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6 Loops6 Stories 6 Idiots First Annual MacCentury 30* June 2015 |
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PROLOGUE Pete L's June 12 email began, "Dumbest. Idea. Ever." In the spirit of the Fat Cyclist's "100 Miles of Nowhere," we'd never get more than 8 miles from our starting point ... in tallying more than 100 miles on the road. The route: It takes a man with Pete's infectious enthusiasm to recruit so many for so little. It takes a man with Pete's bold bravado to make this effort his first century ever. It takes a man with Pete's chemical imbalance to start this effort in the middle of the night. LOOP 0: MacShart Solo "MacShart Solo" refers not to an obscure Star Wars character or a relative of the US Women's National Team goalkeeper, but rather, my "drop insurance" policy. With the helpful numbering in the list above, one does not have to be a mathematical genius to count only 5 loops despite this write-up's titular promise of 6. Concerned as I was about maintaining the average 19mph speed Pete had used to arrive at the original start time of 1:40am, I had concluded that I'd put some miles in the bank with a solo Shart. Far from the usage ascribed by the Urban Dictionary, a Shart (or MacShart) in the MacNacular is a reverse MacShort typically ridden as a 5am pre-ride to the standing Tue-Thu 5:45a MacGregors ride from Weston Center. The MacCentury route totaled 107 miles (including the loops around the Weston Green). By pre-riding with a Shart, I'd put 16 to my credit. Were I to be dropped (and given the credentials of the other riders in the group, being dropped loomed as a distinct possibility), I'd simply roll in late to skip the Loop 4 MacShart and pick up with the Loop 5 MacLong. I arrived in Weston Center around 11:45p, put the finishing touches on my bike setup, and rolled out at 11:58p (*technically, still June 29, hence the asterisk in the write-up's date above). If a picture's worth a thousand words, who knows how many words a Strava Flyby's worth? For the uninitiated, a Strava Flyby is an animated re-creation of the routes and speeds of one or more cyclists based on the Strava recordings of their rides; the Strava Flyby for the MacCentury can be linked to from the Numbers section at the end of this ride report; it's best viewed at a relatively fast speed using the vertical slider at upper left.  Strava Flyby screen capture: Jeff solo on Waltham Road in Wayland The loop was uneventful. I saw 8 cars, only 4 of which passed me (2 on 117, 2 on 27). At times where I knew the road surface to be smooth, I'd turn off all of my lights and ghost along under the low full moon. I'd left plenty of time for a leisurely spin and rolled back into Weston Center to find the first of my ridemates, Heath U, readying himself for the ride. LOOP 1: MacLong at Full Gas I don't quite recall the order of arrival, but at go time, Heath and I had been joined by Pete, Phil M, Eric P, and Andrew T. Phil in particular deserves special mention. The rest of us are MacGregors. The perversity of the endeavor appealed in large part due to the overfamiliarity of the routes. Phil, on the other hand, didn't know the route at all. Which is why we let him lead for the most critical turns. Phil, it should also be noted, rode over from Needham and back, in the process logging the most miles of the 6 Idiots.  Strava Flyby screen capture: The 6 Idiots on Glezen Lane in Wayland Ablaze with enough light to be seen from the International Space Station, we set off. Ted King says, "Ride hard when it's easy and ride easy when it's hard," and for the most part, that's what we did. We took the climbs at Campion, on Morse, and up Mossman at saner-than-normal speeds, putting the hammer down on the flats. Arriving back at Weston Center, our average nonetheless showed 20.8mph, my second fastest MacLong ever. (I didn't hurt that we were able to blast through intersections where normally we would have slowed.) The only damage? Andrew's taillight, which succumbed to Sherman's Bridge. At one point early in the loop, Pete cautioned me to back off the throttle a bit. Right at the end of the loop, Heath wondered out loud why we were going so fast. I had to agree, which is why ... LOOP 2: MacMedium Off the Front ... I rolled through the first rest stop while the others dismounted to unplenish and replenish. There's a saying in poker that I'm fond of: if you look around