On Biking: Pan Mass Challenge has 5,200 riders, 5,200 stories

By Jonathan Simmons, Guest Columnist

The Pan Massachusetts Challenge covers 192 miles over two days, from Sturbridge to Provincetown. There are 5,200 riders and 5,200 stories, all of them personal.

Mel Stoler of Brookline has ridden the PMC since 1987. Fourteen years later his young cousin Steven was struggling with cancer. The plan was for the two of them to complete the ride together that year on a bicycle built for two. “We’d get to the end of the ride, where everyone would be cheering, and I’d embrace Steven as he crossed the finish line. He would be a survivor,” Mel said. Sadly, it did not turn out that way: Steven passed away just a few months before the ride. In 2001, Mel rode the PMC on a tandem bicycle, with an empty seat behind him where his cousin was supposed to be.

Linda Nelson and her husband Barry of Newton have been riding a tandem bicycle together for over 15-years. She describes it as “a way to spend the day together, to share what we see. All of our vacations are done on the tandem. The tandem makes it perfect.” On a bicycle built for two they have become one. Like Fred and Ginger, they are in sync as they dance on the pedals.

Fifteen years ago Linda’s sister-in-law died of breast cancer. “She was going to do the PMC that year,” Linda says, “so Barry and I did it for her. We’ve been doing it ever since.”

The plan for this summer’s PMC was for Mel to once again ride his fixed gear bike, while Linda and Barry would be out on their tandem. They and 5,197 other cyclists would be pedaling away for a great cause.

Except that a few months ago, Barry was hit by a car while out on a solo training ride. His injuries were serious but fortunately not life-threatening. Still, he did not have the strength to safely pilot a tandem. “Billy Starr, the founder of PMC, e-mailed us,” Linda explains. “He said ‘I assume I should take both of you out of the PMC.’ I told him don’t assume anything.”

As Linda tells it, once everyone knew Barry was going to be okay, just not okay to be the captain of their bike, the calls came in. “Several people from our Crack o' Dawn biking club volunteered to take Barry’s place. I chose Mel.”

Good choice. Sure, Mel is tough as nails on the bike. Just ask him about the time he rode from Boston to Montreal and back again in less than 90 hours. But more than that, he’s one of the nicest guys I know. Which is way more important than how hard you pedal if you’re going to bike together for two long days.

Pictured left to right are Mel Stoler, Linda Nelson and Barry Nelson.

Riding that proverbial ‘bicycle built for two’ sounds so easy. It’s not. A tandem is hard to maneuver and stop. And riding almost 200-miles across hilly terrain and into a headwind would be a challenge even if you had been doing it for years, like Linda and Barry.

Mel and Linda did not have much time to practice. For Linda, riding with Mel would be “like dancing with a different partner, you have to get used to their rhythm.” As Mel described it: “I had to learn everything. It’s a huge change in a short amount of time.”

Last month I joined Mel and Linda for an evening training ride. Even though they’d only logged a month of rides together, they looked like they’d been doing this for years. Who says you can’t teach an experienced biker new tricks?

After our 20-mile ride on a hot and humid night, we retired to Linda’s air conditioned basement to chat. Mel and Linda described the signs along the way in each and every town that read “thanks for riding” and “I wouldn’t be here without your help.” That, more than a Power Bar or a sports drink, is what keeps them going.

It turns out Barry’s recovery is going much better than planned. No, he won’t be able to pedal his tandem, but he will be able to ride the PMC on his own bike. And what could be better: Mel, Linda, Barry, 5,197 other riders and over 3,000 volunteers, all working together for a great cause.

If you live in New England you’ve probably heard about the PMC. You might have even donated, watched or ridden in this ride for the cure. You may not know that 100% of the money raised by the riders goes to the Dana Farber Cancer Institute through the Jimmy Fund, where it’s used to fund research in the fight against cancer. If you’re not riding or volunteering, you can always cheer on these two-wheeled heroes on the weekend of August 7th and 8th.

Jonathan Simmons is a Brookline psychologist and avid cyclist, and has donated to the PMC.