I left my house just after the end of Passover. This meant my dinner was one last kosher for Passover dinner, matza pizza with air fried eggplant. Kind of a bummer to miss out on fresh real pizza, but at least I felt full for the first 18 miles of the evening!
The forecast was for a cool night, getting down to 40F/4C. When I left my home it was considerably warmer, so I put most of my cold weather gear in a pannier. The jacket, heavy gloves, gaiter, and fleece helmet liner were so bulky that I had to use a pannier with its aerodynamic penalty instead of an inline trunk bag.
It was about 8:30 in the evening and there were already a lot of cyclists riding out to Hopkinton. I briefly rode with some people who had started in Hopkinton, rode to Boston, and were now cycling back out to Hopkinton. The Midnight Marathon Ride is a sort of do what you feel, how you feel event. Not centrally organized, so people are out doing it in many different ways. It's one of the attributes that makes the evening so special. One person in the group had run Boston in the past, but it was her first time cycling it.
I took Beacon all the way to 135 instead of the marathon route. The combined out and back -- 54 miles -- was going to handily be my longest ride of the year so far. This route out was marginally easier.
I was on my own the whole way out to Hopkinton. Occasionally, I'd pick up some packs and ride with them for a while, but there was no one going my pace. There were A LOT of people out on the course going both ways. I had some hot tea in my TK Travel Kuppe and a couple water bottles in the cages of my bike. My top tube snack bag was filled with a variety of bars, a coffee shot, and a battery charger.
Riding out, I had expected to need to stop and put on my winter cycling jacket, but it just didn't get cold until I was in Hopkinton. Partially, this was due to all the climbing you have to do from Framhingham through Ashland to get to Hopkinton. There were some people out along the route spectating and cheering cyclists along. My favorite is the huge bonfire in Ashland. They always have a big sound system and this year they were blasting Neil Diamond's coming to America. Topical.
Finally arriving in Hopkinton I met up with my friend Tyler and his girlfriend Marsha. They had brought water, hot tea, and a few boxes of Clif Bars to hand out to people. Kind of amazing and typically generous of him. While I was talking to them Tyler noticed I was shivering. The very strange thing was I didn't perceive it, even after he mentioned it to me. It's such an important lesson: when you're doing stuff like long bike rides it is very difficult to assess your own physical/mental state. I have many years of experience doing bike rides in all sorts of conditions. Often, the best assessment comes from someone else.
Suffice it to say, I put on my winter cycling coat and zipped it up. I also drank a coffee shot, or as Tyler said, I took the Ketrecel White. IYKYK
After chatting for a while I had to leave. I didn't want to cool down too much and I did want to get going before the bulk of the riders at midnight. That first descent is a big drop and I feel a lot better getting it out of the way riding among smaller groups.
I turned both my primary & secondary lights on high for the ride down the hill. Until then I had been running my Magicshine on low. Really, that's enough for riding on the road, but I like the extra visibility -- and the brightness of the lights on the road helps other cyclists perceive where I was on the road.
Around this time Andy left his place. We were in touch and I was keeping an eye out for him. At a certain point OK, after going through Natick) this meant yelling "Andy!" at every cyclists riding in the other direction. Finally, we met up just at the Wellesley/Newton border. It was great to ride with Andy. We just rode side by side in the quiet suburban streets chatting. Like Mike Magnuson observed in his book "Heft on Wheels" long distance cycling is like hanging out at a bar talking to your friends.
On our way up the climbs that comprise Heartbreak Hill we saw a banner on the final climb -- something to the effect of "Congratulations, you did it, you've finished heartbreak hill". Unfortunately this banner was not at the actual summit, but rather some distance from it. I cannot imagine what this well intentioned gesture did to runners. I also saw a number of cyclists stopped to take a breather along Heartbreak Hill.
It was getting pretty last and It was important to double down on habits that keep you safe. Communicating with other cyclists, double checking for cars, that kind of thing. Well past your bedtime, you're not your best.
Finally, we turned onto Boylston to get to the finish. Coincidentally (I swear) the theme from the movie "Chariots of Fire" started playing on my mix.
We got as close as to the finish line as the police would let us. Got a few photos and then headed back home. I got home close to 2 AM, showered, ate a little something and hit the hay.
I've been doing the Midnight Marathon ride for quite a few years now. If you would like to read more of some of my write ups, they are linked in here at the bottom of the page: https://playingintrafficcommuting.blogspot.com/2023/03/midnight-marathon-ride-tips-n-tricks.html
As always, keep the rubber side down.
