Today We Ride…Wellesley to Wrentham

 

Today we ride…this is our mantra early in the morning on PMC Saturday. Up at 4:30am, we leave Attleboro and head to Babson College in Wellesley, MA. My bike is already there, having brought it up to Wellesley the night before. Overnight, “The Contessa”  and about 3,000 other bikes are watched over by a group of our awesome volunteers (there are over 4,000 volunteers that support us during PMC weekend.). 

Breakfast is waiting for us, yogurt, coffee, muffins, bagels, fruits and our staples, bananas and peanut butter …potassium and protein. Fun fact…On PMC weekend riders consume over 1300 lbs of peanut butter and and over 20,000 bananas! 

We fill our bottles with water and Gatorade, stuff our pockets with bars and yes, an extra banana and head to the bikes. During our opening ceremony we remember why we ride and those that are not here to ride with us this year. We acknowledge our living proof riders, amazing and inspiring people, those who are fighting cancer and make this ride!!  The National anthem, the cow bells ring and we are off to the sounds of U2’s It’s a Beautiful Day.  It’s 7:00am and our 164 mile ride has begun. We make our way out of Babson to the sound of more cowbells and so many supporters wishing us a “safe ride” and “see you in Bourne”. Our route takes us through Wellesley,  Needham, Dover, (our first long climb, Farm Street in Dover!),  Sherbourne, Medfield, Norfolk and into Wrentham, our first waterstop.

21 miles later….we arrive at the ground of the Wrentham State Hospital. Here we are greeted by crowds of people on the road, our awesome volunteers , including two of my favorites, my sister Cindy and brother-in-law, Dennis who drive up from southern RI in the wee hours of the morning, to be at this stop so early in the morning.

We riders could not make this ride without our PMC Volunteers. They take such good care of us! In addition to these volunteers, their are volunteer nurses, massage therapists, bike mechanics and our policeman who keep us safe on the roads and through the intersections, all of these people volunteer their time to support the research at Dana-Farber.

So today I “rode” 21 miles, my first leg of the PMC2020 Reimagined. Though we can’t ride together, we are all committed to funding research and finding cures. Please follow my journey and enjoy the photos of PMCs past. You can support my ride by following the link below. Cancer doesn’t quit so neither can we!

Dawn’s Ride

#RideOn #NeverGiveUp #BikesFightCancer #TogetherWeAreStronger