Robert Sheiffer's Ride
Thank You!
Dear
Family and Friends -
Saturday started for me at around 5:15 when the alarm clock went off. The time was carefully chosen as a nod to my riding friends who I have been meeting up with all spring and summer at 5:15 in the morning for our weekday training rides. Appropriately, we gave ourselves the nickname Team 5:15, but most of us ride for the amazing Team Perry.
We all met up around 6AM (it would have been too early to meet at 5:15) in Needham Center and rode the 4 miles to the starting line in Wellesley. It was a dry, cool, sunny day made perfect for riding. I always get those first goose bumps rounding the curve out of Babson knowing we are about to embark on a special journey. We had our pre-ride meet up and picture with Team Perry. Pre-riding ceremonies included Big Papi himself, David Ortiz, addressing the Wellesley riders. Pretty impressive for him to show up after losing a close game to the NY Yankees about 8 hours earlier!
After that it was time for U2 and their Beautiful Day to send us out onto the roads. First stop, Wrentham. I always enjoy seeing many familiar faces on the side of the road in Needham; my home town. It starts the ride off just right. The roads from Needham into Dover and Medfield have been part of our training rides all summer long, so the first 22 miles to Wrentham was like déjà vu to most of us, but a good warm-up to what was waiting ahead.
Once in Wrentham, we just do a quick refueling of water and a power bar. Must always hydrate and keep the engine going! We don’t spend much time, maybe 10 minutes, and its back on the road with the sea of blue PMC jerseys dominating the array of specialized team jerseys decked out in so many colors. At times, it appeared the view was made for a special box of Crayola crayons.
We are now on our way to stop #2, which is Dighton-Rehoboth. So many great small towns are part of this route. There is Chartley and their intriguing Chartley Country Store. There is the one lane bridge that takes you from Freetown to Berkley. Always a treat watching the local traffic stop for us. Then there is The Merge. This is where riders from Sturbridge and riders from Wellesley start to share the same roads, somewhere just before Route 44 in Rehoboth. The Sturbridge riders are coming down a hill at full speed and we Wellesley riders are taking a left onto that road only to be met with a hill. But it is a special hill, because at the top, all the riders are greeted by a bagpipe player, who is there ever year. That hill was the toughest one yet, but it got us to lunch, even though it was only 9:30am. The stop here has a full spread of lunch time delights. I always go for those great Peanut Butter sandwiches (a Top 5 reason I love the PMC), some watermelon and refilling of my water bottles. Rumors of Lance Armstrong were everywhere. He did ride the route from Sturbridge, but was at least an hour ahead of us. Maybe more…Off to beautiful Lakeville, home of The Sting. No, not Newman and Redford. It was the 2009 bee stings both Amy and I encountered. We all made sure to steer clear of those trees. But what makes Lakeville always special are the incredible posters of the Pedal Partner kids displayed along the road as you enter the school entrance. This is an inspiring presentation and a simple reminder of why many of us are out today riding. A quick refueling and a phone call to Andrea to activate the Cotuit-Bourne shuttle, and we are off to Wareham.
It is always tempting to skip the Wareham stop, because it is only 8 more miles to the Bourne finish. But we do stop and take care of what we need to do. Stretch, get some more fluids. We realize we are riding much faster than last year. It’s the adrenaline, shot blocks, excitement, cool weather, maybe all of the above. Now it is off through beautiful Onset and their little mini hills that will just be an appetizer for Sunday. Our day is just about coming to an end. We can see the beautiful water view in Onset as we go over the "last hill of the day" (for the 3rd time!!).
The scene in Bourne after finishing Day 1 is pretty special. All types of great food and live music. We catch up with all our team members and in between stuffing ourselves; relive some of the lighter moments of our ride. Just who was that man in the blue helmet and why was he always stopping? Do you think those muffins would be any good? We certainly kept ourselves entertained at times. After our Team Perry picture, this year decked out in bright yellow, it was off to Cotuit for a quiet night of rest.
After
spending a quiet and comfortable night in Cotuit, Andrea gave me one more ride
back to Bourne so I could continue through to Provincetown. But this time, it was no ordinary ride to the
start. At 4:15am, I was driving through
a severe rainstorm. At times, I wasn’t
quite sure I would even get on the bike.
Can I really ride in rain like this?
How fast could I go? There will
be no fast ferry for me today if I have to ride in this. I never thought of not riding, but my mind
was racing with all sorts of anxiety.
By now, most of you know that one of my biggest thrills is taking that ride over the Bourne Bridge and I savored every moment of it. From there, it's over to the bike path that takes you to Cape Cod's other bridge, the Sagamore Bridge. No sunrise this year peaking through any clouds, but the fishermen were there, knee deep in the water unaware of what was going on behind them. Somewhere along the way, some hidden energy kicked in as I was unaware of losing Team 5:15 by riding ahead too fast. Maybe it was the biking raincoat I was wearing for just this stretch that made me sweat as if I was trying to make a weight limit for a high school wrestling match. Regardless, we all made it to Barnstable in good time. When I sent a text out, I got a reply from Dad that it was raining in Falmouth. This was going to be an interesting ride to stay ahead of that rain! Would Jimmy be right?
