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Most of the year I am a typical middle-aged city cyclist. I ride around town on an old Raleigh I bought in high school, doing errands and hauling groceries in my baskets, trying not to work up a sweat. But for a few months every year, I put on the padded spandex shorts and hard-soled bike shoes and start biking out on 20, 30 and 40 mile rides, up and down the hills of Belmont and out and back (and out and back again!) on the Minuteman Rail Trail.  And then, on the first Saturday in August, I join thousands of other cyclists and bike 84 miles from Wellesley to Bourne.

Why do I ride?  It's hard for me to explain it completely, but it mostly comes down to this: too many people I care for have cancer, and this is something I can do to make a difference.  This past fall, we lost my beloved uncle Joe to cancer.  The year before, we lost our wonderful neighbor, Bill Miller.  As I've done in the past three years, I will ride in honor of the seven people in my community, Cambridge Cohousing, who are living with cancer. My neighbors, Anne and her husband Dick, have come out each year to send me off (at 6 a.m.!), reminding me just how important this event is to all of us - to our friends and family members who are living with cancer, and to all of us who may someday need the research being done at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.  The Dana-Farber is one of the leading global cancer treatment centers, and the research done here benefits cancer patients around the world. As an ovarian cancer survivor treated at the DFCI, Anne is one of my friends who is living proof of the value of this work. Riding in the Pan-Mass Challenge is my small way of saying thank you.

If you’d like to honor your friends or family members who are living with cancer, whether treated at the DFCI or elsewhere, you can make a donation and check the “Is this donation a tribute?” box on the bottom of the donor info screen. Another area will open up, asking for a name and address where you would like the Pan-Mass Challenge to send a letter about your gift.

The economy remains sluggish, and that makes fund-raising challenging -- but even more important. Please give what you can, and know that 100% of your donation will go to the Jimmy Fund, the non-profit arm of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. The PMC event costs are covered by registration fees and corporate sponsors, and the Jimmy Fund is itself an extremely efficient non-profit organization, consistently receiving top marks by charity rating services.

My business, Red Bridge Strategy, will also be supporting the PMC, with the two Massachusetts-based partners riding, and our third partner cheering us on from afar.  You can see my partners' stories in their profiles, listed at left.    

Thank you for your support.
- Cindy

Cindy's PMC Total

$0

Goal

$4,000

My Progress

My Rides