PMC 2026 is in the books. Here is the recap of my ride from my perspective.
Friday – 7-31-26
At 10am Friday morning I decided I was not going to ride out of Worcester. There were many reasons but the primary were around safety in the route and the forecast. I’ve never done well riding long distances in hot and humid weather. This year I’d had issues riding in the heat / humidity and while I believed I had conquered them, I wasn’t 100% certain and didn’t want to risk my ride. Compound that with the anxiety of riding in an area that I deemed unsafe. What did this mean? It meant I had to drive out to Worcester on Friday anyway so I could pickup my registration packet. Eric was a good sport about this and he was willing to ride whatever I was comfortable with.
Eric and I drove out to Worcester from Falmouth. We got to Holy Cross, the new start that replaced Sturbridge after 46 rides. My first fear was realized, it was a bit disorganized driving into Holy Cross. After driving 2+ hours to get there we ended up in a line of traffic on the campus driving up to where we thought was the parking area. Once at the top of the campus we learned we had to drive down to the bottom of the hill where the parking lot was. It might’ve been nice if there was a sign there letting us know.
OK, so we shook that off and went to get our registration packet. This process was fairly quick.
After checking in we went in search of the food tent as we knew that’s where we’d find our team, PHAT Tuesday. We found some of the team and let them know we’d be riding out of Wellesley instead. We grabbed a couple bottles of water, some cookies, and got back in the car to drive back to Falmouth, another 2 hours.
We had some dinner and got to bed early as we were getting up at 3:15am. The alarm sounded early. We had some breakfast and got in the car to drive to Wellesley at 4:30. Huge thank you to Nancy for getting up that early and driving us up. We got to Wellesley, dropped our bags off, met up with our friend Tony and rolled out on the route before 6:30. My plan was to just ride with Eric and Tony and not ride with a large group / team. I wanted to make sure the ride was as safe as possible after last year. The first leg of the ride took us from Wellesley to Wrentham. This was a real treat for me as I got to ride the roads I rode for years when I lived in Metro West. Needham, Dover, Sherborn, and Millis to name a few of the towns were some of the prettiest riding in that area. The first stop was just over 20 miles into the ride. We got in there and out quick and back on the road. The next leg took us to the lunch stop at mile 45 in Dighton. We arrived there at 9:10 am and grabbed some food and drink. We refueled and were back on the road within 30 minutes. A bit longer than I like but it was a nice break and we were making great time.
The weather was good but it was very humid and it was getting hotter. You really need to be careful and make sure you hydrate properly with the right balance of fluids and electrolytes. I was being very careful and making sure I was keeping up with this while riding. It’s what has gotten me into trouble in the past and recently during my final training a few weeks ago. So far so good. Unfortunately, Eric started getting some leg cramps not long after we rolled back out on the road to the next stop. I asked him if he wanted to stop but he said no, let’s just spin it out. That meant we’d slow down a little and turn the pedals up to the point of engaging the muscles.
We pushed on to the Lakeville water stop where we finally got to meet our pedal partner, Finn, in person along with his family. That was a real treat for me as I wasn’t able to connect with them this season.
We got out of the stop quick and back on the road. Regarding Eric’s dehydration / cramping issues, I’ve been in that situation many times. It’s very rare when you can continue on after hitting the dehydration zone. Eric managed to do it however and we continued on to finish the final 40 miles of the day. I was really impressed with his toughness to continue. A lot of riders would’ve given up and then later rationalized it and made up a story. Not Eric, he toughed it out and thankfully he was ok and we managed to cross the finish line at Mass Maritime Academy on Day 1 after riding 4 hours and 48 minutes covering 84 miles at an average speed of 17.4 mph which was just actually over my goal /plan for the day.
Da1 1 was in the books. We made our massage appointments, and went in search of some food. There’s a large tent setup on the campus quad of MMA and within it there’s lots of food stations. Salad? Nope, not trusting lettuce these days. Legal Seafood clam chowder? Nope, can’t do it since I developed an allergy to littleneck clams years ago, and it used to be my favorite. That left me with burgers, hot dogs, veggie chili, baked potato or pizza. After passing on almost every choice I chose pizza. Seemed safe. Usually ok. I chose poorly. It’s frozen pizza and it’s just not good. I don’t know if it’s because they added toppings to the existing ones or if it wasn’t fully heated. However, in all fairness, there were people enjoying it but I think they’d have eaten a dirty sock at that point after riding 84 to 100 miles that day. Thankfully, there was Jasper White’s Summer Shack setup on the quad serving up delicious pulled pork sliders and spicy shrimp tacos. Score!