Heading to Brewster, this is a great part of the ride as we get to use parts of the Cape Cod bike trails. Route 6A has some beautiful views as well. Crowds along the roads were out in full force. We were feeling quite refreshed and were in very good shape for the next 20. Any town that has a great General Store is a winner in my book and the crowds outside the one in Brewster were fantastic. The big highlight was the Cape Code Sea Camp where there were at least 300 kids all lined up along ‘Da Hedges screaming Thank You to each and every rider that came by. Their screams and smiles certainly can carry you for a good part of the day. Another goose bump moment. More energy than any shot of lemon sublime GU could provide.
Welfleet welcomed us with a rainbow of balloons and we made it up that hill to our rest stop. But that was no ordinary hill. Ocean View drive may have a view of the ocean, but not from where I was biking. Interestingly, we heard it was raining in Brewster, maybe 20 miles to our west. Now there was 20 miles to our east left. So far, so good, Jimmy. On the way out of Welfleet and into Truro, there is another challenging hill as we are met by The Over The Hill Cheerleaders. Properly named for two reasons, they were at the top of the hill just as we are getting over it and chronologically speaking, they could be considered “over the hill”. Always great to see them cheering us along with their smiles and pom-poms!
The dunes of Provincetown were within our grasp and we tackled each and every "last hill" to the finish. The wind was blowing in every direction and at times I wasn’t sure I was even making any progress. I couldn’t imagine what that would have been like with rain. As in every year, the last 10 miles to the finish were the most challenging for me. With hill after hill, it felt like the miles would not end. But then they started to tick down to single digits. I started thinking to where I was just a little over a day ago and riding through Needham, Dover, Wrentham, Berkley, Lakeville, Barnstable, Brewster and Welfleet. Seeing Andrea at the Bourne finish, the camp kids at ‘Da Hedges, and all the riders pulling for each other. It was over before I knew it. Jimmy was right; it wouldn’t rain on our ride!
A quick shower, BBQ to go, 2nd in line for the beer and the day ended very quickly. Made it over to the fast ferry and I was on the boat before I knew it and back home on the sofa in no time. The day may go by quickly, but the memories and experiences will stay with me forever.
My
Specialized Roubaix road bike is made up of so many parts, that if not properly
adjusted, maintained and used correctly, I would never be able to ride the many
miles that make up this special journey.
There are frames, stems, handlebars, brakes, derailleurs, shift levers,
chains, inner tubes, saddles and the Incredibell - just to name a few of the more critical parts
of my bicycle I depend upon all year long.
- Group of amazing instructors at the Newton JCC and Needham Catz for getting my body parts in shape and keeping the classes challenging in preparation for The Challenge.
- Team 5:15 - Amy, Alan, Liza, Liv, Scott, Marc and John. Our early morning rides are becoming the stuff of legend. Bird/Greendale, anyone?
- The PMC volunteers - I'll say what I have said EVERY year because it is still stands true. They make this event so successful for the riders with their extraordinary work and dedication to detail all along the route. And for making the fastest and tastiest PB&J sandwiches! And to Jaye at the Bourne finish for finding my pink ribbon filled bag in less than 30 seconds!
- State and local police departments. Thank you for allowing me to run through at least 40 red lights and as many stop signs along the way. Seriously, your contributions are much appreciated.
- To all the towns who opened up their roads to us. From Wellesley, Needham, Chartley, Berkley, Dennis, Provincetown and every town in between. Especially you, Brewster. We will always do “right” by you.
- Benji and Natalie - Even though I missed you at the Bourne finish while you were up at camp trying to beat Maroon and Green, I still owe you many weekends worth of cheesy eggs with bagels for breakfast!
- Andrea - For supporting my training rides and more importantly, for crossing the Bourne Bridge about 8 times last weekend at all hours of the day and night (including that 4:15am trip in the pouring rain!). Take all the weekend morning times to yourself you want. Love you.
- Team Perry - Over 70 strong and many of you I only see one weekend a year, but we hold a special bond and I always look forward to our time together. The specialness of our great team is due to our wonderful team captain, Melissa Jacoby and the Gitlin and Levy families. From our dinner in January to our pre-ride dinner in August, the great riding jerseys and t-shirts to go along with all of your hard work you do to organize this small army of riders, thank you for everything you do - including the emails!
- One final thanks to all of you for your sponsorship and support you have given me over the last few months. All of this made my task so much simpler. I just needed to pedal my way 170 miles southeast. I have exceeded my personal goal and at last count Team Perry has raised over $400,000!
On behalf of Team Perry, The PMC and the Dana-Farber, thank you again for supporting my ride.
With much gratitude and love,
-- Robert
Total Raised
$0
Goal
$6,000
Progress
Last year, 100% of rider-raised revenue went directly to the Jimmy Fund.
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My Paceline Supporters
| I have chosen to keep all of my donors' information confidential; therefore it is not displayed on my PMC public donor list. |
My Rides
| 2012 | $0 | Wellesley to Provincetown Inn (2-Day) |
| 2011 | $4,871 | Wellesley to Provincetown Inn (2-Day) |
| 2010 | $4,895.5 | Wellesley to Provincetown Inn (2-Day) |
| 2009 | $4,970 | Wellesley to Provincetown Inn (2-Day) |
| 2008 | $4,504.69 | Wellesley to Provincetown Inn (2-Day) |
| 2007 | $4,055 | Wellesley to Provincetown Inn (2-Day) |
| 2006 | $3,214 | Wellesley to Bourne (1-Day, Sat) |
