Boston Brevet Series 2001 - 600K

A sound like a light bulb dropping off onto a driveway was all I heard after seeing the skunk. Ed told me he thought he must have ran over it's head. "Does it smell?" he asked me. Sitting on his wheel for several seconds, the "skunk" smell wafted through my nostrils. It was definitely somewhere on his bike and or person. It was a sad day for the skunk to have a bicycle tire run him over in the wee hours of Sunday morning. Ed and I were less than 10 miles from the finish of the end of the Boston 600K Brevet, which had started about 24 hours ago.

A group of about 35 or so riders started out in the dark from Hanscom Field at 3am. Immediately Ed went off the front. I waited around to see if anyone was going after him, but nobody did. So I hopped up a hill and caught up to him. We rode along and got to Rick's house at 40 miles. After playing with the cat some, filling up water bottles, eating a Pop-Tart, banana, half a bagel, and some Sunny Delight, we were on the road again. This was a 57 mile section to a truck stop along Rt. 84. A very hilly section. Lots and lots of up and down, very steep. We plugged away and got finally got there. After a great sandwich, cookies, a banana, again we were off.

As we got on the road again, there were two other riders pulling in. Not sure who they were. As Ed and I went along, Ed told me I was free to go on ahead, as he was lagging a bit on the hills. So I opened it up a bit. As I got into Barre, the heat was getting oppressive. I stopped at a package store for a 16 oz. Coke and a small bag of peanuts. This got me to Bullard Farm, at mile 137, in a hurry. After a short stop, the next leg is 50 miles up to the turn-around, then 50 miles back to Bullard. It was 11am as I rolled out. I figured a six hour century pace would be reasonable. As I turned off onto Rt. 63 in New Hampshire, and saw the sign for Pisgah State Park, my memory was quickly jolted back to 1998 when riding up this monster on Boston-Montreal-Boston. Dave Jordan, the organizer of this ride, drove by in his mini-van. For some reason, either real or imagined, I could see a faint smirk on his face as I was standing on my 19 tooth rear sprocket (the low on my Serotta is a 21 but the rear derailleur won't keep it there). The heat was getting more and more oppressive. Near the top, there was a couple greeting a new homeowner with a house warming gift. I was in desperate need of water - they were happy to let me fill up my bottles. After wishing them luck, I scooted down some nice size hills at 50 MPH. At the turnaround in Bellows Falls, Dave was waiting, and even went and got a salt shaker to top off my sandwich! Salt patches on my shoulders, back, and shorts indicated it needed to be replaced. A 12-salt shake turkey sandwich topped with potato chips hopefully would fix me for salt.

Bellows Falls is in the Connecticut River valley, and it was surrounded by high valley walls. Sure enough a climb out would be in order. In the heat of the day, with no shade. And - stupid me - I realized after about 5 miles - no solid food! I had only three paks of Gu. Gu is sugar based flavored syrupy concoction favored by cyclists (I'm sure other athletes too). It has 100 calories a shot. All except Banana have a mild shot of caffeine in them as well. The climbing began and kept on going. I saw all of the riders coming up to the turnaround. Ed was only about 15 minutes behind. Melinda Lyon and Ted Lapinski were about 10 minutes behind him.

I pulled into Bullard Farm, and almost fell over. Stupid me - I did not eat enough. A pre-bonk haze started to envelop me. Woofing down some pasta heaped with meat sauce and salt helped some. Waves of naseau hit me and on the floor for a rest. I got up and took a quick shower out back. New clothes helped a bit. A ginger ale helped a bit. I was having bad cramps in my legs. A Gatorade like concoction of half OJ, half water, and lots of salt seemed to help more. Fifteen minute nap. Ed had come in. Bruce Ingle, who is volunteering, wants to ride. I see Melinda and Ted pull in. A bit wobbly, but I'm outa there. Ed, Bruce, and I pull out. We make it up to Barre, Bruce has to go back before it gets dark.

The next check point is the truck stop again. There are a few little climbs up to it, but nothing too bad. It is getting dark, but cars are giving us a good passing berth. Ed has a superior lighting system, better map holder, and it is much safer to ride at night with someone else, so I plan to ride with him to the end of the ride. We get the usual quizzical looks from the staff as they sign us in at 10pm. YooHoo, a foot long Rice Krispie Treat Bar, a buttered croissant, fuel me up. The variety is nice! We have a little over 300 miles done.

We pull into Rick's house after a brutal section of nasty climbs. There were also some terrifying descents at 45+mph through a pitch black moonless State Park section. The only thing good about the section was it was so dark you could not see when the hill ended so you did not get that psychological kick in the butt of a wall of asphalt in front of you.

On the road after Rick's house, we retraced the 300K route back to Hanscom. At one point, I was feeling very groggy. Ed had an extra Vivarin - 10 minutes after I was wide awake. It works! The million and one turns at the end of the ride was made a little more bearable by road markings. But the poor skunk. We pulled in together to Hanscom Field at 3:44am. Ed had to figure out where the skunk smell was coming from, I was too tired to help.

Great ride, great help. Bring on Boston-Montreal-Boston!