I rode in the Great Mass Getaway in Massachusetts on June 23 and 24. I previously participated three times: twice in the 1980's and once in the 1990's. I still have a T shirt from the event from 1994. Last year I rode in the Bike and Hike the Berkshires event, and the year before that I rode for the American Diabetes Association in the Tour de Cure.
These events uniquely combine the enjoyment of cycle touring with the great feeling of helping out people who are living with an incurable disease. I have two friends with MS and many friends and acquaintances with diabetes. To ride and raise money for these causes is obviously worthwhile.
I often commute by bicycle. Training is an added incentive for me to ride my bike instead of taking the commuter rail. I get the added benefits of exercise, stress relief, and fighting global warming in addition to fundraising for a great cause.
In the Great Mass Getaway event this year, we started out at Marina Bay on Squantum Point in Quincy and rode 77 miles the first day down to the Massachusetts Maritime Academy at Bourne. The Academy put us up in their dorms. I rolled in at around 1pm, having started at around 8:15am, and the volunteers already had the grill going with hamburgers, veggie-burgers, and hot dogs. Wachusett Brewing Company provided FREE BEER! Bands were playing in the big tent all afternoon and into the evening. Lights out was at 9pm.
The next day we woke to reveille at 4am and all met in the big tent for a breakfast of cold cereal or scrambled eggs and home fries, and of course coffee for the addicted, such as yours truly. I was on the road I wanna say by 5. They had one lane of the Bourne Bridge closed off for us. We rode over it into the dawn. After a total of around 78 miles we ended up in Provincetown. There they provided shower trucks and food and put us on a boat back to Quincy. On the boat they had a DJ and a grill. It was a great couple of days.