Tomorrow, We Ride.

This is the part of the summer where the butterflies start settling into my stomach (anticipation has always been a palpable feeling for me). Knowing that my favorite weekend of the year, the Pan-Mass Challenge, is approaching always makes my stomach churn in the best way. As the years of me riding the PMC went on, uncertainty about what the ride would be like turned into certainty that it would be hard, but also so, so amazing. The butterflies in my stomach have changed color over time, but they still appear as PMC weekend approaches.

This year, the butterflies feel a little more intense, like those from 2004 (my first PMC), from 2006 (my first PMC starting in Sturbridge), from 2014 (the cold downpour PMC), and from 2020 (my "reimagined" Covid PMC). They are uncertainty butterflies, but hopeful butterflies. Things will be different this year:

• I've signed up for an extra 60 miles of riding on the day before the PMC - Have I trained enough? 
• The new starting location is Worcester - What will it be like? Will it live up to the traditional Sturbridge start? Will I know where to go?
• The start of the Day 1 route will be different - Will it be easier or harder? Will people still come to cheer us on?

But some of the most important things will be the same. I am still riding to Provincetown, as I have done every single year since 2004. Most of the route will be on familiar roads. We will visit with our new Pedal Partner, Maggie, at the Pedal Partner water stop on Saturday. We will cross the Bourne Bridge. We will ride the dunes. We will eat fluffernutters. We will laugh, cry, and experience all of the same emotions we feel during every PMC. This year's PMC will be a display of humanity at its finest, as it always is.

Thank you to the many of you who have already virtually jumped on my handlebars and contributed toward my fundraising goal. If you haven't donated yet, there is still plenty of time! I’m only $2,700 away from my $20,000 goal. I would love for you to join in this ride, join this fight. Now, more than ever, it is important to support the fight against cancer. 100% of your donation will go directly to the Jimmy Fund in support of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute's ground-breaking cancer research. Please make your cancer-fighting donation now!

Follow me on Facebook and Instagram tomorrow through Sunday as I ride 240 miles across Massachusetts. You will be the wind at my back, the virtual cheers on the sidelines, and I will think of you all as we literally say cheers to a ride well ridden in Provincetown on Friday. 

I really, really appreciate your support.