Help Support My 2007 Pan Mass Challenge and the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in the fight to make childhood cancer no more threatening than a cold.
This Year We Donated over $13000.00! Thanks!
On August 4th and 5th, I will pedal from Sturbridge to Provincetown in the PMC for the 22nd time. You and I have so far raised nearly $120000.00 for this worthy cause.
Why do I do this and why should you help? The Jimmy Fund has provided resources over the past decades to treat childhood cancers and to investigate different avenues in search of cures.Each avenue of research competes for grants from the government and private sources. These sources naturally tend to fund the most promising avenues. Unfortunately for the researchers, the catch-22 is that significant resources are necessary to develop the body of evidence that would get any area of work to the level of being promising and fundable. The Jimmy Fund provides that seed funding for work in childhood cancer as well as the funding for the humane clinical treatment of kids cursed with cancer. Your contribution provides hope for those afflicted and for those working to solve for the cure. 99% of all contributions went to the Dana Farber last year. Click on my donation link above or visit www.pmc.org . My ID is JK0013.
How have I been affected by cancer? Back in 1959 my father was operated on for cancer of the throat. Radiation and chemotherapy was rather primitive compared to today, but those techniques and others through 2004 saved him to live a full 89 years. We need to work to provide the miracle endings for so many more folks.
What is the Pan Mass Challenge? In 1980, a fellow by the name of Billy Starr, whose family was ravaged by cancer, had the inspiration to try to make a difference. What started with a couple dozen enthusiasts had developed into 6000+ folks riding, volunteering and planning in the 21st century. One friday night on the first weekend in August, Sturbridge MA runs out of hotel rooms. Folks from dozens of states and dozens of countries decend on this tiny Massachusetts town. The only greater traffic jam is on Sunday after 192 miles of riding at the Provincetown Inn on the tip of Cape Cod. At 6am the next morning in Sturbridge and at 7am in Wellesley the riders set off for the first stop at the Mass Maritime Academy in Bourne. In my years, I have done this in a torrential downpour, weather so hot as to make the asphalt soft and weather so chilly as to make one look for hot chocolate or soup along the way. There have been roads of dirt, there have been ground up asphalt, there have been detours and there have been adventures across the reaches of Southeastern MA. I have broken pedals, spokes, saddles, cleats, seatposts and I have had more flat tires than I can count. But the really amazing sight is all of the folks that turn out early Saturday and Sunday to cheer us on. They let us know that they appreciate our efforts for the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. They cheer the fast, the slow, the sleek, the ridiculous. As a famous man once said: 'It's not about the bike.' The rest stops are fairly incredible. We are overwhelmed by the energy of the volunteers at each. Each contains a phalanx of porta-potties, vats of gatorade and plates full of food. Pre-sliced cantalope is my favorite, followed by peanut butter covered bananas. There have been bagpippers at different points, signs of encouragement and lots of police helping us out with traffic. Cherry St. in Wrentham is absolutely amazing. They go all out with music and signs and costumes and balloons along with several survivors. The Mass Maritime is always a welcome sight even if you only did the 115 miles. There is a big party with beer and music and food. But Sunday sneaks up on you with a vengeance with a 4:15 reveillie.
I am not fast. I don't rush. But gone are the days where there is only one shower available at the PTown Inn, and also gone are the days that I could ride that fast. There is nothing like riding over the Bourne Bridge before 6am with thousands of your closest friends into a glorious sunrise. We move along the canal to just beyond the Sagamore bridge and head off toward the route 6 access road. This road is a series of ups and downs. It's like riding a roller-coaster in your sleep. It represents the most serious set of hills before Truro.
The midway point to Ptown is the Nickerson State Park waterstop. There is always a theme there to delight us with their energy and creativity. But a mile or so before that is the Cape Cod Sea Camp. Early on Sunday mornings over the last few years, the CCSC has had kids and grownups 3 or 4 deep on the walls cheering us on. One of their councilors was afflicted with Cancer and it motivates them to come out in force.
The middle 40 miles are the prettiest scenery on the cape. It is what people see in their mind's eye when they talk about the cape. We ride through the quaint Cape towns, the rolling hills, the bogs and scrub pines. We get onto another stretch of the cape railtrail. In 2006, this was a welcome surprise in that it kept us off Rt 6 and it did not have the serverity of climbing as in recent years. The last waterstop is preceded by a group of folks in Wellfleet that welcome us with a balloon banner across the road each year and more folks in costume. After the stop are the last big climbs of the ride. Corn Hill is the first of these. Each year, at the top, are the two ladies who cheer in costume. They come out Sunday in their cheerleader outfits a few yards from the top of this 6th to last climb. This signals to me that the hard work is almost done and that with only 15 miles left, I was home free. Over one hill, down the next and up the last and finally, we are at route 6 for most of the way home. Thanks to our friendly and helpful trooper, (did you know that we are sponsored by your MA Chiefs of Police), we cross traffic and follow route 6 to the turnoff for race point. I've done this a few times, but here you are on route 6 and you can just about see the end and they turn you right to go up some more hills. More pretty dunes and seascapes. A lot more sweat and a couple more climbs.
There is nothing like the relief I feel see the finish line at the PTown Inn. What a great venue. There is a chute of well-wishers from the 6a turnoff to the rotary, as is the promise of showers, cold beverages and the hope that the seats are more than a couple square inches of leather almost within reach.
I get more from this than I give. I ask people to give money for a cause that I know they would give to anyway. It drives me to be compulsive about getting out to train in order to survive it. It gives me a new group of friends to see each year. It gives me a sense that I've helped in a small way and that I am part of something bigger. I've always given to cancer funds because of the successes in my family, not the failures. I hope some of this description makes you feel more a part of the effort. Thanks again.
HERE is HOW to DONATE:
- Option one is to write a check to "PMC The Jimmy Fund" and get it to me in person or send me email and I will get you my US postal address.
- The second option is to use the website, http://www.pmc.org/eGifts ( JK0013 ) You use a credit card there along with my rider code JK0013. Using the website is easy and secure and does not reduce the value of your contribution.