Ride FAR

We had to start by washing the bikes off. Tom Swamp Road definitely left its mark. The short additional distance we rode to our place last night made my brakes shriek and my gears slip. A little water and chain lube fixed things and off we went. Our first ten miles went slowly. More of those short, steep hills kept coming up. They really are quite steep. There was one yesterday that reached 14%. I almost couldn't do it with my loaded bike. I was at CP6 and managing all of about 3 1/2 miles per hour. Today was not quite so tough, but not easy either. We stopped to get water and mail cards in the first little town, talked to a couple of other cyclists & went on. More climbing. I began to wonder if we would get to Natick in time for our planned dinner with the Ride FAR group.

Pizza in Princeton, only 22 miles out. Then, at last, we began to go downhill. We added lots of miles fast and had a good time doing it. Actually, the climbing was good too, it was just taking too long. I had told Bruce I would like to stop for ice cream along the way. Then, after lunch, I got distracted. Things started to feel familiar - a real sense of deja vu. Bruce spotted an ice cream place, and I knew. I really had been there before. We were, for a short distance, actually on the Ride FAR route, and this was where we'd had lunch on the last days! Even though I wasn't very hungry yet, this had to be today's ice cream stop. Bruce took a picture to show at dinner tonight.

Soon after, we reached busier areas. We are getting closer and closer to Boston and the towns show it. More traffic, more choices of routes. We spent much of the afternoon following the turns we had figured out last night, and they worked fine. Our hotel is on a street that is not good for bikes. We managed to reach it within less than a block of our goal.

Our big deal today was to have dinner with a group from Ride FAR. In case you don't know, that is the AIDS ride I have done three times in the past. It was in alternate years, and this was to be one of them. Suzy, the woman who created and organized the ride, found that it would just be too much. She has a six year old daughter and is to publish a book soon. Deadlines loom. So the ride is no more. I was sorry to hear that, but also relieved. I have never loved fundraising and although the idea of training for a 500 mile ride by riding over 4000 miles had a certain weird appeal, I am not sorry to be closer to the end of my big adventure. But the people I have met are wonderful, and it was very exciting to get to see some this evening. One, Lee, showed up on his bike. Suzy and her sister, Meredith, brought their kids (and the kids somehow managed to get two years older since I last saw them). Lorene, Charles, Kim, Jonathan. A real treat to get to catch up a bit. Also nice to talk to local riders about our possible routes over the next couple of days.

So our next-to-last official ride day has been quite a success.

Miles today: 62
Total miles so far: 4157