We are regular guys who like to ride. In our 20's, we rode a lot. We rode the Pan-Mass Challenge (PMC) together 200 miles across Massachusetts in 1987 and didn't feel like we needed to train. Then we got married, had kids, and largely stopped riding for nearly 20 years.
In 2006, we challenged each other to train and ride PMC again. We closed that year with a ride across Southeastern Massachusetts, and Elmo concluded that he had ridden through more than 200 Massachusetts cities and towns. After a couple of beers, a broader, brave new goal emerged: Mass 351.
Conquering Eastern and Central Mass. was straightforward, and took two years. Cleaning up Western Mass. took a lot more work -- it's a long way from our homes in suburban Boston, and the riding is rugged.
By Spring 2011, we had finished all but the last loop, a circumnavigation of Mount Greylock, the tallest peak in Massachusetts. Clarksburg, near North Adams, was the final new town that day.
Our search for new terrain continues, as does our commitment to PMC -- 2019 will mark our 15th rides respectively (plus Elmo's year of regular PMC volunteering and two year of PMC-Kids-Westwood volunteering), and we are proud to have raised over $200,000 for the Jimmy Fund between us. Mike's kids Sarah and Ian have ridden PMC 13 times between them as well, Elmo's daughter Jacqui does her 7th year volunteering for PMC and Ian is over 250 towns in his own quest for Mass 351.
