Ride info: From Greenfield, MA. to Lowell, MA. 85 miles ride distance.
Breakfast at Friendly's with Steve (staff mechanic), a computer and communications student at Univ. of Colorado, a freshman at Duke MBA, and a human resources director in Louisville, KY. Rode with Paul, Art, Diane - her 39th birthday today! - and Sandy. Scattered showers in the weather forecast. We got to the SAG, heard thunder but continued on anyway. One mile out it started to rain but luckily we came to a very nice restaurant, just before it poured. We had a delightful 1 1/2 hour lunch. Laura, a radiology physician who was riding a recumbent, joined us. Sandy bought a birthday cake for Diane, we ate, sang and mingled with other customers. When we finished, the rain had stopped and the roads were dry.
Later I was riding with Laura through Fitchburg, MA, and got my only flat tire of the trip. I made a patch but it didn't hold, the tire went flat again. I used my spare tube, noticed a large slash in the tire sidewall, installed a tire boot, and continued on.
We arrived at the Radisson Hotel at 5 pm. Steve worked on my computer
but to no avail. Tonight was the "End of Trip" banquet. I just made it
to the banquet as it started at 7 pm. It was a lot of fun, there were
many silly prizes handed out to everyone, and we all got to go up to
receive a certificate and speak briefly about what the ride meant to us.
I remarked that I was thankful that America By Bike gave me the opportunity
to do this ride, was proud to have raised $6,200 for the Alzheimer's
Association, and had fun doing it! The banquet was over at 11pm, and
lights out finally at 11:45.
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