Every year hundreds of people push themselves and public transporation to the limits by taking the last train out of the city the night before the Boston Marathon, then biking the entire route back in.

It's approximately 30 miles from the train station back to Boston, taking anywhere from 2 to 4 hours depending on your athletiscism... and whether or not you used a road bike, hybrid, or mountain bike (hint: use a road bike!!!). This year a record-breaking 750 people participated in the annual tradition.

 

 

  

Below is a retelling of the ride as it was happening via photos and twitter. Tag your friends and see all 91 photos in our Facebook album!

Like last year, we had 2 main rides; an evening ride and a midnight ride. While only a dozen or so showed up for last year's evening ride, this year's was pretty big. Check out Lee's photos.

 

Hubway, Boston's bike rental system, waived usage fees for members who wanted to ride. 

An hour before the train arrived, it was clear this was going to be the biggest ride yet.

 

 

 

 

Brogan is Hubway's marketing guy, and he joined in on the ride, wearing a tutu, and used a little device to reverse the usage fees for Hubway members. Local road bike rental agency, Urban Adventours also offered a promo for 24 hour bike rentals. 

There was a lot of concern about whether or not there'd be enough space on the train. Although we alerted the MBTA in advance, the actual turnout was double our estimate! EEP!

 

 

 

 

The MBTA staff were fantastic. Their friendly and clear direction kept the whole thing efficient and orderly.

 It was not looking good. The train was almost entirely full and there were still hundreds of cyclists waiting to board!

Thankfully the MBTA/MBCR made an announcement that they were calling in another train!!! 

 

Despite all the extra people and having to call in another train, the MBTA still managed to get EVERYONE on board AND leave ON TIME. #majorprops

 

 

 

 

While the roads aren't actually closed for Marathon Monday YET, at 3am they might as well be. Perfect for biking!

 

It's a long journey. The fastest make it in 2 hours or less. However, keep in mind we are on bikes, and this year's marathon winner did the same distance in 2 hours and 12 minutes ON FOOT! It really makes you appreciate how skilled these runners are when 95% of us couldn't beat that on our bikes!

 

 

 

 

 

Additional accounts in the media:

Read a great first hand account by writer, Shawn Musgrave for DigBoston.

One of The Metro's own writers participated in the overnight ride. They have a collection of featured tweets and photos up at their website.

The Metro-West edition of The Boston Globe and Boston.com did a story on the growing popularity of the ride.

College Outside, "a student's guide to the outdoors", did a featured blog story on the ride.