It was a near perfect day for a bike ride on the Cape Cod Canal. It was also a workday morning so only six of us did the ride. The wind was at our back as we rode from the head of the canal in Bourne, MA and the Mass Maritime Academy. It took us a while to get there because we had to walk our bikes over the Bourne Bridge, and the multiple stops to take pictures.
We rode to the power plant in at the opposite end of the canal before doubling back to cross the Sagamore Bridge. An easy ride to Scusset Beach brought us to our turn around spot. That’s when things got a little crazy. We had two riders missing. After a quick look around, we determined they couldn’t find us and started riding back to Bourne. The rest of us began the chase. Then the winds came.
The canal is like a giant wind tunnel intensifying whatever wind kicks up. On Buzzards Bay, the wind shifts to the southwest almost every afternoon We rode into the wind, heads down, pedaling hard, trying to catch the other two. I was on a hybrid, and the others were on carbon fiber bikes. They pulled away, and when they were too far gone, my phone rang. The two riders were looking for us. I said, “we are trying to chase you down”. They answered, “we haven’t left yet”.
We decided just to split up and go on our own since it was a straight ride along the canal to the cars.
Three ahead of me,
two behind me
the wind was making it feel like I was pedaling a truck.
it got to a point where I really no longer gave a
2018 Cape Cod Canal Both Sides Both Bridges from John Sullivan on Vimeo.
A Midnight Rider 