Pan Mass Challenge 2011

"You can do anything you set your mind to, man. So lose yourself."

- Eminem

The Pan Mass Challenge is all about beating cancer. The 4600 riders, 3000 volunteers, and countless survivors alongside the road come together to form an incredible community over two days.

Day One Highlights:

• Team Hannah's Bandanas led by Jeff and Karen Packman (in honor of their daughter Hannah, a survivor) takes off like a fury out of the Wellesley start

• High fives on "world famous Cherry Street" -- every house lined up alongside with road with kids' hands reaching out to riders while shouting "THANK YOU"

• Survivors and families line nearly every block and intersection of the route.

• Somewhere after mile 70, a sign caught my eye. A 2'x3'
  picture of a young boy. As I got closer, it read "Ryan. Died at 9 years old. Thank you for riding." The sign was held by his mother. I had to go to the back of our paceline and cried for the next mile.

• Lunch consensus: Karen Packman might be the toughest person we know. Climbs the Galibier in the snow a couple of weeks ago, rides 89 miles with a numb leg thanks to a nerve problem. There is no stopping her.

• Tale of the Tape: 89 miles, 21 mph avg.

• No sign of Lance (incredible to say this, but we were ahead of him the entire day! and he skipped the finishing village).

Day Two Highlights: 50 miles with Connor

"Work it, make it, do it, makes us

Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger."

--Kanye West

• Wake up to pouring rain

• Proving his McNeill genetics, Connor says, "we're going."

• Not a single mention of not doing it as the rain comes down in sheets on the drive to the start. "This is way easier than having cancer. We can do this for the next 3 hours."

• Fred Hoff and his 12-year old son Ryan on the same program. At the start, rain gear on, ready to ride!

• 88-year-old guy at the start, in the rain, riding the whole course. Wow.

• And like yesterday, we weren't alone. Our girls were there at the start, feed stops and finish. Survivors stood on corners and at the end of drive-ways in the pouring rain to say "Thank You."

• Forecast said 1/4" of rain. Rained 3.5".

• Connor made me really proud today. Amazing guy.

• Support us here: http://www.pmc.org/profile/CM0246

Pan-Mass Challenge 2009 - He made it!

Our son Connor's headmaster went to the ER with a bloody nose in February and didn't leave the hospital for six weeks (Leukemia). My uncle passed away two months ago after an aggressive cancer returned. My sister-in-law has endured two surgeries in the past year while missing weeks with her two little girls to endure raditation treatments. You've got stories like this too.

Riding in the Pan Mass Challenge is our small way of fighting back. When the PMC started, kids had a 15% survival rate. Today, it's an 85% survival rate. Your donations for research make a difference!

Jeff and Karen Packman have used the Pan-Mass Challenge as a protest against their young daughter Hannah’s cancer for several years. Thankfully, Hannah is cancer free. However, the threat of its return is never far from their minds.

Just before the start of last year’s PMC, Karen got a call from Hannah’s camp – she was sick. Karen dropped her plans to ride the PMC and headed to camp. Most parents can relate to that fear for a child.

Luckily, it was a false alarm, Hannah would be fine (and Karen would make it down to Bourne to ride the second day), but that experience gave me a sense of what parents and families go through after cancer has struck – the shadow of cancer doesn’t leave.

When Jeff asked if I’d ride for Hannah’s team – Hannah’s Bandanas – it took me a nanosecond to say yes. So, we rode for Hannah's Bandanas this year.

First Day - Wellesley to Cape Cod (Bourne). 85 miles. Flying out of the start with the bright orange colors of Hannah’s Bandanas. Jeff, Karen, Andy, Alicia, Jon, Mike and Eric, Steve and Fred pushed nearly 22mph for the first 20 miles. The team stopped at the first stop and we kept pushing as a group of five (Eric, Steve, Fred and Uta Pippig) and rode to the finish in Bourne in just over 4 hours. Lesson learned: Boston Marathon champions can suffer -- Uta was strong and didn't fade at all during our hammerfest.

Highlight today: a little guy holding a sign saying, "I'm 11 years old because of you."

Day Two - Wellesley to Wellesley. 47 miles with our 13-year old son Connor. This was the longest ride of his life. He trained hard and it paid off -- he aced it! Highlight of today: riding through the hills of Walpole, a man sat at the end of his driveway under a poster he'd made in his wife's honor, thanking each of us as we rode buy. He said thousands of thank you's today. For all of you who supported our ride, one more huge THANK YOU.

Video highlights here: http://jonmcneill.phanfare.com/ (secret word = bicycle).

Hannah, Nikki, Steve, Uncle Jim -- we ride for you!