the table and can't spot the sucker, it's you. My earlier assessment was spot on--I knew that I wouldn't be able to hold their pace for the Full Monty. With only 20 miles to go before our next visit to Weston Green, I was fine for food and drink. A few miles of relative soft-pedaling before being swallowed up by the peloton would do my legs and lungs wonders. Heading solo down Glezen, I scared the bejabbers out of a deer that darted out into the road scaring the bejabbers out of me. Deersaster averted, I headed on, stopping briefly at the MacPhoto spot on Water Row to de-water, then making it to the top of Morse before being rejoined. We slid thankfully past the bottom of Mossman and proceed toward the rest of the circuit (third time over Sherman's Bridge, stopping to pick up Andrew's light, which was somehow still both functional and on). Clearly not satisfied, the lightgods tooketh away again, dislodging Pete's headlamp on the bomb down Campion (THAT part of the route never got old!). Pete was on the front at the time, and the light landed pointing back, both confusing and blinding the rest of us until we figured out what it was. A quick stop to retrieve it and we were off to meet our reinforcements.  Strava Flyby screen capture: Jeff Watering the Row LOOP 3: MacShort Powered by Captain Lightfoot My lack of sleep now is starting to catch up with my lack of sleep then, so forgive me for not recalling everyone who joined us at Weston Green for the start of the MacShort. Definitely Max G, Matt M, and Brad W. Maybe others. The MacShort flew by fast enough to  Strava Flyby screen capture: Matt coming down from the north LOOP 4: MacShart Punctured by Punctures Back at Weston Green, I ditched my lights (one helmet-mounted, two bar-mounted) as we added a few more reinforcements in the form of Larry A and Kyle E. Campion AGAIN, then right on Tower for a bit of variety. Clockwise, counterclockwise, doesn't matter, Sherman's Bridge never ceases to suck. We made the left onto Water Row, watching the sunrise and listening to Heath's tubes explode.  Water Row sunrise We'd been on or ahead of schedule all night. And we'd still be on schedule ... as long as we had a few patented Bob J 2-minute tube changes in us. We didn't, and the mosquitos started making us pay the price. I realized what was about to unfold.
 Strava Flyby screen capture: Jeff pre-drop to beat mosquitos and the clock LOOP 5: MacLong Salvaged by Alan G A large group sat gathered for the start of the regular 5:45a ride. We pushed off about a minute late and were about a mile in on Concord Road when the returning MacCenturions passed heading the other way. I knew that they'd do the full Weston Center turnaround, so they were 2 miles back. My plan was to stay with the main group for a while and hope to make it up Mossman before being rejoined by the 5 Idiots. Part 1 of my plan failed as my dead legs couldn't keep up on the left onto Plympton. Alan G hung back a bit, though, and I worked my way onto his wheel.  Strava Flyby screen capture: Alan offers Jeff a wheel (Matt lurks ahead) Part 2 worked well, though--Alan paced me up Mossman with the 5 nowhere in sight. So, a decision--ride Alan's wheel for some rest or drop back into no man's land and dangle for the catch? I chose the former (thanks, Alan!), sharing with him that I'd stop no later than the railroad bridge leading into Weston Center so as not to undeservedly snag the MacCentury KOM. (After all, I'd abandoned the Heath tube party "against protocol." And after all, I was just about to acquire what's likely a permanent hold on the Shart+MacCentury KOM.) Still no sign of them when we reached the bridge. I stopped on the opposite (sidewalk) side around 7:07a and waited. And waited. And waited some more. 7:15a passed. Then 7:20a. I texted that I was a bit concerned. Finally, right around 7:23a, they popped into sight, recounting tales of yet another flat. I remounted and joined up to slow-roll east on Boston Post Road before pulling in to Ye Olde Cottage and the accolades of awestruck adoring Macs. For we were 6 newly-minted Idiot MacCenturions! THE NUMBERS
 Our first pre-start selfie ... except Pete didn't get himself Phil, Heath, Andrew, Eric, Jeff  Thorfie does better: Eric, Jeff, Pete, Phil, Heath, Andrew VIDEO: Paceline VIDEO: Paceline  After Phil and Heath departed: Jeff, Andrew, Pete, Eric  Jeff's 15 minutes of fame continues: Part I | Part II | Part III Full photo gallery |