I've just returned from my physician's office where I was diagnosed as having a virus of some type that is causing some sinus congestion and the more worrisome fatigue. I've had these symptoms for about a week now and Dr. Henderson said that the virus may run its course by the start of BMB which is early Thursday morning. However he was concerned that participation in such a demanding weekend of cycling might lead to some complications such as sinus or bronchial infection so he gave a me a series of antibiotics that I can take should symptoms of either of these occur. He said that outside of possible infection I might not enjoy my weekend. Now I know that some randonneurs would never construct a sentence that would have in it both "BMB" and "fun" however my experience is that BMB IS fun, that is until it eventually becomes not so much fun. I usually don't expect that transition to occur until somewhere well into the second day and hopefully not until after the turn! around in Montreal. The idea that the un-fun might begin Thursday morning before I even reach the first control is a bit depressing. I'll try to rest as much as possible today and tomorrow.
Wednesday Aug 21
I catch an early flight to Boston. My bike which was shipped via UPS has already arrived at my brother's house in Brookline. It's an easy subway ride from the Boston airport to within about 5 blocks where my brother lives. I reach his house by the Riverside Green Line which, if I had continued on it, would have taken me to within 2 blocks of the Newton Holiday Inn - BMB headquarters. It's nearly noon by the time I arrive and there's no time to squander as I must assemble my bike for the inspection and check-in which is at 4pm. I remember to lube my chain with some thick oil that I purchased just for this ride. I normally use Tri-Flow but for this ride I feel that I need something that won't be easily washed away by rain.
I finish the assembly somewhat early so I decide to drive on over to the Holiday Inn to see if I can look up some of my Audax Atlanta friends. I locate the Wolff's (Mark & Lou) room early enough to enjoy one of their tasty home-brewed beers. We talk awhile and then head down for inspection. There I see David Bundrick and learn that he's been suffering from a virus similar to mine for the last two weeks. After my card is stamped I forego the picnic dinner since I have plans to dine with my brother that night.
That evening with my brother and a couple of friends doesn't go as smoothly as I had hoped. I have a glass of wine before we head to an Italian restaurant that had been recommended. We find ourselves waiting 20 minutes for a table and then being served very mediocre fare. I don't get to bed until about 10pm and knowing that I'm somewhat dehydrated.
Thursday Aug 22
I awake a little before 3am and immediately visit the bathroom experiencing diarrhea which I suspect is from the prior evening's pasta. Tom drives me over to the Holiday Inn where I assemble the bike up by the lobby and test out my lighting before saying goodbye to Tom and coasting down to join the start in the parking lot. As I'm standing about looking for friends I notice that cyclists are lined up visiting Jennifer who is standing behind a table. It suddenly dawns on me that I need to have my control card stamped before I leave. I am able to accomplish this shortly before the hounds are released so I'm close to being the tail-end charley as we roll out.
Some of my friends are sporting green glow sticks on their helmets so I start working my way up through the peleton in search. I pass Scott and Melinda Dura on the way to the front. This randonneurring couple has both befriended AND inspired me during the last couple of years. They visited me two years when I was recovering from my cancer surgery and have often volunteered help with the brevets. Their randonneurring aspirations have been frustrated the last few years due to injury and work obligations. This year they completed all of the Georgia Brevet Series but were close to the time limits on both the 400km and 600km brevets even without stopping to sleep. Our series is very challenging and I've always claimed that if you can finish our series then you can complete BMB. I now wonder whether that's really true and know that they are in for the cycling challenge of their lives. This is just the first of many times that I think of them during this! ride.
As I continue working my way to the front I finally spot two glowsticks - Mark and Lou Wolff. These are two Floridians brewmeisters with whom I rode the first half of the Georgia 600km. We rode so well together then that it's my plan to ride with them all the way to the Middlebury control at about 235 miles. While they plan to stop and sleep at Middlebury I want to continue riding until I have to sleep. Over the last two years I've learned that even though I feel I need eight hours of sleep every night I have a rather unique ability to cycle for a very long time before requiring any sleep.
