While marathon runners were sleeping in anticipation of the race on Patriots Day, I joined hundreds of cyclists to bike the 26.2 miles in the middle of the night. The Midnight Marathon Bike Ride was back for its seventh year in a row. Short of actually running, I thought it was a great way to honor the marathon tradition.
Plus, I signed up to ride the Pan-Mass Challenge to raise money for cancer research. So, I need to spend a lot of time in my bike saddle to prepare for that two-day ride across the state
Please donate to my PMC ride at one of the following links:
- Click here to make $25 donation
- Click here to make a $50 donation
- Click here to make a $100 donation
- Click here to make a $250 donation
- Click here to make a $500 donation
- Click here to make a $1,000 donation
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The roads were still open to vehicular traffic at midnight before the marathon, but there are few cars on the road that time of the day. The road were mostly recovered from the winter stress and were spruced up for the marathon’s start several hours later.
The ride actually starts in South Station. You can jump on the commuter rail and load your bike in a truck to re-join you at the Southborough station at midnight. I convinced Mrs. Doug to drive me and two fellow riders out to Southborough instead.
There were dozens and dozens of riders at the train station who had also been dropped off. That’s lots of riders with an assortment of lights, bikes, skill levels and motivations.
It was cold. We were dressed to ride, not stand around in the cold. So we jumped on our saddles and rode off just before midnight and before the train arrived. As we left the the parking a lot, a half-dozen moving trucks full of the train riders’ bikes pulled into the parking lot.
It was a few miles from the train station to the Marathon’s starting line in Hopkinton. A few miles that went mostly uphill, with a nasty half-mile stretch in excess of a 5% grade. It’s a tough enough hill that there is a plan B route that goes around the hill.
At the start line we found several hundred more cyclists already in place waiting for midnight or the train riders to come. We kept pedaling.
And pedaling and pedaling.
It was a continuous stream of bikes from start to finish.
Marathon security was nice enough to leave the finish line open for us to take pictures.
Boston Common Coffee Company hosted a charity pancake breakfast after the ride. Pancakes taste great after 30 miles in the saddle.
More Coverage:
- The Boston Midnight Marathon Bike Ride on Strava
- Hundreds to take part in ‘Midnight Marathon Bike Ride’
- Seventh Annual Midnight Marathon Bike Ride to Take Place on April 19
- Photos: Midnight Marathon Bike Ride 2015
Please donate to my PMC ride at one of the following links:
- Click here to make $25 donation
- Click here to make a $50 donation
- Click here to make a $100 donation
- Click here to make a $250 donation
- Click here to make a $500 donation
- Click here to make a $1,000 donation
- Click here to make a donation of any other amount