From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]; [email protected]
Cc: Dusel,Peter
Subject: RE: More BMB reports/ RAAM stories
Date: Tuesday, September 03, 1996 6:43AM
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2420Send-to: Peter Dusel@XN
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>SO, IS ANYBODY gonna write up a BMB report that will cause all of us
>who failed to make this year's edition to be consumed with guilt.
Gil,
BMB, at least for those at my end of the pack, wasn't ridden
in a day,
so it won't be written about for a few weeks. I know of several
reports in the works.
I can give you a few rambling bits:
With the roads in the condition they were, the joke at my end of the
pack was that BMB really stands for "Bust My Butt".
The fixed gear was set up 42 X 14, I believe he had a 16 on the other
side of the rear wheel, but never used it. An eye witness going up
Middlebury gap, 18% in spots, remarked it was interesting to see how
slowly he could turn the cranks, keep going and balance. When I asked
Steve Abraham what brought him so far to do a ride, especially with
PBP in his own back yard, the response was something of the order that
"PBP was just rubbish, no scenery etc., just rubbish." We had
this
discussion at the start of the ride.
The most interesting fellow there had to be Jack Eason, a gentleman
from England. Officially 73 years of age. He rode an "older"
bike that
weighed at least 40 pounds with upright bars, and I don't mean
mountain bike bars. He carried his pipe in his pocket for the entire
ride. The only irritating thing about Jack was that he passed me
several times! The best part was getting to ride with him, and share a
breakfast in Burlington. "Bloody best pancakes I've ever had!",
as Jack said.
As others have mentioned, the weather on Friday was rather poor,
drizzle to torrential downpour, with a wind out of the south. For me,
the wind was on cue, pushing me north to Montreal, and stopping with
one of the torrential downpours just after 4:00 PM, just after I left
the Montreal checkpoint.
The most nerve racking riding on the route had to be the city of
Montreal. Stop signs on every corner, busy traffic, lots of turns, and
rain. I was with a group of about seven, mixed US and European riders.
None of us were happy, and at some point all of us came too close for
comfort to cars busses etc. (Yes, as I recall, Jack had a few choice
words about the city.....)
Second most nerve racking had to be descending Middlebury Gap in the
dark, and having the headlight briefly, very briefly, illuminate the
"Moose Crossing" sign. Wouldn't one of those ruin your ride?
Most surprising section was the return over Middlebury Gap in the
daylight. I have no memory of a ski area, college and an entire town
going by on the descent in the dark! Dave, are you SURE that was the
same road both ways?
Slowest section was route 35, Chester to Putney, on the Ludlow to
Brattleboro section. Broken up pavement, no paint on the road, a very
steep downhill near Grafton, where the pavement was washed out, with a
stop sign at the bottom, and umm... a few interesting drivers. I rode
this in the dark, slowly, very slowly.
My Avocet Vertech recorded 33,500 feet of climb. For PBP I had about 33,000.
One of the prettiest stretches had to be sections of route 100 past the
lakes in Vermont.
Frustration was listening to a fellow from Spain try to express how
beautiful the scenery was.
Biggest ego boost: By chance Saturday August 24 was the Mad River
century, and the stretch of Route 100 from Middlebury Gap to Rochester
Vt. was full of riders doing the century. I came up behind one of
these fellows, asked he'd mind towing me. He remarked he'd been
looking for one all day, so I towed him for a bit, after apologizing
that I was a little slow today as I had over 500 miles in my legs over
the past couple days...
Scariest time was waking up in the Rouses Point Civic Center, and only
seeing two other people left there!
A pox on the New Hampshire farmer that left tractor tread pattern in
the pavement of route 78. We really didn't need a butt massage after
650 miles in the saddle!
The saddest moment was listening to someone I'd ridden the Montreal
stretch with, at Rouses Point, on the way back, abandon.
By the end of the ride I rather agreed with Steve Abraham. PBP is a big
happening, with thousands of people and isn't to be missed. In my
opinion, although PBP has lots of castles, quant little villages and
an enthusiastic crowd, BMB has much better scenery, and with the much
smaller crowd, was a much nicer ride. Although they are the same
length, the two events are vastly different. My on bike rolling
average speed was nearly identicle with my PBP speed, but I slept a
LOT more, got more showers, and finished quicker.
In general, the people in Vermont were friendly and helpful. Especially
considering how busy and narrow some of the roads were, I rate them
above average for US for being "Cycle Friendly". I even had a
few
people offer me water and cheer us on on the climbs! Normal for PBP,
unheard of here!
All in all, I had a wonderful time and have no complaints, and if any
of the above sounds like complaints, it's just my poor command of the
English language. Once again, my thanks to all the organizers. I have
a feel for how difficult this sort of ride is to stage, and think they
did a great job.
Now, if I could only find someone to stoke the tandem next year.....
There Gil, have I made you consumed with guilt?
Pete
PS For those of you with web pages (Dave? SteveC?) I have some photo's
I can scan and FTP to you, if interested.