The pace over the first hour seems a little brisk though it's possible that my forced layoff over the last week has left my legs a little sluggish. Then at about 20 miles out one of my waterbottles is jarred loose and I have to pull over to retrieve it. After I locate it I look up and there are the glowsticks stopped up the road. I really didn't expect or want this but what a generous act by Mark, Lou and Jeff Bauer. Jeff is from Nashville Tennessee and also rode the Georgia Series. Coincidentally it was Jeff and others whom I latched onto for the second half of our 600km. It was Jeff who alerted the others of my predicament and looking back now I am reminded of the end of the movie Casablanca where Rick tells Renault that they have forged a new alliance: "Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."
The four of us get rolling again, the sun rises and not too much farther up the road we come up on Davy Haynes from Huntsville Alabama, another GA brevet graduate. Now I'm in the perfect paceline. All these guys are strong steady wheels and riding with them is a pleasure. They know how to ride bikes. We occasionally pick up another rider but it remains our party. We pull off for a pee break early on and I find that my diarrhea is still lingering. I'm glad that I remembered to pack the toilet paper. We reach the Bullard Farm control at 72 miles having maintained a solid pace. The plan is to move thru the control quickly since the Brattleboro control with its fried rice is only another 37 miles. This next section is beautiful and takes us up Pisgah Mountain, the first of five gaps that we'll climb today. The secret control is situated at the summit just as last year. The terrain is fast from there to Brattleboro though Mark flats about 4 miles from the control. He finds a ! 2 1/2 inch nail which has a 90 degree bend in it totally inserted into his tire. Very strange. Anyway this is just a slight delay and we arrive in Brattleboro in good time.
I opt for PBJ's instead of the fried rice as the rice takes too long to chew and I know I'll be hungry 30 minutes later :^) This next section to Ludlow is arguably the most difficult northbound leg. It's all up and down and contains both Andover Gap and Mt Terrible. About 20 miles out we pass the site of my fall last year where I suffered a broken elbow and had to abandon. It was a nice feeling to move beyond it. This section is beautiful but so is so much of the whole course. My only vivid memory of this leg is the climb up Mt. Terrible. About a mile before the start of the climb a 6am starter hopped on the back of our paceline. When I spotted him I was almost sure it was Sandiway Fong, a somewhat legendary randonneur. I spoke to him to confirm. When we started up Mt Terrible our paceline was too slow for him so he went around us. This was way too tempting for me so I left our group and pedalled up to him and rode with him from the base to the top of Mt Terrible. It tur! ns out that he crashed on a tandem while on the BBS 400km and the interruption of his training kept him from being in tip top form. Still he had already caught us even though we had a two hour head start. Anyway riding with him was a real eye opener. He spun AT LEAST 90 rpm all the way up Mt Terrible! Later someone told me that his big ring is a 42. As we crested Mt Terrible for the run down to the Ludlow control it began to rain lightly. I let Sandiway go and rode my brakes all the way down as the road was becoming progressively wetter.
The rest of my friends arrived at the Ludlow control shortly after I did. I stuffed myself at this control preferring the macaroni and cheese to anything I'd be offered earlier. I also ate a baked potato and a brownie. We left Ludow in a light rain that was to continue for the next 10 hours. Fortunately the temperatures were very comfortable. Though this next leg to Middlebury has two gaps, the latter being the knee-busting Middlebury Gap, the remainder of the 64 miles are mostly flat. I don't know how late it was when we started the climb up Middlebury Gap as it was prematurely dark due to the clouds and rain. The climb was very steep toward the summit though we all made it over. Kevin Kaiser and I trailed the others on the wet, dark descent, Kevin being very cautious after taking a fall just minutes earlier. We caught the others on the flatter run into Middlebury and all arrived together at 9:22pm. Mark and I had hoped for a 9pm arrival but were by no means disap! pointed.
