Day 3: Rockport to Somerville Slog

I needed 53 miles on my last day of PMC riding to get to 192 miles total. I calculated my route carefully and expected to arrive in Somerville with exactly 192. The ride started off fine- Barbara took this shot of me leaving from our driveway in Rockport. 

I biked into town and ran into a friend who took this shot of me at Rockport Harbor with the famous Motif #1 fishing shack in the backdrop. I'm renaming it Biketif #41 for the 41st PMC ride. 

I headed out of town and at about mile 10 my pannier jumped off the bike rack and got lodged in my wheel. The pannier was shredded but remarkably the bike and wheel were unharmed- I love my Honey. But I called my very favorite Honey and asked her to bring me my preferred pannier. My Honey rescued me, and me and my other Honey were back on the road.

Rolled through the same lovely seaside and countryside towns as described on Day 2. I was challenged to find fresh images to share on this reverse day of riding. Here's a few, including our family's favorite beach, Good Harbor Beach in Gloucester and a lovely farm in Manchester.

At mile 23 I topped for ice cream in Beverly- who doesn't like an ice cream stop on a bike ride? While there, I noticed that it was getting cloudier and thought that was odd because the forecast from the day before hadn't predicted rain. Sure enough it started raining- not pouring but a steady light rain. But looking at the radar, it looked like there was more ominous stuff that looked like it was going to intersect with my route, so I gave up on looking for fresh photo content and focused on getting home quickly. 

Today was a real slog in more ways than one. In addition to the rain, which was more or less with me for the last half of the ride, I came across no other PMC riders during the day, and as the weather deteriorated very few people at all. This is a far cry from PMC Sunday, which is biking with 6000 of your closest friends from the Bourne Bridge to Provincetown with many spectators and well wishers. And many, many poignant reminders of why you are participating in a cancer fundraiser. So during the last half of the ride, I turned inward, and thought about those who I love who have cancer currently- Sabina of course, and several friends in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New Jersey who are battling cancer. I thought of friends who are cancer survivors. and family and friends who lost their battles. This inward reflection is a big part of the PMC for me and others, and I was glad to have the solitary time in the (soggy) saddle to think and reflect. It's also clear that whatever discomfort you're experiencing on a ride like this (your tired legs, your sore butt, your wet biking shoes), it's nothing compared to what people with cancer experience during the course of their treatment.

As I reflected, I got rained on hard a few times, but nothing scary or sustained, and arrived at home at the same time as Barbara, Sabina and Ana who drove back in the pouring rain from Rockport. Ana didn't care that Pop Pop was wet and went straight into my arms for the sweetest greeting ever.

When I checked my bike computer at home, I was bummed that I was two miles short of 192. I had wrapped my bike computer in a ziplock bag and put it in my pannier- normally I would have seen that I was short and I would have ridden around the neighborhood to make my target. You'll have to trust me to make up the two miles tomorrow- I'll get those tomorrow by picking up Ana in the bucket buck, which she loves. 

But more importantly, when I got back home I found out that I had exceeded my $12,000 goal due to several very generous donations. I think I will easily exceed $13,000 when a few other donations and matching grants are counted in the coming weeks. 

So I wish a very  humble thank you to all those who contributed and also a thanks to all those who came along for the ride. I was not expecting to raise this much during a historic year with so many other important causes- the impact that COVID-19 is wreaking on so many families, the long needed social justice movement that is sweeping the country, and the all important election that we are heading to in November that will decide our nation's fate for generations to come. Keep the faith everyone, we will get through this together. But for now, please accept my thanks, and my family's thanks, for keeping us in your thoughts, and for helping us fight the fight against cancer. Today I definitely felt that we're getting closer by the mile. 

Quick update- PMC total funds raised so far- nearly $30 million dollars, on our way to $41MM. And here's my last two miles with my favorite riding buddy!