A young boy waves a sign that says, “I’m five, and I’m still here because of you.” Bike ribbons spell out the names of cancer patients as riders trek down the road.
These are snapshots of the Pan-Mass Challenge, a bikeathon in which thousands of riders and volunteers raise money to find a cure for cancer.
The challenge offers 16 routes across Massachusetts, ranging from 25 to 211 miles. Riders receive fundraising tools and guidance, meals and snacks, water stops, mechanical and medical assistance, and luggage and bike transportation.
Every rider-raised dollar goes directly to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, a world leader in cancer research and treatment. So far, the bike-a-thon has raised more than $1 billion for the Cancer Institute, and that figure was celebrated at the 45th annual Pan-Mass Challenge held last weekend.
Greensboro residents Mark and Nancy Simon have been involved in the action for the last 24 years, whether they ride in person or fundraise virtually.
Back in 2001, when they lived in Boston, Mark and Nancy had multiple friends die from cancer. Nancy remembered how she and Mark wanted to find an outlet to turn their grief into something positive.
“We both felt like we just needed to do something to turn this horrific misery into something. We somehow found out about it and thought ‘you know what? We’ll give it a try.’”
She says they didn’t initially plan to do it yearly, but now they’re “lifers.”
“This is a world where there’s a lot of bad news, but I think this is one of those rare things that you can participate in that has a range of life experiences, in terms of the saddest of sad like losing children to cancer to the happiest of joys,” she explained. "The whole idea of the bike ride is that we’re going to do something hard that only skims the surface of the hard journey of cancer treatment. [The Pan-Mass Challenge] is really fun, and it’s a wonderful celebration weekend, but there’s a lot of hard stuff and just poignant, happy, and sad memories that go with the years we’ve done this. It’s a part of our lifestyle now after 24 years.”
“We have a Living Proof group that shows up, whether they’re volunteers or riders. Every year on Saturday after day one, the Living Proof people gather to have a toast to life and success in overcoming cancer. That’s one of our favorite things to do; we go sit and watch," she continued. "We know a lot of people who have come through stuff, so we just take and give hugs. There are a lot of tentacles from the event that really just shape our lives. I don’t know what our lives would be like if we were not a part of it, or if it was not a part of us.”
Since 2001, they have raised more than $250,000 and biked many miles. While they didn’t bike last weekend, they still plan to bike their favorite route in September. That two-day route stretches roughly 200 miles from Wellesley to Provincetown.
While it won’t have the usual fanfare of the Pan-Mass Challenge, Nancy says they will have the memories and the people they’re fighting for to keep them going.
They are also fundraising for this year’s event until Sept. 30. Mark has raised $3,285, and Nancy has raised $8,138. Anyone wishing to donate can visit www.pmc.org and look up either Mark or Nancy’s page to donate.
“We have faithfully raised funds every year because that’s really what it’s about, and to me, that’s the exciting part,” she said.
She also thanked the people who have continued to contribute to the bike-a-thon.
“The community of people who contribute are the ones who really turn the wheels of progress,” she said. “People keep donating, and we just keep doing it.”
Nancy also encourages people to join them in the bike-a-thon. She says locals interested in training can join them on routes in the Walker Church and Richland Connector routes. They often train with the Lake Country Cycling group, and anyone interested can email nsimon164@aol.com.
She and Mark are committed to continuing the fight against cancer.
According to Nancy, a researcher recently told bikers how fundraising has helped her team crack the code for identifying one-fifth of all cancers.
“That lights our fire to keep us going,” Nancy said about their fight. “There are great discoveries, but we’ve got to just keep going. Raise funds high and go hard – that’s the theme.”