We hung around till abour 3:30 after we got our massages and caught up with some people. I was really happy to run into my old friend Dr Ann Partridge, Chief Clinical Strategy Officer, Vice Chair of Medical Oncology at Dana Farber Cancer Institute. I met Ann 27 years ago while out on a training ride along with a few other rock star doctors from Dana Farber. It was so great to be able to catch up with her as it had been a while. Ann is one of my heroes along with her fellow doctors. These are the people your money funds. These are the people working tirelessly to find cures, new treatments, and make sure every patient gets the best possible care. It’s pretty humbling to me and I am grateful that the money we raise gets put to such good use by these brilliant, talented people.
I had stashed a car about a mile away from the MMA so we could drive back to my house for the night. Nancy usually takes us back but she was working at MMA and was heading directly to Provincetown after her shift so she could be there to start her Day 2 shift. Traffic getting to the bridge is always insane after Day 1 of the PMC. A drive that should take no more than 20 minutes took well over an hour. We dropped Eric off at the house as he wasn’t feeling great after dehydrating and the leg cramps. My friend Tony and I went over to my marina where they were having a little party complete with wood fired gourmet pizza and an open bar. The pizza was amazing.
We ate till we couldn’t eat another slice. Went back to my house and enjoyed a really nice bourbon sitting by the fire pit. It was a great way to end the day. Meanwhile, Eric had decided he wasn’t going to ride on Sunday as he just wasn’t feeling well. It was a very smart move on his part. I couldn’t be any prouder of him for sticking it out and finishing Day 1 in spite of his suffering. But as I’ve said many times over the years, our pain is temporary. Cancer patients don’t have the luxury of just quitting. We typically don’t give up either. Eric is an inspirational example of just that.
I woke up at 3:30am ro get ready to roll out for day 2 to Provincetown. As many of you know, I stopped going back to MMA and riding out of there and over the Bourne Bridge years ago as it just got to dangerous with so many varied ability riders all sharing a single lane riding over the bridge. It’s about 6 miles further riding from my house in North Falmouth but it’s worth it. A couple friends met us at the entrance to my neighborhood and rode with us the 9.5 miles to the canal. We rolled out at 4:45 and it was pitch black out. Not many street lights on the route. We had bright headlights to let us ride safely. There were no cars on the side roads we took to meet people at the Bourn Bridge on the cape side of the canal. I had decided to meetup with the team, PHAT Tuesday, and at least ride some of day 2 with them.
We connected up with them and I lead the team up the canal to the Sagamore Bridge in Sandwich. From there we continued on to the Service Road that parallels the highway (route 6), aka The Rollers. The team split up getting to the service road as it’s a bit hilly getting there and these are the roads I know well from training on them. A group of us stayed together and hit this segment at high speed. It was a lot of fun but also fairly dangerous as the slower riders were supposed to stay to the right of the lane and they were all across the lane and not moving when we announced “on your left”. Thankfully there was no incident as we came upon many cars coming towards us in the left lane where we shouldn’t have been riding but were forced to in order to get around the slower riders. And yes, we could’ve ridden slower but as I’ve said, this is our reward for raising the money. We shouldn’t have to sit and ride at a snail pace.
The miles flew by and we pulled into the Barnstable water stop which was about 30 miles in for me. I refilled my water bottle, got some food and decided to roll out without the team as they were waiting for all to regroup before rolling out. I don’t have the patience for that and it’s not good to have my muscles tighten up waiting around. I rode part way to the next stop with some Falmouth friends but mostly I rode alone. Well, you’re never alone on the PMC and I actually enjoyed it. I like riding with people I don’t know and hearing their stories. You meet the best people on route. I pulled into the Brewster water stop at 8am. This is 46 miles into day and we’d have 39 to go.
The photo is a special one for me. I’ve known these guys forever. Marc and I have ridden at least 30 PMCs together and Tom and Dave are on one of our sister teams, Team Huckleberry, which my friend Jon Siegel was on. Jon lost his 1 year battle with glioblastoma on Feb 1 of this year. It was my first time not riding / seeing Jon in 37 years. The world lost one of the kindest, nicest, strongest, giving people I’ve ever known. May he rest in peace.
