Pan Mass Challenge Bike-a-Thon

Eric's Aunt and Uncle John & Victoria and his cousin Nina

I recently received this letter from Eric's Uncle John, who has been participating in this fund raiser for 5 years now. I asked him if i could share it on my blog in the hopes that people would be inspired and would donate whatever they could. Let's help him meet his fund raising goal!!

~B~

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Hi

It’s that time of year again and I’m back in the saddle getting ready to ride my bike 192 miles across Massachusetts. In fact the ride is less than two weeks away starting on Aug 2^nd – and I’m only just starting my funding raising campaign. My training is way behind too, so this year promises to be extra challenging for me. Nonetheless we all know how cancer continues to be a global challenge and it’s important we all play a part to help find a cure. You’ve played an important part in my fundraising in the past – thank you – and it’s working. The Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston continues to be ranked the best in the world for the discoveries and contributions it is making for both cures and innovative care for cancer patients on a global scale. This is not just a local charity, but a key, if not dominant force in cancer research. I couldn’t be more proud to raise money for them, nor more grateful for your contribution.

As a past contributor you’ve read letters like this from me before and know that I come up with a new inspiration every year that gets me pedaling. This year is no different, and we’re hopeful for a happy ending, partially thanks to Dana Farber. Here’s the story. Last fall my 20-something nephew brought a girlfriend home to meet the family. Brynne is the kind of girl you hope will show up in your family someday – just a great person and a perfect match with Eric. The two of them are avid if not fanatical outdoors-people and regularly challenge themselves with things like ice wall climbing and other insanities. Fast forward a few months and she goes to her doctor not feeling so well and is shocked to learn she has cancer. That news is so devastating, horrifying, maddening, scary – you never know what to do. There was no doubt she would put up a fight, but here’s the part that inspired me most. In April, with Eric’s help, I planned a trip for a bunch of friends to go up to Mount Washington in NH and climb Tuckerman Ravine and ski down the headwall. This is the ultimate challenge for New England skiers and a personal life-long goal of mine. The trip came together and eight of us met at the trail head at the base of the mountain in late April. To my surprise Brynne was there too all ready to go. Even though she was about halfway through her chemotherapy treatments (and had a shiny bald head to prove it) she loaded up her pack with her ski gear on her back like the rest of us and made the 2 ½ hour muddy/rocky/snowy/icy climb up to the ravine. Wow. We had a glorious day, and while none of the rest of us outwardly gave Brynne any special praise, inwardly we were all blown away – and inspired. If you want to know more about her and her fight take a look at her blog at http://macmurtb.blogspot.com/ which includes some pictures from Tuckerman’s.

I still ride my bike to honor my father and his lost battle with cancer, but for those long training rides and really long hills this year I don’t have to dig too deep to think of Brynne on Mount Washington and keep pushing on. My discomfort and exhaustion is nothing compared to what an average cancer patient goes through so its easy to ignore it all and pedal on.

Please click here or go to http://www.pmc.org/mypmc/profiles.asp?Section=story&eGiftID=JR0165 to go my page on the PMC web site and make a tax-deductible contribution today. All the instructions are there to use a credit card, send a check, or use stock. I set a crazy goal to raise $25,000 this year – so I really need your help more than ever! And don’t forget, the PMC gives an incredible 99% of all funds raised directly to cancer research – it is the most effective way you can put your charitable dollars to work for this cause.

Finally, a quick recap of last year. I had the joy of riding with my wife, Victoria, for her first PMC. The first day was a scorcher with temps in the high 90’s! We soaked ourselves down with hoses at every rest stop, and many homes along the route put their sprinklers out in the streets for the benefit of the thousands of riders. So we managed to make it to Bourne – but it was hot! The second day was cooler on the Cape, but extremely windy. So it took a lot of extra effort to get to Provincetown making the finish line all that much more gratifying. I’m also thrilled to say that combined we raised over $23,000 (thank you!) and amazingly one contributor matched our entire effort – making our total effective contribution over $46,000 – wow. Victoria is not riding this year because trying to manage both of our training needs last year was very difficult on the family and we didn’t want to do that again this year. But she’ll be back for a PMC in the future for sure.

Thank you for your continued support, and for helping to find a cure. If you haven’t done it yet, please click here.

Warmest regards,

John

Mt. Cardigan (3121') and Winer

I've been meaning to do this hike because i had heard it was a lot of "bang for your buck" (i.e. great views, easy hike). So i called up the Ehrets and Eric, Mc and I met them at the trail head at 11am. The hike up was gorgeous and shady, which was nice because it was humid and warm. We were happy to get to the top where the breeze cooled us down, but disappointed at the views which were a little hindered because of the haze (we have been under a "poor air quality" watch recently). Despite Amanda's worry, we only managed to lose a nalgine bottle and some foil off the cliff (both of which were recovered); neither dog jumped or ran off the cliff!

So many of the Blogs i read regularly have recipes posted, so i thought i would follow suit.We had a yummy lunch on top thanks to Amanda. Here is the recipe:

Ari/Gordon's Burrito

• cooked rice (any kind)
• avocado
• cheddar cheese
• Green salsa (but red would be ok too)
• *if you like it spicy, add a chipotle pepper
• tortilla/wrap

Add all ingredients and roll into the tortilla/wrap. Wrap the burritos separately in foil.


On our way down Brunsy found a mud puddle to cool off in. What a funny dog.

We went back to the Ehret's, picked some organic blueberries; played some tennis; drank some rum punch while playing tennis (it doesn't improve your game); swam in the Connecticut river and laughed at my poor baby who really, really need some doggie swimming lessons; watched the sun set and then played a game called Winer. Basically it requires that you try three different wines and write down its colour, what it tastes like, etc. You then have to answer some questions about wine, and be ready to do a blind taste test of one of the wines. With every right answer, you advance 1-2 spaces. The goals it to get to the end first. Let's just say that we were a little tipsy at the end of the game (Gordie won-). Eric did really well (2nd place), especially for someone who hasn't ever really examined and sniffed, and analyzed wine before.




We were all "winers" in the morning, especially Eric who had to get up early to be at work at 8am. All in all, a fun day.