# Ride Report: Pan-Mass Challenge, 192 miles in 2 days



## team_sheepshead (Jan 17, 2003)

On the first weekend of August, I was fortunate enough to take part in the Pan-Massachussetts Challenge. This is a charity ride now well into its third decade. The long ride rolls from Sturbridge, Mass., to Provincetown, Mass., a total of 192 miles over two days. The ride benefits the Jimmy Fund. Over the years, Pan-Mass has raised more than $170 million. 

I rode with a team called Paul’s Posse, organized by my friend Paul, who is currently battling Stage IV gastrointestinal cancer. Paul finished his 10th Pan-Mass, all 192 miles, without a hitch. The team raised nearly $300,000. www.paulsposse.com

We rented a bus from New York City, stopped in CT to pick up some riders and drove into Sturbridge on Friday afternoon. In our motel parking lot, two members of the Posse posed for a photo. Ben Serotta set up a bike for Laura Ingraham, a radio-show host, to ride for two days.


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## team_sheepshead (Jan 17, 2003)

On Saturday morning, we rolled out at 6 a.m. A few thousand riders begin in Sturbridge, and thousands more start in Wellesley. John Kerry showed up for the start. I later heard that he flatted in the first 100 meters.


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## team_sheepshead (Jan 17, 2003)

To be honest, I don’t have a lot of shots from the bike. The roads were crowded with riders of all abilities, and I preferred to keep my hands on the bars as much as possible. But here’s a shot of Paul at one of the rest stops. He’s a strong rider, and now that I know his background, I’ll never again make fun of a guy with a Camelback and helmet mirror.


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## team_sheepshead (Jan 17, 2003)

We had a documentary crew following us around for the weekend. Apparently, they are going to be pitching the project to one of the Discovery channels. They were incredibly professional and probably worked as hard as the riders chasing us down for three days.


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## team_sheepshead (Jan 17, 2003)

The first day went smoothly, although it was brutally hot—temps in the high 80s and low 90s. We finished the first day at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, a college in Bourne. The facilities, to put it mildly, are institutional. Copious amounts of picnic food—burgers, hot dogs, chili, pasta salad, etc.—are served in a huge tent. Harpoon provides free beer, although I noticed last call was something like 6:45 p.m. to stop people from getting dehydrated and riding with hangovers.


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## team_sheepshead (Jan 17, 2003)

Bikes are parked on a baseball field. You hang your bike at a numbered rack, and a volunteer writes the number on your wristband so you can find it in the morning. It’s cool to see a few thousand bikes lined up at sunset. The smart riders bring plastic bags to keep the moisture out of the saddle.


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## team_sheepshead (Jan 17, 2003)

This being my first Pan-Mass, I was ignorant of the sleeping arrangements. Most of us were put in dorms with four people squeezed into two-person rooms. Temps in the 80s with no air conditioning, and windows that open only a crack. It was impossible to get any rest—and we all had a 4:15 a.m. wake-up call to look forward to. In this first photo, yes, that’s a mattress on the floor. If you didn't get a bunk, you slept on the floor. They were the lucky ones, because it was cooler on the floor.


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## team_sheepshead (Jan 17, 2003)

Rules for our dorms on the first night. Note the 4:15 a.m. reveille. I was hoping they'd actually play reveille, but they didn't. Just the sound of dozens of watch alarms going off. I'm still not sure why we had to get up so early. Day 2 was only 81 miles, and less hilly than Day 1.


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## team_sheepshead (Jan 17, 2003)

Sunday dawned much cooler. A perfect day for riding. The gigantic rest stops are placed about 20 miles apart throughout the ride, which breaks up the route perfectly. The volunteers are amazing. They literally surround riders at each rest stop offering water, sports drink and food. I've got to hand it to the volunteers. At some points, it seemed like they had one volunteer per rider. Actually, at the massage tent, each rider got worked over by two people.


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## team_sheepshead (Jan 17, 2003)

At the last rest stop of the day, Paul’s Posse regrouped. We were joined on the ride by Ron Kiefel, the first American to win a stage of the Giro and a seven-time Tour de France competitor. Ron is an incredibly nice guy. On Day 1, we actually traded pulls for 80 miles. He’s got about 6 inches and 60 pounds on me, so I really wasn’t much of a break for him. Here’s a shot of Ron and Ben Serotta. Ron rode Ben’s bike during Pan-Mass, a carbon MeiVici. Ron is general manager of an LBS called Wheat Ridge Cyclery in Wheat Ridge, Colo. His father bought the shop in the 1970s.

Ben donated a new MeiVici for an auction for Paul's Posse that raised more than $10,000. Thanks, Ben.


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## team_sheepshead (Jan 17, 2003)

Near the finish line in Provincetown, folks show their appreciation to the riders. In fact, we heard this constantly for two days. Not “Allez, allez,” or even “You can do it.” But simply “Thank you.”


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## team_sheepshead (Jan 17, 2003)

But no matter how uplifting the experience, riding 192 miles in the summer heat takes something out of a person. Here’s the aftermath on the long, long bus ride back to New York. Finis. Thanks for looking.


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## MB1 (Jan 27, 2004)

Very, very nice. Did you run into LenJ?


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## team_sheepshead (Jan 17, 2003)

Unfortunately not. It would be impossible to find someone in this crowd unless you had his mobile phone number, which I didn't.


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## LEW 3 (Jul 12, 2002)

*Blame it on Laura*



team_sheepshead said:


> On Saturday morning, we rolled out at 6 a.m. A few thousand riders begin in Sturbridge, and thousands more start in Wellesley. John Kerry showed up for the start. I later heard that he flatted in the first 100 meters.


Laura Ingraham let the air out of his tire.


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## Len J (Jan 28, 2004)

Great report....& great pictures......Have you been thru the PMC pictures on line....be prepared there is about 3,000 of them.

I found 3 of me.

Congrats on the ride. We got our team picture taken right after you guys....Ben & Ron were in ours too....we were in the Black & Red Serotta Jerseys.

Len


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## team_sheepshead (Jan 17, 2003)

Nice! Congrats. I hope you had a great ride. Would you do it again?


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