For the ninth year, I am getting back in the saddle and riding 160 miles from Wellesley to Provincetown to raise money for cancer research. I started doing this ride because my dear friend Dmitri was diagnosed with a brain tumor when he was in 3rd grade. The disease has profoundly derailed his life.

This year my heart is particularly heavy. I learned a week ago that an old friend died after a gruesome two-year battle with cancer. Pete Shapiro was just 55. He has a kid going to college in September. He has a younger one too. He was brilliant, funny, gentle, kind, an original thinker, a prolific music critic, and author of several books, including the best ever history of disco. I knew him such a long time ago. I found out too late. I didn’t get to say goodbye and I am gutted. Cancer robs too many people of too much. It leaves too many grieving and wounded people behind.

This year, I dedicate my ride to Pete.