2003 Petersham Double IV

As Lance would say it was an epic day! At 4:30 AM, 27 riders readied themselves to ride longer than any stage of the 2003 Tour de France. They would climb 9,200 feet while riding in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. There would be no team cars and no domestiques. Each rider had to be nearly self-sufficient. The temperature at the 5:00 AM start was 62 degrees. The temperature at the finish would be 84 degrees but all day the riders reported that it felt warmer because of full sun.

The first 33-mile leg to Uxbridge is relatively flat, although the first climb up Pine Street in Dover broke up the pack a bit. The Farina Boys, Chris and Dustin, kept dropping things from their pockets and having to go back and get them. Eventually they would chase the group back down. The long downhill to Uxbridge spread out the riders but at the Williams Donut Shop over 20 riders stopped together. Laurie and Jason handed out water and snacks at the first water stop of the day. Many riders headed indoors for some great donuts.

The second 53-mile leg may be the toughest with 3,740 feet of climbing starting with the long uphill grind from Uxbridge to Wallum Lake. The ride down into Rhode Island is mostly a downhill fun ride but then Buck Hill got the attention of the legs as riders tackled the first significant climb of the day. Bruce Cohen said later “What hill?” At this point, the lead group was down to a dozen or so as riders found their own pace. Small groups were forming that would stay together for much of the day.

Once the riders reached Clam Shack Hill, a five-mile climb, the water and snack stop at the top was a welcome sight. At this point, Melinda Lyon and a few others blew right by, intent on stopping as little as possible. Chris Block remarked, “hmm..they’re not going to stop!”

The nine miles from Charlton to Paxton is quite hilly, particularly the last few miles. At Paxton, everyone stopped but again Melinda hurried up the leaders. Jason and Laurie again handed out drinks and food. Rakesh could be seen at every stop mixing up a secret concoction for his water bottles. The muffins at “Coffee on the Common” did not disappoint, especially the Cherry Walnut ones!

The next eight miles was mostly downhill, but you pay that back on the climb to Barre. Leaving Barre on the back road to Petersham finds a bit of a roller coaster. The final mile to the lunch stop is one long straight hill that kicks up the last 100 feet just to add insult to injury. The Petersham Common is a lovely New England town green, complete with Country Store that serves a variety of soups and sandwiches. It was turning out to be a perfect day.

Unlike last year where the leaders rode fast but enjoyed some coffee and delicacies along the way, the leaders this year gassed up and were gone. It was in Petersham that I first heard Dale say to Dan “Do you want to try to break 11 hours?” The rest is history. You have to know Dan to understand. He does mountain bike races across Central America and stuff like that. While they left Petersham alone, Melinda and John joined them at the Paxton water stop. This group of four would stay together the rest of the day.

While in Petersham I got a call saying that Elizabeth was going to head back towards Boston, and that Sam Holster had broken a spoke and might have to abandon. While driving to Paxton to (hopefully) fix Sam’s wheel I came across a cyclist along side the road who had just crashed badly and was all cut up. Fortunately he was not in our group. After waiting for the police to arrive, I pushed on to help Sam. After a few minutes he was on his way but I was not 100% confident that more spokes would not break. As it turned out he made it all the way back without another problem.

The 35-mile stretch of road from Paxton back to Uxbridge includes an 8-mile section on Rt. 12. It is a bit busy as it passes through Oxford, but hey…it makes the return 20 miles shorter than the outbound ride! As you turn left onto route 16 you begin to see the serpentine hills through the Douglas State Forest. Legs were tired here and these hills hurt a bit. They lasted for 7 miles. From Douglas back to Uxbridge, the road is very fast and mostly downhill. It rejuvenates the riders and they start to realize that the end is in sight.

At this point I was chasing the leaders in the car to make sure someone was going to be at the finish when they got there. I was a bit surprised that I did not catch them by Uxbridge, more surprised at Mendon, and shocked at Bellingham. I finally caught them leaving Medway. I knew that Barry and Linda were going greet the riders at the finish with food and drinks at 4:00 PM. But, I was projecting that the lead riders were now going to beat that time by at least ten minutes!

I followed this group back to Dover and then scooted ahead to staff the finish. They rolled in at 3:47 PM, jubilant at their accomplishment. Likewise as other riders finished you could see smiles on everyone’s faces. I do not recall even one person who seemed exhausted after their daylong ordeal. O.K., so there is a picture of Steve Blum sleeping at the finish but he was actually just catching a power nap. This was truly a special group of riders.

As everyone sat down for some deserved refreshments, there was already talk of next year. So many people impressed me during this ride that I could not name them all. Steve Kaplan deserves special mention as the only person who has now done all four Peterham Doubles. My friend Bruce Cohen did his longest ride ever after having both hips replaced about 9 months ago! Can B-M-B be in your future Bruce?

A big “Thank You” goes to Jason and Laurie who drove the other sag vehicle. Laurie came up from her summer job at Morgan Stanley in NYC to help out. She has been averaging 4-5 hours of sleep all summer so this was a special favor. Thanks also to Barry and Linda for the maps, and helping at the start/finish.

Congratulations to everyone who finished. See you next year!

--Dave