Another PMC in the Books!

This was my 8th PMC, so you'd think that my memories of each ride are beginning to blur together. Not true. Every PMC experience is unique and special. Some years I ride with friends and teammates. Other years I connect with other riders in a meaningful way. This year, it rained!

So, I really can't complain. It only rained on Sunday, and it was mostly sprinkles while we were riding. There are many other aspects of this year's ride that make it a memorable one. Rather than recount my entire weekend, I'll spare you the details and will hit upon the highlights of my 275-mile trek across Massachusetts.

Western Mass is hilly. Mountainous even. But having done the Day 0 ride last year prepared me for what was to come - 35 miles of climbing before a long 5-mile descent, then dozens of miles to Sturbridge. I took it easy this year and was surprised at how good I felt at the end of the ride. One of the unexpected elements of Day 0 was that I saw much of the destruction from the June tornado that hit Western Mass. We rode on Route 20 in Brimfield, which parallels the route that the tornado took. The felled trees and boarded-up homes were a reminder of nature's brute force and how in many ways we are powerless against it. Thankfully, because of the hard work of doctors and researchers (which is funded by PMC donors), we are waging a fight and cancer and are winning on several fronts. Here's a video of some of the highlights of Day 0.

Day 1, as always, was filled with inspiring moments. Lance Armstrong joined the other 5,300 riders this year as yet another "Living Proof" rider, those that have fought cancer. Sure, he's inspirational, even heroic. But he's not the cancer fighter that inspired me that day. The woman in the photo with him - I don't even know her name or her story - but she played a huge part in my Day 1 ride. Based on her appearance, I'm guessing she is in the middle of her cancer treatment - the fact that she was even out there on her bike was inspiring. But as we rode those first few miles from the Sturbridge start line, we began to climb. As the hill started to get steep, one of her riding companions gently put his hand on her back and helped her ascend the hill. It was a touching moment that reflects our larger effort. All of us, those directly and indirectly affected by cancer, work together to make a difference in the lives of those fighting the disease. This moment provided me the inspiration to power up that hill. I saw this woman several times throughout the weekend, and her smile was always as bright as you see in this photo.

I awoke on Day 2 to rain. Damn, my first wet PMC in 8 years, but the ride goes on. Luckily it only sprinkled throughout the day on the Cape. The photo to the right was a particularly special moment of this wet day. My fellow rider and friend Andy Seguin battled and defeated cancer 15 years ago, but it's back. He's currently undergoing chemotherapy in Baltimore, where he now lives, and was up on the Cape to visit his teammates and take part in the PMC as a spectator. He was positioned less than a mile before the first water stop of Day 2. I stopped to visit and we shared a big hug and reminisced about past PMCs where we've ridden together for part of the ride. Seeing Andy provided me the inspiration to powerfully climb the hills in Truro and the dunes in Provincetown. Andy, thanks for making my Day 2 so special!

Now five days after the ride, my leg muscles have stopped hurting and I am back to my regular life. But that doesn't mean the fight against cancer is over! There are two ways you can contribute to the fight against cancer. First and foremost, make a donation! I am just $1,000 from reaching my fundraising goal, and every gift helps. Visit my fundraising page to make your donation today. Also, I and several other riders are holding a fundraising event at Flatbread Company in Davis Square on Tuesday, August 23. Join us, eat pizza, bowl, buy goodies and raffle tickets, and have a grand old time! Hope to see you there!

As always, thanks so much for your support. I wouldn't be able to do this without you!

