Kicking off Year 20(!) of Riding the PMC!

How is it summer already? Did spring actually happen? Asking for a friend. While I’ve never been busier at work, the Pan-Mass Challenge has been constantly on my mind—partly because it’s my favorite weekend of the year (and it’s just over six weeks away!) and partly because it will be my 20^th PMC ride.

Me being silly at the 2008 PMC, my 5th.

20^th. You read that right. I can hardly believe it either. I still have vivid memories of my first ride. In the summer of 2004, fresh out of undergrad, I moved to Boston and even before I found a job, I registered for the Pan-Mass Challenge. I had admired the event from afar for a few years and decided to “commit and figure it out.” I spent June and July training on my mountain bike that I had put smooth tires on for road riding. I was a cyclist, I had fundraised before—this will be great!

It WAS great, but it was also one of the biggest challenges of my life. The hills were hillier that I expected, my bike was heavier and less performant than I needed it to be, and I really wasn’t expecting to turn to ride in the dunes of Provincetown after 190 miles of challenging riding! The hardest part was the fundraising—as a 22-year-old, I didn’t have a large network of friends, family, and colleagues to support this big fundraising effort. As the 2004 PMC wound down, I said to myself, “this was fun, but let’s not do this again for a while.”

First PMC training ride of 2023!

When registration for the 2005 PMC came up, I forgot all the hard stuff, remembered the great stuff nostalgically, and signed up for year 2. And I haven’t looked back since! The PMC is part of my DNA now. My collection of 19 PMC jerseys (some of which no longer fit!) is my trophy closet—each one brings back memories of amazing PMC weekends past. It is an honor and a privilege to participate in this wonderful event each year.

What makes it wonderful? It's two days of heart-warming camaraderie among riders, amazing support provided by the dedicated volunteers, and 190 miles cheers from the people that line all 190 miles of the route that make it the most wonderful weekend of the year. It is the best of humanity on display, and who couldn't use more humanity these days?

The real motivation to ride year after year isn't the physical challenge, or the camaraderie, or the volunteer support, or the cheers. It is the pursuit of a world where families aren't torn apart by cancer. I've made it my mission for 20 years to raise as much money as I can to support the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in its fight against cancer. Every year I am reminded of the amazing advancements that result from our fundraising dollars, and sadly, every year I am reminded of cancer's toll on the families of friends and loved ones. Hearing the stories of those who have fought cancer motivates me to clip in and ride again. Until we make cancer HISTORY.

2022's record-shattering $69 million donation increased the total amount of funds raised by PMC riders to an astonishing $900 million. I have no doubt that many of the cancer innovations and increases in survival rates that we have seen over the last 44 years—and even in the last 20 years of me riding—are due in part to the monumental charitable movement that is the Pan-Mass Challenge.

As I embark on the 2023 PMC, I am asking you to jump on my handlebars and join me in supporting the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute to continue and expand their life-saving work. To honor my 20^th year of riding, I’ve increased my fundraising goal to $20,000—my highest goal ever, by far. It is a lofty goal, but achievable with support from generous people like you. We all have our personal connections to cancer—a family member, friend, neighbor, or colleague—I ride for them all, in honor of their fight or in memory of their spirit. Please make a cancer-fighting donation today and help us make cancer HISTORY.

Team Kinetic Karma at the end of Day 1 in 2022