Just when you thought you had received your last email from me, here comes another one wrapping up another successful Pan Mass Challenge, thanks to your generosity.
The 2 day ride from Wellesley to Provincetown started out rather uneventfully. Even though there was a forecast of a 100% chance of rain, none of us bothered to bring rain gear. How bad could it be. That would come back to haunt us as the day turned into the worst weather day in the 35 history of the PMC. The first 40 miles or so weren't bad, just some sprinkles, but we did lose one of team members along the way. Tom "blew out" his knee after the first water stop and limped another 20 miles to the next stop before he had to drop out.
It was after the second stop (lunch stop at 10am) that it started to rain. In a way it was kind of fun feeling like a kid again plowing through puddles and getting soaking wet. Even getting splattered from the rooster tail from the wheel in front of me seemed like a unique experience. But that didn't last long as the cold breeze picked up and whistled through our wet clothing. By the time we reached the Mass Maritime Academy to end day one, our teeth were chattering and our knees were knocking. I said to myself, "this is it. I'm not doing this again."
The next day was a new day. We started at 5:30 am by riding over the Bourne Bridge and along the Cape Cod Canal through Sandwich. Judy was the only person on the side of the road as we biked past the town hall. But after struggling over 6 miles of hills we had an emotional uplift when we were greeted by our inspirational team leader, Mike Noble. Mike and the family came out to meet us at about 6:30 and gave us just what we needed to forget about the long hours of training rides and the cold of the previous day.
The final 65 miles were a breeze. Some of those miles we rode together and at other times we split up but we always regrouped at the water stops. The purple, pipe cleaner mohawks on our helmets made it fairly easy to find each other. After chowing down on PB and J, PB and banana and PB and celery, we left the last water stop together. We split up a bit on the hills of Truro then formed a train to ride the last 10 miles in P-town as a group. With the younger generation setting the pace and leading the group, I just sat back and let them draft me to the finish line. We all felt stronger at the finish than at the start. I said to myself, "I can't wait to do this again next year".
This year's fund raising was unbelievable thanks, again, to your generosity. So, you'll be hearing from me again next year when I hope I can count on you again. Mike and the rest of our team certainly appreciates all you have done to help find a cure for this dreaded disease.
Until then,
Tony
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