the canal to the service road to 6A to the Cape Cod Rail Trail in Brewster, MA.

Along the service road I ran into another H2B rider, Barry, who had a flat tire.  He didn't have everything he needed to swap it out though.  Sooner or later one of the patrolling SAG (support and gear) vehicles would have found him, but I was there and in a few minutes we swapped out his punctured tube for his spare.  While I was helping him Andi passed by.  Barry sounded like he'd had a tough day so far.  He'd been swept up once or twice.  I'm sorry to say I wasn't at my most conversational while I was helping him.  Anyway, I got him set up as best I could -- a hand pump can't get a road tire up to 100 PSI.  Then I was off trying to chase down Andi so I could ride with her for a bit.

Sure enough after a while I did catch up with her.  She had gotten lost at some point and was found & swept up to a rest stop by a SAG wagon.  It was probably for the best.  She recently had COVID and was not 100%.  Do I even have to say that Andi is made out of tough stuff?  It was really nice to ride with her for a while.  Thinking about it, suddenly I'm pretty sure I only caught up with her just shy of the pit stop in Barnstable on Route 6A.  

6A is a terrible stretch of road for cyclists.  It's twisty, narrow, and usually has quite a bit of traffic.  Well, that's what makes it bad.  If it wasn't for all the cars & trucks it would be scenic and beautiful.  

Anyway, coming out of the pit Andi wanted me to take the lead, set the pace, and pull.  The starch was out of her legs and it's nice to sit in the slipstream if you can.  I was more than happy to do so.  It's not like I was setting a blistering pace.  It's been a long long time since I've been capable of getting down in the drops and hammering at 20+ mph for a good stretch of time.  Yeah, I miss those days.

Well, the situation on 6A turned out to be OK.  Traffic was kind of light and I don't think we faced a single instance of intentional aggression on the part of the drivers.  Like I said, 6A is normally terrible.

We got to the next pit at Brewster, which is where Andi had set her sights on finishing the day.  We hung out a bit more drinking and eating.

Don't stand when you can sit.
Don't sit when you can lie down.
Preferably with your legs elevated.
The racer's credo.

I rode off on the Cape Cod Rail Trail (CCRT), happy to be off the road.  Most of the other cyclists were coming from the other direction, so I didn't even have to worry about passing other cyclists.  Normally, I try to dramatically pick up the pace while on the CCRT.  I wasn't feeling it, so I did not hammer.  In retrospect, I think something was off, likely hydration.  The day had warmed up, but I was still drinking as if it was cool out.

The next pit is on the CCRT at Brackett Road in Eastham, which is too close to the Brewster pit, so I just said hello and kept rolling.  I had just passed the 100 mile mark for the day.  So close to the finish you start doing math and estimating when you'll be done.  I try to not think too much about stuff like that while riding.  It's better to think about the immediate terrain and staying on top of nutrition.  Keep the tempo, keep eating and drinking, stay safe, and the finish line will take care of itself.  Speaking of keeping the tempo, I got some quality drafting time off rider 346 at this point.  He popped out of the Brackett Road pit as I was passing.  I jumped on his wheel (and said hello to let him know I was back there) and relaxed as he pulled me along the CCRT.  It felt like I had spent a lot of time with my nose in the wind and drafting for 15 minutes or so was great.  Don't worry, I thanked him afterwards.

I got to the pit stop in Wellfleet at the end of the CCRT and plopped into a chair.  I ate & drank something, but what I really wanted was an espresso and a croissant from the PB Boulangerie just around the corner.  After chatting a bit with the crew at the pit stop, I decided to take off.  If the queue was short at the PB, I'd get my longed for espresso.

The queue is never short at the PB.

I did not get my espresso.

OK, I should have turned around and hit the liquor store for a coke or something.  I was clearly in the mood for more caffeine.  Instead I hit Route 6 and the rolling hills between me at the last pit stop in Truro.  Route 6 is generally OK.  It's got a wide shoulder, so it's fairly safe for cycling, even if all the road noise from the cars makes it unpleasant.  This year instead of doing the hairpin turn out to Highland Light we stayed on 6 a little extra.  This shaved off a little mileage, but at the cost of riding on a section with almost no shoulder.  I did not like it.  At all.

Well, I got through it.  Took the turn to the last pit in Truro.  I didn't even get off the bike there and I probably whined a bit too much about the route change to the crew.  Oops.  Not cool.

Anyway, all that was left was the climb up from the Salty Dog market up to where Terra Luna restaurant is.  One last longish climb to insult the legs.  Crest the hill, and there you are, the view of Beach Point and beyond it, Provincetown.  It was a beautiful clear day and the view over the harbor was magnificent.

