2022 Midnight Marathon Ride!

OK, it's been far too long since I've posted anything here. I've been riding, I promise! Anyway, the same way doing the out and back kicks off my cycling event season, seems like writing up this year's experience might kick off writing a bit more about cycling again.

At the finish line

Whew! What a great time and a tough ride.  Tough because it was so cold.  Great because the road was filled with cyclists all night.

I started out from my home in Brookline around 9 PM.  I happened to catch a good sized pack of cyclists heading out to Hopkinton after just a couple miles.  From talking to them, I think most of the people in the group had never done the ride before.  One woman had only just found out about it and decided to join in.  Can you imagine, doing a 52 mile ride at the drop of a hat?  She's training for an Erie Canal tour, so she said she was ready.  

One of the riders we were with took a spill on the T tracks on Chestnut Hill Ave in Cleveland Circle. When you bike over train tracks you have to try crossing them as close to 90 degrees as you can.  This guy just tried to ride over them almost parallel and biffed at speed.  Fortunately, he rolled and didn't hurt anything.

I rode with this group until we somehow split up around Framingham. I had gradually migrated from the back of the pack to the front. Perhaps they couldn't keep the pace we had set.  Initially, we were going like gangbusters.  I'd get dropped on climbs, but catch up on the flats eventually.

The night started around 42F and gradually went down to 34F where it stayed.  So, yeah, it was cold.  From top to bottom I was wearing: helmet cover, helmet, fleece liner, thin gaiter, jersey, arm warmers, cycling jacket, shell, long finger gloves, shorts, thermal bib tights, woolie boolie socks, hand warmer in my shoes, shoes, booties.  

There was a mild headwind on the outbound leg.

Stopped in Ashland for a quick break

One guy from the group had stuck with me and we talked a bit.  We split up when I stopped to text my progress to my wife, grab some food (dates & almonds, kosher for Passover, kids), and let my friend Tyler know I was getting close to Hopkinton.  Tyler was planning on meeting me at the marathon start line with water.  He even planned to bring an electric tea kettle to make a hot beverage!

All sorts of people were out & about

One of the things I really like about the Midnight Marathon Ride is you don't have to do it at midnight.  You don't have to go out and back. Most people get a ride to Hopkinton and start from there.  Some people start in Hopkinton, ride to the finish, and then bike back to Hopkinton.  All night there are lots of cyclists on both sides of the road.  Lots of friendly yelling & bell ringing ensues.  You see all kinds of bikes.  road bikes, touring bikes, mountain bikes, hybrids, ebikes, BMX bikes.  There was even a group of people on rollerblades.  All night you see the rear red lights and white front lights of cyclists -- and the quiet compared to usual car traffic is so refreshing.

After the long climb up from Ashland I made it to the start line in Hopkinton and met up with my friend Tyler. The electric socket in the gazebo was off, so there was no tea.  It was a nice thought.  The important thing is I could drink some more water and ensure I had two full water bottles for the second leg of the ride.

Tyler!

I chatted with Tyler for a bit.  What can I say? Not only is the kind of friend who will just come out with water for you (and snacks in non-Passover years), he also kicked me out of the gazebo & back on the road before I got too chilled -- with a pleasant have a good ride and a fist bump.

Cyclists at the start. Maybe waiting for the people who came on the train?

So, with a quick thank you to the Hopkinton police officer who was there (this is not a paid detail, since this isn't an organized ride). I was off.  Whoosh, down the big hill toward Ashland feeling all the moisture evaporate and getting progressively colder.  I've never been so happy to hit the first climb of a ride.  Eventually, I warmed back up.  Well, to a point.  While my heart rate from Brookline to Hopkinton had the normal profile I'd see from a long ride, my heart never got back into the training zone in the ride back to Boston.  I am positive this was from the chilly weather -- I've experienced this before during my winter bike commutes.

Around Framingham I settled into riding with a loose group.  We didn't talk much, but it was nice to ride with other people.  Almost all the drivers we encountered were extra careful.  Here and there people came out of the their homes to cheer us on.  Earlier in the night I also saw some lawn parties with bonfires and such.

All night we had this fantastic waning gibbous moon in a really clear sky watching over us.

Have to shout out to the guy on a touring bike with the Showers Pass kit, loud sound system, and Ukrainian flag.  We played leapfrog for much of the night and it was fun riding with him. 

We made it through Heartbreak Hill.  It's not a legbreaker on a bike, but you could tell people got a little quieter as we rode it.  A few people on folding bikes had to walk it.  I chatted with another cyclist who had numb hands.  Probably not from the cold, but rather from not taking breaks and varying hand position on the bars.  Easy to do a ride like this.  My left foot was going a bit numb for similar reasons.  No pit stops, just grabbing dates from the snack box on my bike.  We commiserated about how tough it was to bike by your house on ride like this since we each live on the route.

Another rider took a spill on the T tracks by Cleveland Circle.  In almost the same spot as I had seen the earlier crash.  Same deal.  He took a roll and sprang up immediately.  "I'm OK!"

Rode through Brookline, Kenmore Square, and finally, the finish line! People were very happy, exchanging fist bumps all around.  There was also some almond-related violence here of which I shall not speak more.

Clean your lens or you get photos like this.

Well, after a couple photos, I was off riding home.  For the first few blocks I rode with three or four other cyclists.  Felt like the ride was still happening for me.  I talked with a woman who agreed that the atmosphere of so many cyclists out on the road is just so great.

In short order I was home.  I showered, ate a little something, and got under the blankets where it felt like it took forever to warm up.  Anyway, it was a great ride.  Lots of fun.  And now, with a couple 50-60 mile rides under my belt, I'm ready to start increasing my mileage and get that first century of the year into the books.