My original plan was to take one hour at Middlebury to eat and shower before moving on however the continuing rain had me second guessing. Dave Bundrick and Kevin Kaiser rolled on out after eating. For someone who abandoned our 600km, Kevin is now riding with tremendous confidence. He is completely undaunted by the wet dark conditions. I truly belief he is a Dave Bundrick clone. He constantly derides his ability and is always in front of you. After I shower I'm still having second thoughts about rolling out as I'd hoped it would stop raining. That's when Jeff Bauer steps in. He doesn't pressure me to go back out but says that he'll join me if I'll go. So after about a hour and 15 minute stop we both roll back out into the rain. We ride comfortably slow for the first couple of hours and with virtually no traffic the cycling is actually fun. Even though it's pitch black out I can tell that we're leaving the mountains because we start smelling silage which implies dairy far! ms. This is my third crossing between Burlington and Middlebury and I've yet to see the landscape since my trips have always been during the middle of the night.
Friday Aug. 23
Having ridden BMB once before I know to look for the 24 hour convenience store in Burlington where we stop to refuel. During the 30 miles from Middlebury I fought thru a sleepy spell where I wasn't nodding but I had trouble concentrating. When we leave the convenience store we feel good and pick up the pace a bit. We can hear the wind blowing as we ride by Lake Champlain but it's not a direct headwind and doesn't particularly detract from the ride. About an hour later I struggle through another sleepy spell. What's with this; I'm not supposed to be susceptable to this temptation. This spell only lasts a few minutes. After sun rise a couple of faster cyclists pass us. The first we let go but we jump on the wheel of the one that passes us a few minutes later. I can't believe it - here's another super spinner. We struggle to stay on his wheel and actually take one round of pulls. The faster pace invigorates both Jeff and me and we ride this gentleman's wheel for nearly 15 m! iles. Suddenly another cyclist flies past all three of us. The spinner is strong enough to sprint up to the other cyclist's wheel while Jeff and I fall well off the back. Well it was nice while it lasted. When we arrive at the Rouses Point control I find that it was Jim Solanick from Florida who had zipped by us like he was on a tandem.
At Rouses Point we find that Kevin and David are in the gym asleep so Jeff and I tip toe around the kitchen. Wouldn't want to wake these two from their beauty sleep :^) I believe Jeff's original plan was to sleep at this control but now he's into the same groove as me. We're awake so let's keep pedalling. Kevin does rise before we can sneak out... I mean leave for Rouses Point, but he is going to wait for his brother who is supporting him to arrive with something worth waiting for. Jeff and I leave.
This is my first exposure to the new Montreal leg and it is a vast improvement over 1998 simply because there is so less traffic. Some of the road surfaces are pretty serious shake and bake to the point of making my knees hurt but the scenery is pretty. After about an hour and a half we spot this big ridge miles ahead of us. There is what appears to be a swath cut straight down the ridge like would be cut for power lines. In fact that's what Jeff guesses that it is. I inform him that it MIGHT be Covey Hill. No, no way.
Oh yeah. But I will say that Covey Hill is more visually intimidating than physically. Once over the top the ride into the turnaround was suspiciously fast. We arrived at the halfway point in 30 hours and some change. I couldn't be disappointed with that. I had warned Jeff that in 1998 the food at the Montreal turnaround consisted of badly over cooked spaghetti. Boy has that changed. This control had three of the most accomodating women taking orders for sandwiches that were very tasty. We ordered a couple each and after a while we headed back out.
We hadn't been on the road for more than a mile or so when Kevin passed us from the opposite direction. We waved and then I started guessing when we'd see David Bundrick. I guessed 5 miles but passed us when we were only about 4 1/2 miles out of the control. I found the miles from the turnaround back to the top of Covey Hill to be some of the more frustrating as they were on rough pavement and slightly inclined. I guess I had become too accustomed to all the easily cycling we had into the control. I left Jeff on the steeper part of the climb and continued onto the summit instead of waiting because I knew that Jeff would fly down Covey Hill while I'd be white-knuckling. From the top of Covey Hill you can see the bottom. It appears to be straight down. I survived it by heating my rims though when Jeff later caught up he said his freewheeling hit only the low 40's on the descent. Just before we arrived back at Rouses Point we passed the Scott and Melinda on their way ! to the turnaround. They really looked to be doing fine though when I later checked the Rouses Point signin sheet they had beaten the close time by only 30 minutes. I saw Tom Cross for the first time as we rolled into the Rouses Point parking lot. He was having Pierce Grafton check something on his bike. Tom looked good and as always was in no particular hurry.
