| Cycling 2003 in review: |
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| 2003 was a big year for me on the bike. I racked up 2000 miles between March and October with my biggest ride of the year being the Granite State Wheelmen Seacoast Century on September 20, 2003.
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| What's up for 2004? |
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| I have ambitious plans for 2004! My goal this year is lots of long rides. I may have discovered this a little late in my life, but I have absolutely fallen in love with long distance riding. It turns out that I don't even get warmed up until I've gone 20 miles so why not keep going? A big part of this year's plan is to try and put my riding time to good use and try to raise some money for charity. So amid my recreational and training rides, I'm working on a calendar of charity rides. This means I'll be spending time off the bike looking for sponsors, but I think it's a pretty worthwhile thing! Another big thing this year is my involvement with the Granite State Wheelmen. I am the 2004 Safety and Education Coordinator for the club. Cycling safety is not only important to me because of my own safety, but I want our children to grow up in a world where there's safe cycling. If there's one thing about this country that I don't like it's the general negative attitude people seem to have about cyclists. But the great thing about this country is that you can do something about it! So we're spending some time and energy on strengthening the "Share the Road" concept between motorists and cyclists. To that end, the GSW's president Dave Topham has already done a great deal by working with the state of New Hampshire's Division of Motor Vehicles and the State Highway Patrol on programs to better educate drivers. At the club level, we're rolling out the IEE program, Inform, Educate, and Enforce. This program is designed mainly to educate cyclists in the club about the rules of safe cycling but with the idea that enforcement is an integral part to any meaningful educational program on safety. Here I am after my first PMC (192 miles)!
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My First PMC --
A Thank You Letter |
| Since this was my first Pan Mass Challenge, I thought I’d write about it to share my experience with you. I can’t imagine how to convey the intensity of this event and the physical and emotional roller coaster ride it was. I am writing this letter two weeks after the event and I’m still recovering, both physically and emotionally. If you would like to read this and follow along with the pictures I took along the way, please visit http://hbeng.smugmug.com and click on the PMC2004 link. The pictures are in chronological order. Hopefully by the time you receive this, I’ll have had the time to put the annotations on the pictures for you. If you have any questions, please feel free to send me an email at erich@hbeng.com.
Friday, August 6 Holly, Brenna, Colin, and I arrived in Sturbridge at around 3PM on Friday. The Sturbridge Host Hotel was already packed with people, bikes, TV crews, volunteers, etc. We tunneled through the masses and I went to the event registration desk. I immediately found out what all the cow bells meant. I got a cheer from the crowd for being a first-year rider. It turns out I’d have to get used to those bells, but more on that later. It wasn’t long before we ran into Dan and Scott (former co-workers from Axiowave) and got our bikes and luggage squared away. Next stop, PASTA!!!
It turns out that the dinner tent was hidden out back on the lawn overlooking a lake. I couldn’t believe the amount of food and it was all very, very yummy! My family headed back home after dinner while Dan and I settled into the hall to await the opening ceremony.
NECN broadcast a live one hour, commercial-free special and we all took part. Dan and I got our three seconds on camera. The ceremony was really cool. Billy Starr (Founder of the PMC, twenty five years ago) gave us a warm-up prior to going live and I have to say he’s a pretty motivational speaker. It was tough to watch all the pictures of those who have fought cancer and lost. When you think about what these people go through, the bike ride seems so insignificant.
Saturday, August 7 Dan and I got rolling at around 4:30AM and drove down to Sturbridge from his home in Grafton. We got to the Sturbridge Host Hotel to find thousands of people eating and preparing their bikes. We put our luggage on board the truck and got ourselves set for the ride. Billy started the ride atop a tower truck at 6AM and a sea of bikes headed up route 20. It took fifteen or twenty minutes for all the bikes to get on the road. We were at the tail end as we had to fill our tires with air. With adrenaline running along side the coffee and breakfast, the ride started out at a nervous pace. Within a few minutes we had settled into a group of riders and started over the rolling hills out of Sturbridge. Even this early on a Saturday morning, there were dozens of people along the route cheering us on. This was something that impressed me the most because I can scarcely remember a mile going by where there wasn’t someone cheering or ringing a bell. The kids were great—they’d line up along the sidewalk and hold their hands out for a high five on the fly. I think I had about a 99% hit rate. I loved that part.
