Cisco Ready to Roll for 2011 Pan Mass Challenge

This coming August 6th, I'll be one of 23 Cisco employees, family, and friends among the 5500 riders participating in the 2011 Pan Massachusetts Challenge ... a 192 mile cycling event crossing Massachusetts to fund the efforts of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.

DFCI provides expert, compassionate care to children and adults with cancer while advancing the understanding, diagnosis, treatment, cure, and prevention of cancer and related diseases. Over the years, the PMC has raised $300+ million for DFCI.

I'm dedicating this year's effort to my 5 year old cousin Sean O'Donoghue, who is currently being treated for Wilms Tumor. He is doing great and really excited to be a 2011 PMC Pedal partner.

We've a lot of money to raise, and I need your help to do this. If you are able to make charitable contributions this year, I'd greatly appreciate your consideration.

Donations can be made to my campaign at Paul Duffy's PMC site

IMPORTANT: Cisco colleagues. I'll again be matching contributions, and Cisco will further match that. Your $50 will actually mean $200 going to the cause. Please see the Team Cisco blog for details





Thanks everyone!

One More Time! Pan Mass Challenge 2010

This August 7th at 6 AM, the 20 riders of Team Cisco push off to begin the grueling 192 mile Pan Massachusetts Challenge. What's it all about? Raising money to fund the cancer fighting efforts of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. The PMC provides over half of the annual funds for DFCI. And this year, Cisco will be directing our funding to Dr. George Demetri's Sarcoma Research Fund, a cause dear to many of our riders.

We've a lot of money to raise, and I need your help to do this. If you are able to make charitable contributions this year, I'd greatly appreciate your consideration.

Donations can be made to my campaign at Paul Duffy's PMC site

IMPORTANT: Cisco colleagues. I'll again be matching contributions, and Cisco will further match that. Your $50 will actually mean $200 going to the cause. Here's how to make a donation ....

• Log into Community Connect here
• On the left, under "Search for Organizations and Schools", enter "Pan Mass", then select "Pan Massachusetts Challenge" from the resulting page.
• Press "Make a Donation", then select "2010-PMC Paul Duffy- PD0109" from the Campaign drop down list.
• Please be sure to indicate "Paul Duffy PD0109" in the Designation field
  

The rest should be easily navigated. Please contact paduffy@cisco.com if you have any problems.


Thanks everyone!

For more info about PMC, check out the short video below ...

Cisco Community Connect is now online

So here we are Sunday AM going over the Bourne Bridge at 5:30.



I've got nothing in my legs and am wondering how I'm going to cover the remaining 80 miles to Provincetown. More on that later.

October 1, the day PMC accounts close, is rapidly approaching.

Many of you have been holding donations or match requests ... waiting for the new Cisco giving site to go online. Well, I'm happy to report it is now functional. And as always, every little bit counts, so I hope you can find the time to get into the new system and submit your donations and/or match requests.

To make a contribution or request a match for a previous contribution, first access Cisco Community Connect

At the left under "Search for Organizations and Schools", enter "pan mass".

You will see a pick list with "Pan Massachusetts Challenge" near the bottom...select it.

On the Account Detail, either press "Make a Donation" or "Request a Match"

Select Campaign "General giving"

You next be dropped into the Donation Information page. Its very important to specify "PD0109 Paul Duffy" for designation.

The rest should be fairly straight forward. If you have any issues with this, come see me and I'll help resolve your problem.

Full event report coming in October. It would be very difficult doing this event without your help. Thanks again for your support of PMC and Dana Farber!

Back for more...Cisco rides Pan Mass 2009

This August 1/2, I'll again be joining Team Cisco to make the 200 mile trek across Massachusetts to raise money for the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. A tough ride, and a really tough year for fund raising, but we decided to push forward. Its really important...PMC provides over half of the annual funds for DFCI's cancer fighting efforts.

Further intro to PMC can be found here

If you are able to make charitable contributions this year, I'd greatly appreciate your consideration. I'll again be matching contributions, and Cisco will further match that. Your $50 will actually mean $200 going to the cause.

Donations to my campaign can be made at Paul Duffy's PMC site

Cisco colleagues, the company match is VERY important. But iGive is shutdown to prepare for a new giving system. You will need to make your donation at the PMC site, save the receipt, then apply for the match when the new iGive site goes live this September. I will prepare instructions when it is ready.



Thank you one and all!

Pan Mass Challenge 2008

Its Saturday. Its 5:30 AM. Its still dark. I'm straddling a bicycle in a sea of 3000+ people in Sturbridge MA.

I'm in there somewhere

I don't "do" early mornings. I don't "do" bikes. Talking Head's Once In A Lifetime is running through my head ... "Well, how did I get here?" Oh, yeah, yeah ... I'm going to pedal this thing 190 miles to ProvinceTown. Huh?

A few minutes later, on a small stage up front, the national anthem is sung and Billy Starr addresses the crowd. The river of bicycles begins to pour out of the Sturbridge Inn parking lot and starts winding its way East into the sunrise. PMC 2008 has begun...

