Why I PMC - Brad Patterson

PMC Guest Blog by Brad Patterson: PMC Kids Rider, Volunteer, PMC Rider

The PMC and cancer have affected my life since a very age. Even before my birth my family was intertwined with this terrible illness. My grandfather was a surgical oncologist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute; he worked to fight the same illness that both his wife and him would develop. After my grandfather stopped his work medically, my mother, Lisa, picked up where he left off and started to raise money for Dana-Farber through the PMC. 

Every summer, since 2005,  I would watch my mother leave Lake Champlain with her bike in hand to ride the PMC. While my grandfather used the scalpel to fight cancer, my mother used her bike. For 4 days she would travel, 2 by car and 2 by bike. She would later help others ride for friends and love ones by coordinating the South Shore PMC Kids Ride in my hometown in Hingham. 

My first year riding constituted of a 1-mile ride when I was 7. Since that first year I wanted to do more than my last year and would ride the loops multiple times. Reaching a personal best at the Kids PMC of sixteen miles or four times around the Challenger 4-mile loop when I was 12. As I gravitated to a higher mile count I wanted to move forward in my PMC career, consequently I would wake up earlier every year to set up for the Kids PMC ride that I had started to grow out of. 

The last PMC Kids Ride saw my departure from rider to volunteer at age 15. I along with volunteers from my school stood at the crossroads of the 4-mile loop. 

After that PMC I searched for something more to do and I joined my mom's Team Perini and met Tim Perini for the first time at Foxboro Stadium at age 16. The Family Ride that I participated in was a 50-mile ride from Wellesley to Foxboro to Wellesley. It was a trip that I would never forget!  Seeing the sheer amount of people for the first time with my own eyes proved to me how large of a problem cancer was and how many great people there were out there that cared enough to help. These people also included my own mother who had inspired me to help, as she is starting again the process of coordinating her 7th  PMC South Shore Kids Ride and training for her 10th PMC Ride. This year I am the Route Guide Crew Leader for the paved loops at the PMC Kids Ride and will start my training for the Family Ride once again. In fact, I have convinced my father to join me this year and give my mother a break since she is starting from Sturbridge for the first time!