July 8, 2006- The Prouty

The Prouty is a one-day, 100-mile ride starting and ending in Hanover, NH.

The 2006 Prouty was a great event but not without incident.

We were starting off on an uphill note. Jeff Adams had recently received a knee injury that prevented him from training much at all prior to this ride. In fact, the 100 mile century ride would double his riding for the summer. Taylor Moran-Gates , having been in med-school in NYC had been limited in time and was only able to run in preparation. He ran a lot, though. Matt Solar had been riding a bit, but wasn’t prepared to tow Jeff 100 miles. It didn’t take long to figure out that this might be a more painful century that last year (refusing to admit we’re getting older).

However, we did have the benefit of staying in NH the night prior and absolutely beautiful weather – both things we failed to get in 2005. These made the early ride start much more tolerable.  The ride started well, and we immediately picked up another solo rider. After 20 miles we picked up a second rider, a member of the RPI cycling team. With a posse of 5, we rode.

Getting passed on the downhill by a expletive-cheering old man on a recumbent, trying to keep up with a sponsored amateur rider, sliding the rear wheel into traffic… lots of stories.

Checkpoints are roughly every 20-25 miles and 100 miles of NH hills is a lot when you haven’t trained, so by mile 80 (the last checkpoint) Jeff was threatening to throw in the towel. We knew he was hurting and we’d lie about the mileage on every hill. Jeff was done, but we guilt tripped him into finishing with us right as we rolled by the last check point. We continued to take turns letting him draft. Taylor seemed to get another wind at this point and took to the hills like his Polka Dotted jersey was at risk.

The last 5 miles are slow – small windy roads running alongside the river. The finish starts to feel really close, and you start to relax. Within 1 mile of the finish – literally – Matt got a flat. His first of the day. Thankfully, our group of 5 waited and we finished together.

Any day you can ride 100 miles with friends in beautiful weather is a good day in my book – this was one of them.

At left: Matt, Adrian, and Mike upon completing the 100-mile Prouty. Sunny skies were a nice change after 75+ miles of rain The 2004 Prouty

Adrian Ionescu, Mike Morris, and I (Matt) rode in the Prouty, a single day event covering 100 miles. As you can see by the pictures below, it was raining. A lot.

We got a late start on the day since we decided to commute up from Boston to New Hampshire the morning of the event. We still had a blast on our own, and by the end of the day were lucky enough to get some beautiful weather!

To everyone that helped us accomplish my goal, thank you for supporting us. And until next year – ride on,

Matt

Pictures from the day:

Above: A rainy start.

Above: Enjoying the weather.

Above: Soaked.

Above: Finally, a break in the weather! (Around mile 90)

Above: Over excited about the weather.

Above: Enjoying the sunshine.

Above: The last few miles.

Above: Another successful ride finished!

As you well know, this year I decided to do the Pan-Mass Challenge, a 200-mile bike ride from Sturbridge, MA to Provincetown, MA on August 7th and 8th to raise money on behalf of the Jimmy Fund and cancer research. I have always heard a lot about it, have loved cycling, and have wanted to ride the PMC – 2004 just happened to be the first year I have been afforded the time and resources to pursue it.

Saturday, August 7th – My alarm went off at 3:30am and I was ready to go. I brought my bike and gear outside to a surprising 50° morning. Spandex and shaved legs don’t lend themselves well to dark 50 degree weather, but not much we could do about it now. We arrived at the start in Sturbridge to an amazing number of people. It was announced that a record 1,750 people would be departing in the dark that cold morning. We slowly signed in, dropped off our bags, and stood in the cold beside our bikes. We instantly recognized the fact that we were – by far – the babies of the bunch. We had been told that the average age of the riders was 45, but I guess I expected a lot more riders in the 85-95 age range to bring the average as high as it was. I was wrong. By the 110 mile finish, our top speed of the day had been about 52-53 mph and my heart rate reached a max of 195 beats per minute during the climb up the ensuing hill.

Sunday, August 8th – Sunday’s ride was a bit more casual but the wind soon proved to be another challenge. The sea breeze defeated any increase of temperatures over the previous morning, the only plus being that we instantly began to climb for a couple miles up and over the Bourne Bridge. I’m not sure where we went from there, but the next 30 miles were over some beautiful roads of rolling hills. We expected Saturday to be the “hillier” of the two days and were already changing that idea fast. When we reached the last 10 miles, our pace picked up a bit and we finally came into sight of the finish – tons of spectators were cheering us on and it was a party in progress despite the fact that it was only about 11am. We quickly got rid of our bikes, changed out of our clothes, and started browsing the food tents. All the food we could eat, free beer from Harpoon, and a nice ocean breeze made a satisfying finish. The ferry to Boston didn’t depart until 3pm, so we spent the next four hours eating, napping, drinking, and more eating and napping.

Matt & Jeff at the finish of the 2004 PMC

Overall, I was extremely impressed with the organization of the PMC. Of course, I am always pleased when I don’t have to make my own food. However, everything was handled perfectly – transportation of our bags, digital wristbands, repair stations and wagons, intersections with police stopping traffic for us – all very impressive.

A few people have asked me, “what happens if you finish it first?” Well, nothing aside from the fact that you missed the entire point of the PMC. The ride was a blast, but the sense of camaraderie based on the significance of the ride was what will stand out in my memory over time. Riders were always courteous to others, talking and joking about the hill, wind, or just strange spectators (Jeff- the crazy lady yelling gibberish in central Ma?!). All around you there were people to ride with and virtually everyone worked together to create pace-lines and work in a group.

It took a while for me to realize, but there is a single aspect that will stand out in my head as inspirational. At first it sounded a bit foreign, as I was doing what I enjoy – cycling. But the more I heard it, the more I contemplated the larger effects of my ride. The one thing that impresses me the most is the sole number of spectators and people who simply said, “Thank you for riding.”

To everyone that helped me accomplish my goal, thank you for supporting me. And until next year – ride on,

Matt