Walt Locke: "At the end of training' let the fun begin!"

Four days and counting, over 1,000 miles of training, no broken bones (knock on wood), one more 50 mile ride to keep the legs in shape and the best part only $200 more dollars to reach the PMC  goal of $4,300 per person. It is your donations that keep the research going and it is the research that saves lives and hopefully in the near future will find a cure to cancer.  I thank you for your past donations and continued support. As you know I will be wearing ribbons on my jersey in memory of those who have died and in honor of those who are either battling cancer or have beaten it.  I have close to 80 names and that is way too many names.  And the worst part is that most of them are in memory of those who have died.  But the good news is that friends will write to me about people they know who have survived or are currently fighting their battle with cancer.  They have been very uplifting.  One of my friends from Conrail, Ben told me about his nephew Andy who is 34.  He has been battling his cancer since age 12.  His cancer has been in remission for some time now, but the treatments he’s had to go through over the years took a toll on his sperm count.  Thanks to the marvels of science and the grace of God, he and his wife were blessed with artificially inseminated twins last August after several failed attempts.  Earlier this year he broke his hip getting out of his car because his bones were so brittle from the treatments he’s gone through.  When they were screwing in his replacement hip they discovered cancer in his pelvis area.  He's a club pro (golfer) in Connecticut and he just finished his last round of chemotherapy in early June and now in July he's been hitting some golf balls already.  Ben has told me that Andy is an awesome young man who never lets his condition affect the smile on his face. You'd never know he was as bad off as he is if it wasn't for the hair and eyebrow loss. I have read several stories like this from my friends and I know I will be hearing several stories like this as I do my ride this Sat. & Sun.  That is what has helped me get through all these training miles.  And that is what will help me get through the 200 miles in Mass.   Thanks to your donation more of these stories will have happy endings. It is the research that will make a difference.  And it is the donations you have made big or small that will make a difference.  Every dollars helps and will go a long way to save lives.     Thanks for your support.  Take care,  Walt  Donations can be made on line to http://www.pmc.org/profile/WL0039 or by mailing a check made out to PMC and sending it to my attention at 108 38th St., Avalon, NJ 08202.