Maybe and probably that is why it is so magical. It hits so deep with such strength yet appears to sneak up from nowhere.

I have been choked up with tears off and on from pulling in to Sturbridge on Friday to a sea of people and bikes, all with one purpose yet different reasons. It is both celebratory and somber, inspiring and sobering all the while quite intimidating.

At once you are part of “a movement” (that is what Lance Armstrong called it) though it very personal and specific to each individual. The weekend seems neither about the money raised or the miles to ride.

Over 5,000 riders and 2,500 volunteers participate in memory or in honor of someone as do the thousands of people whom stand on the route to thank and support us all.

One mother with her survivor 6 year old daughter followed the route to thank each rider individually over and over, a bagpiper played all morning at the top of a steep hill (and if that doesn’t bring tears to your eyes!), a lone man sat in his front yard with a handmade sign thanking us for the extra years he had with his wife, a teenage girl held up a sign thanking us for her life, an entire street, Cherry Street, ties ribbons and signs around the trees thanking each of us, at most intersections along with an officer to help us along people gather cheering, thanking and ringing bells. This is just a minute sampling of the magnificent participation. All the while I carry a picture of my dad on my back and my cancer scare on my front.

It is more than enough to nourish me, encourage me and to make me commit for another year. The swirl of goodwill, devotion, appreciation and love is crazy beautiful so much so that the word sublime comes to mind.

The start

Lance

1st water stop

My oncologist, Dr Andrew Wagner. Somehow in the sea of 5,000 riders we run into each other, furthering the comfort of him always being there for me. He is what is so good and true about Dana Farber
Another waterstop!

My fan club, my daughter, my sister, my dear friend and my mother.

My dear dear friend Jane joins me to ride the last route to the finish. True to who creative and thoughtful Jane is she donates $365 for everyday we are all alive!

The finish at Mass Maritime, 110 miles done!

and if you have sometime and you want more inspiration watch this, or just skim it. Lance is good, Tym Rouke a father of a young cancer survivor is great and of course, the president of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Dr Edward Benz Jr.

************CLICK TO DONATE, thanks**********************

watch it or not

read it or not

donate or not

BUT please know I will keep sending, keep asking and keep hoping and maybe keep blogging.

Thanks to all who have helped me over the $20,000 mark for 3 years!

Never to late to donate!

donate here

i miss my dad.

and i added this…and my dad loved my daughter’s dad.i miss them both.         GO CELEBRATE YOUR DAD!

and thank you to more of you that have so generously given to my cause, Vicky, Eunie & Everett, Betsy & Ted, Micheal and Andrew.

click here to give

thanks renee, sarah, brendan, shannon, emily, tyler and steve for helping me reach $1875

here’s how to donate link to donate on line

or

send a check made out to PMC to Hobler PO Box 5 Mattapoisett MA 02739

Paddle for Life Super Six

Anela & Ellen my paddling coaches

our hosts performing Hawaiian Chants

paddling out

after the huli (capsize)

Imua is the Hawaiian word meaning to go forward. It is used to signal the first pull of the paddle into the water when outrigger canoeing. The sport is seeped in Hawaiian tradition and culture combined with healthy dose of competition.

Ever since the first time I paddled in an outrigger canoe my appreciation of foundation, support and respect have become clearer. Imua became more than just moving a boat forward.

I had the honor to sit “seat 1” for the Paddle for Life Maui crew in a 6-man outrigger canoe sprint race. From the command imua, seat 1 sets the pace and keeps the pace. We raced in the Paddlers Open, the regatta opener for the 6-man race season. Our crew was a powerful group of cancer survivors and supporters. We may have been older (I was also one of the youngest) and maybe not physically as strong but were all together making us smooth and fast. We certainly gave the younger crews a run for their money!

One of my coaches, Kaleo, liked to sing to us.

all together,

our paddles go into the water together,

go thru the water together,

come out of the water together,

all together

Listening to that chant not only lightens the load and thrusts the boat forward but also allows each one of us to rely on the team along with holding our own. Paddling certainly has shown me more than just giving me a work out; it somehow mirrors many of life’s messages.

Another powerful illustration of these principles came a few days later.

I had the fortunate experience to work with a group of young cancer survivors on Maui. These 9 survivors along with a group of dedicated volunteers were the first participants in Athletes for Cancer/Team Duke Surf & SUP Survivorship Camp. They came to Maui to learn surfing and stand up paddling (SUP) and just be together to soak in the magic that Maui so effortlessly is.

On the afternoons after their time out on the water, I led them in a yoga practice. With both eagerness and nervousness I drove to their camp questioning what I had to bring to the table. My confidence in what I knew escaped me. Even though excitement ran abuzz thru my body, doubt drained my confidence. Could I actually instill in them any of the comfort yoga has given me? Would I crumble at the sight these young warriors? I, too, was a survivor, though cancer is not so much a surprise to someone of my age but these guys were young, that was not suppose to happen.

