Hiya gang,
Well, at midnight tonight, the clock will be T minus one day. At 9AM Friday, I’ll be meeting Ryan and Pamela (And whatever other victims- Err, make that “Volunteers” we can find) to load the Gear Truck from the Manchester Storage. In years past, it’s been mostly hard goods from there- Coolers, Cooler-jugs, 6 Gallon water-cooler bottles, powdered Gatorade, stray cases of bottled water left-over from other events, one of several cases of tire patch-kits, first aid kits, rest-stop boxes… You get the point.
From there, we will head to the “Start/Finish line” at Chomerics in Woburn, MA, Where we typically load the perishables… Cases of Bananas, Oranges, Power-bars, bagged snacks, Cheese and crackers, juice boxes, etc.
Usually late afternoon, before the registration starts, we’ll get a few loads of guys into a couple trucks, and go to the grocery store at the Woburn Mall to load up on HUNDREDS of pounds of ice. (I’m not mentioning the name because I’m not 100% sure they’ll be supporting us this year, but if they do continue their previous years of support, I’ll make sure they get the credit they deserve). Picture two pickup trucks, heaping full of every type of cooler we can get our hands on, and you start to get a good picture.
From there, it’s back to the “Start/Finish line” to distribute the supplies to the rest-stop, EMT, mechanical, sweep, and other support vehicles. Then, we’ll switch gears to greet riders coming in from all over the country at the early registration/dinner, before we take the short hop to the hotel… Or, more specifically, the Mexican restaurant right next door, for a little additional “Carbo-Loading” (Liquid form) and to meet other riders.
***HINT*** Veteran riders, be sure to wear an old NEC shirt, and new riders wear a cycling themed shirt… That way, we can all kind of “Break the ice” and meet each other a little sooner.
That’s the “Plan” for tomorrow, I’ll try to find a computer to let you know how it all worked out. Follow along for daily updates from 7/10 until 7/19… Some days, they’ll be posted in the morning, some days, the evening, some days, late night- But feel free to jump on this site, and invite your friends and sponsors to as well, to track our progress in a 550 mile loop around 4 New England states.
150 riders… You’re going to wish you didn’t miss the rest of it!
See you Saturday, bring a light suitcase-
Gearman
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