| Hi,
I'd like to use this note and its replies as a "registry" for
DEC'cies participating in Pan-Mass 88. We can pool experiences,
share rides, etc. Maybe even wear a DEC t-shirt on Saturday
evening.
/ Jon Sreekanth
P.S. note 224, started last year, has more info on Pan-Mass
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| I'll be riding again for the 8th time. This ride has changed so
drastically! It gets much, much better organized each year, but
also more crowded, and the minimum pledge amount keeps going up.
It's a good ride for a great cause, but considering the number of
people, and the fact that the price keeps going up each year, I
think this one may be my last!
Kathy
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|
This will be my 5th year. I enjoy the ride, but the pledges are
becoming tough. last year and it looks like this year will be the
same, most of the money will come out of my pocket.
It's a great cause, well produced, the people you meet are wounderful,
the boat ride back from p-town is fun, and I would recormend the
ride to any one who can get the pledges.
I'm a contractor working out of franklin and live in wellesley.
If anyone is going out sat a.m., with a open slot i'd love to hear
from you.
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| I use my bike mostly to commute to and from work, so you can bet
I am thrilled my biking is going to help raise money for cancer
research for a change!
This is my second year. I had a ball last year. The organisation
was super. Water stops every 20 miles where you can pick up water/
/juices/fruits/gorp etc. Heck! When I ride my centuries, I have
to fend for myself!
Also, the worst kind of traffic is the commuter rush-hour traffic,
that I tangle with year-round. On the PMC, bicyclists get treated with
*RESPECT* by other road users!
At least for 2 days. Can't wait!
ajai thirumalai
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| I'll be riding in the PMC for the second time, also. I'll be leaving
for Sturbridge in about an hour for the pre-race pasta dinner.
Can't wait!
A lot of last year's apprehension of this being my longest ride and
first LARGE group ride is replaced this year by pure excitement!
It was an incredible weekend last year. I had such a blast. And,
it's a real good feeling to know that you're doing this not only
for your own benefit but for that of the patients at the Dana Farber
Cancer Institute.
If you've ever thought, "Can I really DO this??" (like me), mark
it on your next year's calendar and do it! Believe me, it's a
wonderful experience and an accomplishment in every sense of the
word.
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| Well, I MADE IT!!!!!
194 miles. 12-1/2 hours on the bike. 95 degree heat. And LOTS
of water.
I can't begin to express the emotions of this past weekend.
Knowing I was fulfilling a wish that my brother, Steve, was unable to.
Helping the children and adults stricken with cancer.
My wife and I drove out to Sturbridge on Friday evening and joined
a few hundred of the other riders at a dinner for the riders.
Saturday we got up at 5 had breakfast and got to the starting area
about 6:15. By 6:45 Billy Starr, the director of the PMC, was asking the
rider to get into position. 800 riders showed up for the ride. All the
riders had been given green T-shirts, which made the starting area look
like a sea of green.
At 7 Billy gave the go ahead and the Pan-Mass Challenge began. The
800 of us were given a police and fire dept. escorted down route 131 to
route 20. At one point, three lane of riders, all in green, was all that
could be seen in both directions on rt. 20.
The first waterstop was at a YMCA camp in Sutton, where I met a
girl I use to worker with. She and her boyfriend were riding a tandem. We
traveled together for the rest of the weekend.
Loretta met me at the Franklin waterstop. We didn't stay to long
in Franklin, not wanting to cool down, too much.
My next stop was a little more special. It was at my brother's
grave in E. Mansfield, a mile off the course. Brief, yet peaceful. Just
Steve and I.
Lunch was in Easton. Loretta met me at the stop with our son,
Stephen. It was 12 noon when I arrived.
The next 20 miles were hard. With the heat in the nineties and
65+ miles behind us. The next waterstop, that seemed to take for ever to
reach, was in Middleboro at a brickyard with very little shade, but one of
the most spirited water crews on the ride.
After the last stop, approx. 10 miles from the Canal and the Mass
Maritime Academy, we finished the first day around 4:30.
After a "good nights sleep" we got up at 4am, stood in line for
breakfast and finally hit the rode just before 6. The Cape seems to be a
different place from a bicycle. The back roads, fewer cars and friendly
people. Loretta was at the second waterstop, at Nickerson State Park in
Brewster. Where most of the riders were talking about the hills in
Wellfleet and Truro to come. Boy, were they right!
The last few miles before and just after the last waterstop, in
Wellfleet, were brutal. Long climbs, with winding down hills, that you
couldn't go too fast on, that led to more hills. The waterstop had a
kiddy pool with blocks of ice and water and sponges to cool down with.
The last ten miles were on rt. 6, where my parents past me in
their motorhome just before the Provincetown line. With my parents were
Steve's wife, Marie and son, David, my sister, Susan her son, Matt and my
son, Stephen. Loretta had already been waiting at the finish line, at The
Provincetown Inn, for about an hour. Where they all were when I arrived.
I finished the ride quite strong knowing I had accomplished
something special. Realizing Steve's wish had only begun and that this
was the first of an annual event for me.
Thank you, PMC, for helping Steve's wish come true!
Tim
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| Yesterday, Sunday, December 11th, the PMC check presentation took
place. Before the check was presented Billy Starr, the PMC Director
acknowledged the Heavy Hitters, those riders who raised more than twice
the minumim pledge amount of $600. The top fundraiser was a rider from
CA who raise over $70,000. The second and third fundraisers raised
over $38,000 and $30,000 respectfully. My contribution to the PMC
totalled $3,470. Thanks largely in part to my fellow DEC employees.
Billy Starr then presented Mike Andrews, Chairman of the Jimmy Fund,
with a check in the amount of $850,000 on behalf of the riders of the
1988 Pan-Massachusetts Challenge.
The 1989 PMC is scheduled for Aug 12th &13th. The goal is $1 Million.
If you want to know the feeling and meaning of pride, well...
TimB, PMC '88
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