Pan-Mass Challenge First-Time Riders Cheered On During Registration
STURBRIDGE (CBS) -- The excitement and energy are palpable in Sturbridge, where riders were registering and prepping Friday afternoon ahead of a huge weekend: the Pan-Mass Challenge. Celebratory cheers erupt as each first time rider arrives.
Each person in the crowded room is getting on a bike Saturday for someone in their heart.
First-time rider Andrea Ricker said she will be out there this weekend for "a lot of reasons. A lot of family. It's just so emotional. Being here the first time is very emotional."
She added, "We have a house in Provincetown and every year we watch them come in and cheer them on and last year, I didn't want to watch anymore. I wanted to participate."
Ricker is part of the 6,300 riders hoping to raise $52 million dollars for the Dana Farber Cancer Institute.
Another first-time rider, Dennis Stampfl, says cancer is all his daughters have known for six years. His fight against thyroid cancer began in 2012.
"My second diagnosis, with the lymphoma. We were devastated. We finally got through all that and I was healthy and then as soon as we started to turn a corner my wife was diagnosed with breast cancer," said Stampfl.
His team of six has raised $45,000 for patient care and cancer research. As his wife Melissa hopefully completes treatment this year, he says the outpouring of support has been overwhelming. "I can't even explain how great people are. Now it's time for me to pay it forward and make a difference," Stampfl said.
The ride is going to be challenging and hot, but riders continually say that it is nothing compared what cancer patients go through every day.
"If you ever feel like you're riding and you can't make it up a hill, you can look to your right and ask somebody why you're riding and you're like 'alright, I can get to the top of this. This is easy compared to what people are going through in hospitals," said 13-time rider Amanda Chase.
Seventeen-year-old Madison Miller knows that fight well. "I've been sleeping for like two days after chemo but I feel better today," she said.
Madison is here to cheer on riders who are doing the PMC in her honor.
"We're about halfway through my second treatment and we're hoping we get good results on my scan which is coming up on August 16, I believe," she explained.
Annabelle Eliopoulis is part of Nashua Rides For Hope, which has 35 riders. "My dad died three years ago while training for the ride," she told WBZ-TV. "So since then, we just keep each other even closer. He was always the captain so that's when I took over as captain...it can be a lot but it's awesome. Any tears are happy tears."
