How to Be a #PMC2014 Stalker!

Back despite popular demand: You can be a #PMC2014 Stalker! 

Here's how.

Just like last year, I have decided to err on the side of "over-sharing".

I'll be using an app on my Android phone, called Glympse, that will allow me to broadcast my location, so that you (yes you!) can follow my progress on a map from the comfort of your web browser (or SmartPhone). 

All you need to do to track me is point your browser at this link: http://glympse.com/!pmc2014      If you go there right now it might say I'm "Expired", but don't despair: I'm alive and well -- just not actively updating my location...   Be patient. ;-)

And yet there's more...

Not only will you be able to track my progress, you'll also be able to see the progress of any other riders who've 1) installed the glympse app on their phones and 2) joined public glympse group !pmc2014.

Actually, I'm hoping that a lot of other riders and PMC volunteers/well-wishers will use Glympse on their phones and join the !pmc2014 group!  It'll ve cool to check where folks are when you're resting at a water stop, or when you've arrived at Bourne or P-Town.   (And it makes it easier for families and riders to find each other on the route, too.)

Effective tomorrow (Friday) afternoon, I'll have Glympse active on my phone.  You should be able to track me while I'm milling around at Babson taking care of registration and watching the opening ceremonies.  Please start checking out  http://glympse.com/!pmc2014 to see where I am -- and hopefully other riders are.   And please watch my Facebook page for updates at https://www.facebook.com/doug.mcpherson as I'll be uploading pictures there as I take them over the weekend.

So... Bye for now.  Gotta start getting my stuff ready!

/doug

#PMC2014 Routes Viewable Online!

The 35th Pan Mass Challenge for the Jimmy Fund is happening this weekend.   If you are the least bit curious as to where in the Great Commonwealth of Massachusetts  you're likely to find more more than 5,300 cyclists on the road this weekend: please do read on...

The intrepid PMC support staff has updated the PMC website with interactive maps detailing ALL of the various #PMC2014 routes.  These maps are view-able in your browser using zoom-able Google maps features... AND you can even download the .gpx tracks for any of the routes, suitable for loading into your favorite GPS or GPS app (if you are really that much of a geek).

The #PMC2014 routes are here: at http://pmc.org/ride/routes

Please feel free to use the route information to figure out

• where you could hang out this weekend and cheer on all the riders helping to fund a cure for cancer, or
• what roads you might want to avoid if you're out running time-critical errands this weekend
  or
• how the heck to get to Provincetown.

So... if someone you know is riding this year you can locate their route from the above link, then ogle their path -- all from the comfort of your own web browser.  It's nowhere near as much fun as actually riding the route (trust me).  But on the other hand, your butt won't hurt when you get to the end.

Big thanks to the PMC for making all this logistical data available to all!

And finally: please support a rider this year.  It doesn't have to be me -- but please support the good work at Dana-Farber with your donations to the PMC Jimmy fund.

That's all for tonight.
/doug

So long, Dan.

Dan Field passed away last Saturday afternoon, July 17.

For the last 2 years, Dan had been fighting a recurrence of the brain cancer that he, his family and the folks at Dana-Farber had beaten back into remission almost 12 years ago.   This time around, it was just not to be.

Dan (among so many other things) was a rider for the PMC, but became unable to ride when his cancer returned in 2012.  That year Sandy, who worked with Dan, suggested that I should carry his "passengers" (the names of the people he rides for) along with me in his stead.  I've carried it ever since -- and will continue to do so.

So that was how I came to meet Dan.   And now I so wish that I had known Dan better.

Sandy and I attended Dan's memorial service in Southborough yesterday.  While I had quickly grown to admire Dan, his wife Donna and their handsome boys, I don't think I was fully prepared to experience just how broad an impact Dan had on the people around him -- for the entirety of his brief time here...

• Dan's older son, a freshly-minted high school graduate, astounded me with his grace, composure and articulate sense of humor as he recalled for everyone how Dan would read Dr. Seuss stories to him and his brother every night.  Dan clearly loved the silliness and wordplay, but the messages of love, steadfastness and sense-of-self clearly took root in his sons through those silly bed-story times.  
• A friend, co-worker and fellow PMC rider delivered what must have been the most difficult, but beautiful remembrances of Dan's humor, intellect and strength of will.  I can't imagine how tough it was to write that, let alone deliver it. I laughed and cried. We should all be so lucky to have a friend like that.
• There were also a few other remembrances of Dan over the years from his neighbors, college buddies and scouting friends that revealed even more of the depth and breadth of Dan's humor, strength and love for his family. 

So really, what does one take away from all this?   I mean, how do I properly honor and remember someone like Dan? That question has been rolling around in my mind since we left that ceremony yesterday. It just rings false to me that mourning a "Dan-shaped hole in the world" is something that Dan would really get behind.  So after a lot of thought (and re-writes of this post), I've come to this conclusion:  Just as Dan was a part of all those people's lives, Dan is still part of their lives -- and part of my life, too -- and I should build on that.  So maybe the best way for me to honor Dan's life is by simply recognizing the things that made him special, and then growing those things within my own life -- and with others: Tenacity.  Love for Family.  Respect for others. Laughter.  Strength.

So Dan, thanks for all you've ever done or said.  I wish I'd known you better, but I'm grateful you came into our lives. I'll try to remember to "..make every day my Masterpiece".   And I'll think of you and smile every time I watch "Young Frankenstein" or "Seinfeld". And I'll try to be "DanStrong".
Yes, I think that might help.