Border-Bound

In just a few hours, my dad will arrive and take me and my teammate Lance (not Armstrong, the REAL Lance!) to Hillsdale, NY, where we'll stay overnight to prepare for our "Day 0" ride. Per usual, PMC weekend has approached faster than I could have imagined. Thoughts are swirling around my head about what awaits over the next three days. Here are some of the highlights:

• Day 0 is incredibly hard - biking up and over the Berkshires. There is a sign that indicates a 5-mile descent into the Pioneer Valley, which will be the highlight of the day. I'll come close to hitting 50 mph!
• Arriving in Sturbridge on Friday afternoon is a sight to behold. Thousands and thousands of riders and volunteers will be abuzz with positive energy. Oh, and Lance Armstrong will be there!
• Rollout on Saturday morning is incredible. The sun rises before us as we roll out and begin the official Pan-Mass Challenge ride.
• The signs that people hold up along the route are funny, tear-inducing, heartfelt, and fun. I can't wait to read them all and smile.
• Massage! I'm going to get a massage at the end of Day 1!
• Riding over the Bourne Bridge at the beginning of Day 2 is always a treat, even if it is a challenging hill. The views are incredible.
• Da Hedge! Riding by a shrubbery lined with hundreds of camping children is the pick-me-up we all need to finish the ride.
• Crossing the finish line in Provincetown has got to be one of the most bittersweet moments of my life. So happy for what I've accomplished, so sad to say goodbye to the weekend. A tear will be shed, guaranteed.

I'm leaving work early today to finish packing my weekend bag, then it's off to New York. There is still plenty of time to join the fight against cancer by making a donation. I'm overwhelmed by the support of my friends and family - thank you from the bottom of my heart!

Training Over

It's the Sunday before PMC weekend. My training is over, no matter how much I rode or didn't ride. On Thursday evening, I'm heading to the New York border and will rest before beginning the three-day 270-mile commitment that I've made.

Ever since I signed up for my 8th PMC in January, I knew this year's training would be different than last year's. In 2010 I was unemployed and had all the time in the world to train. I rode 1,200 miles in preparation of last year's PMC, but rode just half that this year. Still, I've felt very strong during my last few rides, and I feel physically ready to take on the challenge.

The time between my final training ride and leaving to start the PMC is not down time. This is a heavy fundraising week (in addition to packing!). I'm getting close to reaching my fundraising minimum and will be looking for support anywhere I can get it. That means you! Remember, 100 percent of your donation will go straight to the Jimmy Fund to help cure cancer. Please click here to support my ride.

Feeling Strong

The Pan-Mass Challenge (PMC) is in less than two weeks. Wait, what? Where did the summer go?! I've been traveling a lot for work and the weekends have been flying by. My work obligations kept me out of the the saddle more than I'd like, and I've been worried that my three-day, 270-mile ride would turn into a suffer fest.

Despite getting fewer miles in, I'm feeling pretty strong. Last weekend I biked 110 miles over the two days, and did the same this weekend. I plan to ride 120 miles next weekend, 75 of which will be on glorious Martha's Vineyard. While the rides are challenging, I finish them feeling accomplished and ready to take on the PMC.

So far this season I've biked through brisk spring mornings, searing summer sun, driving rain, and powerful headwinds (despite what science may say, there is no such thing as a tailwind!). I am ready for the PMC. Cancer, this is where you cower in fear - we're gonna get you!

That's where you come in. Please let my commitment inspire you to make a donation today. 100 percent of your donation will go to the Jimmy Fund in support of cancer research at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. They have researchers and scientists that are working hard to find new ways to treat and prevent cancer. Their successes are due in part to your generosity. Please support my efforts so that we can one day (soon) live in a world free of cancer. Click here to make your donation today.

Travelin’

I have been traveling quite a bit over the last few months for work, which has been cutting into my Pan-Mass Challenge training. I was in Minneapolis in April and Salt Lake City in June. I just returned from a trip to Portland, Oregon and will head to Tallahassee in July. While I am really enjoying the travel and the work, it unfortunately means I have that many fewer weekends on the bike.

I did, however, take some time while I was in Utah to drive down to Moab, home of Arches and Canyonlands National Parks. My original plan was to rent a bike and ride the 60-mile loop through Arches National Park, but thanks to some sound advice from a woman at the Visitor Center, I opted instead to drive through Arches and bike Canyonlands National Park’s “Island in the Sky.” I had never biked at high elevation before, and it really took its toll (yes, it was the altitude, not the lack of training, that caused my sluggishness!).

