Conference noted::bicycle

    I'll be at the Middlebury checkpoint all the hours that it's open.
    Linda will be in Ludlow.  At least that's the plan currently.  :-)
    
    I'll ride The Gap either Thursday or Friday while the checkpoint is
    closed.
    
    ed

   I saw some riders that must have been returning yesterday in Hudson.
   They looked tired (I know the feeling... :-)

   I wish I'd been able to ride it this year but haven't had time to
   get in shape.

   I also noticed that the roads thru Hudson/Berlin... were marked
   with BMB markers.  Sort of surprising, I thought Charlie didn't
   like to use spraypaint.

   How many folks entered this year?  Are Charlie and Hauke still the
   ones organizing the event?

   - Jim

    	In the base note, I said I thought Ed Kross' idea of finishing
    	744 miles in 48 hours or less ambitious. Well, he almost made
    	it.
    
    	He rode 744 miles in 51 hours, 36 minutes. Someone told me there
    	was something like 35,000 feet of climbing. Ed Fisher probably
    	has a better idea.
    
    	Anyway, I couldn't believe the hills. I was driving Ed's Toyota
    	pick-up truck. On a couple of the hills, I had to shift all the
    	way down to 2nd, and that was with a running start up the hill.
    
    	Ed was pretty tired and achy when he got in. He said he felt
    	worse after BMB than RAAM. Of course, he didn't have any
    	massage therapist with him for BMB, so everything was expected
    	to hurt more.
    
    	The people that worked this thing really did a good job. Each
    	of the checkpoints had food and facilities. Most had places to
    	shower and sleep. BMB requires a lot of logistics when you have
    	~90 people (of varying age and cycling skill) to deal with.
    
    	Ed's main "competition" (remember, this isn't a race) came from
    	Mitchell Lesack. He faded toward the end due to lack of sleep.
    	Ed got to sleep a whole hour and 20 minutes.
    
    	Vic (Ed's dad) and I probably got about 3 to 4 hours of sleep.
    	Ed Fisher was nice enough 8-)> to let me sleep on "his" basketball
    	court.
    
    	More later about checkpoints, etc.
    
    	Scott

    	I didn't see or hear anyone mention Hauke. I did see Charlie
    	Lamb. He was riding the course with Lindy King. Her husband
    	was at the Rouses Point (NY) checkpoint.
    
    	Scott

                          1993 Boston-Montreal-Boston



                             Route and Checkpoints







     1.  Wellesley High School to Bullard Farms, MA, 73.5 miles (Total -

         73.5 miles).



         What a mess trying to get out of the urban sprawl of this area.  I

         was glad to get up to Bullard Farms.



     2.  Bullard Farms, MA to Brattleboro, VT, 37.5 miles (Total - 111.0

         miles).



         Cathy Ellis (RAAM 1991 winner) was at the Motel 6 in Brattleboro.

         BMB had two rooms rented for showers, etc.



     3.  Brattleboro, VT to Ludlow, VT, 55.1 miles (Total - 166.1 miles).



         Ed Fisher's wife was at the Trojan Horse Guest House (American

         Youth Hostel) in Ludlow.  She's an ultramarathon cyclist who opted

         to work rather than ride this BMB.  Nice place, with plenty of

         food, showers, and beds.



     4.  Ludlow, VT to Middlebury, VT, 65.2 miles (Total - 231.3 miles).



         Ed Fisher was at Middlebury High School.  Ed's an ultramarathon

         cyclist who opted to work rather than ride this BMB.  Riders had

         access to food, showers, and the gym floor (for sleep).



     5.  Middlebury, VT to Rouses Point, NY, 84.9 miles (Total - 316.2

         miles).



         Rouses Point was the last checkpoint in the U.S.



     6.  Rouses Point, NY to Montreal, Quebec, 52.5 miles (Total - 368.7

         miles).



         This section to (and from) Montreal was the only flat section on

         the course.  The rest was a lot of up and down.





     On the return trip, I met Nancy Raposo (RAAM 1990 winner) at Bullard

     Farms.  She even let me take her picture.

    	I forgot to mention the gearing Ed Kross was using fo BMB.
    
    	He used a low of 42x21 until Middlebury, VT, which was 505
    	miles. At Middlebury, I changed rear wheels so that he had
    	a low of 42x24.
    
    	Some fairly high gears for all the climbing he still had to
    	do.
    
    	Scott

    To answer a few questions.  Yes, Charlie and Jeff are opposed to
    arrowing.  However a few rides were added to the offering: a century
    and a twin Century (Saturday out, Sunday back, overnight in
    Brattleboro).  Thus 100 miles of the route was arrowed both ways for
    the Century crowd.
    
    In general, riders who had done the event before were 10 hours faster
    than previously.  about 10 riders have now completed the event 3 times,
    there are no 4 time finishers and BMB has been held 5 times.
    
    I think the numbers were: 95 BMB registrants, 88 starters, 5 dropouts,
    2 MIA.  Film at 11:.
    
    Oh, and my car had no problems whatever with any of the hills, even
    fully loaded.  :-)
    
    ed

>   I also noticed that the roads thru Hudson/Berlin... were marked
>   with BMB markers.  Sort of surprising, I thought Charlie didn't
>   like to use spraypaint.

   I've also noticed a bunch of lavendar arrows, some on parts of
   the BMB course, but mostly meandering thru Hudson, Berlin, Stow,
   Bolton... and nearby areas - they're on a lot of my favorite back
   roads that I usually ride during the week.  It seems to end in a Maynard
   elementary school lot off of 117.

   Just out of curiousity, what ride was that?  Maybe the arrows
   have been there a while and I only just noticed them because
   of the BMB markers.  But they seem to be everywhere.

   - Jim

    
    re .8:
    
    Could the 'lavendar' arrows really be pink?  The 'Jamie
    and Lindy' show from CRW lead a ride through that area
    that starts/ends at some school in Maynard on Rte 117.
    Pink arrows are their trademark.  This ride has a bunch
    of route/length variations, they go to the Nashoba Winery,
    out around Wachusett Reservoir and by the Fruitlands Museum
    among other places.
    

   Re .9

   That must be it!

   Re the resevior, annoyingly RT 70 has been torn up lately and I haven't
   gone around it in a little while.

   Those pink arrows are all over around here, now that I've started
   noticing them.

   - Jim