Hello, I'm Marty
I have been riding with the PHAT Tuesday Tuesday evening rides since June 2007. I've only gotten back into cycling in 2002, and I bought my road bike off of eBay in late 2004. Before that I weighed ~220 lbs.
I did my first, long distance, multi day ride back in June/July of 2006. Myself and 3 friends rode from High Point, NJ to Cape May, NJ. My friend Mike had designed the Route for NJDOT. (His job is to design bike routes, how cool is that?)
It was just the 4 of us. No support vehicle. We UPS'd our stuff to a hotel in Egg Harbor, NJ and our families picked us up in Cape May. We traveled real light. Well, you can read more if you want in the blog I set up for that ride (http://www.martinator.com/bikenj)
The Pan Mass Challenge
I heard about the Pan Mass Challenge and thought how cool it would be to do that. Then I saw it ride through Franklin in 2006. Ever since then I had wanted to ride it. This year I finally signed up.
The thought of a 2 day, ~200 mile ride exictes me. However, as much as the ride itself excites me, it has to be about more than a 2 day bike ride. So that made me think: "How has Cancer affected me in my life?" On the surface, I've been very lucky, but the more I thought about it, well, read for yourself in the reposting of My PMC Story below:
My PMC Story
Why am I riding the Pan Mass Challenge?
As a cyclist, the draw of a two-day ride with a few thousand people is something that attracts me. Cycling is such a solo sport, yet when riding with a group; it takes on a whole new experience. There is something about being part of a big mass of people with a single purpose and goal that is an experience that I wish to partake in.
But this ride has to be more than just about cycling to me. I guess I can call myself lucky because cancer hasn't touched me personally, or has it?
So I ask myself, "Really, how has cancer affected my life?"
The more I reflect on it,the more I realize that there are a lot of people only one or two degrees away from me who have struggled with, survived, or didn't survive their bout with Cancer. A number of family members, friends, neighbors, classmates, and colleagues of mine have had bouts with cancer either directly or indirectly. One, in particular comes to mind. Let's call him "X".
In High School, there was a classmate of mine, "X", who struggled with cancer during our senior year of high school. I'm not sure how to describe our relationship. He was not exactly a friend. In fact he was a bit of a bully to me during our freshman year. I distinctly remember one time while he was bullying me, he said in a somewhat respectful way, "You know kid, you're pretty tough." "Gee thanks..." is what I remember sarcastically thinking.
Junior year rolls around and the Gym teacher suggests that I try out for the Cross Country team. I do. "X" is on the team. No big deal as he has not really been a bully to me since freshman year. I practiced with the team. Then came the time for me to run my first cross country race. I sucked big time. However, even though I was sucking, the varsity members of the team, "X" being one of them, were cheering me on. Now these were people who had not given me the time of day during high school. Yet since I was at least trying to run this race (where I got stung by 5 bees and got so lost I did not make it to the finish line...), I was at least getting support from these people as part of the team. Cool. However I still quit the team later that week as Cross Country Running simply was not my thing.
Later that year I joined the track team. My events were the 100, 200, 400 and the long jump. None of that long distance stuff. "X" is also on the track team. One day, after practice, it was just the two of us waiting for our respective rides. He comes over to me and says, "Let's walk down to the convenience store". Now we do not normally hang out together, so I was surprised at the invitation. We do just that. We walk to the little store down the road and just hang out. A perfectly "normal moment". It was one of the few "normal moments" I had in high school, if that makes any sense.
Senior year rolls around. It's fall and while "X" is still on the Cross Country team, he is not competing. He has cancer. I have no idea what type of cancer. Other than the fact he is not competing, he looks perfectly healthy. Later on during senior year, we actually hang out together at times. However now he is bald from the chemotherapy treatments. The seriousness of his situation never hits me. I guess that's what being 17 is all about. I think it's odd that he has no desire to get a driver's license. Also, on the VHS tape of our graduation ceremony, when asked about his future, he casually mentions that he is taking a year off (96% of the class has college plans). After graduation everybody parts ways and moves on. Such is life.
During the later part of my freshman year at college, I get a call from my best friend Mike.
"X is dead."
Damn. He died from the cancer that had manifested itself throughout his body. It was quite a shock to be 18 and have personally known somebody, a peer, who died of cancer. Later that spring, after the colleges had let out for the summer, there was a memorial service at the high school. Just about our entire class was there along with his family members. It was hard to believe someone so young was now gone, but not forgotten.
Why did I use "X" as his name?
Well, because it was really his nickname. When I do this ride, I will be thinking of how Xavier Yepez's life was cut way too short by cancer.
