Two weeks from now, the PMC will be over and we’ll be hobbling back into work and hopefully wrapping up our fundraising!
This past Sunday, we headed out with the whole team, plus riding buddies Darren and Rachel, for a quick 54-miles around Cape Ann. Sunday dawned rainy but we decided to risk and we were rewarded with a rain-free ride. And I believe the temperature even stayed below 90 degrees! The lack of rain did mean that it was exceptionally humid, at least until the end of the ride when the sun came out and burned it all off.
Our ridemates we plagued with troubles, however. Darren, who rode out to meet us in Beverly from his home a few towns over, was struck down by some awful foot cramps and had to peel off. And Team Sara G member Wendy has been battling a severe and painful carpal tunnel flareup for weeks now. She decided to ride anyhow, and finished the ride despite pain. She still plans to ride in the PMC (against her doctor’s advice) because that’s how important this cause is to her. I remember the first year I rode in the PMC, I threw my back out the week before the ride. I was determined to ride anyhow (hey, it was only the one-day route, after all!), and managed to finish the most agonizing 111 miles I have ever endured. I couldn’t bend or straighten my back without pain – so I sort of ok as long as I sat on the bike, but any time I had to hop off or back on at a stop sign, pain would shoot up my back. And Wendy has it worse, given that her hands need to constantly be on her handlebars.
We’re doing great with the fundraising, but we have a couple thousand more left to raise, and I know a big jump in the total would really boost everyone’s spirits! We’re all looking forward to being part of this great event, but I think we’re all also a little nervous. We’ve had some training hiccups this season, and some brutally hot weather the last few weeks.
What if it’s that hot for the PMC? What if we’re not trained enough? It doesn’t matter. We’ll just do it anyway. That’s what signing up for the PMC means – we’re committed to fighting cancer. That means committing to spending our weekends riding, bugging everyone we know to donate, risking injury and enduring a little pain in the hopes that the money we raise saves even one cancer patient, or helps one family with the financial burden of treatment.
We just need a little more help. Every donation makes a huge difference, so if you can, please donate here: http://www.pmc.org/profile/TS0187.
We have one more weekend of riding to go and then we’re there!
