Bedford riders prepare for Saturday’s Pan Mass Challenge

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ufet3LAHkc?rel=0&w=560&h=315]

For the past 8 years, Bedford residents Bruce Murphy and Amy Mason have organized a training ride during the week before the big event for Bedford residents (and any others interested riders) who will tackle the annual Pan Mass Challenge (PMC).

Training ride leader Bruce Murphy talking about the evening’s 16.5 mile route. (c) The Bedford Citizen

The 2012 training ride drew more than 15 riders on Monday evening. While the riders were mostly from Bedford, they came from other towns as well. One of the Lexington riders was Bill Segal, Amy Mason’s father, the other was their family friend, Lisa Kling.  The Needham rider was Amy’s brother David Segal.

Amy is well-known to local families as an organizer of Bedford’s PMC Kid’s Ride. She volunteers and rides in the PMC for her sister-in-law Jill who is battling ovarian cancer. Amy’s family team “Click Out, Click Out!” has raised over $322,000 since 2005.

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Part of the PMC “Click Out Click Out!” team: David Segal, Bill Segal, Julia Segal and Amy Segal Mason (l-r) are ready to ride. (c) The Bedford Citizen

This year Amy and her 13-year-old daughter Julia will ride from Wellesley to Foxboro.  Her brother David and nephew Aaron will ride to Bourne.  Amy’s father, her niece Chloe, her cousin Steve and family friend Lisa will ride from Wellesley to Provincetown. They’ll be welcomedby young Bedford riders Sydney, Hannah and Melina (who also took part in the training ride) as volunteers in Bourne who will then ride the PMC Sunday route from Bourne to Wellesley. The girls started riding in the PMC Bedford Kids Ride at its inception in 2005.  “It’s great to see so many PMC Kids continue to stay involved with the PMC,” said Mason.

The training ride departed from the Bedford Library and traveled a 16.5  mile loop that took the riders to North Billerica, back though Bedford Center, to  Concord center and back to the Bedford Library. Route designer Bruce Murphy said, “This has become a nice tradition.  It’s a chance for the PMC community in Bedford to have their own kick-off before the big event.  I’m glad we have a chance to get together and reconnect.”

The link to make a donation is https://www.pmc.org/donation.asp. You can search for the rider of your choice by name, no matter where they live. There are at least 23 Bedford riders in this year’s ride, and each one is raising much-needed funds for cancer research.

If you would like to know more about any of Bedford’s 2012 Pan Mass Challenge riders or support their ride, click on the link next to their name:

(If you’re a Bedford rider and your name does not appear on this list, please click here to let The Bedford Citizen know right away so we can adjust this list.)

The headset and stem of Ralph Hammond’s bicycle carry motivational reminders and information that he’ll need during the ride. (c) The Bedford Citizen

Many PMC riders have beaten cancer, or are riding in honor of loved ones who struggle with the disease. Bedford’s Jean Hammond rides (and works as a PMC volunteer) for her husband Ralph, a 2-time survivor, a 9-year rider, and a beneficiary of PMC-funded research.The Hammonds carry Tibetan prayer flags inscribed with hundreds of names of friends, friends of friends and loved ones who are directly or indirectly dealing with cancer. It is believed that as the prayer flags and the names of people on them for fade over time, the prayers for those listed will be heard. “This year we will be carrying the names of more than 1,000 people connected to us through friends and collected over the years,” Jean said. “Following the ride, the flags hang in our garden to enable time and the positive power of nature to best serve those we love.”

The Pan-Massachusetts Challenge, presented by the Boston Red Sox Foundation and New Balance, is the nation’s original fundraising bike-a-thon and today raises more money than any other athletic fundraising event in the country.  The PMC has contributed $338 million to lifesaving cancer research and treatment at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute since its 1980 inception. To learn more about the Pan Mass Challenge, please click this link.

View all eight photos from the training ride

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