In October last year I set the Massachusetts west to east record, riding 147.1 miles in 8 hours 7 minutes, averaging 18.1 mph. Last fall the rain was so heavy that in two sections, the only choice was to bike through a foot and half of water, nearly submerging my bottom bracket. This May the weather for my east to west crossing was a rainy repeat of last October 2005, except more to my favor.

Eric Jensen ready to bike east across Massachusetts.

A review of the weather channel the night before the attempt caused a slight change in plans. I called Tracey Ingle (the official) to let her know that Henry (crew chief and father) and I would pick her up at 6 a.m. versus 7 a.m. I knew we would be cutting it close with some thunderstorms moving in from the southwest. An hour may not seem like much, but it probably saved me from some fierce weather.

When we started out at the MA/NY line in Williamstown at 9:30 a.m. on May 21, 2006 half the sky was clear while the other half was quite dark with the approaching weather.

The first four miles was a nice 7% descent down to North Adams which brought me to the first obstacle — climbing up and out of North Adams on Route 2 heading up to Florida, MA. I took the climb at an easy pace in my easiest gearing. Since there was little warm-up prior to the climb, I did not want to push my legs too hard so early into the day. I completed the climb without too much trouble.

After several quick climbs and short descends, the road angled downward for a stretch that seem to go on for about 40 minutes along a shallow river. It then began to drizzle towards the end of the descent and becameconstant rain heading into Irving MA. The sunglasses at this point were more of hindrance, so I removed them.

As our route headed south along the Quabbin Reservoir we moved out of the rain. The next 40 miles were a series of rolling hills, which slowed my pace. My back was giving my a bit of a discomfort, so I found myself stretching my back on the bike every 10-15 minutes. I am not sure whether my back issue was due to stiffening up on the long descent or the aggressive positioning used on my time trial bike.

Jensen time trialing at the Petersham town line.

At the planned stop in Barre, I took five minutes off the bike to hit a restroom and fill up on some more drink mix. The next stretch of road heading out of Barre on Route 62 was in poor shape. I would not advise including this section on your next bike ride. There was little opportunity to get onto the aero bars for this 12-15 miles stretch and little desire to take the risk in doing so. I was happy to get back onto some descent pavement!

Heading into the final segment onto Route 117 towards Boston, I took my final stop. I ate one energy bar and reloaded my bottles for the final time. At this point the wind was howling and the sky grew ever darker. The rain started coming down once again, first as a light drizzle then becoming a light shower. The roads were busy heading into the city, with stop and go traffic at each light. The winds, which were favorable for the majority of the day, began to blow quite forcefully, from different directions. I found myself leaning into the wind at times to keep from getting blown over.

Upon reaching the finish at Boston Town Hall, I quickly loaded into the van as the rain began to come down much heavier. The time was 4:45 pm.

As we stopped for dinner the sky began to fall, the rain was coming down in buckets, with lightning flashing in the distance. We notice pellet size hail hitting the windshield as we drove along. I was quite pleased with my decision to start 1 hour earlier. It truly did make a big difference.

Looking forward to my next challenge!