This is my view from my trainer in the basement. Each session, I’ll add a new name of a family member, a friend, or an acquaintance who have faced cancer head on.
Here is the full Why I Ride gallery! Click on the image to see more and you can scroll through the slideshow.
Why I Ride the Pan-Mass Challenge
My dad holding Shannon when she was about 2 weeks old
Michele and I with my mom holding two-week old Shannon.
My #pmc2015 training continued last night – I add my grandmother to the inspiration board, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and survived the disease for 16 years. #whyIride
Norma Darlene (Trefethen) Karram (1948-2007) — my mom’s sister. She passed days before my first PMC ride in 2007. Thinking of her and her wonderful family tonight #family
Team Forza-G’s Pedal Partner, Mason. We’ve been the Pedal Partner for Mason and his family since 2009, through treatment, through remission, and again, it seems, treatment. I am thinking of young Mason and his family as we enter this holiday season.
Peter passed away in far too young from brain cancer. Peter’s family and mine have known each other for nearly 60 years and at least four generations. He died a few years after my first bout with Hodgkins which was a stark reminder of how unfair and undiscriminating cancer can be. Peter’s family have been consistent supporters of my PMC efforts, for which I am eternally grateful.
Each year for many years, Diane and I get our photo taken in this same spot. I met Diane during my 1st PMC weekend and we have been ‘riding’ in the same circles ever since.
Kathy and I worked together at Harpoon. We traveled to Munich together in May 2010 with many of our colleagues on the annual Harpoon European Beer Culture Trip (yes, awesome!). Less than a year later, we were surprisingly both undergoing treatment. She has become a strong advocate for fellow survivors!
Remembering my grandfather today, who passed away at age 87 one year ago. He and I both started treatment in 1996, him for prostate cancer, which he defiantly beat. Always amazed by his energy and spirit. (posted 12.20.14)
We only see each other once a year, but I wouldn’t trade those brief moments for the world.
Howard was the pastor at my grandparent’s church while my mom and aunt were growing up, then later at my family’s church when I was growing up. I remember his laugh, constant smile, and generous spirit.
Marsha is one of my mom’s closest friends, has been so helpful in supporting both my parent’s through their cancer treatments, and is a survivor herself.
Ethan Zohn – Survivor: Africa winner and 2-time cancer survivor. I got to know Ethan through an interview I did of him for CommunicateGood. What an amazing guy!
Barbara is the mom of one of my teammates and a breast cancer survivor.
Annual Team Forza-G Living Proof photo from the 2014 ride. Fellow survivors Betsy (left), Suzanne, and me.
In 2009, retired Swedish pro cyclist and cancer survivor Magnus Backstedt joined my PMC team. Magnus (The Big Swede) has raced with some of the best riders and teams in the world, he’s won a stage of the Tour de France, and of course, he is a winner of the Queen of the Spring Classics, taking home the famed cobblestone trophy for his victory in the 2004 Paris-Roubaix.
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Nice to see the photos. Love to you.