David Harlow's Ride
My Links
| PMC 2008 Photos |
| Riders Pedal for Cure Taunton Gazette August 5, 2007 |
| PMC 2009 Tweets & Pics from the Ride PMC 2009 Tweets & Pics from the Ride |
| PMC 2009 Photos |
Why I Ride ...
Hi folks -- I've signed up to ride my seventh Pan Mass Challenge in August (2010) -- as many of you know by now, that's a two-day, 200-mile bicycle fundraiser for the Dana Farber Cancer Institute / Jimmy Fund. The overall goal this year is $31 million.
Now it's time to start the indoor training in earnest and get ready for the thaw in New England and hitting the road in a couple months. Thanks for all your support in years past, and tanks in advance for your help in licking cancer this year too. (I will update the rest of this page sometime soon ... meanwhile, check out the links in the sidebar and feel free to help me get the fundraising going.)
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Another summer, another Pan-Mass Challenge.
Another year in which too many friends and relatives have struggled with cancer. Whenever we rejoice at how much research and prevention have progressed, another diagnosis, another illness, another death occurs to remind us of how far we have to go in the battle against cancer.
Seventeen years after my diagnosis and treatment for testicular cancer, I am one of the lucky ones, blessed by good health and enough vigor -- my friends and family might say craziness -- to attempt my sixth Pan-Mass Challenge.
There is an incredible sense of shared purpose, accomplishment and camaraderie among the thousands of riders and volunteers all weekend long that is unique.
The PMC experience ranges from the ridiculous to the exhilarating to the triumphant to the exhausting. My previous years' experiences included:
The ridiculous: Early on day 2, at the first water stop of the day, I forgot where I put my bike. While I was scanning the parking lot, I was struck by how this scene would appear to someone suddenly dropped into it -- hundreds of people waddling around at 7 a.m. on a Sunday in spandex and stiff-soled bike shoes, clicking loudly on the pavement with each step, mingling with dozens of people in matching T-shirts, circulating with platters of energy bars and gallon jugs of Gatorade, between the rows of port-a-potties and the tables laden with mounds of peanut butter and banana sandwiches, surrounded by a sea of high-end bicycles strewn about, lying on their sides or against trees. (I found my bike.)
The exhilarating: At one of the water stops we saw a boy holding up a sign that read "I'm 9 now thanks to all of you."
The triumphant: I posed for the "Living Proof" group photo with the other 150 or so cancer survivors who rode.
The exhausting: Biking up out of Purgatory Chasm. (That's where that photo of me was taken. I look pretty good for a guy in Purgatory, huh?)
I wish I could share more fully the whole PMC experience with my past and future supporters. What I can share is the privilege of giving back. Every year, there are competing demands placed on limited government funds. This year, basic research continues to get the short end of the stick. That's where we come in -- bridging the gap between funding that's available and funding that's needed.
In the five years that I've ridden, PMC riders and our sponsors have raised about $135 million. I've been fortunate enough to raise about $35,000 for the cause. I am so grateful to all of you who have sponsored me before, and thank you in advance for your continued support. If you can, please dig a little deeper this year. The researchers need it, the clinicians need it, and most of all, the patients served by the Dana Farber and the research carried out thanks to the Jimmy Fund need it.
Please join me in supporting this cause, by contributing with a credit card online (click on the "Donate" button at the bottom of this page to get started). If you prefer, please send me a check, payable to PMC/Jimmy Fund, and I will forward it along.
Finally, if you are moved to do so, please "join the paceline" by clicking on "Share story" above, under my picture, and send this page along to all of your business associates, friends and family members who you think would like to help support this cause.
Thank you.
Now it's time to start the indoor training in earnest and get ready for the thaw in New England and hitting the road in a couple months. Thanks for all your support in years past, and tanks in advance for your help in licking cancer this year too. (I will update the rest of this page sometime soon ... meanwhile, check out the links in the sidebar and feel free to help me get the fundraising going.)
=====
Another summer, another Pan-Mass Challenge.
Another year in which too many friends and relatives have struggled with cancer. Whenever we rejoice at how much research and prevention have progressed, another diagnosis, another illness, another death occurs to remind us of how far we have to go in the battle against cancer.
Seventeen years after my diagnosis and treatment for testicular cancer, I am one of the lucky ones, blessed by good health and enough vigor -- my friends and family might say craziness -- to attempt my sixth Pan-Mass Challenge.
There is an incredible sense of shared purpose, accomplishment and camaraderie among the thousands of riders and volunteers all weekend long that is unique.
The PMC experience ranges from the ridiculous to the exhilarating to the triumphant to the exhausting. My previous years' experiences included:
The ridiculous: Early on day 2, at the first water stop of the day, I forgot where I put my bike. While I was scanning the parking lot, I was struck by how this scene would appear to someone suddenly dropped into it -- hundreds of people waddling around at 7 a.m. on a Sunday in spandex and stiff-soled bike shoes, clicking loudly on the pavement with each step, mingling with dozens of people in matching T-shirts, circulating with platters of energy bars and gallon jugs of Gatorade, between the rows of port-a-potties and the tables laden with mounds of peanut butter and banana sandwiches, surrounded by a sea of high-end bicycles strewn about, lying on their sides or against trees. (I found my bike.)
The exhilarating: At one of the water stops we saw a boy holding up a sign that read "I'm 9 now thanks to all of you."
The triumphant: I posed for the "Living Proof" group photo with the other 150 or so cancer survivors who rode.
The exhausting: Biking up out of Purgatory Chasm. (That's where that photo of me was taken. I look pretty good for a guy in Purgatory, huh?)
I wish I could share more fully the whole PMC experience with my past and future supporters. What I can share is the privilege of giving back. Every year, there are competing demands placed on limited government funds. This year, basic research continues to get the short end of the stick. That's where we come in -- bridging the gap between funding that's available and funding that's needed.
In the five years that I've ridden, PMC riders and our sponsors have raised about $135 million. I've been fortunate enough to raise about $35,000 for the cause. I am so grateful to all of you who have sponsored me before, and thank you in advance for your continued support. If you can, please dig a little deeper this year. The researchers need it, the clinicians need it, and most of all, the patients served by the Dana Farber and the research carried out thanks to the Jimmy Fund need it.
Please join me in supporting this cause, by contributing with a credit card online (click on the "Donate" button at the bottom of this page to get started). If you prefer, please send me a check, payable to PMC/Jimmy Fund, and I will forward it along.
Finally, if you are moved to do so, please "join the paceline" by clicking on "Share story" above, under my picture, and send this page along to all of your business associates, friends and family members who you think would like to help support this cause.
Thank you.
David's PMC Total
$0
Goal
$6,700
My Progress
My Rides
| 2010 | $0 | Sturbridge to Family Finish at Ptown (2-Day) |
| 2009 | $5,135 | Sturbridge to Family Finish at Ptown (2-Day) |
| 2008 | $4,711.5 | Sturbridge to Family Finish at Ptown (2-Day) |
| 2007 | $7,175 | Sturbridge to Family Finish at Ptown (2-Day) |
| 2006 | $7,193.6 | Sturbridge to Wellesley (2-Day) |
| 2005 | $6,626 | Sturbridge to Provincetown Inn (2-Day) |
| 2004 | $8,297 | Sturbridge to Provincetown Inn (2-Day) |
