Lance and Me

It's official. Lance Armstrong will be joining me for this weekend's Pan Mass Challenge. (Me and 5300 other cyclists raising money for cancer research.)

For Lance, the 192 mile ride is little more than a warm-up jaunt around the neighborhood. For the rest of us, it's a wonderful way to spend two days on our bikes, enjoying the scenery, the comraderie and supporting the mission of the PMC.

For me, the ride is a gift -- an opportunity to make new friends, see old friends, enjoy two days on the bike cheerleading for such an important cause. It is the payback for the months of training and fundrasing. One of the very special parts of the ride, for me, is the climb along the ocean in Wellfleet. When I first did the ride some 15 years ago, I struggled up this climb. Now I attack it, drawing strength from my fellow riders and the onlookers. Here's what the climb looks like from my vantage point.

I committed to raising $10,000 for cancer research this year and to pedaling the 192 miles from Wellesley to Provincetown. I will continue to share some of last year's videos with you, so that you can enjoy the sights and sounds of the ride.

I have a fabulous support team for the ride, including my wife who has been volunteering for the PMC for many years. In fact, for every two riders, there's one volunteer -- a team of more than 2,500 volunteers who help ensure that the event is successful.

And I have built a team of financial supporters over the years, several hundred people who donate $10 or more (averaging almost $150 per person). Without this second team, the PMC would be just another weekend bike ride.

I need your help to make my personal goal. Together we will raise $35 million this year for cancer research, with fully 100% of all donations going to the Jimmy Fund and the Dana Farber. 100%!

The ride starts in 4 days. I have training and fundraising to do and I appreciate your support.

Best,

Lee

To donate, please visit https://www.pmc.org/egifts/MakeADonation.asp?eGiftID=LL0033

11 Days to Go

(Originally written on July 26, 2011)

Myra Kraft passed away last week, after a battle with cancer. She was an amazing woman, giving so much of herself over the years. She ran the New England Patriots Charitable Foundation; was active in the Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston, the United Way of Massachusetts Bay, the American Repertory Theater, and the Combined Jewish Philanthropies, among others.

In addition, for more than 30 years, she supported the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Her husband, Robert, is a Dana-Farber trustee. I don't know if she ever rode the Pan Mass Challenge, but I would not be surprised if she had! 

Given her work with children, she would have enjoyed riding by the summer camp in Brewster. Every year the campers line up alongside the road, cheering and doing the "wave" as we ride by.

 Here is a rider's view of their cheer.

I committed to raising $10,000 for cancer research this year and to pedaling the 190 miles from Wellesley to Provincetown. Over the next few weeks, I will share more of last year's videos with you, so that you can enjoy the sights and sounds of the ride.

I have a fabulous support team for the ride, including my wife who has been volunteering for the PMC for many years. In fact, for every two riders, there's one volunteer -- a team of more than 2,500 volunteers who help ensure that the event is successful.

And I have built a team of financial supporters over the years, several hundred people who donate $10 or more (averaging almost $150 per person). Without this second team, the PMC would be just another weekend bike ride.

With your help, we will raise $35 million this year for cancer research, with fully 100% of all donations going to the Jimmy Fund and the Dana Farber. 100%!

The ride starts in 11 days. I have training and fundraising to do. I appreciate your support.

Best,

Lee

To donate, please visit https://www.pmc.org/egifts/MakeADonation.asp?eGiftID=LL0033

Amie's Story

(Originally written June 26, 2011)

My friend Amie has been battling cancer for six years. For the past two, I've ridden the PMC with her, and hope to ride with her again this August. On Saturday, she was at Fenway Park, with the Boston Bruins, the Stanley Cup, and the annual gathering of the PMC at Fenway. Here's a link to a short video in which she discusses her cancer, the PMC and the Dana Farber.

And here is a link to a video of Amie, her husband Greg and the rest of our PMC team riding into the Provincetown finish line at the 2010 PMC.

With your help, Amie will be able to enjoy many more PMC finishes like this one!

I committed to raising $10,000 for cancer research this year and to pedaling the 190 miles from Wellesley to Provincetown. Over the next few weeks, I will share more of last year's videos with you, so that you can enjoy the sights and sounds of the ride.

I have a fabulous support team for the ride, including my wife who has been volunteering for the PMC for many years. In fact, for every two riders, there's one volunteer -- a team of more than 2,500 volunteers who help ensure that the event is successful.

And I have built a team of financial supporters over the years, several hundred people who donate $10 or more (averaging almost $150 per person). Without this second team, the PMC would be just another weekend bike ride.

With your help, we will raise $35 million this year for cancer research, with fully 100% of all donations going to the Jimmy Fund and the Dana Farber. 100%!

The ride starts in 41 days. I have training and fundraising to do. I appreciate your support.

Best,

Lee

To donate, please visit https://www.pmc.org/egifts/MakeADonation.asp?eGiftID=LL0033

Too Young

(Originally written May 15, 2011)

In January, as I have done in each of the previous 13 Januarys, I registered for the Pan Mass Challenge and committed to raising money for cancer research. Between the snow, the rain, the new job and life in general, however, I have not been focusing on PMC training.

While my bike waits patiently, cancer does not. We've lost more than a few good people to cancer this year, some famous, some family, some friends. The news delivers the constant reminder that the fight must go on.

And then I attended the Needham Relay for Life this weekend and noticed a young girl walking in the first lap of the event...the Survivor's Lap.

She's too young to be a survivor, I thought. That's just not fair.

Survivors are supposed to be older, adults who can understand the disease, who can ask questions of the doctors, who can deal with the questions "why me" and "what if"...and sometimes "how long."

Then I thought of the young girl, another cancer survivor, who I met at a water stop during the 2009 PMC. When I asked if I could take her picture, she requested my camera and demanded a picture of me! That brief encounter left a large imprint.

This courageous young girl was battling cancer and just didn't know that things should be different, that she should be out playing ball or roller skating or playing with friends, rather than going to the Dana Faber and receiving chemo.

Or maybe she did know...and was insisting on some normalcy in her life. After all, I was the one who had just ridden 80 miles on a bicycle (on my way to Bourne and 100 miles for the first day), while she sat with her mom and sister under a shade tree watching the event. She did take a great picture.

So I ride for her and for all the other children who shouldn't have to deal with cancer.

I committed to raising $10,000 for cancer research this year and to pedaling the 190 miles from Wellesley to Provincetown. The ride itself should be easy...I've done it many times before and it is always my favorite ride of the year. I see old friends, make new ones, laugh and cry with all.

I have a fabulous support team for the ride, including my wife who has been volunteering for the PMC for many years. In fact, for every two riders, there's one volunteer -- a team of more than 2,500 volunteers who help ensure that the event is successful.

And I have built a team of financial supporters over the years, several hundred people who donate $10 or more (averaging almost $150 per person). Without this second team, the PMC would be just another weekend bike ride.

With your help, we will raise $35 million this year for cancer research, with fully 100% of all donations going to the Jimmy Fund and the Dana Farber. 100%!

The ride starts in 82 days. I have training and fundraising to do. I appreciate your support.

Best,

Lee

To donate, please visit https://www.pmc.org/egifts/MakeADonation.asp?eGiftID=LL0033