PMC weekend is here!
With it brings many emotions. We are all VERY excited to represent you in the fight against Cancer.
Today our Pedal Partner Elle B. is going in for a biopsy on her lungs to determine how her treatments have done. She will be in the ICU for at least 24 hour. Hopefully all will be well. Unfortunately, that means she will not be able to join us on the route. Please join our PHAT PHamily in a little spiritual thought for a good out come.
Also, our teammate, Donna Kleinman learned Thursday that her sister, Marie, was diagnosed with Cancer. This will be news to many on the team. Yet another reason it is so easy to simply ride a bike nearly 200 miles.
The PMC will be covered extensively on New England Cable News (NECN). "Channel 6 on Comcast”. Please watch this channel during the weekend or log on to www.necn.com . They will be covering the event live starting Friday Night starting at 7:00 PM. The telecast is informative and interesting.
If you wish to donate to our PHAT Tuesday team go to www.pmc.org/tp0049
Thank you for all your support.
Team PHAT Tuesday
www.phattuesday.org
Friday, July 31, 2009
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Over the Shoulder
Over the Shoulder
Over the Shoulder, originally uploaded by Team PHAT Tuesday PMC.
Here comes Phat Tuesday on the last training ride before the PMC.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
The training is done. PMC here we come!
Thousands of training miles have been logged by the team. Over 78 thousand dollars have raised by Team PHAT Tuesday this year so far. Our goal is $100,000. Please help by donating. Every dollar counts. Every dollar helps. Every dollar goes directly to the Dana Farber Cancer Instutute where miracles are made to happen. Donations can be made on behalf of the team by clicking
here.
Want to donate on behalf of a specific PHAT Tuesday rider? Click the link corresponding to the rider you want to support below.
Jim Barry
Tim Brightman
Mark Brightman
Scott Britton
Pete Bromann
Dave Eberhart
Kevin Fitzpatrick
Donna Kleinman
Joy Longa
Laura Mann
Marc Mann
Rachel Mann
Paul Metcalf
Martin Middelmann
Fred Paine
Bob Reed
Kevin Robbins
Bill Snapper
David Winthrop
here.
Want to donate on behalf of a specific PHAT Tuesday rider? Click the link corresponding to the rider you want to support below.
Jim Barry
Tim Brightman
Mark Brightman
Scott Britton
Pete Bromann
Dave Eberhart
Kevin Fitzpatrick
Donna Kleinman
Joy Longa
Laura Mann
Marc Mann
Rachel Mann
Paul Metcalf
Martin Middelmann
Fred Paine
Bob Reed
Kevin Robbins
Bill Snapper
David Winthrop
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Teammate Profile - Fred Paine
The PMC and Me
Like many, cancer has had a dramatic effect on my family. My mother died very quickly in 1983 as a consequence of cervical cancer and my father died in 1997 from lung cancer. His death was a long suffocating battle, but through it all, his demeanor, determination and faith will forever be a life lesson for me.
Shortly, after my father died, I met Kevin who put the idea of the PMC into my head, it seemed a gigantic task, raising $1100 was one thing , but to ride a bicycle to P-town in 2 days, that was something else, nerve wracking, hard work, and exciting, the perfect cathartic payback to my father. If I ride 20 more PMC’s, I will never payback what I owe to my father, he of course, would tell me, the pleasure was all his, just part of his beauty!
Although, I will always ride in honor of my parents, the PMC and why I ride has evolved over the last 12 years, starting with what I have learned from my PMC Cycle Team PHAT Tuesday. I have met and become friends with some wonderful people. I have heard it said that PHAT Tuesday is simply a group of people who come together for a common cause, and that may be true, but working as small team, within the larger PMC team, to be a part of finding a cure for cancer is more than cool!
Speaking of cool, one of the coolest people I know has been diagnosed with Breast Cancer and has had to work through a reoccurrence - she is the essence of pure strength and grace together – an example to all ! My friend Joyce is recovering wonderfully from Ovarian Cancer, 10 years ago, I am not sure this would be possible! Our pedal partner Ethan is such a joy and it is fantastic that the wonderful Julia is turning 17. Through the team and our pedal partners, I have receive just a taste of what it is like to have a child with cancer, the strength and courage of these families is just amazing.
