What an excellent ride this was and for such a good cause - Best Buddies. As usual, I managed to get off the start line late after all the other 50 mile starters had already departed. Still, I had a feeling I would catch a good number of folks.
I started out at a pretty good clip; however, I don't know exactly how fast since my Garmin died before I turned even one pedal stroke. No matter, I just started hammering down the roadway.
One of the challenging parts of riding 3000 miles from home is not knowing anyone or the the course. As it turns out this route takes you from Carver, MA to Cape Cod and spends about 40 of those miles going up and down "rollers".
When I rolled into rest stop #1 it turns out I had covered the first 14 miles in around 40 minutes or around 21 mph. (I guess I started a bit too quick.). After this time check I thought I should probably slow down so I moderated my effort a bit. To do so, I made an effort to look at the beautiful scenery. Between rest stop #1 and the second stop in Sandwich (20 miles from the finish) we had to cross a long bridge on foot. Ok, I really didn't like this part because the bridge was really high and the traffic was really close. I have to admit I actually understood why they would not allow riding on the bridge. Once I was done with the 1 mile or so trek, I met a woman from Redwood City named Siona who had recently relocated to Masschusetts to work for Google. I rode with her for a bit, but then went on my way.
After I took my leave of Siona, I managed to latch on to a paceline of John Hancock employees who were really hammering. I don't know how fast, but it hurt even more than riding with the Valley Spokesman during the T 'n T rides. I managed to survive for about 8 miles and then took my leave on a 4-5% grade that they seemed to actually accelerate beyond the red-line speed that was already nearly killing me.
For the next few miles I rode at a leisurely pace and two people actually passed me (bringing the entire days total to 5 - God knows how many I went by). As I rolled on I meet a guy named Guy from Duxbury and we rode the rest of the way together at a manageable clip.
The end result of the ride was 51 miles (one wrong turn added an extra mile) and a 17.7 mph clip. Once I arrived I was able to regroup with Robin and Joe, my gracious hosts. We had some food and conversation with Michelle who I met in the hospitality tent and then the three of us took our leave of Best Buddies - Hyannis for 2009, but who knows my cohorts are threatening to ride next year if I do. Stay posted...
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