The 2024 PMC will be Monumental!

Me after my latest training ride!

Trees are leafing out, the weather is (finally!) starting to get warm, and my road bike is off of my trainer. The sun has risen on Pan-Mass Challenge (PMC) training season! I couldn't be more excited for my 21st PMC this August.

The pleasant weather motivated me finally to swap my indoor tires for outdoor riding tires and get out on the road. I've been on several outdoor training rides this season, after doing indoor training this winter. My legs are getting stronger, even if I haven't yet beaten any of my previous time records for the various segments of my training routes. It's a ride, not a race, but continuing to train will ensure that I finish the ride AND can have a celebratory beer at the finish line without passing out. :)

The PMC is my favorite weekend of the year. Sure, two full days is a lot of time to sit on a tiny bike seat, and no, the Cape is NOT flat. It's the camaraderie among the riders, the support provided by the awesome volunteers, and the cheers of the people that line all 190 miles of the route that make it the best weekend of the year. It is the best of humanity on display, and who couldn't use more humanity these days?

Did I mention beer? There is beer. No, not while we ride, but after at all of the main hub sites of the ride. And NOTHING tastes better than an ice-cold beer after riding 110 miles in a day! Fluffernutters are a close second.

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 over 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.

Team Kinetic Karma at the Heavy Hitter Evening

Earlier in May, some of my teammates and I attended the PMC Heavy Hitter Evening, a celebration of the PMC's biggest fundraisers. To me, it feels like the official kickoff of the PMC season. In addition to reuniting with teammates and fellow riders, it is an opportunity to hear from PMC leadership about the upcoming ride; from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute leadership about clinical trials, facilities, and care that have been supported or enhanced with PMC funding; and from doctors and patients who are on the front lines of the cancer fight. These reminders of why we ride are what inspires me to ride the PMC year after year. 

And what a year we are expecting in 2024! After last year's record-breaking $72 million fundraising total, the PMC's lifetime fundraising total is $972 million. We will cross the BILLION-dollar threshold this year! This is an unprecedented and monumental achievement, thanks in no small support to your continued support of this amazing cause.

My favorite pic of me and my friend Kim from the 2023 PMC

I have no doubt that many of the cancer innovations and increases in survival rates that we have seen since the PMC's inaugural ride in 1980—and even in the last 20 years of me riding—are due in large part to the monumental charitable movement that is the Pan-Mass Challenge.

As I embark on the 2024 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. My personal fundraising goal this year is $20,000. 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.