I left this stop after a little while with a couple friends but we got separated and I decided to ride alone. This is the segment that Eric crashed on last year and I was determined NOT to ride on that bike path. When I got to that section in Wellfleet where everyone was getting on the path I chose to ride on route 6 instead. There was a police cruiser blocking access to the highway. I rode past it and the officer yelled out to me saying “You can’t ride there.” I replied “I pay taxes. Yes I can. Have a nice day and Thank You for volunteering” and continued on. I rode the next 4 miles on the highway feeling safer than I would’ve on the bike path. There’s a bike lane on the road and I stayed in that. I crossed those 4 miles quick and rejoined the route where it comes off the bike path. I continued on up past the beach in Wellfleet and the infamous Beachcomber restaurant. The miles flew by and I got to the next stop, the final one for the day in Wellfleet.
I decided to wait for the team at that stop and head out to the finish with them. I ran into my friend Jon Siegel’s daughter, Rachel, there. She was volunteering and working hard to keep Jon’s memory alive and his mission on track.
I made sure I stayed at the font of the pack with the faster riders as it’s much safer. We covered miles through Wellfleet and Truro and were put on on the main highway, route 6, for about 10 miles. I’ve ridden this so many times over the years that I’m used to it. We’re supposed to ride to the far right of the road. Our line was doing that. However, many were not and were across the entire lane making it very dangerous. We covered those 10 miles quickly and turned into Race Point to wait for the rest of the team so we could cross the finish line together. Thankfully the wait wasn’t very long. Once regrouped we headed out for the final 5 miles of hills through the dunes of Provincetown at Race Point. Once again, we spread out and we regrouped at a marker less than half mile from the finish line so we could all cross together. After the wait we rolled out and crossed the finish line around 11am. We were done. 168 miles covered in two days with 84 miles each day.
Eric and Meaghan (his wife) and Nancy were there to cheer me across the finish
line. That was a really nice way to finish my ride.
My ride was in the books. I took off and hit the shower and changed and went back to get a bite to eat. Again, the food was pretty bad so I didn’t have much and decided to get out of there and head into town with Nancy. We were staying in Provincetown that night so we went to grab something to eat and enjoy Provincetown. The PMC clears out of the town by around 3pm but we did run into other people we knew staying there. We love Provincetown. It’s just such a fun place. You just feel comfortable and safe and among the nicest people.
We explored the town and decided to go to our hotel to rest up till dinner. The 4 of us had a great meal at “Patio” restaurant and went back and crashed for the night. The PMC was over. We’d head back home the next day after having a great breakfast with Eric and Meaghan at Liz’s Cafe.
That’s it for my 38th consecutive PMC weekend. Regardless of what people say, the weekend ride for me IS THE PMC. The ride is our reward for raising the money. It’s the challenge of riding 168 miles in two days and finishing at the iconic Mass Maritime Academy on Day 1 and the Provincetown Inn on Day 2. I started the PMC as a challenge to myself as I’d never ridden that kind of miles in my life. In fact, my longest ride was 10 miles before I started training. Back then it was 192 miles from Sturbridge to Provincetown. Now it’s the 168 miles from Babson College in Wellesley to the Provincetown Inn. Still challenging and still reminds me of what is possible when you train for it. And yes, the money I raised thanks to all my supporters is extremely important and the main reason we ride the PMC.
Thank you for sticking with me all these years. This year I am proud to say I am one of 66 riders that have been riding the PMC for over 35 years. That’s one heckuva club that I am so proud to be part of. Also, I crossed the lifetime fundraising of $500,000 thanks to all of you! Till next year…
Oh, and if you’re interested in making a donation to my PMC fundraising, click on the following link:
Lastly, I’m very proud to be one of only 66 riders that have been riding this event more than 35 years. Here’s some of the official PMC stats for the weekend:
- Total registrations (including Reimagined and Virtual riders): 6,683
- Riders who crossed the starting line: 6,082
- Volunteers: 3,500+
- Living Proof® riders and volunteers: 1,234
- Riders at our inaugural Worcester Saturday start: 2,653
- Riders at our starts in Wellesley: 3,263
- Riders who finished in Provincetown: 4,292
- Riders age 65 and older: 1,325
- Riders age 35 and younger: 1,752
- 20 plus-years PMC riders: 812
- First-year riders: 1,317
- Heavy Hitters ($12,000+ raised to date): 1,037
- States represented: 44
- Countries represented: 8