And then Kaleo’s chant came to me. All together, we would do it all together. Breathing in and out together. I was sitting in seat 1, setting the pace yet they were lightening the load and pushing us all forward. Each one crept deeply into my heart as they as they folded into poses on beach towels that first afternoon I met them. Maybe I could teach them something though I was the recipient of something much larger than I could have ever bestowed.

On Sunday, the camp came to the north shore to experience some Hawaiian culture and more time on the water. Some of my Paddle for Life Maui group along with a delightful group of local high school students brought them outrigger canoeing. The teenagers and their coach, Anela, began the day with the history of Hawaiian canoeing and singing chants celebrating the tradition and the elements. There was a sense of genuine humanity as we all stood in a circle on the beach. The teenagers beamed with pride, the campers shined with excitement and the volunteers stood strong for support.

It was a typical windy and wavy day on the North Shore making the canoeing exciting. Just getting the boats off the beach was a challenge. These are 400-pound boats propelled by only 6 wooden blades. Though again, the unity of the excitement and the sense of this extraordinary experience lifted the boat up and forward. The boat I was in even hulied (capsized) adding to the thrill.

Each and every person involved, camper and volunteer, showed fully up to each and evey event, eyes and hearts wide open. These were young vibrant people. They were willing, joyful, and bright. Most of them had been to hell and back. Yet they showed no evidence other than scars. Truly, I was taken aback by their tremendous spirit and commitment to each other and whatever event they were participating in.

Being involved with Athletes for Cancer/Team Duke Surf & SUP Survivorship Camp reinforced the importance of working with others for me. I loved being a camp counselor when I was young and now, I see I haven’t outgrow that affection. Again, I have been fortunate enough to be shown what it is I want to continue doing. Not only the raising of funds but to be involved in helping others cope with cancer and life.

All together or one by one, I am in.

And for those campers who so touched my heart,

Imua Na Koa - go forward warriors!

all safely back at the beach

We all know someone who deals cancer in one way or another. Whether that someone is a husband, a wife, a friend, a child, a sibling, a parent, a neighbor, a classmate, a co-worker, it seems there is always a someone.

In 2011, about six hundred thousand Americans, and more than seven million humans around the world, will die of cancer. In the United States, one in three women and one in two men will develop cancer during their lifetime. A quarter of all American deaths and about 15 percent of all deaths worldwide will be attributed to cancer. In some nations, cancer will surpass heart disease to become the most common cause of death.

Also in 2011, once again, I will be among 5000 Pan Mass Challenge cyclists riding across Massachusetts to raise money for life-saving cancer research and treatment. All the money raised goes to provide the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute’s doctors and researchers the necessary resources needed to continue their mission of prevention, detection and treatment of all cancers.

It seems somewhat selfish to keep asking everyone to help my cause. Though, from the statistics it is not just my cause.

Please help me help someone.

click here to donate

Last evening I had the pleasure of dining with the folks from KiteBoarding4Cancer, dynamite organization from Portland Oregon. Two vibrant folks Tonia and Garret started KB4C. They, too, raise funds for cancer advocacy, prevention and survivorship.

AND, they host Survivorship Camps for young survivors ages 18-40. This year they will be traveling to Maui Hawaii for Kiteboarding, Standup Paddling and Surfing Camps. These camps link the ocean’s ability to heal and empower with supportive and knowledgeable instructors. Thru my own experience of learning to kiteboard and to paddle an outrigger canoe on Maui I know the power of overcoming obstacles and believing again in the strength of one’s body.

MOST IMPORTANTLY, they are looking for survivors to attend, so please, spread the word.

www.kb4c.org

I was kindly given THE EMPEROR OF ALL MALADIES as a Christmas gift.

In this video Siddhartha Mukherjee describes his book as a history of cancer, a sort of biography of cancer.

It is also an account of Sidney Farber, the father of modern chemotherapy, and his search for a universal cure for cancer. Sidney Farber established the Children’s Cancer Research Foundation, now DANA-FARBER CANCER INSTITUTE, in 1947. He was an extraordinary man full of optimism, compassion and drive.

It is brilliant and completely accessible. As I get further away from my personal war with cancer, it becomes easier and actually more essential for me find out more about the malady. And with this understanding a desire to do my share in helping.

So once again, I am participating in the PAN MASS CHALLENGE to raise funds, hope and awareness in the universal “War on Cancer”.

DANA-FARBER continues to search for a cure while providing expert, compassionate care to children and adults with cancer while advancing the understanding, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of cancer.

Please consider helping.

This huge sign and these happy people met me at the first water stop.

A beautiful way to start the weekend.

Here is another support group waiting for me around the 95th mile.

They are my life support.

Thankfully, Jane and Peter rode with me the last 20 or so miles, more of my life support.

My Dana Farber doctor, Andrew Wagner, at the finish of day one at Mass Maritime.

I rode a few miles with him making my day. He is certainly one of my life supports.

Here is an old friend and a new friend both from Mattapoisett soaking in the family finish at Provincetown.

They finished way before me!

Someone told me the weekend of the Pan Mass was their favorite weekend of the entire year. I can see why, the sense of all those involved, whether rider, volunteer, supporter or cheerer, being the best human they can be sustains ones belief and ones heart for quite sometime. thank you all