PHAT Tuesday has their own group of volunteers, who without asking, help us at all our team events, truly just helping the cause without experiencing the glory of the ride. The Deb’s, Maryellen, Andrea, Donna etc – their help and example are wonderful.
Tim and Mark’s dedication to their brother who died of cancer so long ago is always an inspiration!
I always owe thanks to my wife Marsha who suffers through PMC talk 12 months a year, and once May comes, our life evolves around my training for the PMC.
But just in the last year, Big Paul, Pete, and Dave have lost their sisters to cancer, Marc lost his dad and Kevin just lost his mother to cancer - Cancer doesn’t quit! It is up to us to help find a cure to beat it!
So when it comes to writing another fundraising letter or climbing one more hill, it is these images I think of that keep me riding the PMC. I mentioned earlier that the PMC was a cathartic experience for me when my father died, still to this day; I receive more from the PMC and PHAT Tuesday than I could ever give!
Fred – www.pmc.org/fp0008
PS: I understand some people reading this, may not recognize the names, but I hope the essence of my thoughts are conveyed.
Like many, cancer has had a dramatic effect on my family. My mother died very quickly in 1983 as a consequence of cervical cancer and my father died in 1997 from lung cancer. His death was a long suffocating battle, but through it all, his demeanor, determination and faith will forever be a life lesson for me.
Shortly, after my father died, I met Kevin who put the idea of the PMC into my head, it seemed a gigantic task, raising $1100 was one thing , but to ride a bicycle to P-town in 2 days, that was something else, nerve wracking, hard work, and exciting, the perfect cathartic payback to my father. If I ride 20 more PMC’s, I will never payback what I owe to my father, he of course, would tell me, the pleasure was all his, just part of his beauty!
Although, I will always ride in honor of my parents, the PMC and why I ride has evolved over the last 12 years, starting with what I have learned from my PMC Cycle Team PHAT Tuesday. I have met and become friends with some wonderful people. I have heard it said that PHAT Tuesday is simply a group of people who come together for a common cause, and that may be true, but working as small team, within the larger PMC team, to be a part of finding a cure for cancer is more than cool!
Speaking of cool, one of the coolest people I know has been diagnosed with Breast Cancer and has had to work through a reoccurrence - she is the essence of pure strength and grace together – an example to all ! My friend Joyce is recovering wonderfully from Ovarian Cancer, 10 years ago, I am not sure this would be possible! Our pedal partner Ethan is such a joy and it is fantastic that the wonderful Julia is turning 17. Through the team and our pedal partners, I have receive just a taste of what it is like to have a child with cancer, the strength and courage of these families is just amazing.
PHAT Tuesday has their own group of volunteers, who without asking, help us at all our team events, truly just helping the cause without experiencing the glory of the ride. The Deb’s, Maryellen, Andrea, Donna etc – their help and example are wonderful.
Tim and Mark’s dedication to their brother who died of cancer so long ago is always an inspiration!
I always owe thanks to my wife Marsha who suffers through PMC talk 12 months a year, and once May comes, our life evolves around my training for the PMC.
But just in the last year, Big Paul, Pete, and Dave have lost their sisters to cancer, Marc lost his dad and Kevin just lost his mother to cancer - Cancer doesn’t quit! It is up to us to help find a cure to beat it!
So when it comes to writing another fundraising letter or climbing one more hill, it is these images I think of that keep me riding the PMC. I mentioned earlier that the PMC was a cathartic experience for me when my father died, still to this day; I receive more from the PMC and PHAT Tuesday than I could ever give!
Fred – www.pmc.org/fp0008
PS: I understand some people reading this, may not recognize the names, but I hope the essence of my thoughts are conveyed.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Fund Raising Total
As of 7/22, Team PHAT Tuesday's fundraising total todate: $72,931.77
That's roughly 73% of goal of $100,000.
You can help raise that bar with a donation. Please visit www.pmc.org/tp0049.
Team PHAT Tuesday thanks you for your support!
.
That's roughly 73% of goal of $100,000.
You can help raise that bar with a donation. Please visit www.pmc.org/tp0049.
Team PHAT Tuesday thanks you for your support!
.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
The PHATs met Elle
PHAT Tuesday had their team BBQ on Sunday 7-19. It was a perfect day. A group of about 16 PHATs participated in the Climb To The Clouds that morning. We did the 60 mile route. There was plenty of climbing and some great team camaraderie. We were very happy our teammate Mark was able to come up from Virginia to be with us.
