Friends & PMC Supporters,
The year was 2005 when my dad bought me my first road bike. It came with shoes that had clips on them even though I begged for pedals with cages because while I needed the bike to train for skiing – the byproduct was that at 15 years of age I could now ride in the Pan-Mass Challenge with my dad and his friends.
My earliest memories of riding the PMC include two staples. My dad and one of his closest friends, Ward Doonan. No matter how little I’d trained that summer or how much I’d be drafting off of them, I knew one thing to be true when I woke up at 4am Saturday morning to start the 200-mile ride to Provincetown. Ward or my dad would be by my side the entire way. Whether it was my dad supplying me with electrolytes and energy chews or Ward supplying the sunscreen and the energetic cheering (plus the drinks on the party ferry as I got older), those two made the ride a little less painful and a lot more fun.
The Doonan Family and the Chase Family have collectively raised almost $2.5M for the PMC. My $195,000 and 19 rides, while impressive, has just barely scratched the surface next to their combined 68 years of riding. I can only aspire to play as integral a role in finding a cure for cancer as Ward and my dad have so far.
This year, the PMC will hit $1 BILLION raised for Dana-Farber Cancer Center. This is an incredible feat to be a part of and simply put, lives have been saved and will continue to be saved because of this fundraising. YOUR donations, steadfast commitment and support of my ride each year have helped this become a reality. Your continued support will save even more lives and inspire generations of 15-year-olds like me to start their PMC journeys alongside their dad and his crazy friends. These combined efforts will help us find a cure for cancer one day.
While not impacted by this particular disease, Ward and my dad have been fighting their own health battles for the past year. And even though it’s prevented them from getting back on the bike for the time being, I know they’ll both be back to their active lifestyles, skiing, biking, running Tomato Man runs, carrying logs, playing in the mud or doing whatever crazy adrenaline junkie activity the Turk’s come up with next!
Dad, Uncle Bulldog and the rest of Team Turk – I will never forget how this tradition began and I will forever be honored to carry on this legacy as a part of the next generation of Turk’s. We’ll finish what you started. This one’s for you.
Amanda
P.S. A special shoutout to Ward’s wife, Cindy. While she didn’t get a lead role in my letter, she shared a tandem bike with Ward for 12 years and was a large part of the reason I got through those early PMC’s. Your constant conversation and our shared presence as the only two “chicks” in the group powered me through too!
P.P.S. You can donate online at www.pmc.org/AC0038 or through Venmo by visiting that link and pointing your camera at the QR code located on the left-hand side of my profile page. If you’d prefer to write a check, please make it out to Pan-Mass Challenge and send it to me at 101 Beverly St #12P, Boston, MA 02114.
