PMC 2010

I have officially signed up for the 2010 PMC Sturbridge to Provincetown route. More details to come.

Fundraising Update

The Spaghetti Dinner and Raffle this past Friday were a huge success. We were able to raise $2,200 which is more than double what I thought we would raise. There were some great items up for raffle and every item was donated.

Items up for raffle

 I would like to thank the following for their contributions to the rafffle:
Clarke Distribution
Hannoford Supermarket
Target
TACO HVAC
D’angelo
Chef Ming Tsai

I would also like to thank everyone who came to the dinner and bought tickets for the raffle. I couldn’t have asked for a better turnout. Check out the raffle winners below.

Raffle Winners

After the money raised from the dinner, I will be within $500 of  my $4,200 fundraising commitment. My next goal is to hit $6,000 and reach the Heavy Hitter status with the PMC.

Matt

PMC Paceline

I mentioned in a previous post that the Pan Mass Challenge was going to roll out a new concept called the PMC Paceline. The Paceline was created to replace rider’s profile pages  and involve donors in the fundraising efforts. The profile starts with an animated rider (me) riding along to cheering crowds and popular landmarks in the background. When someone makes an online donation, they will create their own rider that will be pedalling along on a tandem bicycle with the existing rider(s). The donor can then customize the appearance of their rider and create their own personal profile. Donors can then direct people to their own profile page to help raise money for the rider that they are supporting.

It seems like they are still working out all the kinks but it’s a really cool idea that I think will make the whole fundraising process more interesting. Unfortunately, it looks like anyone who made a donation before the Paceline was rolled out will not be included as a rider until some time after the ride in August. However, I did hear that if you already made a donation, but would like to be involved in the Paceline, you can make a small donation online, $1 for example, and create your rider from there.

I’d love to get all my existing donors up on the Paceline so I encourage everyone to create their rider profile. My rider looks awefully lonely up there.

Come Join the Paceline!

Matt

Comfort Zone

Through the years I have learned there is no harm in charging oneself up with delusions between moments of valid inspiration – Steve Martin

This quote is from Steve Martin’s book called Born Standing Up. I picked up a copy after reading an excerpt he had in a Reader’s Digest while I was sitting in the dentist office. The excerpt was called The Death of My Father. It was one of those things that you start reading but can’t put down. A real insightful and touching story. For once, I was hoping that they weren’t going to call me in to see the dentist right away.

Not too long after that, I picked up a copy of Born Standing Up. I never realized how good of a writer Steve Martin was or how interesting his life was as he worked towards his career as a comedian and writer. I highly recommend this book.

Anyway, I got to the quote above and it really stuck with me. I read it at the time when I was contemplating signing up for the Pan Mass Challenge. At the time, I thought I was delusional thinking that I could not only get on a bike and ride for almost 200 miles, but also raise $4,200 for the Jimmy Fund. The most I have ever raised for any one cause was probably around $100 to $200. I was really getting myself out of my comfort zone with this one and it made me nervous.

I started to look at it like Steve Martin’s statement. Yeah sure I was “charging” myself up and trying to work up the guts to sign up for the PMC and make that commitment. And although a couple people sometimes looked at me like I was crazy, I was very inspired by the PMC story, the cause and the riders. I knew this was a great opportunity to prove something to myself. To put myself out there and take a risk. Sure, I still worry a little about it and how hard it will be but I know if I backed down from this I would always regret it.

Granted, Steve Martin was talking about a moment in his life when he was younger when he made a decision to go “avant garde” with his act, whatever that means. He wasn’t sure what that meant either but he knew that in order to get ahead, he would have to start taking some risks.

 Matt

Training Ride

I went for a nice training ride over the long weekend. I started in Millbury and followed 122A/122 into Uxbridge and looped back (Check out the map).

View Larger Map

My bike computer said I had gone 27 miles. Definitely the longest ride I have been on so far. It felt good and I wasn’t too tired afterwards. I had a busy day going out for a Birthday lunch with Jackie’s Mother and Stepfather immediately after my ride so I was pretty worn out at the end of the day.

Overall the ride made me feel better about riding in the PMC. The 190 miles is very intimidating and I am only used to mountain biking. I have never done any long distance road biking before and I was worried that I might be in over my head. Now I feel more confident after getting out on my new bike a few times and as long as I stick to the training schedule, I should be all set.