The ride was a lot of fun. This is essentially the final "big" training ride before the Pan Mass Challenge. All did well. Now it was time to feast and enjoy the day. We met for our team BBQ. We were all looking forward to it as we were going to meet our 2009 pedal partner Elle and her family.
Elle is loaded with personality. She was a bit reserved when she first arrived having not known anyone there. She was a little intimidated by Melanie, the enthusiastic yellow lab. Well, it didn't take long before Elle was in the pool swimming with Melanie and others. She was very proud of herself as she exclaimed "hey, I'm swimming by myself". I guess this was a first and we were happy to share that with her and her family.
Ethan, one of our past pedal partners was also able to join us. Ethan is 5 now. He was barely 1 when we met him and at the time he was a very sick little boy. It was so cool to see him now. He's another really great kid. Not a shrinking violet either. He was right in there mixing it up with everyone and having a blast.
It was a great day and fantastic to meet Elle and her family. Pedal partners are very important to our team. It helps us all to connect with the Pan Mass Challenge on a level that's very hard to explain. It puts a face on what we're doing and it makes us all feel very fortunate to be able to get to know thes very cool little people and their families. I hope the families get as much out of it as we do.
The Pan Mass is less than two weeks away and there's still time to help. Visit our team fundraising page at http://www.pmc.org/profile/TP0049 and please make a donation if you can.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Elle Update
New update from Elle's carepage...
The date has been set for Elle's biopsy - next Friday, July 24th. Elle will go in at 7AM. The plan is to pull several samples from one lung; we don't know which side the surgeon has decided on yet. It will be a minimally invasive procedure, but we do not know if Elle will have to stay overnight in the hospital or not.
As indicated in the last update, this biopsy is the only way to determine what the stuff that's showing on the CT scan really is. Of course, we're hoping that it's all scar tissue and/or dead tumor remains. Please continue to pray for that. Thanks!
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Pedal Partner Update - Elle B.
This is the latest post on Elle's carepage....
We have returned from a vacation at Grandma's house in Pittsburgh where, unfortunately, internet access is about as readily available as it was in 1989.
As many of you have already heard by other, more traditional means of communication, Elle's recent scan showed something is still in her lungs. It might be live tumor. It could just as well be scar tissue. All the doctors can tell us right now is that whatever "it" is, it has not been growing or spreading - but it hasn't been disappearing, either. There is no way to tell what it is other than by pulling some of it out and examining it, so Elle will get a biopsy sometime towards the end of this month. The exact date is yet to be determined.
We will post an update when the biopsy date is set. Meanwhile, please continue to remember Elle in your prayers. Thanks so much for your support!
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Sunday, July 12, 2009
21 years...
21 years. Wow, it's hard to believe I rode my first Pan Mass Challenge 21 years ago. A lot has changed. One thing has remained constant. Cancer is still with us unfortunately though there have been great strides made since then.
21 year ago it was my son's first birthday (he got over it). It was 1989. We were all so much younger...
How did I get here? How did I get involved with the PMC? I'd love to say it was all for the Jimmy Fund and the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. Sure I had people in my life affected by Cancer. I was well aware of the Jimmy Fund. That just wasn't the path that lead me here.
It all started at a bar (what doesn't). My friend Turk and I were talking with others that had ridden the 1988 PMC. That year was brutally hot all weekend long. All were talking about how tough it was and how much fun it was. I was not a hard core cyclist. The people we were with ranged from licensed racers to "average everyday people". After a few beers Turk and I got into it with one of them and needless to say our challenge was out there. We figured if these people could do it then so could we. We'd need a bike first...
Sure I had a bike back then but it was the Raleigh Record I had as a kid. It was a tank. I'd still ride it a few miles here and there. It was time to go out and get my first real "nice road bike". It cost a whopping $400. I couldn't imagine spending more on a bicycle. Little did I know what I was getting myself into. So now that I had this cool road machine it was time to train. Oh yeah, I also had to get a helmet. Helmets, who wore them back then? It was required by the PMC if we were going to ride so I purchased one. Man these things were goofy looking. OK, now we had helmets and bikes and we were ready to roll.
The first training rides were about 15 miles long. This was hard! How the heck were we going to ride 200 miles in two days? Oh yeah, we realized we should probably get some of those funny looking spandex shorts too. People said they were comfy and to ignore how they looked. We were styling now.
