100k down; 200, 300, 400, and 600k to go

Today was the season opener of the Boston Brevets Series, nominally 100 km, but the route was actually 68 miles.
Fifty-five of us left at 8 AM and rode to Sterling and then back to Hanscom.  (Maps of route out and route back)

It was a beautiful ride, especially around Hudson, Bolton, Sterling, Harvard, and Boxborough.  Since I didn't have a camera, I'll have to use the thousand words equivalent.

• Photo 1 - British Redcoats and Colonial Soldiers mustering in front of their SUVs in Concord.
• Photo 2 - Two men pruning the bushes at a blueberry farm.
• Photo 3 - Smokey Bear holding a sign "Today's Forest Fire Risk: Very High"; in the background smoke rises above the trees.
• Photo 4 - A tree with its branches broken off, but still hangin to the trunk.  One of many damaged trees.  Most yards had piles of broken branches.
• Photo 5 - One of the many men cleaning up downed trees with chainsaws and chippers.
• Photo 6 - A bonfire burning in the side yard.  Only one of the fifty or so fires I saw in the towns out past I-495.  Celebrating Earth Day?
• Photo 7 - Hundreds of cars parked at the Minute Man National Historic Park to see the battle reenactment.
  

I finished with an official time of 4 hours 8 minutes.  After a winter of driving to work (gasp), I just got back on the bike 5 days ago, so I was happy finish.  And very happy I drove to the start and wouldn't have to ride home like last year.
On the way out, I was in a fast group led by a couple on a tandem.  The group included Justin (a long distance specialist from Lincoln Labs), three tri-chicks, and a guy from Minuteman Road Club.  About a mile from the checkpoint, we saw a small group of three riders already heading back.  They were the only riders ahead of us.
On the way back I couldn't keep the pace, so I sat up and enjoyed the scenery.  Near the end another tandem-led group caught me so I finished with them.  The three bikes in this group were interesting.  The tandem was a DaVinci with Independent Drive which allows the captain and stoker to pedal at different cadences.  Bruce Ingle (past Boston Brevet organizer) was on a fixed gear.  In contrast to Bruce's stripped down bike, the third bike was ridden by Mr. Gizmo.  He had a giant GPS on the handlebars, and a power meter.  He had a hub generator for head and tail lights, and a battery pack for backup lights (and this ride was all in daylight).  He had an underseat pack for tools and another toolkit that fit in his water bottle cage.  And a backpack.  And fenders, of course.

The 200k is in three weeks.