Transcon 2020

After years of dreams, Mike made plans to spend April and May riding 3500 solo miles across the USA, using the effort to raise money for cancer research at Dana-Farber as a supplement to his regular Pan-Mass Challenge (PMC) fundraising. Donations, large and small, are welcomed and can be made via this link.

Then -- COVID. Rather than scrap the plan, a "virtual transcon" -- 3500 New England day trip miles, carrying all supplies for the day. The first 2000 miles will cover all 343 mainland Mass. cities and towns, the rest will add adjacent states. If you would like to be added to the blog d-list, use this email link.

These trips explored the three great rivers of Massachusetts, great in widely differing ways.

The Charles is the longest river entirely within the Commonwealth. While the last dozen miles were industrialized and heavily polluted by runoff from the Brighton Stockyards and similar factories, the remainder of the Charles was not -- it meandered through flat countryside, spreading itself for hundreds of yards during spring floods. It couldn't be dammed, and it couldn't be built on due to flooding. Outside of occasional exceptions like the Medway Mill in my photo, it remained (and largely remains) pristine, criss-crossed by quiet rural roads ideal for cyclists.

The Connecticut is the longest river in New England. It provided an excellent source of water power for mills, and led to the industrialization and growth of Springfield and neighboring towns. Today, the factories are gone. What is left is history: "Birthplace of Basketball", "Birthplace of Volleyball", "First Women's College" -- and agriculture. The northern half of the valley is rolling farmland -- great cycling. We even found another giant milk bottle!

Today was my second Transcon visit to the Merrimack -- this time to the industrial center of Lowell. While COVID has shut the historical landmarks, Lowell, powered by the Merrimack (with narrow, shallow areas ideal for mill construction), was the epicenter of the Industrial Revolution in Massachusetts.

834 miles down -- 2666 to go! Virtually, nearly across Arizona, 10 miles from the New Mexico border!