We trained during our lunch hour. We rode on weekends. We got up to doing 30 mile rides. It was still hard... Our final training culminated with a long ride. It was 40 miles from Easton to Marlborough to work. Yeah, we were ready.
That first Pan Mass was filled with pain, rain, fun, and all sorts of new experiences. The first 85 miles it was a torrential downpour. Then the sun came out and it was a beautiful day. Our first time at the Mass Maritime Academy post day 1 was incredible. Here were 700 people all having just ridden 112 miles in the rain and eventually heat and they were all smiling and having fun. We ate, drank, and got to sleep early. We wondered how we were going to get back on that machine the next morning. Let me tell you something, it wasn't easy. We did it though. We learned the cape is not flat. We met new friends. We accomplished something that seemed impossible to us. We learned a lot about what this event was really about. What started as a bar challenge ended up as something far more than I could have ever imagined. "I got it". I realized why 700 cyclists would ride through some of the worst weather that summer had. It was all about the kids. It was all about the people battling all types of Cancer. It was all about helping to find a cure. It was about this group of amazing people all working together. I was hooked.
The fund raising minimum was $700 that year. The PMC's goal was $700,000 total. We raised 1 million dollars! Wow, I was part of something that just raised a boatload of money. I had decided I would do it the following year but had no idea how we'd beat that number.
The following year we got organized. "Team Roadent" was formed. Turk and I met these guys known as the "B-Czar B-Stees" our first year and we thought it would be cool to form our own team. Teams didn't really exist back then for the PMC. Our team brought in 18-20 riders from Stratus Computer. We held bake sales to raise money for the team. We trained as a team. We had a lot of fun. Most of that team no longer ride the event. I'm still there. My B-Stee friends ended up being my team after a bout 7 years with "Team Roadent". Being part of the B-Stees was a lot of fun. At times it was very controversial too. Look for a future blog entry on this (though there's no way one entry will cover it all...)
Anyway, back to the beginning. It was 1990 and I was training for my second PMC. I was riding home from work one day when I met Tim Brightman. We both stopped at a traffic light. Noticed the PMC shirts and started chatting. We saw each other at my second, his 3rd PMC. We'd run into each other over the years and eventually started riding together. I was eventually training more and more with this team known as PHAT Tuesday. I figured it was time to join up with them officially. I'm still an honorary B-Stee and there'll always be a part of me that's a B-Stee. However these days I'm proud to be PHAT! My PHAT team and extended team are about the best people I know. We bring 20 cyclists to the event and many more that train with us during the season. The extended PHAT family is made up of pedal partners, past and present. It includes our families. It's tough to really put into words but what started as a small team by Tim and some others has grown into one of the best and most recognized team in the event. At least we like to think so.
21 years. My son will turn 21 this year soon after the event. My daughter who wasn't born when I started riding the PMC is 17 and she volunteers for the PMC on the weekend of the event along with my wife and other family members. Most of the people I started riding with no longer ride for one reason or another. However a lot of the people I met way back then still do and are part of my PMC family. One thing is constant. The first weekend of August every year you will find me out there riding in the Pan Mass Challenge. I will continue to do this as long as I'm healthy enough to ride and as long as Cancer is still with us.
21 years. These days I spend far more on a pair of wheels than I did on an entire bike back then. Fund raising minimum for me is $6000 but I strive for more. I hit a lifetime fundraising achievement of $100,000 last year. This is something I'm very proud of. These days a short training ride for me is 30 miles, typical is 50-60 miles.
21 years. What a long strange trip it's been but I wouldn't change a thing.
Hate Cancer? Please help to end it by donating to my fund raising. Donate securely at https://www.pmc.org/egifts//makeadonation.asp?EgiftID=BS0011
21 year ago it was my son's first birthday (he got over it). It was 1989. We were all so much younger...
How did I get here? How did I get involved with the PMC? I'd love to say it was all for the Jimmy Fund and the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. Sure I had people in my life affected by Cancer. I was well aware of the Jimmy Fund. That just wasn't the path that lead me here.
