Day 5: How to not ride 75 miles in the rain

October 10, 2019

...and avoid a quartering headwind in the process

With the impending rain wind speed and gusts, I decided to ride to Boston on the bus; because riding in the rain; is more of a pain; and it’s because I chose comfort not that I’m a wuss.

Yeah, I know I just went through a day full of rain two days ago, and here we go again. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday are forecast with rain and high winds. So with that in the forecast, I chose to skip the 75 mile day into Boston today and take the bus. I make it to Boston early and check the bike into the bell closet at the hotel and walk around the city. Sustained 20-25MPH winds with gusts to 35 are blowing all day.

My bike gets its very own cabin under the bus

I walk around Boston and investigate my options for the next few days. There’s nothing that really stands out as the “best of all possible worlds” to change plans. One of the great things about planning and booking hotels early is you have a guaranteed stay. The downside of that is when a storms rolls in you’re stuck with your itinerary. I walked through Boston and sat down with some soup to see if I could sort out a change.

10:00am pic - Boston skyline from Fan Pier. The day is so gray you may have thought I shot this in black & white

Loved the color on the side of The Barking Crab

I always thought the location of the old state house within the middle of skyscrapers and modern buildings was a fantastic juxtaposition

So looking at the various public transportation options I find I can hop a ride on the local light rail to Portsmouth and from there it’s a 39 mile ride to Hyannis. Or, I can take the bus (ferry substitute) to Provincetown and ride the 47 miles to Hyannis. My choice was riding he 39 into the wind or the 47 with a quartering tailwind. I chose the latter. It might not be the most pleasant, and there will be rain and wind but if it helps push me along it might not be so bad. There are small towns along the cape and if ignored gets really bad I can stop into a convenience store and get a taxi. At least that’s the plan.

And after watching the weather forecast and seeing I’m facing down a nor’easter that has its apex on the SAME day as my 60-mile Provincetown to Hyannis ride, I decide to change plans. I canceled the hotel in Hyannis (they were nice enough to cancel within their cancellation window because of the storm) and booked another night here in Boston. There’s no sense in getting into something miserable when I don’t have to. I’ll explore Boston tomorrow (in the rain) and then head out Saturday morning (again, in the rain).

See that purple bar along the coast showing flooding and gale winds? That’s my route. Weather Channel just announced 162 flight delays; 77 cancelations at BOS. And that’s where I’m holed up

Today's ride: 3 miles (5 km)
Total: 233 miles (375 km)

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Bob DistelbergSorry to hear about the weather troubles. It's kind of crazy that Boston is getting hit this hard, and here (only about 80 miles northwest as the crow flies), our forecast is for a semi-beautiful fall weekend...
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4 years ago

Paul MulveyTo Bob DistelbergNo worries, Bob! Nothing I can do about it. I had the weather channel on the TV in the room and they were doing foul weather reports from Hyannis, MA - that’s where my destination was supposed to be today. The irony! While I would rather have cycled through Cape cod I’m glad I chose to stay put another night here in Boston. There’s no sense in putting myself in harm’s way just to put myself in harm’s way, know what I mean? Looking at the forecast, the nor’easter is going to blow out to sea tomorrow morning so i’ll take commuter rail to Plymouth and then pick up my tour at New Bedford.
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4 years ago