We visited every rest stop along the way, some for a minute or two, others for a little rest but every one of them had a ton of people, a ton of food, and more people cheering us on. Some had a DJ playing some great 80’s tunes while others were simple food and bio-break stops.
The ride really did seem to fly by. The first day was 110 miles, about 10 more miles than I’ve ever ridden in one day. I got in at 3:30PM, averaging about 15-1/2 miles per hour (when you take out the time for the breaks). When I pulled into the Mass Maritime Academy in Bourne, all my aches and pains quickly waned. There was a huge crowd to greet us and the grounds were set up for a very large party. We found our room, took a shower and headed for the food!
There was live music, great food, and did I mention the beer? Harpoon has become the #1 coolest brewery in my view. They sponsored the event and provided their classic IPA and their UFO Hefe’ Weizen on tap. I don’t remember who was on stage when I first got in but by the time I settled down to enjoy the live music, the Adam Ezra Group came on and I got a chuckle when I found out that the bass player is a fireman on the East Derry Fire Department (which is right one of the roads I ride frequently during training). I went up and met him at the end of their gig and he’s a really nice guy. Oh, and their music was great too.
Anyone who knows me will tell you that I’m not a very outwardly social person and I really hate large crowds. But absolutely everyone I met this weekend was truly nice. Here’s what I’m talking about… At around 8PM a notice came over the loudspeaker that the last rider on the road was about 15 minutes out. Remember, the end of the first day is a culmination of different routes, but this particular person had started out in Wellesley some twelve hours earlier. A crowd gathered where the entry tent had been erected but was long gone by now. We sat and waited and more people came. By the time she finally arrived at about 8:30PM, the crowd erupted in a standing ovation that seemed to last an hour. She was tired and I’m sure overwhelmed, but she had made it and everybody knew what that had meant to her.
I was half asleep by the time we made it back to our dorm room. I can’t say I slept horribly well, however, between the excitement of the day and the plastic mattress but the rooms were clean and we had an officer’s room.
Sunday, August 8 Ravalli was at 4:15AM and we sprang from our bunks, got dressed, packed and headed outside in about 5 minutes. Again the tents were full of food and COFFEE! We loaded up, got our bikes and headed out at 5:30AM—sunrise. The sun rising under the Bourne bridge was a pretty cool sight—and riding over it was really neat! The ride along the canal service road was a truly amazing experience. We were gathered together in a pace line (one rider behind the other, each of us taking turns at the front to cut the wind) moving along at over 20MPH average speed up and over the rolling hills. What fun!!!
The second rest stop of the day was an absolute zoo! There were people, bikes, and food everywhere and right the middle of the mayhem, there was Jack. Jack is an eight year old boy who is a cancer survivor. He was sitting in a chair with a sign that read, “I’m 8 thanks to you”. I stopped to say hi to Jack and he gave me a ribbon with a medal he had made that said, “thank you, Jack”. Jack has been doing this since he was 3. Keeping my emotions in check for the rest of the day was a struggle after that. At one point I was riding along and I came upon a man with a picture of a small boy on his back. That picture made me think of my healthy little boy and girl and again I struggled to hold back the tears. This is what I’m talking about. This is why this weekend was so emotional. This is why it was so hard. The riding, the pedaling, the hill climbs, the descents, the head winds were nothing, absolutely nothing compared to this. The leg pain, the sore neck, the numb fingers, the body aches were nothing compared to this. I hope and pray that my children will never have to fight cancer but if they do I will know that there are an incredible number of people that care and will be there for support.
I carried a list of over two dozen people on my back who have either fought cancer and won, lost, or are still in the battle. At one point along the ride a man passed by and told me it was thoughtful of me to be carrying a Tibetan prayer cloth. In his pack he had over 400 prayer flags. He told me that you hang the prayer flag up and when their name disappears their prayers have been answered. Look at pictures of Mt. Everest and see the ones that the Sherpas leave there.
Most of the riding this day was with a group of guys who I had met through Scott. I got dropped prior to the last rest stop, but met up with them there. I set out with them for the final 18 miles but I couldn’t keep their pace and slowed. I will never forget the two nice ladies with their bicycle glasses cheering me over a particularly difficult hill. They’re a fixture every year at the PMC and I had seen them on TV so I was hoping that they would be there.