I’m glad I was able to get 34 difficult miles in the saddle in Utah, because the PMC is only five weeks away! Where did this summer go? Oh right, it just started. It’s really time to start ramping up my training, but also my fundraising. My goal is to be a “heavy hitter” and raise $6,400, 50% higher than the PMC’s fundraising requirement. Expect to hear from me soon about making your donation.

Cancer won’t go away without cutting edge research like what doctors and researchers are doing at Boston’s Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. 100% of your donation goes straight to the Jimmy Fund, Dana-Farber’s fundraising arm, so you can be sure your hard-earned dollars are going as far as possible to find cures for cancer. Be a part of a cancer-free future. Donate today.

The New Face of Cancer Care

In January, the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute opened its Yawkey Center for Cancer Care, a state-of-the-practice patient-centered treatment facility that is advancing cancer care in many ways. The Yawkey Center was created with guidance from patients and families in order to advance clinical care, optimize patient safety, and enhance the patient experience, all while providing a welcoming and nurturing environment.

The 275,000 square-foot space accommodates more than 100 exam rooms, more than 150 infusion spaces, and 20 consultation rooms. The building's soaring atrium is a welcoming presence to the world-class facility, a calming presence in the lives of those going through one of life's toughest challenges.

One of my Team Kinetic Karma teammates, Stephen, works as an architect for Dana-Farber and had a hand in the design and construction of this amazing facility. He gave my teammates and me a tour of the amazing facility. It's kind of amazing how they were able to make the entire facility non-hospital-like without limiting the abilities of the doctors and nurses to do their jobs (saving lives).

Here's a photo of the team on the Pan-Mass Challenge (PMC) Bridge to Progress, a skybridge that links two buildings at Dana-Farber. It showcases the PMC and its role in supporting innovative cancer research and compassionate cancer care at Dana-Farber. It was an honor to see our team's name inscribed on a plaque honoring PMC teams that had raised large amounts of money for Dana-Farber!

Dana-Farber decided to permanently commemorate the PMC through the construction of the Yawkey Center. Yesterday, Dana-Farber and PMC officials unveiled Pan-Massachusetts Challenge Plaza, which spans the length of the building along Brookline Avenue and is the first space people enter when visiting the center. The PMC is very worthy of this honor because it contributed $183 million to Dana-Farber's $1.18 bllion Mission Possible campaign. It's great to know that everyone who steps foot in the new Yawkey Center will be reminded of the PMC's important role in the fight against cancer.

If you've donated to the PMC in support of my rides over the past 8 years, you've had a hand in making the Yawkey Center everything that it is today. Of course though, the new building isn't enough to cure cancer. We are still riding and fundraising to ensure that cancer becomes history. Please make a donation today and be part of a cancer-free future. Our lives depend on it.

Heavy Hitter Dinner

A few weeks ago, I attended the 2011 PMC Heavy Hitter Dinner and had the honor of hearing the mother and father of a young family share the story about their son, Brent. In September 2004, one month after I embarked on my first Pan-Mass Challenge, Brent, then two-and-a-half, was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a rare and aggressive childhood cancer. His mother described the initial days of Brent’s illness, diagnosis and treatment. Amid the countless difficulties, she talked about how the disease made clear what really mattered in life and what didn’t. She also conveyed how, among the many horrible times, fighting a disease like this as a family, as a team, and as a community also has so many positive and even fun moments. Brent's father spoke of how he began riding the PMC in 2005 in Brent's honor, without much training due to the care for Brent's disease usurping much of his time. He formed Team Brentwheels which, since 2005, has raised over $2,000,000 for research that will one day unlock a cure for neuroblastoma.

Dr. Lisa Diller, the Clinical Director of Pediatric Oncology at Dana-Farber, spoke next. She said that when she started her career at Dana-Farber in the 1980s, she only had two long-term neuroblastoma survivors, one of whom subsequently relapsed. While she characterized advances in the treatment of neuroblastoma over the past few decades as crude, the survival prognosis for this particular cancer, which primarily strikes young children, had improved to ten percent a decade ago, and is now at almost 30 percent. Dr. Diller described one of the most fulfilling nights of her life which took place recently – a meeting of about a dozen adolescent neuroblastoma survivors who have been her patients over the years.

