Andrew Fitch celebrated his 41st birthday last week the only way he knows how: riding a bike through a downpour in the hilly northern reaches of Massachusetts.
“I got poured on in the morning," sighed Fitch. "Fortunately, I had a poncho and all that, but I was just soggy all day. And then the very end of the day, I was coming into Shelburne Falls as quickly as I could so I could meet my boyfriend for dinner, and was getting poured on again. had those moments and thought, Josh, of, oh gosh, do I really have it in me to continue this journey right now?”
Even for the usually effervescent Fitch, the challenge of cycling across the winding, steep landscape of Western Massachusetts dampened his spirits.
“Thursday was the hardest day physically, going up and over the Hoosic Range," he told WAMC. "That's just a very steep hill to partially ride a bike up and partially walk the bike up the rest of it because it was so steep. So, during those moments, I was having similar thoughts, of course, of, oh, gosh, can I actually handle this physically?”
Fitch swept into the North Adams City Council in 2023 as the top vote getter in the city’s municipal election.
“Each year for my birthday, I do some sort of Massachusetts-based adventure," he said. "So, the last three years, I've walked across the state twice, for different causes to bring attention to different causes or raise funds for different causes. Last year, I rafted the entire navigable portion of the Hoosic River from its headwaters in roughly Lanesborough, to where it left off in I think it's called Clearwater out into the Hudson River, raising funds for Hoosic River Revival, the organization in North Adams.”
This year’s journey is to underscore the need for passenger rail to connect Western Massachusetts to the more densely populated Eastern portion of the state. While the Northern Tier Passenger Rail project that would link North Adams to Boston along Route 2 remains a study for now, Fitch says the appetite for greater transit infrastructure along the proposed route is high.
“People are very excited about the idea of being able to take a train for a whole bunch of different reasons, but the ones that kind of bubbled to the top were medical appointments in Boston that people don't have easy access to currently," said Fitch. "So, I've chatted with several people who live in or right around North Adams who have to drive into Boston somewhat regularly to bring their children into medical appointments, or their grandparents or parents into medical appointments in Boston, and they really struggle with that, Josh. So, they say that having this rail would make that, they literally said, would be a game changer for them and for their families.”
On Monday, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey made a notable announcement about rail in the commonwealth, as her administration has secured another $3.5 million toward a West-East rail project that would connect Albany to Boston via Springfield. The expansion of the Amtrak service has been a priority for the Healey administration, which is seeking approximately $1.2 billion in further federal transportation funding applications.
“All of these little cities, towns along the way, seem to have been, at least in part, left behind since passenger rail stopped in this area, and or the factories that were helping to drive these towns and municipalities and cities along the way closed," Fitch continued. "So that's why I'm very keen on getting this done to help not just North Adams, but the whole corridor along Route 2, all of these cities and towns – Gardner, Fitchburg, Athol, Orange, Greenfield, Shelburne Falls, North Adams – to really help revive these areas and provide opportunities and access that these communities don't currently have.”
Flashing back to last Thursday, a sore and soggy Fitch looked inward to find the energy needed to make the final push home.
“Of course, I can!" he said. "I've done different kinds of journeys over the years, a lot of things like this, some walking across the state, some rafting down and kayaking down the Hoosic River. And I've always had these moments, these thoughts. But I, of course, always see them through to the end. I just- You know, moments of struggle along the way helps build character- And no pain, no gain.”
As all good adventures do, this one also had its share of unexpected realizations and accomplishments.
“My father participated for one of the days," Fitch told WAMC. "He lives in Marshfield, my hometown, Marshfield, Mass, south of Boston on the coast. But he drove out, brought his bike with him, and we rode together from Fitchburg – which is perfect, because that is in our last name, Fitch – and we rode together to Athol, onto the old train station in Athol. So that was also a really nice connection opportunity for me to reconnect with my father in a different way that we hadn't previously done.”
