Day 1, 88 miles, Sunday August 17, 2008
Portsmouth, NH to Worcester, MA
(my odometer - 95 miles, 13.6 mph, 6h 56min 12sec )
Up at 5:15; 6:00 breakfast at a local “I-Hop” w/ ABB van transport; scrambled egg, pancake, sausage, bacon and coffee; 7:00 back to hotel for group picture and load luggage; 7:45 on the road.
I rode for most of the day with Johnny, Andy, Connie and Anne. Forecast was for a very nice cycling day – sunny and a bit cool. However, that changed at about 20 miles out. I felt my rear tire going “wobbly” and looked down to discover that it was slowly going flat. I pulled over to change it and ride leader Shane happened to come along. He stopped and changed it for me and put my spare tire on. It appeared that the tire had been slashed by running over a piece of glass and the Tuffy tire liner had also slightly been pierced and a slight puncture of the tube occurred. I continued on and much to my surprise, I got about 1 mile down the road and the rear tire went flat again. Again, Shane came along and we changed it again. This time we discovered a tiny pin hole in the tire. We didn’t feel that the tire liner had anything to do with either flat but we removed it anyway. I continued on and fortunately didn’t get any more flats.
At 30 miles out I finally arrived at Sag 1, refilled my water bottles and had some energy snacks. Doug Torosian, ABB president and owner, was there. It was nice to have a chance to chat with him. We left and rode another rather flat 23 miles and stopped at a Subway for lunch. Sag 2 was at 68 miles and then for the rest of the ride we had a lot of hills to climb.
We arrived at our hotel “Holiday Inn and Suites” at 5 PM., checked in, had a shower, started my journal, and went to dinner at a “Five and Diner”. This was a lot of fun (see pics). I had chicken, mashed potato and gravy, mixed vegetables, 2 large Pepsi and a vanilla shake. We also had Route Rap there. Then back to the hotel and my journal. I completed my journal but can’t get a computer connection here so I got it all ready to send in the morning, or worst case tomorrow night. Actually, Ed is meeting me at the hotel in Windsor Locks tomorrow afternoon and Julia and their children Hilary and Calvin will be meeting me on the road in Stafford , CT during my ride. This is the first time I will have ridden through CT on any of my rides. Members of the CT. Alzheimer’s Assoc. will also be meeting me in Windsor Locks.
Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning I expect to be interviewed live on the radio! Monday will be on the Damon Scott show, 96.5 WTIC-FM at about 6pm, and then again by telephone with Sebastian, the WCCC 106.9 FM morning DJ on Tuesday between 8:05 and 8:15. These radio stations have many 1,000’s of listeners, so this is a great opportunity for me to spread Alzheimer’s awareness, the support that the CT Alzheimer’s Association has to offer families who have to deal with a loved one who has Alzheimer’s and my cycling effort - what I do and why. I’ll probably be asked to share some stories. Ed will also be with me during the interviews.
Tomorrow is a 65 mile ride to Windsor Locks, CT., lots of hills. I hope to arrive by 2:30. Shutting down now, 11:30 PM!
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