The headwinds at the tip of the cape were brutal and the dunes were a challenge as my body struggled to find the energy to push on. To keep my mind occupied I set a goal to make it to the finish by 11AM. I pulled in to the check-in tent and a nice woman on the side snapped my picture at 10:59AM. I had made it—all 192 miles! I put my bike on the truck to Boston, found my luggage and headed to the showers. As I fumbled through my stuff in what must have been an apparent haze, a really nice woman came over to help me out. She asked me to put my luggage to the side and then offered to do that for me if I had my stuff for the shower. As I pawed through my junk she started to tell me about her struggle with cancer. I was tired and oblivious and it wasn’t until I was in the shower that what she had said began to sink in. When I got out, I looked for her again but couldn’t find her in the crowd. I wanted her to know that I heard her and I wanted to ask her questions. I hope I get the chance next year.
By noon time I had found my friends, another really good meal and the beer line opened up. With the ferry several hours away, it was time to sit back, relax, and enjoy a beautiful afternoon on the cape. At one point I stopped by the DJ and asked him to play a song for me. I wanted to hear something by the Cars that Ben Orr had sung. He recently died of cancer and has been one of my favorite musicians since high school. We found “Just What I Needed” in the MP3 collection—that seemed really appropriate.
The walk down to the ferry dock was extremely painful. By this time my right leg hurt like hell and every step sent a sharp pain up the back of my leg. I hobbled onto the ferry and settled on the top deck thinking that we were just going to hang out for the four hour trip to Boston. As the ship filled and the band plugged in on the deck behind the pilot house, I got the sense things were going to change. While I was waiting for the ship to depart, I had a nice conversation with yet another stranger.
Before the lines were stowed, the blues band was playing and the water guns came out. Nobody warned me there would be water guns… I can’t begin to describe how much fun it was on the top deck with nearly 1100 tired cyclists wielding squirt guns. What could possibly go wrong? Nothing—it was a total blast. I stood up the entire time and felt nothing. The music was great, the people were awesome and that ferry ride has to have been the shortest four hours I’ve ever had. And as if that weren’t enough, a Boston fire boat came out to greet us with water cannons on full. My family was there to meet me at the dock. They had managed to find my bike and luggage so forty-five minutes later we were home.
I couldn’t have asked for a better weekend to experience my first PMC but I got the sense that no matter what the weather the people are what make this experience. I can’t say thank you enough to the people who support the PMC. From the people on the side of the road cheering us on to the thousands of volunteers watching out for us and of course to everyone who sponsored the riders, making the PMC the most successful athletic fundraising event in the country. This year’s fundraising goal is 17 million dollars, and represents half of the operating budget of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. One weekend, once a year, 4200 cyclists, 2200 volunteers and countless supporters—people like you.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Erich Whitney August, 2004.
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| Charitable Fund Raising: |
| On August 7 and 8, 2004, I rode in the 25th annual PMC fund raiser from Sturbridge to Provincetown Mass. My personal goal is to raise $6,000 for the Jimmy Fund/Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
I would really appreciate it if you would sponsor my ride in support of this worthwhile cause.
If you or someone close to you has been affected by cancer, then you know how difficult these diseases are to fight. In contrast, a 200-mile bike ride is a walk in the park.
I carried on my back the names of 26 people who have fought cancer. Some lost, some won, while others are still fighting.
To donate online, please visit the PMC web site (link below) and enter the eGift ID shown. To donate by mail, please send a check made out to “PMC/Jimmy Fund” to my address: I'll be back next year! Erich Whitney 5 Wilson Ave Derry, NH 03038-2117
Thank you so much.
Sincerely,
Erich Whitney
Links for online donations
Main web sites (for more information)
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| Cycling Calendar of Events: |
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1/12/04: GSW Board Meeting, Manchester, NH
2/ 9/04: GSW Board Meeting, Manchester, NH
5/10/04: GSW Board Meeting, Manchester, NH
6/21/04: GSW Membership Meeting, Hampton, NH 7/18/04- Recreational Ride:
8/ 7/04- Fund Raiser:
8/ 8/04 9/25/04- Recreational Ride:
9/26/04
10/11/04: GSW Board Meeting, Manchester, NH
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| Cycling Club Contacts: |
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