It all started at a bar (what doesn't). My friend Turk and I were talking with others that had ridden the 1988 PMC. That year was brutally hot all weekend long. All were talking about how tough it was and how much fun it was. I was not a hard core cyclist. The people we were with ranged from licensed racers to "average everyday people". After a few beers Turk and I got into it with one of them and needless to say our challenge was out there. We figured if these people could do it then so could we. We'd need a bike first...
Sure I had a bike back then but it was the Raleigh Record I had as a kid. It was a tank. I'd still ride it a few miles here and there. It was time to go out and get my first real "nice road bike". It cost a whopping $400. I couldn't imagine spending more on a bicycle. Little did I know what I was getting myself into. So now that I had this cool road machine it was time to train. Oh yeah, I also had to get a helmet. Helmets, who wore them back then? It was required by the PMC if we were going to ride so I purchased one. Man these things were goofy looking. OK, now we had helmets and bikes and we were ready to roll.
The first training rides were about 15 miles long. This was hard! How the heck were we going to ride 200 miles in two days? Oh yeah, we realized we should probably get some of those funny looking spandex shorts too. People said they were comfy and to ignore how they looked. We were styling now.
We trained during our lunch hour. We rode on weekends. We got up to doing 30 mile rides. It was still hard... Our final training culminated with a long ride. It was 40 miles from Easton to Marlborough to work. Yeah, we were ready.
That first Pan Mass was filled with pain, rain, fun, and all sorts of new experiences. The first 85 miles it was a torrential downpour. Then the sun came out and it was a beautiful day. Our first time at the Mass Maritime Academy post day 1 was incredible. Here were 700 people all having just ridden 112 miles in the rain and eventually heat and they were all smiling and having fun. We ate, drank, and got to sleep early. We wondered how we were going to get back on that machine the next morning. Let me tell you something, it wasn't easy. We did it though. We learned the cape is not flat. We met new friends. We accomplished something that seemed impossible to us. We learned a lot about what this event was really about. What started as a bar challenge ended up as something far more than I could have ever imagined. "I got it". I realized why 700 cyclists would ride through some of the worst weather that summer had. It was all about the kids. It was all about the people battling all types of Cancer. It was all about helping to find a cure. It was about this group of amazing people all working together. I was hooked.
The fund raising minimum was $700 that year. The PMC's goal was $700,000 total. We raised 1 million dollars! Wow, I was part of something that just raised a boatload of money. I had decided I would do it the following year but had no idea how we'd beat that number.
The following year we got organized. "Team Roadent" was formed. Turk and I met these guys known as the "B-Czar B-Stees" our first year and we thought it would be cool to form our own team. Teams didn't really exist back then for the PMC. Our team brought in 18-20 riders from Stratus Computer. We held bake sales to raise money for the team. We trained as a team. We had a lot of fun. Most of that team no longer ride the event. I'm still there. My B-Stee friends ended up being my team after a bout 7 years with "Team Roadent". Being part of the B-Stees was a lot of fun. At times it was very controversial too. Look for a future blog entry on this (though there's no way one entry will cover it all...)
Anyway, back to the beginning. It was 1990 and I was training for my second PMC. I was riding home from work one day when I met Tim Brightman. We both stopped at a traffic light. Noticed the PMC shirts and started chatting. We saw each other at my second, his 3rd PMC. We'd run into each other over the years and eventually started riding together. I was eventually training more and more with this team known as PHAT Tuesday. I figured it was time to join up with them officially. I'm still an honorary B-Stee and there'll always be a part of me that's a B-Stee. However these days I'm proud to be PHAT! My PHAT team and extended team are about the best people I know. We bring 20 cyclists to the event and many more that train with us during the season. The extended PHAT family is made up of pedal partners, past and present. It includes our families. It's tough to really put into words but what started as a small team by Tim and some others has grown into one of the best and most recognized team in the event. At least we like to think so.
21 years. My son will turn 21 this year soon after the event. My daughter who wasn't born when I started riding the PMC is 17 and she volunteers for the PMC on the weekend of the event along with my wife and other family members. Most of the people I started riding with no longer ride for one reason or another. However a lot of the people I met way back then still do and are part of my PMC family. One thing is constant. The first weekend of August every year you will find me out there riding in the Pan Mass Challenge. I will continue to do this as long as I'm healthy enough to ride and as long as Cancer is still with us.
