Hi folks -- I've signed up for the Pan Mass Challenge  yet again -- as many of you know by now, that's a two-day, 200-mile bicycle fundraiser for the Dana Farber Cancer Institute / Jimmy Fund that runs the first weekend in August each year. 

Thanks for all your support in years past, and thanks in advance for your help in licking cancer this year too.

Another summer, another Pan-Mass Challenge.

Another year in which too many friends and relatives have struggled with cancer. Whenever we rejoice at how much research and prevention have progressed, another diagnosis, another illness, another death occurs to remind us of how far we have to go in the battle against cancer.

Nearly thirty years after my diagnosis and treatment for testicular cancer, I am one of the lucky ones, blessed by good health and enough vigor -- my friends and family might say craziness -- to attempt my fourteenth Pan-Mass Challenge (I've done many of them now on my recumbent bike).

OK, to be fair, one year I was a virtual rider, sidelined with a back injury, so this will be my thirteenth actual Pan Mass ride. Each of my two sons has ridden with me upon occasion in the past, and this year my son Michael will be riding with me.

There is an incredible sense of shared purpose, accomplishment and camaraderie among the thousands of riders and volunteers all weekend long that is unique.

The PMC experience ranges from the ridiculous to the exhilarating to the triumphant to the exhausting. My previous years' experiences included:

The ridiculous: Early on day 2, at the first water stop of the day, I forgot where I put my bike. While I was scanning the parking lot, I was struck by how this scene would appear to someone suddenly dropped into it -- hundreds of people waddling around at 7 a.m. on a Sunday in spandex and stiff-soled bike shoes, clicking loudly on the pavement with each step, mingling with dozens of people in matching T-shirts, circulating with platters of energy bars and gallon jugs of Gatorade, between the rows of port-a-potties and the tables laden with mounds of peanut butter and banana sandwiches, surrounded by a sea of high-end bicycles strewn about, lying on their sides or against trees. (I eventually found my bike.)

The exhilarating: At one of the water stops we saw a boy holding up a sign that read I'm 9 now thanks to all of you. We saw him there every year until one year ... when there was a poster-size photo of him instead that said I'm 15 and I'm riding!

The triumphant: I posed for the Living Proof group photo with the other 150 or so cancer survivors who rode.

The exhausting: Biking up out of Purgatory Chasm. (The ride has been rerouted through a less-colorfully-named area with a steep hill. Near the top there is usually a hand-lettered sign reading: It's just a hill. Get over it.)

I wish I could share more fully the whole PMC experience with my past and future supporters. What I can share is the privilege of giving back. Every year, there are competing demands placed on limited government funds, and basic research continues to get the short end of the stick. That's where we come in -- bridging the gap between funding that's available and funding that's needed.

PMC riders and our sponsors have raised close to $600 million for the Dana Farber Cancer Institute over the years. Thanks to you, I've been able to raise over $75,000 for the cause. I am so grateful to all of you who have sponsored me before, and thank you in advance for your continued support. If you can, please dig a little deeper this year. The researchers need it, the clinicians need it, and most of all, the patients served by the Dana Farber and the research carried out thanks to the Jimmy Fund need it.

Please join me in supporting this cause, by contributing with a credit card online (click on one of the Donate buttons on this page to get started). If you prefer, please send me a check, payable to PMC/Jimmy Fund, and I will forward it along.

Finally, if you are moved to do so, please share this page with all of your social networks using the handy sharing icons and please send this page along by email or otherwise to all of your business associates, friends and family members who you think would like to help support this cause.

Thank you.

My Links

#PMC2015 photos and tidbits

PMC 2011 Wrapup w pics, vids & tweets

PMC 2010 Tweets, Pics & Helmetcam video from the ride

PMC 2010 Photos

David's 2009 pics

PMC 2009 Photos

PMC 2009 Tweets & Pics from the Ride

PMC 2008 Photos