Dear Friends & Family,

I didn’t start out 2019 thinking I would participate in my first Pan Mass Challenge. The Pan Mass Challenge is a 2-day bike ride that crosses Massachusetts from Sturbridge to Provincetown (192 miles) and raises money for life-saving research for Dana Farber Cancer Institute. In very late February my friend Sophie asked me if I would be interested in riding with her. She had one very large reason to ride, she had just lost her mom to cancer 3 months before and needed to focus on something positive. I had always wanted to do the ride, in some form, as I love to ride my bike. The one big problem, I had not done any serious biking in 19 years, am completely out of shape, have a job and a busy family and have no time to train! All great reasons to NOT ride, right?

Sophie and I signed up for the Day 2 (80 miles) ride within a week and accepted the impossible challenge! You see, I have so many of my own reasons to ride and fundraise for the Pan Mass Challenge. My mother is a nearly 40 yr. breast cancer survivor and my father has been battling cancer for almost 20 years. Dana Farber Cancer Center has literally kept my father alive well past what anyone ever thought possible. My father has participated in Dana Farber clinical trials, tried various experimental medications, etc... and never given up on being positive and living his life to the fullest, despite his diagnosis and prognosis!!!

Then the unthinkable happened one week after I signed up to do the ride. My brother Peter was diagnosed with an incredibly rare terminal illness and was given a very short amount of time to live. He passed away exactly 3 weeks from diagnosis. March and most of April were a blur for me, trying to wrap my head around the idea that an incredibly fit 56 yr. old man can be gone in 3 weeks. It wasn’t from a car accident, heart attack or even cancer but a rare condition that is 1 in a million. I thought about contacting the Pan Mass Challenge folks and explaining the circumstances and beg out on the ride. Surely the PMC folks would understand…then I thought about all the people who would love to ride but will never be able to do it. Then I thought about the fact that both my 81yr old mother and 82 yr. old father are the beneficiaries of excellent cancer research and care. I decided I too needed something positive to focus on like my friend Sophie.

My bike training rides didn’t really get started until early May. I have spent a lot of time on my bike this very hot and humid summer. Not all of this time has been enjoyable but my desire to ride is strong and my determination to cross the finish line on August 4, 2019 in Provincetown is unparalleled.

I hope you will consider joining me on this journey by donating to help me reach my fundraising goal of raising $10,000 for Dana Farber Cancer Institute. Its an agressive goal but with your help, I know I can make it happen!