Matt

Got a Bike…. Round 2

I took the Shogun I got from Jackie’s uncle to a bike shop to get some advice on it. It turns out it was too small for me. I had a feeling but wanted to see if I could make it work, but they said no way.  Not for the Pan Mass.

So I went back and did the craigslist thing. A friend recommended a Specialized Allez so I kept my eye out for one. I found one being sold in Woonsocket and the pictures looked promising. Most of all, it was a 58 cm bike which is what I was looking for.

I picked it up yesterday. It’s a Specialized Allez Sport 58.2 cm XL. The guy I bought it off of took really good care of it and it was in great condition. It won’t go into first gear on the crankset and the brake felt a little squishy so those will need to be addressed. I’m getting it tuned next week so that should take care of it.

Can’t wait to get out on it. I’m going to try to go out after work today but the forecast says possible rain and thunderstorms so we’ll see how it goes. If it looks bad I will take the Mountain Bike out instead. I would rather be stuck in the rain on that. I still need to get used to the new bike.

Here’s a picture of a similar one:

 

See you on the road… For real this time.

Matt

In Honor of Julia – A Rider’s Story

I found this video in the Related Videos section on YouTube when I was watching the PMC Safety Video. It was created by a rider whose daughter was diagnosed with cancer when she was 6 months old. Now she is 6 years old and doing great. This is what makes the PMC such a great event which I am very proud to be a part of. Thanks to donations made to the Pan Mass Challenge, stories like Julia’s are possible.

 

Orientation

I attended the PMC freshman orientation last night. They showed a few videos, had a few people from the PMC go over a few things and had a trainer from FitCorp and a nutritionist giving some pointers.  

One thing I thought was really cool was the new site they are making to replace the PMC profiles. We were lucky enough to get a sneak preview last night. They are working on a site that will become more like a social networking place. It will be called PaceLine and its purpose will be to involve rider’s donors more in their fundraising efforts. Not only will riders have their own profiles set up, but donors can also set up their own profiles with their own stories, pictures and information. From here, donors will be able to enlist more donors to sign up and the network will just keep growing. Donors can also put up if they are donating in memory of someone or if they are a “living proof” donor. That is what I am trying to do in my own fundraising efforts with my “Who I am riding for” section. I want to make my donors feel like they are just as much a part of this journey as I am. The ride is only half the battle. The rest lies in your support.

They are doing a really great job on developing PaceLine so far from what I have seen and I can’t wait to see it in action. Great job guys.

Matt

Got a Bike…. Finally

I picked up a bike the other day. Jackie’s uncle had an old Shogun cr-mo 400 sitting around and he told me I could have it if I wanted it for my Pan Mass ride. It is in very good shape, could probably just use a tune-up and some minor parts. I could probably use a bigger size, but I think this will work just fine for me. It’s better than what I had before which was nothing. If my measurement was correct, it is a 53cm frame from the crankset to the top of the seat. When I went to Bicycle Alley in Worcester, they told me that a 58cm bike would be a good fit for me. I’m hoping the 2 inch difference won’t be that big of a deal. Here is a similar bike to the one I got:

I’m will be using the money I had been saving for a bike towards getting the Shogun tuned-up and maybe getting a few new things for it. Maybe new handlbars and a few other parts. Nothing too major.

See you on the road soon.

Matt

Marathon Monday

I drove by a bunch of buses bringing people from the Mass Pike, down 495 to Hopkinton for the Boson Marathon today. I have to work as usual. I’ve always had to either work or have classes on Marathon Monday/Patriot’s Day while everyone else I know gets it off. Even at Northeastern I think we were the only school in Boston that still had classes on Patriot’s Day so I only got to check out the finish line once. It was my freshman year and I had classes all morning and into the early afternoon but I wanted to make sure I got to see the finish line. I was bummed that the race had ended a few hours ago but still dropped my stuff off after class and walked down to Boylston Street. I was amazed at how many people were still there even though the race was over. I made my way up to the side of the road where the runners rounded the corner onto Boylston Street for the home stretch to the finish line. This was one of the most inspiring things I had ever seen. Not only was it amazing to see these people finishing a 26 mile run but it was also amazing to see the people gathered along the street, cheering the runners on for their final sprint for the finish. Cheering as if they were cheering for the 1st place runner hours before. I told myself that some day I wanted to know what that felt like. To know that you are about to complete something which you have worked so hard towards and to know that there are people rooting for you. On August 2nd this year as I finish the Pan Mass Challenge, I hope I finally get to see what that feels like.

Matt