The Final Countdown

Believe it or not, we are only THREE days away from the PMC and I dunno about you, but I am FREAKIN EXCITED. Les and I have both met our fundraising goals (THANK YOU EVERYONE!) and we wrapped up our final practice rides this weekend. Now all that's left to do is bike 192 miles in 2 days... but what does that really mean?

Up until now, I'd been so focused on training and getting donations that I hadn't stopped to think about the logistics of PMC weekend. But with my fundraising complete, and my mind free to wander, I amassed quite the list of lingering questions by the end of Saturday's ride - Am I supposed to pack a toothbrush for the weekend? What about pajamas? Where am I going to lock up my bike at night? Is there going to be somewhere to recharge my iphone so I can live blog about this madness??

When I brought my concerns to Les, she suggested that I umm... read the Event Handbook that had arrived in the mail several weeks ago. Good thinkin, partner.

So for anyone who's ever wondered about these kind of details, here's some of the interesting stuff I learned:

The Basic Schedule-
- The whole weekend kicks off Friday July 31st with the PMC Opening Ceremonies- essentially a big ol' pep rally that'll be broadcast live on NECN from 7-8pm! If you wanna play some real life "Where's Waldo" and try to spot us in the mass of 5,204 cyclists, be sure to set your DVRs or ask your bar of choice to tune in. Heck, you can even make a drinking game out of it- Half beer penalty for every false Les and Danielle sighting- evening-long rule making power for anyone that actually locates us.

- Our ride begins from Sturbridge on Saturday morning at 5:30a.m. We bike straight up until lunch at the Dighton-Rehoboth waterstop and then finish off the day at the Mass Maritime Academy in Bourne, where we'll be met with live music, an all-you-can-eat-buffet and a "well-earned 15-minute massage." Umm I just stopped typing for 5 minutes while thinking about how clutch that massage will be... Alright, must push forward.

- Sunday morning kicks off at the ass crack of dawn - 4:40a.m. - and with the exception of some rest stops, we ride straight to the finish line at the Provincetown Inn.


- Then we get our tired, cancer kicking asses on a ferry back to Beantown. (check out this detailed breakdown of the route: http://www.pmc.org/ems_client/html/pdf/pmcmap2009final.pdf our ride is in the left-hand column, starting in Sturbridge)


The Less Obvious Stuff:
- Thanks to an army of 3,000 volunteers, a lot of the weekend's logistics are taken care of for us, including all of our meals, snacks and adult beverages! Ever wonder what it takes to feed 5,200 bikers? Well this year it'll take 14,000 bags of trail mix, 9,800 hamburgers, 7,000 clif bars, 6,800 slices of pizza, 5,500 hot dogs, 3,000 bagels, 3,000 pounds of chicken, 1,600 loaves of bread, 1,400 pounds of pasta, 850 pounds of peanut butter, 500 pounds of sliced turkey, 500 pounds of sliced ham, 275 watermelons, and 140 kegs of beer. Mmmmmm.

- As far as my toothbrush and pj questions- the volunteers will transport all of our personal gear for us, which is a good thing cause the checklist of items to pack includes casual clothes, rain gear, fleeces, sheets, a flashlight, towels, toiletries, a flashlight and a fan. Not exactly a light load to be towing for 192 miles. Thank goodness for the army of volunteers.

And that's everything that we can predict about the ride. Of course, the most memorable parts of the weekend will take place in between the carefully planned rest stops and press ops, and we'll be live blogging about it the whole way. Well, pretty much the whole way- I don't intend to blog during that 15 minute massage but I'll tell you upfront, it's gonna be great.