At Rouses Point I saw Jim Solanick for the last time until after the finish. He looked great though his ride, like many others', was radically modified by the weather yet to come. While at the Rouses Point control a rider named Tony from North Carolina expressed an interest in riding back to Middlebury with us. He was riding BMB as a RAAM qualifier and was shooting for 65 hours. We three started back out and after we crossed the bridge Tony started pulling at a rate that had me laboring right off the bat. I hated to be the party pooper but after a mile or two I declared that there was no way I could continue at this pace. Tony tried to encourage me and even to slow down but the three of us just couldn't get into sync. No hard feelings, Tony finally moved on at a surprisingly fast pace. I told Jeff that if he can ride at that pace then 65 hours shouldn't be any problem.
By this time Jeff and I had ridden together for 430 miles. We were just very well matched speed wise. Jeff claimed that by then he knew when I was going to stand before I ever got out of my saddle. Jeff is a steady strong wheel which made riding behind him very easy and relaxing. It almost embarrasses me how proficient a cyclist Jeff's become in the year or two since he's taken up the sport. I've ridden for over ten years and I don't have the skills that Jeff demonstrates. Jeff is also a very selfless person who I believe you could depend on thru thick or thin. And I can say that he literally pulled me for hundreds of miles.
The traffic that afternoon along the shores of Lake Champlain was extremely heavy however we had been given a very wide shoulder on which to ride. But there was so much traffic that it was virtually impossible to talk to each other. I was shocked when after a couple of hours we ride up on Tony on the side of the road. He joins us but I still don't know why he was there though at one point he commented on how we had more experience at this sport and had a better understanding of pace. The truth however was that I couldn't have ridden as fast as he even if I had wanted.
We stopped at the same convenience store in Burlington as the sun was beginning to set. Jeff loaned me his cell phone and I was able to catch Penny at home and let her know how I was doing. As we left Burlington I was hoping for a 11pm arrival at Middlebury. Jeff and I discussed the possibility of riding straight on thru Middlebury without sleeping. The next 20 miles however were by far the most nerve wrecking of the ride. It became dark and we found ourselves teetering up very steep hills while constant traffic was speeding past us. Some hills were so long and steep that watching the cars taillights you'd think the road was leading straight up to the stars. I couldn't believe that these were the same roads we had ridden 18 hours earlier.
We rode in these conditions for an hour or more and then we came to an intersection at the same time as a couple of cars and Jeff on lead beared left. I was just following Jeff's taillight but I couldn't understand why he was so sure of this turn so I rode up to him and asked had he seen something that made he sure of that turn. He said no so we sat up and started thinking about it. Some houses looked kinda familiar but Jeff had the good sense to stop when he saw some locals out in their yard. After a few minutes of explanation we realize that the turn was a mistake so we backtrack though the distance wasn't much more than a mile. The good news was that the traffic had finally slacked off. We continued to within about a mile of the Middlebury control when we then took some circuitous route that I still don't understand. I'm sure it wasn't as the cuesheet had suggested but we did finally arrive.
Saturday Aug 24
We arrived at Middlebury a little after midnight and while I still wasn't particularly sleepy, now 44 hours into the ride, I was still in a poor humor after the shell shocking we took on the route out of Burlington. I suggest to Jeff that we sleep here and start out at 5:30 the next morning. As always Jeff was accommodating. I just wanted my next mile on the bike to be in daylight. I tried to take another shower but by that time there was no hot water left. I splashed the cool water on me to rinse off but I couldn't stand under it. When I laid down in a cot to sleep one of my teeth hurt so much that I couldn't sleep. I eventually rose and walked back over the building where the checkin and food was located and drank a cup of coffee and took an advil. After a while I wandered back to the cot and was able to sleep for an hour or two. Mind you I really wasn't concerned about the sleep. I was just passing time until sun rise.
