This is a BIG one – my 13th* Pan Mass Challenge!
When I started riding the PMC in 2004, I was motivated by the loss I saw in my friends Jo, Kate and Laura from losing their dads. 19 years later, I am training up for my 13th ride- motivated by the progress we've made and looking forward to a day when cancer is history.
Most of you are familiar with the most important takeaways:
- I’m riding 192 miles over two days, from Sturbridge to Boston MA, to kick cancer’s ugly butt.
- I would be very grateful for a donation in any amount – every.single.dollar I raise goes directly to Dana Farber Cancer Institute (DCFI) https://www.dana-farber.org, for innovative research and compassionate patient care. DCFI has a national and global reach, partnering with medical communities all over the world to end cancer – a donation to the PMC is a donation against cancer anywhere. The PMC is Dana Farber’s single biggest source of income.
I feel incredibly lucky to be a part of the PMC community because it has shown me again and again what is possible. For instance, my No. 1 biking buddy Betsy, who is in my profile pic, survived a diagnosis of ovarian cancer when she was 36 (!) – she is one of many riders and friends who are Living Proof of hope. Same with my friend Nicole, in the pink-hat picture on her last day of chemotherapy to treat breast cancer. Because of Betsy, Nicole, my friends Sue and Diane (riding after breast cancer) and Abe (riding after brain cancer), and all I’ve learned from Dana Farber and the cancer community, when I hear that a friend or family member was just diagnosed, my first response is “what’s the plan?” instead of only sheer terror.
But it never gets easier when family and friends are diagnosed and the roller coaster of treatment options and life implosion begins. It never gets less enraging that some cancers are still so clever that we haven’t found a good way to screen for them until they are harder to treat. It is a heavy weight that despite remission, cancer sometimes comes back. And that some of our current cures bring other less-terrible-but-not-fun-either health issues, like chemotherapy bringing potential infertility and osteoporosis, or surgery for cancer removal bringing it's own kind of loss.
And it never, never, never, gets easier when cancer kills those we love, in spite all of the progress we’ve made. It will never be ok that Richard, Dan, Fred, Sandy, Johnny, Joe, Henry, Mia, and your loved ones are gone. This past year, I was reminded again of cancer’s devastation at a memorial service for a graduate student in her 20s who had been so full of life, of brilliant research and funny quips, of love for her dog M. Standing at her memorial as her friends and teachers eulogized her and her parents sat in shock, I was reminded of why we ride.
As I train and fundraise for this13th ride, I am filled with purpose to make cancer history. I am so glad to have your support, be it money, encouragement, or congratulations. Many of you know that 13 is my lucky and favorite number - I hope it will bring us fair weather, a tail-wind from Sturbridge to Provincetown, and even more progress ending cancer. Thank you for your support!