I flew down the last descent and rode the last few miles past Pilgrim Lake.  Stopped at the Provincetown sign for a traditional selfie (Richard passed me here!).  And then rolled up to the finish line at the Harbor Hotel.  Where my family was waiting for me.  Another Harbor to the Bay ride in the books.

Now you know what's in those big jersey pockets in back!

After some food and hanging out with Jay, Jen, Joe, Carolyn, and some new friends like Barry, I changed, showered up, even got to relax a bit, and then went back to the Harbor Hotel to do the ceremonial bike parade to closing ceremonies at the Boatslip.  We got to hear some nice speeches from the beneficiaries about the excellent work they do.  Essential work like providing food & medicine to people regardless of their ability to pay, testing services, educational services, access to preventative drugs, and research into a cure.

So, really, thanks for sponsoring me.  It's the impact of the money that's raised that's the important thing.  Not the cycling.

Sure, Cycling 127 Miles is Tough, But Have You Tried It On No Sleep?

So, almost every year my family and I take an end of the summer long vacation in Provincetown at the end of Cape Cod.  I kick this off with an unsupported ride from my home to Ptown.  I was pretty excited for this year's ride.  I had resolved to take my time; stop for coffee when I felt like it, take photos of things, that sort of thing.  Given that I had done the route on Outriders earlier in the summer and that I had ramped up my mileage nicely, I felt good and ready for the ride.

A couple years ago I saw a GCN video about the aerodynamics of a trunk bag in place of panniers.  I dug around trying to find my old trunk and couldn't find it.  Maybe I gave it to a friend at some point?  As a result, I continued to do these long rides with the aero profile of a billboard.  The huge capacity of my panniers also lend themselves to overpacking.  A couple bottles of gatorade? Why not?  My kindle and street clothing? Heck, if I have a mechanical and have to wait for a ride, I'll want that!  And so on.  Well, this year I caved and got a small trunk bag. I took one extra water bottle, some food, and some warm cycling kit in case the forecast was wrong and it rained or something.

I wrote up my packing checklist, got everything set and went to bed early for my 5 AM wake up.  Perfectly planned and executed, thank you.

And then I woke up at 11 PM.

And could not get back to sleep.

....

Maybe I dozed a bit here and there, but no. Just a lot of tossing & turning.  And not like the song.  Heck of a night for insomnia.  I got out of bed around 4:40 feeling like garbage.  The only good thing was I'd get out on the road early.  Heck, the thought had crossed my mind around 3 AM to just get on my bike and start riding then.

I was rolling by 5:30.  It wasn't just pre-dawn, it was dark out.  I had to turn my headlight on high intensity.  Oddly, I passed a group of serious road cyclists stopped on the bike path by the Riverway working on a flat tire.  Yes, I made sure they were all set as I passed.  I have to say with a lighter load in the trunk bag the Secteur felt great.  I've ridden it plenty of times without panniers and it just felt different this time. I, however, felt TERRIBLE.  

The sun came up as I was rolling through Dorchester.  Traffic was light, but it was a bit surprising to see how many people were out at such an early hour.  I took a straight shot down 203 to hook up with route to Ptown.  There's no shoulder, so getting through this section safely was something of a concern for me.  When traffic is heavy it's a stretch that a cyclist is wise to avoid.

I'm so tired; I haven't slept a wink

I got through it and hit the bridge over the Neponset into Quincy.  Just beautiful.  It was easy cycling with very light traffic.  The weather was comfortable, overcast, low 70's, but very humid.

As I rolled along I sipped coffee, water, and grabbed a few nuts & dates from the snack box on my top tube.  I was TIRED.  I got to the pond by Wamsutta park in Halifax.  I sat down and polished off the rest of my heavily sugared black coffee as well as a Clif bar.  I swapped out my empty coffee bottle with the full water bottle from the trunk bag.

It had been a long long time since I'd done anything this physically demanding on so little sleep.  As long as I judged I was riding safely -- not wobbly, not failing to notice cars/obstacles -- I'd continue riding.  

Anyway, this area of the ride is really scenic. There are farms, horse paddocks, I think I saw a donkey in a pasture, in short, it's lovely.  This continues until you go through Plymouth where the suburban sprawl on the outskirts is sadly typical (box stores, franchise restaurants, multilane roads that look like highways).  Fortunately, you pass through that quickly.  Around here I leapfrogged with another cyclist who gave me a friendly hello, but didn't stick around to talk any time we passed each other.  The mild weather meant I didn't have to stop to refill my bottles and I pressed on toward the Cape Cod Canal.

