Charlotte understands that there is a baby inside Amanda.  I wonder how friendly she will be once it's outside!

Many people have asked about how the PMC went this year, my first time participating in this event.  As some of you know last weekend, I rode 192 miles from Sturbridge to Provincetown on the first annual Team Beachcomber. What started out as simply training for my first century ride, became so much more and I wanted to share a little bit of that with you.

This year, the PMC will raise over $31m to fund cancer research at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. 100% of all rider donations are given to Dana-Farber as the event sponsors provide cash and in-kind donations totaling $3.5 million, fully covering the costs of the event. The PMC contributes a majority of the Institute's annual funding as health insurance companies refuse to reimburse the type of specialized medicine Dana-Farber provides.  Without the PMC, Dana-Farber would not exist as it does today.

Some highlights of the weekend:

The Opening Ceremonies - here is the part of the show that was not broadcast on NECN that night.  The first speaker is Billy Starr who started the PMC 31 years ago with 9 cyclists - there were over 5,000 this year! (You can spot me right around the 11:00 mark)

Riding with Valerie - Valerie is an 18 year old cancer survivor from Winchester who is a former student of a friend of ours.  We got to chat with her during the stay-over in Bourne and ride with her through the Cape on Sunday.  Her story is inspirational.

Meeting Jack - Jack has been greeting PMC riders at the Brewster stop for years. I think his sign says it all.

The volunteers who met all our needs at each water stop were also fantastic. This was no easy task with 5,000 riders who needed food and water every 25 miles (where else can you eat peanut butter and banana sandwiches guilt-free?).

These were just a few of the experiences during the PMC weekend. The PMC organization has perfected how to coordinate an event of this magnitude and their experience shows.  It was an amazing event supporting a very worthwhile organization and one that I will be back to participate in next year. 

Thank you for all the support!  If you would still like to contribute to my ride, it's not too late!  Just head to my profile on the PMC website - all donations regardless of the amount are greatly appreciated.

See you next year PMC!!

This post demonstrates it perfectly.  Thank you Bijan for explaining this so clearly!