It was a Pan-Mass Challenge for the record books! The weather forecasts came true, and we had the wettest PMC in its 35-year history. From the ominous sprinkles as we rolled out of Sturbridge to the downpours that occurred during the last 20 miles of Day 1, Saturday was a very wet, very cold day. Sunday wasn't "dry" so much as it was "less wet." But luckily the last 40 miles of Day 2 were rain-free, helping me to ride my fastest Day 2 since 2009.I'm not going to bore you with the details of the ride (the photo on the left sums it up pretty well!), but I will note some of the highlights of my ride:
- At around mile 50 on Day 1, shortly after riding down the famous Cherry Street (where the entire neighborhood comes out to cheer each of us on), Jacqui (wife of teammate Danno) provides Team Kinetic Karma with our very own water stop. She greets us with huge cheers, an even bigger smile, and most importantly, amazing food! Jacqui, the spread was delicious - thanks so much!
- The fourth water stop on Day 1 is designated as the Pedal Partner water stop. For about a quarter-mile leading up to the rest stops, volunteers place huge posters of children for whom PMC teams are riding (these children are undergoing cancer treatment at Dana-Farber. I cried as I rode into the water stop (like I always do) but I replaced the tears with a huge smile when we saw Anna, Team Kinetic Karma's Pedal Partner! She was all smiles as "her cycling team" hung out with her under the tent. She is such a joy, and we are happy to be riding for her.
- For the last few miles of Day 1, I was riding by myself and then came upon my teammate and friend, Susan. We rode the last few (absolutely soaking wet!) miles together. She couldn't contain her joy as we rolled into the Day 1 finish line - she was hooting and hollering! I couldn't blame her. But it was the person by the finish line who, at that emotional moment, looked me in the eye and said "thank you for riding" that got my tears flowing again.
- Day 2 is always filled with fun milestones - riding over the Bourne Bridge, watching the sun rise (well, maybe not this year) over the Cape Cod Canal, and the roller coaster ride that is Service Road. But the first really special place that all PMC riders look forward to is Da Hedge. It's a roughly 1,000-foot stretch of Route 6A that is lined (5-6 deep) with children at Cape Cod Sea Camps, screaming and cheering their heads off for us. It's a wonderful 30 seconds of cheers. Luckily, this year there was very little car traffic and many of my teammates were riding with me in formation, so we saluted back in Team Kinetic Karma fashion! It was just the boost we all needed on an otherwise wet day.
- The second highlight of Day 2 was finishing the ride strong and (relatively!) dry. I owe my relatively fast speed to my teammates, who helped motivate me up the hills, and to a desire to really show cancer who's boss! The photo to the right is an annual Team Kinetic Karma tradition, but this year we had many more teammates join us for the photo! Toasting (with Gatorate) another successful PMC!
To those of you who have made donations to my ride this year, THANK YOU. We really are making cancer history, and Dave is literally Living Proof of that! For the others, there is still time to make a tax-deductible donation to support my ride! 100% of your donation will go straight to the Jimmy Fund in support of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute's life-saving research and care. Click here to make your donation today.
2014 PMC - done! :)
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