I’m once again preparing to ride my bike in Massachusetts and some of the New York Capital Region to raise money to fight cancer at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

This will be my 27th PMC. I will be riding this year in memory of my college classmate Bruce Amsbury. When I think of Bruce, the word ebullient comes to mind. He always seemed full of energy and enthusiasm. Sadly, in 2017 he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He passed away in 2019, shortly after I talked with him at our college reunion. When I think of him my mind goes back to our reunion in 1999. I hadn't seen anybody from our class in 25 years, and wondered what the weekend would be like. Bruce immediately came over to me when I checked in. He welcomed me in his enthusiastic way, putting me at ease. It was a great start to what turned out to be a great weekend.

Bruce's story reminds me that while we've made great progress in our fight against cancer, we're not done yet. And so, we ride. As we're still dealing with the pandemic, the logistics of this year's PMC steered me to repeat my reimagined PMC experience from last year.

Once again, my ride will include something old, something really old, and something very new. It includes a solitary return to Sturbridge on Friday, August 6th – continuing a quarter-century tradition. Early in the morning of Saturday, August 7th, I’ll repeat last year's hilly 43-mile loop west of Sturbridge that includes a couple short stretches of our old NY-Mass Ramble route from Albany to Sturbridge. It was an adventure last year that I'm looking forward to repeating.

Then, as I’ve done for the past six years, I’ll return to Albany – a lot earlier than my normal PMC return time of 11:00pm. To maintain the tradition of a many-mile weekend, beginning early on Sunday, August 8th, I plan to repeat last year's 80-mile Sea to Sky ride - including visits to the Albany shore of the Hudson and the Helderberg heights of Knox. Hopefully the weather will cooperate this year!

All in all, I’m looking forward to both the challenge and the adventure of this reimagined PMC!

The PMC offers each of us an opportunity to do something positive in what often seems to be a deeply troubling world. The news today is filled with stories of intractable problems that we feel powerless to address. But while we may feel unable to make a difference as individuals, joined together with many other motivated souls we can accomplish incredible things. The PMC is a prime example of this; treatment for cancer at Dana-Farber has advanced tremendously in many ways since I started riding the PMC in 1995. And the Pan-Mass Challenge made much of that change possible by enabling new and cutting edge approaches to fighting cancer.

Please join the fight against cancer and support my fund-raising goal by clicking on the Donate To My Ride button above. All transactions are secure and THE most cost-effective way to give money to the PMC and the Jimmy Fund. And 100% of all donations go directly to the cause!

Thanks!

My Links

Riding in the 2015 PMC 2021 won't be anything like this!

Alive Video recap reflecting the spirit of the 2014 PMC, which featured a little...weather. Again, 2021 won't be anything like this - including, hopefully, the weather!

Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies PBS News Hour report on Ken Burns' series on cancer.