Here we go

The Cisco Team Rides for Dana Farber

This is my "Thank You" note to all my PMC donors and training pals. The Cisco team raised at least $50,000, and this would not have been possible without your support. Know that 100% of these funds will go direct to Dana Farber Cancer Institute ... PMC provides over half of the annual funds for DFCI's cancer fighting efforts.

Nine Cisco riders from MA, CT, and NJ made this year's trek. Gary Muntz and Steve Nyberg each returned for their tenth year. Frank Palumbo and Mary Sarr have several years between them. The remainder of the roster was filled by rookies Tom Royce, Jared Jackson, Scott Aaron, JR Teto, and myself. Kerry Lynn also returned to lead a volunteer team at Wellesley College.

Saturday - Sturbridge to Bourne

The 192 mile trip is broken into two days. Day 1. Sturbridge to Mass Maritime Academy in Bourne. 110 miles. There is a rest stop every 20 miles or so where we refill water, grab a quick bite, then back out onto the road. The first 70 miles have quite a few very long climbs. They are not easy, but not much different than the hills around Cisco BXB. I hit 38 mph at some point on a downhill...can't remember where.

2000+ riders from Wellesley merge in at the 3rd/lunch stop, bringing the pack to 5400 for the last 40 miles to Bourne.

Sights and Sounds

A lot of raw emotion runs through both the riders and the thousands of spectators lining the route. Many riders have pictures or lists of names tacked to their backs ... remembering those lost, or under treatment, or success stories of survivors. We've all got the stories. We've all been affected.

For an hour or so I was leap frogging what I figured out was a father and young son team. The son was having a really hard time getting up some of the hills. After awhile, I realized the source of his resolve. In large letters, he had penciled onto the back of his calves "Miss You Grandma". The dad ... "Miss You Mom".

The approach to one of the rest stops is lined with pictures of young kids currently undergoing treatment. Breaks your heart.

On the lighter side, I spent many miles riding near Joe Joyce, the NECN weather man. Pretty funny guy ... till his chain broke.

Saturday Afternoon - Onward to Bourne

We passed through parts of MA that might just as well have been Iowa ... very nice, I've never been here before. I started to recognize the coast as we closed on Bourne. Finally pulled into Mass Maritime at about 2:45.

Checked into our dorm room, showered up, then to the beer ... errr ... food tent. Plan was to hook up with the rest of Cisco at 5 for a team photo, but a violent squall caused a section of the main tent to collapse and dispersed the crowd. Weather eventually cleared. My wife and I walked about campus a bit, then off to bed at 8.

Room was very hot. Hard to sleep. The couple bunked in with us was arguing during the night. Hard not to laugh.

Sunday - Bourne to ProvinceTown

4 AM. Out of bed. Suit up. Off to the tent to choke down some food. On the bike at 5. Its dark. I'm still asleep and almost fall off. Some 3800 cycling zombies are headed over the Bourne bridge towards PTown...80 miles to go.

Everyone told me the Cape was flat. Hah! Lots of up and down, but not as much as Saturday.

Gary tanking up at the Barnstable stop

One aspect looms large on Sunday ... the PTown dunes. One climb in particular about 3 miles from finish. Pictures from years past...riders look REALLY unhappy coming up this hill. Many veterans moan about it. I'm thinking the wave that finally gets the Andrea Gail in the Perfect Storm.

40 miles to go. Brewster/Nickerson Park rest stop was a hoot. Rock and roll blaring at 9 AM! Big cheering crowd at Da Hedge at Ocean Edge.

Scott rolling through the Orleans Marshes

I'm feeling OK up until the WellFleet stop. Stomach is now not good. 20 miles to finish. The dunes are coming. I gobble down what's left of the last PowerBar, a Gu, and some silly energy beans I picked up at one of the stops. Probably not a good idea to be shoveling all of this down now.

The exit from the Wellfleet stop shoots you down a very steep hill, then out onto route 6 for the last miles to PTown. I fall in with a small pack. Its clouding up and trying to rain. Finally we cross the PTown line. Couple miles up, we leave route 6 into the Province Lands...the dunes. The first snakes its way up for about a 1/2 mile. Not bad. But from the top of the first...there it is. About a mile from the first. The cameras are waiting for us at the top of the big one.

What else to do? We push it hard over the top and down the backside of the first. Flying through the flat. Finally up, up, up the big one. Grinding through every gear, down to 5 mph. Before you know it ... the top!

Steve summits the last dune on his way to the finish line

Couple more miles up. A large cheering crowd lines the finish area. Lots of slapping high fives. I pull across the finish line and tell the volunteer "Very glad to be here!"

Back For More?

PMC was quite an experience. I hope the money we all raised for Dana Farber will make a difference. Would I consider doing this again....absolutely.

Christina and I at the PTown finish

My very best regards to all Cisco team supporters. This would not have been possible without your help. We all did some good on August 2 and 3.

Cheers

If interested, further details

More event pics can be seen here

The route details can be seen here