To all my supporters,

I am riding for the 14th year in the Pan Mass Challenge. As many of you know, it is a two-day, 200 mile fundraising bicycle ride that benefits the Dana-Farber Research Hospital. Each year I ask myself why I ride in this event. I have commented repeatedly that I do it because it makes a difference. It seems that each year I ride, the list of people I know personally who have been touched by cancer, either directly or by relation, grows. This year there are four people (Ossie,Lloyd, Jon, and Steve),who have been affected by cancer and who have been cared for by treatments that hopefully will cure them of their illnesses. It is for them that I am dedicating my ride to this year. They represent only a tiny fraction of those people who are fighting against huge odds to beat their disease.

Recently, I was invited to an event that PMC hosted for riders and participants from the New York Metropolitan area. It was a cocktail hour giving people from this area to gather and was in appreciation of their involvement in the PMC rides. There was a speaker, Dr. Cigal Kadoch, PhD. who gave a short talk about what she is does as a researcher in pediatric oncology. She and her team in her laboratory have made advances in understanding how cancers deveop and the genetic patterns that turn the cancer cells on and off. The advances in understanding these mechanisms have allowed these researchers to develop ways of interfering with the genetic codes and shut down the spread of cancerous cells. Dr. Kadoch's research had been, for the most part, if not totally supported by funding from Dana-Farber and the PMC. She was truly inspirational in her passion for what she does. I came away from the evening knowing that we need to continue to support people like this.

So, once again I am asking you to support my ride and donate to the PMC. The meeting in New York also addressed the concern that there needs to be some new and younger riders to participate in this event. I turned 70 years old last September and had a partial knee replacement at that time. I hope that I can continue riding. If you are a bit younger than me and share the concern about finding answers to what causes cancer and how to treat it, I would encourage you to think about joining the PMC team. I really want to make this year a banner year for fund raising. As always I have been overwhelmed by your generosity to contribute to this cause. Pleas dig deeper into your pockets and let us really make this a fundraising year that breaks allo records. Thank you in advance.