Dave Bundrick and Kevin Kaiser also made it to Middlebury that evening and both stopped to rest. Dave started out earlier this morning while Kevin opted to leave with Jeff and me at 5:30. The sun hadn't quite risen when we left but you could see just fine. The weather was very comfortable as we approached the climb up Middlebury Gap. This climb is indeed beautiful and I was looking very hard for their moose but couldn't spot him anywhere. The last 1 1/2 miles of this ascent were terribly difficult on me. I could see a rider ahead but could make no progress on him and that is a very bad sign for a climber type like myself. My legs were turning to rubber. In 1998 I rode up this gap on a 42/25; now I thought I would have to walk even though I was turning a 39/27. I eventually reached the summit and stopped to talk to Jennifer for a while and wait for my buddies. We descend Middlebury and I can tell when we hit the flats that my legs are toast. This is when I start spi! nning almost exclusively. An odd transition has occurred because Jeff, who is a spinner, is now pushing bigger gears because his behind hurts and I'm now the spinner.
After a while on the flats Kevin decides to drop off our pace and ride on his own. We ride on a while and I suggest to Jeff that we set out in pursuit of Dave Bundrick. We agree to move through the Ludlow control as fast as possible. Just as we turn into the control I see David about two blocks up the street, having left the control and beginning his ascent of Mt Terrible. Jeff and I go thru the Ludlow control in 15 minutes! I don't find Mt Terrible overly difficult though I've really slowed up my climbing. The descent is really nice and we head on for Dave. This is the hilliest section and there seems to be no relief. We finally spot David on Andover Mountain and eventually catch up but it is a very painful experience as Andover is so steep when you're southbound. Now we have a nice threesome and life is beautiful, at least for half an hour. I remember telling Jeff at this point how much fun I've had at this year's ride.
Then the rain hits. A cold steady rain. To make matters worse we have to cross perhaps the worst section of road on the whole course with traffic waiting to pass us and in heavy rain. Dave's on lead, I'm next with Jeff bringing up the rear. I can't believe how horrible the surface is with constant heaves in the pavement. I just try to follow the line left on the pavement by Dave's tires and am constantly cursing. We finally come to Saxon River and I follow Dave into a sharp right turn and over a bridge. Shortly thereafter Dave looks over his shoulder and asks where Jeff is. Uh oh. We coast back down across the bridge to the intersection but neither of us is inclined to backtrack over the previous section. We don't know whether Jeff had a problem and pulled off or whether he overshot the turn and is to our right somewhere farther down the wrong road. For a while we stand in this cold steady rain and I watch as my esteemed B17 saddle is getting soaked. I suggest we m! ove across the street and wait under the eave of a crafts shop.
We wait and we wait and there's no Jeff. By this time we're both developing uncontrollable shivers. Neither Dave nor I have a bag drop with dry cloths at Brattleboro which is 20 miles down the road. We both thought we'd ride on to the finish but now we're in serious trouble. After a while Dave says that if there were a motel around he'd be inclined to check in to it. Hmmm, I go into the crafts shop to ask if anything like that is available in this small town. The clerk says that there's an inn a block down the street. I leave Dave to go check it out and when I get to the inn I see Jeff on the porch of a general store that is next door. I check at the front desk and they have a 3 person room available, plus they'll allow us to use their washer/dryer PLUS there's a Vermont Bike touring group spending the night there and we can park our bikes in the same building as theirs PLUS they have a restaurant and bar.
Dave, Jeff and I check in and spend THIRTEEN hours at the Saxon River Inn. We wash and dry all our clothes; have hot showers, drink some beers and have a sitdown dinner. However I must say that this causes some kind of internal conflict. Occasionally we'd see some wet, cold BMB cyclist ride by our inn to get to the general store while we were sitting there dry, warm drinking beer and eating potato chips. It's like we hit the pause button on the VCR.
Sunday Aug 25
We set out at 4:30 Sunday morning heading for Brattleboro which is some 20 miles away. This control didn't close until 8am so we still have plenty of cushion. However both Jeff and I start out suffering from severe knee pain. I am riding in my lowest gear up the slightest of inclines. We can't come close to keeping up with David. The ride to Brattleboro is really nice though. The cold rain has been replaced by dry moderate temperatures and there is absolutely no traffic on the roads. I struggle slowly to Brattleboro though my knees seemed to be improving slightly with use.
