My 2019 began with an awakening that life really is too short and sometimes there are no answers for why things happen. It’s safe to say that everyone has this same overwhelming feeling when they hear about a new cancer diagnosis in someone’s life- that it’s just not fair. There is no reasoning behind cancer, and although flowers, meals and cards can help when someone is diagnosed or looses their battle, what we all really need is an answer to how we can cure this. This is why Team Paula has decided to come back for our second year in the Pan-Mass Challenge.
In September of 2017, one of my best friends Leah lost her mother, Paula Buckley, to stage IV metastatic melanoma after a brave 3-month battle. In her honor, Leah created Team Paula to ride in last years Pan-Mass Challenge, an annual bike-a-thon across Massachusetts that raises money for life-saving cancer research and treatment at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Not knowing what to expect, I, along with 12 of Leah’s close friends signed up for this two-day 192-mile bike ride from Sturbridge to Provincetown. We soon all blindly walked into bike shops to purchase bikes, helmets and other equipment we had no idea how to use, and embarked on a summer of looking up bike trails, learning how to clip in with our bike shoes and finding ways to fundraise for our team.
The night before the big weekend Team Paula sat down together and wrote down on ribbons the names of our family members and friends we've lost to cancer, as well as the strong survivors we knew, to pin to the back of our shirts as we rode. For me, I wanted to dedicate my ride to a grandmother I never got to meet, Lorraine Rossiter, and my aunt, Carol Larkin, both taken too soon by lung cancer. We ran out of ribbon that night- a sign of just how much cancer has impacted every single one of us.
Day one started with lots of nerves and lots of steep hills in Sturbridge. And just when we started to get comfortable and the hang of the biker “lingo”, it started to torrentially rain. We soon found ourselves biking in weather where we couldn’t see the rider in front of us and couldn’t tell if the puddle we were biking through was actually going to be a deep pothole or not. The weather caused many riders to have to get off the road and take buses. It was disheartening, leaving me feeling like I had given up, and not at all how any of us expected the day to go.
Day two we got up, slightly discouraged, and put on our wet shoes. Then mother nature threw us another curve ball, 90-degree weather and a sun that blazed down our backs all the way from Bourne to Provincetown. But, with the sun brought out an incredible amount of supporters along the road with their cowbells and horns cheering us on making the day truly remarkable. As a team we crossed the finish line together, surrounded by our families and friends- a feeling I still can’t fully put into words because it was so incredible.
Tough. Inspiring. Unbelievable (because who knew I could actually ever do something like that). These are the words I think of when I look back at that weekend last year. I was exhausted and really sore, and there were certainly times during those two days where I thought I couldn’t physically pedal any longer. But, then you pass a survivor holding a “Thank You” sign, making all the pain you’re feeling worth it. No muscle ache will ever compare to the battle cancer patients go through, or the heartbreak family and friends feel when they loose someone.
After reminiscing on last year, and having another family member get diagnosed, it became clear that my ride against cancer was not over. Not to my surprise, many team members were eager to commit again. We all felt determined to help to continue to raise money to find a cure and give hope to all those affected by cancer- and I am so humbled and excited to be apart of such a great team. With Paula as our guardian angel again, Team Paula will take it to the road on August 3rd and 4th to ride for others who have lost their battle, for those still fighting, and for those who have survived.
All thanks to our supporters last year, Team Paula donated over $80,000 to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute for cancer research and treatment. I hope that you will again follow our journey and consider helping us reach our fundraising goal- we promise to pedal hard and made every dollar raised worth it!
I appreciate all your time, donations and good wishes along the way- we certainly could not do this alone! Here’s to a cure- and maybe a little less rain this time around!
My 2019 began with an awakening that life really is too short and sometimes there are no answers for why things happen. It’s safe to say that everyone has this same overwhelming feeling when they hear about a new cancer diagnosis in someone’s life- that it’s just not fair. There is no reasoning behind cancer, and although flowers, meals and cards can help when someone is diagnosed or looses their battle, what we all really need is an answer to how we can cure this. This is why Team Paula has decided to come back for our second year in the Pan-Mass Challenge.
In September of 2017, one of my best friends Leah lost her mother, Paula Buckley, to stage IV metastatic melanoma after a brave 3-month battle. In her honor, Leah created Team Paula to ride in last years Pan-Mass Challenge, an annual bike-a-thon across Massachusetts that raises money for life-saving cancer research and treatment at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Not knowing what to expect, I, along with 12 of Leah’s close friends signed up for this two-day 192-mile bike ride from Sturbridge to Provincetown. We soon all blindly walked into bike shops to purchase bikes, helmets and other equipment we had no idea how to use, and embarked on a summer of looking up bike trails, learning how to clip in with our bike shoes and finding ways to fundraise for our team.
The night before the big weekend Team Paula sat down together and wrote down on ribbons the names of our family members and friends we've lost to cancer, as well as the strong survivors we knew, to pin to the back of our shirts as we rode. For me, I wanted to dedicate my ride to a grandmother I never got to meet, Lorraine Rossiter, and my aunt, Carol Larkin, both taken too soon by lung cancer. We ran out of ribbon that night- a sign of just how much cancer has impacted every single one of us.
Day one started with lots of nerves and lots of steep hills in Sturbridge. And just when we started to get comfortable and the hang of the biker “lingo”, it started to torrentially rain. We soon found ourselves biking in weather where we couldn’t see the rider in front of us and couldn’t tell if the puddle we were biking through was actually going to be a deep pothole or not. The weather caused many riders to have to get off the road and take buses. It was disheartening, leaving me feeling like I had given up, and not at all how any of us expected the day to go.
Day two we got up, slightly discouraged, and put on our wet shoes. Then mother nature threw us another curve ball, 90-degree weather and a sun that blazed down our backs all the way from Bourne to Provincetown. But, with the sun brought out an incredible amount of supporters along the road with their cowbells and horns cheering us on making the day truly remarkable. As a team we crossed the finish line together, surrounded by our families and friends- a feeling I still can’t fully put into words because it was so incredible.
Tough. Inspiring. Unbelievable (because who knew I could actually ever do something like that). These are the words I think of when I look back at that weekend last year. I was exhausted and really sore, and there were certainly times during those two days where I thought I couldn’t physically pedal any longer. But, then you pass a survivor holding a “Thank You” sign, making all the pain you’re feeling worth it. No muscle ache will ever compare to the battle cancer patients go through, or the heartbreak family and friends feel when they loose someone.
After reminiscing on last year, and having another family member get diagnosed, it became clear that my ride against cancer was not over. Not to my surprise, many team members were eager to commit again. We all felt determined to help to continue to raise money to find a cure and give hope to all those affected by cancer- and I am so humbled and excited to be apart of such a great team. With Paula as our guardian angel again, Team Paula will take it to the road on August 3rd and 4th to ride for others who have lost their battle, for those still fighting, and for those who have survived.
All thanks to our supporters last year, Team Paula donated over $80,000 to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute for cancer research and treatment. I hope that you will again follow our journey and consider helping us reach our fundraising goal- we promise to pedal hard and made every dollar raised worth it!
I appreciate all your time, donations and good wishes along the way- we certainly could not do this alone! Here’s to a cure- and maybe a little less rain this time around!
| 2019 | $5,475.00 | Sturbridge to Provincetown Monument (2-Day) |
| 2018 | $4,900.00 | Sturbridge to Provincetown Monument (2-Day) |
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Briana Keeley
