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