80 down 30 more to go

I'm pretty sure when this is over I'm gonna strip down, look in the
mirror and see a killer six pack cause My abs are killing me! And so
are my knees. Shit. They feel like they might bust through my knee
caps. No more hills please !!!!!!!

SpeakIng of hills on the last monster 60%incline( maybe I'm
eaggerating) I thought, shit this hills sucks!!!! But then I thought
what would suck worse, this hill or having cancer??

Camel back, yes

Camel bladder, no. Rest stop time.

More cowbell

Dc posting:

We've reached our lunch break. 70 miles down. Everything after this
point is more miles than I've ever done in one day. But I feel totally
confident.

What's helping get us through it all is of course encourgement from
you guys but also the smiling crowds and heartfelt signs peppering the
route. We haven't gone more than 2 miles without seeing someone
cheering, spraying us with a hose or playing bag pipes at the top of a
tough hill (Betsy- I know you're jealous ;-) ). But more than
anything, we've been greeted with cowbells.

Actually the cowbells started last night during registration when the
volunteers rang them every time they checked in a new rider. A
completely dorky and awesome ritual.

The cowbells haven't stopped since. And thank goodness. The training
has definitely paid off- these first 70 miles have been easier than
expected and generally very enjoyable (even in spite of the rolling
hills that dominated the first leg of our journey). But the next 40
for today are a jump ball. So pleeeeease, bring on the cowbell.

Sent via iPhone.

H20 stop 2 for the pmc, stop one for us!

Beautiful morning. Amazing experience.

The beginning

6am:

Witch's hat

On the bus

"It's bad when dunkin donuts isn't even open yet!!"

"That sleep was really just a nap"

"Rough night. My body was turned off but my mind was already racing."

The sky is starting to lighten. When's the last time you really took
in a sunrise?

Sent via iPhone.

"We'll be needing a 3:45am wake up call"

Still dark outside and the day has begun. Leaving the hotel to meet
for breakfast, pep rally and the start of the ride.

Carb LOADing

Guilt free night.

2 buses and 3 1/2 hours later we're in Sturbridge!

Our bus is broken

Here's where we are (blue dot)
Here's where we need to be (red dot)

Broke down

We are on our way sturbridge and the bus seems to be stopped dead.
Looks like the pMc starts here! Aghhhhh! Someone call AAA!

Getting to the bus- not as easy as it sounds

DC posting:

You'd think getting on the bus to Sturbride would be the easiest part
of the weekend. But not so much. Thank you for the downpour, Motha
Nay'cha.

As Les and I walked our bikes and bags over to the warf, drenched
beyond belief, we were mocked by a passing by cyclist ("they work
better when you ride them") and a cabby ("having fun gettig
wet" ::evil laugh:: ::speeds off::).

Oh Southie.

Desite the heckling, we made it through the monsoon and are now en
route to the starting line.

The rest of the weekend is supposed to have clear skies. So hopefully
motha nay'cha got it out of her system cause we're doing this thing
rain or shine.

hydrate. stretch. and breathe.

As Les mentioned in her post, this last week has been all about last-minute PMC purchases- tire patch kits, extra bike shorts, mini witches' hats, etc. All the running around has led to a constant state of nervous excitement. And apparently it's not just Les and I that are feeling it. In this final week, Billy Starr has emailed me more than David Plouffe during campaign season. The emails have felt like random brain dumps covering everything from parking, to rider etiquette, to weather forecasts. The emails have been trickling in every few hours with no apparent forethought as to the next "pressing" issue.

Finally, this morning, Billy sent out what he at least claims will be the last pre-ride email. It read:

"Thank you for taking part in the 30th year PMC. Everybody wins on this weekend based on the nature of the work and the cause. But in the heat of the moment, with 5,000 riders on the roads, the big picture can, sometimes, get lost. Please remember:

1. ROADS ARE OPEN to vehicular traffic even though we enjoy comprehensive law enforcement support through the 46 towns we travel.
2. MOVE OVER - that means single file or into the breakdown lane - for a passing car or a faster cyclist who, firmly but endearingly states "ON YOUR LEFT"
3. NO LITTER anywhere: your cycling jersey has pockets. Use them.
4. NO IPODS OR HEADPHONES ARE ALLOWED while riding
5. SUNDAY MORNING BEFORE 6AM - keep the conversation down. Remarkably, some people are still sleeping in the communities through which we travel.
6. START HYDRATING NOW - cut down on alcohol. Stretch. Breathe.

Enjoy your PMC. You have earned it."

The message was pretty simple, but I thought it was the perfect conclusion to his barrage of updates. It *is* easy to lose sight of the big picture in the rush of an event like this, which is why just the other day Les and I were reminding each other that we'd have to check in with ourselves throughout the weekend to make sure we are fully appreciating the experience. I would never claim that the 192 miles will be easy, but I know they're going to pass much faster than one might think, especially when compared to the months of training and thought that have led up to this single weekend.