21 years. These days I spend far more on a pair of wheels than I did on an entire bike back then. Fund raising minimum for me is $6000 but I strive for more. I hit a lifetime fundraising achievement of $100,000 last year. This is something I'm very proud of. These days a short training ride for me is 30 miles, typical is 50-60 miles.
21 years. What a long strange trip it's been but I wouldn't change a thing.
Hate Cancer? Please help to end it by donating to my fund raising. Donate securely at https://www.pmc.org/egifts//makeadonation.asp?EgiftID=BS0011
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Teammate Profile - Donna Kleinman
Why I do the PMC...
In 1992 my husband, Sam, of 11 years was diagnosed with advanced lung cancer. We had been married 11 years and were raising our 5 year old son Jason. Sam had lost his first wife to cancer many years earlier, so he knew all too well what was in store for him. Despite a not so good prognosis, Sam opted for the all the treatments, surgery was not an option, so chemo and radiation began. We spent the next 3 years trying to live a normal life.
Sam was in and out of the hospital over the duration, had many times when he was well enough to carry on, be a husband and father. We continued to travel, spend time with friends and family and he continued to work when he could, but as the years went by those days become fewer and fewer and eventually the cancer spread and the prognosis was not good. He was in a lot of pain, but never spoke about it. Jason and he would watch football together and that is probably my son’s best memory.
I will never forget Sam and the many wonderful memories and life we lived. I am so grateful for those years even though they were fewer than what should have been. My son Jason reminds me a lot of Sam and in many ways he lives on in Jason.
On August 23, 1995 Sam lost his fight. Crossing the finish line in Provincetown is my ongoing tribute to Sam, and all those who are faced with this diagnosis. My hope is that my son and many others will never lose another loved one to cancer and be spared the pain and sadness that he once did as a little boy.
I continue to ride in his memory but in addition I now ride for all those I know who have survived…my friend s Renee, Anne, Pam …and the fact that the circle called “LIVING PROOF” grows larger every year.
This August, I will be riding my 9th Pan-Mass Challenge.
Donna (Marie Rose) Kleinman
You can support Donna at www.pmc.org/dk0056
.
In 1992 my husband, Sam, of 11 years was diagnosed with advanced lung cancer. We had been married 11 years and were raising our 5 year old son Jason. Sam had lost his first wife to cancer many years earlier, so he knew all too well what was in store for him. Despite a not so good prognosis, Sam opted for the all the treatments, surgery was not an option, so chemo and radiation began. We spent the next 3 years trying to live a normal life.
Sam was in and out of the hospital over the duration, had many times when he was well enough to carry on, be a husband and father. We continued to travel, spend time with friends and family and he continued to work when he could, but as the years went by those days become fewer and fewer and eventually the cancer spread and the prognosis was not good. He was in a lot of pain, but never spoke about it. Jason and he would watch football together and that is probably my son’s best memory.
I will never forget Sam and the many wonderful memories and life we lived. I am so grateful for those years even though they were fewer than what should have been. My son Jason reminds me a lot of Sam and in many ways he lives on in Jason.
On August 23, 1995 Sam lost his fight. Crossing the finish line in Provincetown is my ongoing tribute to Sam, and all those who are faced with this diagnosis. My hope is that my son and many others will never lose another loved one to cancer and be spared the pain and sadness that he once did as a little boy.
I continue to ride in his memory but in addition I now ride for all those I know who have survived…my friend s Renee, Anne, Pam …and the fact that the circle called “LIVING PROOF” grows larger every year.
This August, I will be riding my 9th Pan-Mass Challenge.
Donna (Marie Rose) Kleinman
You can support Donna at www.pmc.org/dk0056
.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Fundraising Update
July 6th - Team PHAT Tuesday's fundraising total today: $55,796.56 ...
You can add to this total and help us fight Cancer by donating to the team or your favorite member of the PHAT's...
visit www.phattuesday.org/phatriders for a team list..
We thank you for your support!
You can add to this total and help us fight Cancer by donating to the team or your favorite member of the PHAT's...
visit www.phattuesday.org/phatriders for a team list..
We thank you for your support!
