Turkeys in Mom's Backyard; Scituate Harbor Lighthouse; beach scene on the way to Nantasket BeachAugust 1, 2010 Mom’s Kitchen, Scituate, MA 56/1342km 11:00am
Just got back from a 20 miles ride this morning. From Mom’s house to Nantasket Beach and back. Beautiful day. Little headwind along the way back. No worries. About 15 miles yesterday down to the harbor and back. The weather has cooled down a bit. Don’t know what the next weekend will be like. Let’s hope for cool and clear with a tailwind (ya, right).
On Friday, I walked up to the Dana Farber to visit with Mom and Wendy while Mom was getting her treatment. Her primary nurse, Carolyn, is very nice. I really wanted to try to find a hotel room (not in the Fenway area) in the city and cycle down to Scituate on Saturday, but Mom was having none of that.
So…we put the bike in the back of Wendy’s vehicle and they took it with them down to Scituate. I headed back towards Fenway where I met up with my brother Bill and some colleagues of his who were going to the Sox game. We met at UNO’s, had a beer, and then they headed off to the game. I stayed at UNO’s and had dinner before catching a cab over to South Station to grab the Greenbush train down to North Scituate. Wendy grabbed me at the station and delivered me to Mom’s.
Saturday was pretty much a day at leisure. Mom and I hang out and watch Golf, Tennis, and Baseball. And chat. Nice day overall. We opened all the windows in the house to allow the cross-breeze to keep the house cool. Good stuff.
After Mom headed into her room after the Sox game (yay, Ortiz!), I flipped back and forth between Road House, and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest. Good stuff. Boy had they cut the hell out of Road House. I kept thinking, “Wait a minute. What happened to the part…?” Oh, well.
My sister Karen came in last night after going to see “Pippin” which features my niece Colleen. Apparently, it was quite good.
August 9, 2010 Mom’s Kitchen, Scituate, MA 304/1646km 1:00pm
WHOO HOO!!!
Back at Mom’s house after the Pan-Mass Weekend. Quite an experience. I am SOOOO glad that I didn’t have to get on the bike this morning.
I am also SOOOO glad that I got to ride the first day (the 109 mile day) with my brother Bill. It had been such a long time since we had had the opportunity to do something like that together. I think the last thing we did together was hiking up Mount Washington. But that was about 10 – 12 years ago. Saturday was such a special day. He certainly helped me keep plugging along.
From Bourne, Bill was picked up by my sister Heidi. They met Bill’s family in Boston. Bill had dinner with his family, and then got on a plane to go to Italy for business.
5:30 am start from Sturbridge. The pack was led by State Senators John Kerry and Scott Brown. Apparently, I was informed later, the two of them were just doing the first day. We came out of the parking lot at the Sturbridge Host Hotel and took a left. We were riding right into an absolutely beautiful sunrise. It took us about 6 ½ hours to cover the 109 miles from Sturbridge to Bourne. Not so bad for a couple of first-timers.
Not much sleep at Mass Maritime Academy in Bourne. No air conditioning in the dorms. Four grown men sleeping in two bunk beds. No breeze from outside. I’m guessing I got about 3 – 4 hours’ sleep, sweating the whole time.
At the BBQ Saturday night, I caught up with Dorothy Bicknell (a long-time family friend) and her family. This year’s ride was her 25th (out of 31). Pretty amazing stuff. Also at Mass Maritime, there is a Proof of Life picture taken by an official PMC photographer. The participants are all people who are survivors of cancer who are participating in the ride. Pretty impressive.
I left Bourne on Sunday morning at about5:20 am. It was barely light out. After only about 5 minutes of cycling, we were faced with having to cycle over the Bourne Bridge. Quite a wake-up call. I arrived at the Provincetown Inn at about 11:30 for the 78 miles. I wasn’t the first at the finish, and I wasn’t the last. Pretty brutal headwind for about the last 10 miles into Provincetown. I suppose that’s pretty much a constant because of the location.
All the way along the route, there were thousands of people cheering us on. The two most common cheers I heard along the way were:
“You can do it!!” and
“Thank you!!” Even when I thanked any of the volunteers (about 3,000 total) for something, they would respond, “Thank YOU for riding!”
There is one young boy that was pointed out to me (can’t remember the town) who comes out the route every year. The first year he held up a sign which read “I’m 5 thanks to you all.” This year he held up a sign which read “I’m 14 thanks to you all.” Great stuff.
Also, along the way, I was amazed by how many flat tires I saw along the way on Sunday. A couple of people remarked about it. Some others said, “Well, with 5,000+ riders, 50 or so flat tires really isn’t that many.” PLUS, there were support vans cruising all the way along to assist riders with any bike-related problem. Great stuff.
I was a bit surprised by how emotional I felt at the finish. I likened it to arriving at the cathedral in Santiago de Compostella after completing the Camino de Santiago. A mixture of pride, relief, accomplishment, a sense of being involved in something really important. For all of you who supported me financially or otherwise, thank you very much. (If anyone still wants to contribute, you can log onto the Pan-Mass Challenge website and do so until October 1, 2010. My number is KN0070.)
There seemed to be a HUGE number of first-time riders this year. Of course, there were also quite a number of riders who have completed multiple rides (out of the 31 that have been conducted).
From the Finish Line, I walked about a mile down to the Ferry dock. I took a 3:00 Fast Ferry to Boston (thank you, Bill) which arrived at 5:00. From there, it took me about 5 minutes to cycle down to the Marriott Long Wharf where I had made a reservation at the end of the previous week.
Really nice room. Great location. Quick shower. Wander down through Faneuil Hall re-hydrating at a couple of bars. Ultimately winding up at The Purple Shamrock for dinner and to watch a disappointing Red Sox game.
Walked from the hotel down to South Station this morning and took the 10:30 down to North Scituate. My sister Wendy graciously picked me up at the station and drove me to my Mom’s house.
In the week before the ride, I had been getting on the bike every day and riding 15-20 miles around Scituate and Cohasset. One day, I rode all the way over to Nantasket Beach over in Hull and back. Pretty good stuff.
Now, I can relax a bit and spend the next two weeks just hanging out with Mom and the rest of the family. I’m hoping to go up and spend a couple of days (maybe 1 ½) with Bill and his family. I’m hoping to be able to do a little book shopping as well instead of having to rely on Amazon.com shipping them over to Dubai. The shipping is almost as much as the total for the books when I do that. I obviously couldn’t pick up a whole lot of books along the way while I was on a bike. But, before I head back to Dubai, I can pick up some. If all the planets align in the near future, I might get to start on my Ph.D. in January. Let’s all keep our fingers crossed.
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