Some individuals ride for sport, others ride for the fun of it, and then there are those who bike for a cause.
Haverhill has two such individuals biking for a cause despite the physical and emotional tolls.
Richard MacDonald, 50, and Robert Flores, 61, are taking part in the 31st Pan Mass Challenge on Aug. 7 and 8th, and both are planning to take on the 190-mile and two-day long endurance ride from Sturbridge to Provincetown.
What's equally surprising is that this will be the first time both of these riders have taken part in the PMC.
Richard MacDonald is riding as part of the Boston Bruins Cycling Team and has been going on practice rides ranging from 25 to 100 miles at least three days a week. When he's not training, he's running his company, R.M. Precision Machine in Tewksbury.
Though he's competed in road races before, such as Rodman Ride for Kids last September, this will be the longest ride he's ever attempted.
"It's the most physically demanding thing I've ever done in my life," MacDonald said. "With all the physical demands, I think I'm fine. At least, that's what they tell me."
MacDonald became involved with the PMC last year after being "roped in", as he says, by former Boston Bruins player Frank Simonetti.
Though MacDonald is riding as part of the Bruins Cycling Team, he isn't riding for just the Bruins. He's riding for his sister-in-law, Carole Razzino.
Despite losing her right eye, a kidney, living on a dialysis machine and using a wheel-chair, Carole was one of the first people to write a check in support of MacDonald.
"That's the type of person she is," he said. "Always with a smile on her face. The inspiration she gives me is just amazing."
As part of his training, MacDonald recently rode from Windam, NH, to Portsmouth, NH, and back with the Granite State Wheelmen in what he said was one of the most straining rides of his life. Riding back, he said the stops grew ever more frequent but said that the thought of how Carole would react pushed him forward.
"At that point I was just trying to survive," he said. "All I could think was that Carole never gave up."
Taking part in all the rides, however, does have its personal advantages as well.
"I keep losing weight," MacDonald said. "I lost 10 pounds on that ride."
Bob Flores believes that his challenge is but a pittance compared to the struggle of cancer patients.
"I figure if they can got through with this, I can get through 190 miles on a bike," he said.
Though a runner for most his life, a torn ACL last year shelved his running pastime at the behest of his doctors. Instead of becoming a couch potato, as no one with over 100 foot races under their belt could be, Flores decided to start peddling.
For him, the impact of cancer has been felt on a daily basis.
He said he's peddling for his wife, Judy, who survived breast cancer, his mother-in-law, Betty Irwin, who died from Hodgkins Disease, and his co-worker Jamey Robichaud's 4-year-old daughter, Courtney, who was diagnosed with leukemia two years ago.
Training for the PMC on a daily basis since May, Flores takes extended rides twice a week but he's always hitting the gym for more. One such ride was his trip from his home in Haverhill to Plum Island and back.
The first large-scale cycling event he took part in was the National MS Society New England Chapter's Cape Cod Getaway ride from Quincy to Bourne this past July. Flores said he gained some valuable experience on that ride, and is looking toward the sense of accomplishment the PMC will bring.
Flores will be riding the in the PMC along with several of his co-workers from Shea Concrete Products as part of the Reindeer on a Ride team, which raises money for the Pediatric Activities Program Fund at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Children's Hospital in Boston. The fund typically pays for events such as visits and presents from Santa for children undergoing treatment at the hospitals.
Joining him on the Reindeer team from Shea Concrete is Jamey Robichaud, whom Flores credits as drawing him into the PMC, and Greg Stratis.
Burning nearly 3,200 calories in a single ride, Flores said that he's still working on pushing himself further to give back to an institution that's given him and his family so much.
"I felt like this was a good way to help out and pay back Dana Farber," he said. "I feel like I'm getting there. I'm hoping I'll be alright.
The Pan-Mass Challenge has been a biking event in Massachusetts since 1980, raising more than $270 million for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute from the ride's inception. In order to take part, riders must raise between $500 to $4,200 depending upon their particular route, which can range from 47 to 190 miles. In the last 30 years, 61,608 riders have taken part alongside 36,274 volunteers.