Monday, July 6, 2009
Team Profile
Team PHAT Tuesday Profile
In the spring of 1997, Kevin and Deb Robbins along with Fred Paine did a St. Jude charity ride from what is now the Boston Sports Club in Franklin. On the return ride to Milford, the talk was all about the roads they had ridden earlier in the day. The following week Kevin went to PMC Headquarters and received a list of PMC riders in the Franklin-Milford area and sent out invitations to do this route as a weekly training ride. The first year riders were Kevin and Deb Robbins, Fred Paine, Tim Brightman, Kevin Fitzpatrick, Marc Mann and Deb (Kickstand) Hill. Today each of the original PHATs remain active in the PMC and Team PHAT Tuesday. The average age of members is 47 years old and has ridden an average 14 years. To date, the PHAT Tuesday team members have raised over $1 million dollars for the PMC and its lifesaving effort to find a cure for cancer.
Several years later the start point was moved to its current location at the Jefferson – Remington School to accommodate the growing number of riders for a safer start/finish point. Today the weekly ride attracts 40-50 riders of varying abilities.
In 2001 after much debate about a team name, PHAT Tuesday became an official PMC Team. We needed to become an official team in order to participate in the Jimmy Fund Pedal Partner program, which matches a Jimmy Fund patient with a PMC Team. PHAT Tuesday members have their own very special reason for riding. The Pedal Partner creates a common reason and purpose to ride. Each year we have been matched with a different Pedal Partner. Each one has added to the experience of the PMC. We get to see first hand the lives we touch and the difference our efforts make on a daily basis.
The Pan Mass Challenge and PHAT Tuesday is not just an annual event but a life style and year round commitment.
To support Team PHAT Tuesday’s efforts visit http://www.pmc.org/tp0049
In the spring of 1997, Kevin and Deb Robbins along with Fred Paine did a St. Jude charity ride from what is now the Boston Sports Club in Franklin. On the return ride to Milford, the talk was all about the roads they had ridden earlier in the day. The following week Kevin went to PMC Headquarters and received a list of PMC riders in the Franklin-Milford area and sent out invitations to do this route as a weekly training ride. The first year riders were Kevin and Deb Robbins, Fred Paine, Tim Brightman, Kevin Fitzpatrick, Marc Mann and Deb (Kickstand) Hill. Today each of the original PHATs remain active in the PMC and Team PHAT Tuesday. The average age of members is 47 years old and has ridden an average 14 years. To date, the PHAT Tuesday team members have raised over $1 million dollars for the PMC and its lifesaving effort to find a cure for cancer.
Several years later the start point was moved to its current location at the Jefferson – Remington School to accommodate the growing number of riders for a safer start/finish point. Today the weekly ride attracts 40-50 riders of varying abilities.
In 2001 after much debate about a team name, PHAT Tuesday became an official PMC Team. We needed to become an official team in order to participate in the Jimmy Fund Pedal Partner program, which matches a Jimmy Fund patient with a PMC Team. PHAT Tuesday members have their own very special reason for riding. The Pedal Partner creates a common reason and purpose to ride. Each year we have been matched with a different Pedal Partner. Each one has added to the experience of the PMC. We get to see first hand the lives we touch and the difference our efforts make on a daily basis.
The Pan Mass Challenge and PHAT Tuesday is not just an annual event but a life style and year round commitment.
To support Team PHAT Tuesday’s efforts visit http://www.pmc.org/tp0049
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Marty's PMC Story, Pt. II - More Reasons to Ride...
Earlier this season I posted my PMC story here. I talked about a classmate of mine from high school who battled with cancer and passed away within a year after graduating.
Since I’ve started this journey, (and even before), I have learned (and continue to learn) how cancer has affected other people that I know:
Just recently, my step-father was diagnosed with Renal Cancer. Luckily they think they caught it in time. He is currently waiting to schedule a date to remove his kidney.
Marty
http://www.pmc.org/MM0373
Since I’ve started this journey, (and even before), I have learned (and continue to learn) how cancer has affected other people that I know:
- Right before my 20th High School reunion I reconnected with a good friend from school who wasn’t going to be attending. His reason: his wife had just recently passed away from cancer and he needed to be home with his 7 year old son.
- I’ve also learned about another classmate whose family has been battling Multiple Myeoloma (blood cancer).
- I learned through FaceBook that someone I dated briefly is a cancer survivor.
- I also reconnected with a former college roommate who has just recently been battling Multiple Myeoloma.
Just recently, my step-father was diagnosed with Renal Cancer. Luckily they think they caught it in time. He is currently waiting to schedule a date to remove his kidney.
Marty
http://www.pmc.org/MM0373
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