But first thing's first. For the next 24 hours we just need to hydrate. stretch. and breathe. A seemingly simple equation but one that really does require effort as anticipation continues to mount.

hydrate. stretch. and breathe.
hydrate. stretch. and breathe.

*Then* we ride.

And what a ride it will be.

Whhhat the F*&%# !!???????

In preparation for the big weekend there's been some necessary gear purchased, tune ups, lots of laundry, and meditation sessions [aka-OMG, WTF am i about to do?]

Over the past weekend I noticed how thin my cleats were wearing on my cycling shoes. My Saturday ride was cut short [55 miles] because of a busted cleat, so when I took my bike in for a tune up I purchased new cleats. Now if you are not aware of how or why cyclist 'clip in' to the pedals then here's the gist;
how:
you place a small piece of metal on the bottom of a special shoe
you 'clip in' to a small pedal on your bike.
you 'twist out' when you need to get off your bike.
why:
you get more push for your shove - ya know what I'm sayin'?

Now last spring when i purchased my hybrid, I bought the spd pedals and shoes and learned right away how to clip in. It was more difficult for me to put the special pedals on[and figure out how to take the regular ones off] than to learn how to clip, and un-clip.
I've heard horror stores of people falling and injuring themselves because they cant turn out of the pedal. I NEVER had this issue. I clipped and un-clipped like lance Armstrong's first born child. It was nothin'

So, to my amazement, today when I took a ride here's what happened:

1st stop light, no cars, no need to unclip

2nd Stop light--Comm Ave--lots of city traffic, NBD, I do this all the time...un-clip, un clip, un-clip.....UN CLIP!!!!
I become stagnant, lost my balance and feel to the ground. Hurting my precious. My orange giant I saved all my tips for months for :(

WTF just happened? I've done this for like a year and never had a problem! ok, maybe they need some loosening...just be on your A game and twist a little faster.

3rd Stop light [fenway park, redsox game and lots of red sox fans]
un-clip, un-clip, twist you asshole, fuck!!!!!!!!!!!!! down again?

WTF- [yep, I'm cursing up a storm...embarrassed,pissed because I fell?!? and pissed because there are drunken sox fans everywhere along with taxi jerks honkin there gosh darn horns]
As I'm picking up my beautiful giant again, some woman rides by me...she has one of those old lady bikes with the flower basket and bells that sound like the ice cream truck when you ring it. She's actually quite large, and i look at her and think "wtf are you looking at".... yea, i was angry. She says 'oh honey, you okay"? I say, while giggling [cause what else could i do but smile and laugh at my stupid ass] yes, thank you, I'm apparently having some issues.

Beacon St and St. Paul ---aka fall #3
Now, I'm just thinking, twist god dammit, just twist...why cant i twist like before?
♪♫just twist, like we did last summer, just twist, like we did before♪♫ .......stop light, another crazy lady on her bike [it had a basket too, but this woman was much more mean witch from wizard of oz---dun dun dun dun da da da......] She positions herself so i cant move around her of the vehicle blocking our bike lane. i managed to twist my left out, but i could not keep by balance and fell to my right- thank god.

I took another lap around working on the twisting, and eventually loosening up the pedals. Hopefully this is remedied. I don't need to be fallin all over billy Starr this weekend!



I look like I was just mad handled by Wolverine.

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.

thePMC Mixer - you drink, we bike, cancer dies

Date: Saturday July 18th
Time: 7pm-19pm
Location: Slainte' [ 28 West Broadway]

Come for food, drink, raffle prizes, and a fun time!

see invitation

What have we been up to?

Danielle and I getting our bikes back in May:


Odometer--a few weeks back

my new TROJB cycling gloves. I got so excited I wanted to wear them at work...

They work better on my handle bars than my mouse...

The Red Sox Love the PMC

Bike with us!

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again- your support, both verbal and financial, has been integral to our PMC training. That's why we’re so excited about the recently revamped PMC site, which was specifically designed to capture the interactive relationship between donors and riders.

Starting this week, when you donate to our PanMass efforts, you’ll be given the option to add yourself to our "PanMass Paceline"- a virtual and virtually endless online bicycle that allows you guys to saddle up right behind us, essentially becoming part of our virtual team. You can customize your avatar's jersey, hair style, skin color and more! You can even add a little thought bubble with words of encouragement or a message about how cancer has touched your life.


There are no minimum fundraising commitments to become a PaceLine Rider and no credit card numbers will be kept on file. Most importantly, 100% of all donations will go directly to fund groundbreaking cancer research and treatment at the world-famous Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.

How freakin cool is that? And even if you've already donated (thank you again!!) you can get yourself onto the avatar congo line with a new donation of as little as $1!

Go ahead- get clicking so so you can get pedaling!

JOIN LES'S PACELINE
JOIN DANIELLE'S PACELINE