Dr. Diller mentioned that one of the newer therapies they’re applying uses an agent that targets neuroblastoma cells linked with a radioactive element, which delivers destructive radiation just to neuroblastoma cells with as little damage as possible to the patient’s normal cells. A key element of this treatment is the construction of a lead-lined room, in which the treatment can be administered to contain radiation exposure for everyone else. Such facilities are extremely expensive, but in this case it was made possible by the funding raised by Team Brentwheels, making Dana-Farber one of only eight such centers in the country that uses this new treatment technique.

At the end of the program, much to my relief, and the relief of the 600 others at the event that night, at the end of the speech, Brent, now nine years old and cancer-free, stood up and the room erupted in a standing ovation. This story has a happy ending. Brent, now nine, is LIVING PROOF that the work that the doctors, nurses, staff, and researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute are doing is making a difference in the world. Their work is funded by donations from people like you, hundreds of thousands of people who want to make cancer HISTORY.

Please consider making a donation to support my Pan-Mass Challenge ride. 100% percent of your donation will go directly to the Jimmy Fund, Dana-Farber's fundraising arm. You can rest assured that your hard-earned dollars are going as far as possible to cure cancers like neuroblastoma. Please support this amazing cause that is showing REAL results in the lives of kids like Brent.

Let the Training Begin!

It's mid-spring in Boston (even though it doesn't feel like it) so it's time to start training for the Pan-Mass Challenge! After working two jobs (I'm back down to one now) and moving into a new house (hooray!), I was finally able to get out for my first ride of the season on the last day of April. It was a relatively easy ride on familiar pavement, just to remind my body what it feels like to sit on a bike seat for a few hours. Much like living near the ocean, if I didn't live near such a world-class rail trail as the Minuteman Bikeway, life would a lot less pleasant.

The following week I revisited another familiar route that traverses the western suburbs of Boston, including Newton, Needham, Wellesley, Natick, and Dover. The rain-swollen Charles River was a sight to see! My average speed is starting to creep up as I put in the miles, but the rides I do early in the season are meant to focus on adding mileage, not perfecting pace. It was a fantastic day, albeit chilly - I even got a tan!

Yesterday I got out for another familiar, though shortened, route through Boston's northern suburbs with a jaunt through Harold Parker State Forest. It didn't look like it was going to be a great day for a ride, and I was reluctant to head out. Memories of my grandmother flooded my head, as did visions of Charlotte, Team Kinetic Karma's pedal partner, and thoughts of a few friends who are engaged in their own battles with cancer. I donned my spandex uniform, clipped in, and rode on.

Cancer motivates me to ride, even on the gloomiest of days, in the hopes that I help make others' days a little less gloomy. Cancer needs to end, and I'm doing everything in my power to stop it. Won't you join me? Visit my PMC fundraising page for more info about my ride and to make a donation. Your donations are saving lives. Period.

The Start of a New Year

Happy Spring! On gorgeous days like today, all I want to do is saddle up and ride off along the quiet roads of New England. The Pan-Mass Challenge (PMC) is exactly three months away, and I'll be spending that time striving to reach my training and fundraising goals for this, my 8th ride. I'll ride nearly 1,500 miles to prepare for the cross-state trek and raise $7,000 for the fight against cancer. I hope you'll join me as a donor, supporter, volunteer, or rider!

As I have done for the past few years, I'll be posting to my blog regularly with training and fundraising updates, in addition to providing more information about the PMC, the incredible research and compassionate cancer care that the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute conducts, and my personal connections to the disease. Please leave your comments, and be sure to let me know if you would like me to ride in honor or memory of a friend or loved one.

I'm looking forward to this journey, and let me take you along for the ride! If you'd like to show your support now and be among my first donors, please visit my fundraising page and make a secure online donation today!

Jared