At Brattleboro I tell David to go on without me since I know I can't keep up with him. Mark, Lou and Davy are already checked into the control and in a motel room when we arrive. After eating some, taking an advil and raising my saddle a fraction I decid it was better to head out in front of those three since I'm not sure how my knees will feel. Jeff leaves with me. Like a miracle the knee pain is gone. We have a great ride into Bullard Farm as the downhill greatly exceeds the climbing. Plus I think due to the lower tire pressure (I hadn't pumped them once since the start) my bike feels really good on the long downhills.
When Jeff and I arrive at Bullard Farm we promptly place orders for omelets and I start stuffing my face with anything that looked eatable. Davy and the two Wolffs finally arrive but it turns out that Lou took a hard fall during the last section. He said his elbow felt fine but it looks like someone has stuffed a baseball under his skin. I do have enough experience with the elbow that I am confident in telling him that if he could use the arm then the elbow isn't broken.
The five of us later head out for home (Boston). However after a couple of miles in the pace line I just have a very strong urge to ride in on my own. I don't want to be antisocial and I realize that I owe so much of my success to Jeff but I just want some "me" time. This is a ride I've been waiting to finish for four years. So I drift off the back and try to explain to Davy that they all should go on. After a hill or two and with my knees no longer hurting I find myself in front of the foursome. The ride into Boston is almost perfect what with a tailwind the whole way. I occasionally pass some participants pulled off at convenience stores or at Sterling Ice Cream but I started with three full water bottles and two energy bars and the closer to Boston I get the less inclined I am to stop. However this does make the last 10 miles pretty slow but I finally finish.
Dave Bundrick greets me at the finish and while I've seen David at the finish at untold number of brevets I've never seen him look so fresh. He said that he felt great the whole way in. I learn that Kevin Kaiser finished some five hours earlier. Kevin, the only one of us who bailed on our 600km, is our first finisher at Boston. I couldn't write a better script. Not long afterwards Jeff, Davy, Mark and Lou arrive. Everyone's feeling pretty good as we sit together to eat the fine chicken parmesan and discuss the ride. However we still have three riders on the course, Tom Cross and the Dura's. We discover that Tom has been the last to arrive at just about every control, sometimes with only 15 minutes to spare. This however belies the fact that Tom is a very strong rider. We assume that Tom will be the last to finish so several go to their motel rooms to shower and to return to wait for Tom. I'm suggesting that we have a $1 lottery on Tom's finish time.
I have checked on Scott and Melinda at every control since the first day. I always look to see if they've got that "DNF" penned in by their names it's always a blank line. Finally Tom arrives well before the 10pm time limit. He gets a rousing welcome. I believe that he must be friends with all the control personnel since he's always been the last to leave. He said that Scott and Melinda made it to Bullard Farm but that Scott was having some foot problems. I've already called my brother and told him not to come for me until 9:30 because there's no way that I'm going to miss Scott and Melinda's finish.
My brother Tom arrives and I load my bike into his car. Shortly thereafter at about 9:30 four or five cyclists arrive and I spot Scott. I immediately go over to find Melinda and give her a big hug. She is terribly tired. Then I go over and hold Scott's bike while he's having his medal ceremony. I ask the photographer if she'd also take a shot of Scott and Melinda together. I standing there holding Scott's bike, watching them leaning against each other for the photograph and trying not to be spotted wiping the tears from my eyes. According to Melinda they slept a total of three hours out of the 89 1/2 hours they were on the road.
EPILOGUE
2002 BMB has been a sweeping success for Audax Atlanta and Friends of AA. The nine starters who rode the Georgia 600km all finished and then there's Tom Cross. I count that as ten out of ten and you can't get any closer to perfect. My sincere congratulations to all.
As for me I got what I've been wanting for the last four years, another BMB finish. I can't begin to tell you how much Jeff Bauer helped me during this ride. We had no pre-ride arrangement but if I didn't know better I'd think his primary mission was to get ME to the finish line. BTW, we had interesting splits: a little over 30 hours to Montreal and 55 hours to return.
I will never again downplay the difficulty in completing Boston-Montreal but I stick to my guns in saying that it IS alot of fun.