After the fun rollers leading to the canal I arrived at the Dunkin Donuts.  I got a coffee, an egg & cheese sandwich, and refilled my water bottles.

Yeah, I wanted an iced coffee, but I correcting my order just seemed like too much of a hassle.  Taking off my shoes & sitting on the ground seemed like luxury!  FWIW, I'm still not doing any kind of indoor dining due to Covid rates in eastern Massachusetts.  Yeah, I'm fully vaccinated & boosted, but I don't want to lose a week or two of cycling to a bad cold (or risk long Covid).  While I was sitting there I saw four or five cyclists going by heading to the bridge. You have to wonder on a nice summer weekend how many people are doing some or all of the Boston -> Provincetown route.

After this nice break, sufficiently caffeinated, I crossed the bridge and was on the Cape proper.

I'm smiling, but really I hate crossing the bridge with its too narrow sidewalk.

Six different cycling arrows on the ground after crossing the bridge. I was following the green one.

Sandwich on the Cape was its normal picturesque self with just a bit too much car traffic.  Fortunately, I hit the access road soon enough.  I elected to follow the Outriders route with its squiggle down to Hyannis instead of the terror inducing shorter route on route 6A in Barnstable.  Hyannis traffic is busy and unpleasant, but I think it's the better of the two options.  Perhaps some day the access road will cut directly to the trail head of the rail trail in Yarmouth.  

And speaking of, I hit the rail trail!  Yay, smooth sailing off the road.

There's no sign to indicate it, but this trail in Falmouth cuts by a golf course and leads to the actual Cape Cod Rail Trail.  There weren't too many people out on the rail trail, so I was able to make good time (while being careful & polite while passing other trail users safely).

At some point a cyclist who I'd passed caught up with me.  He was a young guy who had just started bicycling earlier in the year (Jai was his name, I think).  Jai was riding about 60 miles -- from somewhere west of the bridge to Eastham where he was meeting his wife.  He was very strong and fast.  I kept up with him for a few miles, but I had to let him go ahead.  I was also out of water.  Fortunately, it was only a couple miles to the bottle filling station across from the Hot Chocolate Sparrow in Orleans.  I crossed the hundred mile mark for the day around here too. [Edit, somehow in 2023 Jian ran across me on social media. He rode 63 miles from Kingston to Eastham]

I pulled over at the picnic tables by the water fountain/bottle filling station (I know they are pricy to provision, but I really wish water fountains were a standard feature on rail trails & town centers).  Before I even dismounted a guy started talking to me "I really like your jersey."  Well, after I gulped down my first bottle of water (maybe I hadn't been drinking enough on this not to warm, but still very humid day) I started talking to him.  I probably even started making sense after I wolfed down one of the peanut butter & jelly sandwiches I'd been carrying in my trunk bag.  As it turned out this guy and his wife were from Sacramento, California and were planning a bike tour for a group of 30 in the Cape & Islands.  Nice people.  They had a bike wrecked in shipping, unfortunately.  I wish I had exchanged contact info with them.

With two full bottles and some calories on board it was time to continue to the end of the bike path in Wellfleet -- and a pit stop at PB Boulangerie!  During the first winter of the pandemic I had rented a place in Brewster right on the rail trail.  The ride out to Wellfleet had been my daily spin.  If I woke up early I could even extend it out to Truro.  When I was planning out my route for the ride I had intended on taking Ocean View Road all the way out to Newcombe Hollow Road and then heading east on Route 6.  This is some of the loveliest roads for cycling.  Unfortunately, given my lack of sleep I had to change my route.  I opted for Route 6 all the way until I got to Highland Road in Truro.  Far less scenic, but shorter and with just a bit less climbing.

But first, espresso, Gatorade, and a chocolate almond croissant at PB!  The line was kind of long, but it was worth the wait.  I also had a fun conversation with the nice people behind the counter and the other customers when they asked me how far I was riding.  For a charity? No, 125 miles just for fun? Really?  

Double espresso, aka go juice

Sufficiently caffeinated it was time to nail the rest of this ride.  My family had already arrived in Provincetown and was waiting for me.  I was TIRED.  I couldn't remember how many miles were left and I couldn't do the math to figure it out.  Still, I rode along spinning away the miles.  Finally, I crested the last hill in Truro and saw Beach Point with Provincetown just beyond it.  I zipped up my jersey and whooped it up punching the air.  The last couple miles just flew by and I was done for the day.  A shower and pizza awaited.  Then, the sleep of the just.