For my 13th PMC, I will once again ride 186 miles, over two days, from Sturbridge, Massachusetts to Provincetown, Massachusetts. I know from past experiences that this route is much harder than the 164-mile Wellesley to Provincetown jaunt that I rode last year. However, raising money for cancer research and treatment is well worth a little extra effort – and believe me, I could use the exercise.
As many of you know, every year I try to assess why I keep riding the PMC, year after year. My first answer is that sadly, every year, my life, or the life of close friends or family, is touched by cancer. My wife is a survivor, two of my grandmothers (and some other family members) were not. But, beyond those folks, I don’t usually name names. But I will say that this year the list grew significantly longer. I ride because it is the only thing I can think to do to help those people, and to hopefully, in my own small way, work to prevent others from going through the same thing.
Another reason is the fellowship. I started a PMC team years ago called Team Spoke Heroes. The goal was to provide new riders with a social safety net for fundraising. All team members agreed that if anyone raised more than the PMC minimum ($6,000), such person(s) would allocate such excess funds (pro rata, if more than one) to any team member who, despite such rider’s good faith efforts, failed to raise the minimum themselves. For a long time, financial support was the raison d’etre of the team.
However, the team has evolved. Fellow riders became friends; and then, quite unintentionally, friends become teammates. We’ve even had some new riders join our ranks. We still don’t have shirts, and I don’t have the time or the interest for much organizational work. But last year we managed a pasta dinner the night before the ride, meet-ups at water stops, and, eventually, a team photo at the Provincetown finish line.
Thank you for your steadfast support over the past 13 years. As always, 100% of all funds raised go directly to the Dana Farber Cancer Institute.
Josh
