Help Support Captain Tim's 2009 Ride in the Pan-Mass Challenge toward a Cure for Cancer
corporate sponsors www.bunnyclark.com www.barnbilly.com www.chamberworks.com Welcome to my site where I attempt to make a difference for cancer patients throughout the world by dedicating my free time to raising money for the Pan-Massachusetts Challenge (PMC). The PMC is an 192 two day cycling event where I ride and individuals sponsor me with a donation. The donation goes directly to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI) in Boston, Massachusetts via the Jimmy Fund. The Jimmy Fund was established in 1949. The PMC was established in 1980 and has since raised over half of the total money the Jimmy Fund has raised in donations since it's inception or $338 million for cancer research and treatment. I got involved in 2007. By the end of the fifth year (fiscal 2011), I had moved a total of $127, 024.25 in donations on to the Jimmy Fund. Many donations come from the same individuals who give to my cancer drive year after year. But there are many new contributors as well. In 2012, my goal is to raise over $32,000.00 or about a $1,000 more than I raised in 2011. To do this I desperately need your help.

The reasons to donate are many. But there are a few salient reasons to continue to do so. First, the DFCI is good at what they do, one of the top four cancer research & care facilities in the country. Second, one hundred percent of your donation goes right to the source, the cost of running the PMC underwritten by businesses around Boston. Third, it's in our back yard. Fourth, the innovative work they do spills into other facilities and other areas of medicine making it better for everyone. Fifth, you can deduct your donation when filing your tax returns. Sixth, the more money the DFCI receives, the better able they are to hire the best people (researchers) to do the job. This will continue to make them the best to support. Thank you all so much for supporting me in this wonderful event. It's the event of a life saved for those people with the disease. And cancer won't go away unless someone gets involved. I am just one of the many who believe in this event.

The event has many rides. Mine, the longest of the few available, starts in Sturbridge at 5:30 AM sharp on August 4, 2011 and ends, on the first day, 111 miles away at Bourne, Massachusetts at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy (where we will be spending the night). The second day starts at 6:00 AM (or earlier - depending on the rider) on August 5, 2011 and ends, 81 miles away, in Provincetown, Massachusetts. I have a ticket for the slow ferry that leaves Provincetown at 3:00 PM and arrives in Boston, Massachusetts sometime before sunset. Once in Boston, I will get my truck and head home.

This is a quote from Billy Starr, the founder & Executive Director of the PMC: "The PMC supports the innovative work of doctors, nurses and scientists at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and their search for cures for cancers and related diseases". In the thirty-two years that the Pan-Massachusetts Challenge has taken place, a total of $338,000,000.00 has been donated to this wonderful cancer institute. The PMC in 2012 remains the most successful athletic fund raising event in United States history.

I am sixty years old, a wannabee triathlete, a life long endurance athlete and an avid deep sea party boat fisherman/captain/owner who loves his life, family, his father's restaurant business in Perkins Cove (Barnacle Billy's, Inc.) and the United States of America. I chose the PMC as my first pick for a fund raiser because of the cycling but also because I wanted to be a part of the largest one event sports related fund raising drive for cancer in the world. But, like a good ship, I need a good crew of donors to help me make this something special. And, if you know me, I don't do anything half baked once I make a decision to do something. I am asking for your help in contributions to make this sixth try a better fund raiser than the first five.

Also, keep in mind, that the amount donated is not the most important thing as the number of donors is also very important indeed. I don't care how large or small the donation is as every bit of money will help cancer victims in some way. If you, as a donor, want to make your contribution anonymous, write this as a note with your check and it will be so. Otherwise, donors and donations will appear below. This list will be edited as soon as I am able with your contribution added in order of the date on the check. Thank you in advance.

pan-massachusetts challenge website: www.pmc.org

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The digital image above was taken by a random cyclist (with my camera) on August 7, 2010 at the first rest stop along the route leaving Sturbridge, Massachusetts to Bourne, Massachusetts. This rest stop is twenty-five miles into a ride that extends one hundred and eleven miles. When I first rode in I noticed a sign that said; "Go Fish". The Johnson family, good fishing customers on the Bunny Clark and good friends, were holding this sign. I had to have a picture including myself, the bike and my friends. From left to right are yours truly, Lisa Johnson, Don Johnson (sporting the 2010 Bunny Clark/PMC t-shirt) and their daughter, Bethanie Johnson. This is great support for me and a wonderful memory.

Tim Tower cycling the 14 mile trek to meet up with the 40 mile "A ride" hosted by the Maine Coast Cycling Club, Sunday in July 2008. I try to get in 70 to 80 miles every Sunday in preparation for the PMC. © Don Sayward Photography



© Don Sayward Photography

Tim Tower as seen during the running leg of the West Kennebunk Fire Company Triathlon on Aug 26, 2006. © EJS Photography
© EJS Photography

Tim Tower as seen during swim/bike transition during the West Kennebunk Fire Company Triathlon on Aug 26, 2006. After the swim, the bike is taken (running) with the shoes already clipped in. In this image, Tim has already mounted the bike (which is moving at 10 mph), the right foot is in and he is in the process of getting the left foot in the shoe. © EJS Photography
© EJS Photography

A shot of me (Tim Tower) in transition after the ocean swimming leg of West Kennebunk Fireman Triathlon sprint (the swim was a third of a mile) on August 26, 2007. © Capstone Photography
© Capstone Photography (www.capstonephoto.com)

Tim Tower winter training for the PMC, February 2007. © Halley A. H. Tower Photograph
© Halley A. H. Tower Photograph

Tim Tower (background w/ red racing sweater & white helmet) with his friend, Breeze Keller (foreground w/ red racing sweater & white helmet), Maine's U-23 cycling champion, waiting for the start of the annual Great Osprey Bike Challenge on Nov. 5, 2004, a twenty-seven mile cycling race in Freeport, Maine. © Chuck MacDonald Image
© Chuck MacDonald Image

The disk wheel is my friend! © EJS Photography
© EJS Photography

Tim Tower (red racing sweater & white helmet) waiting for the start of the annual Great Osprey Bike Challenge on Nov. 5, 2004. The air temperature was 26°F at the time. © Chuck MacDonald Image
© Chuck MacDonald Image

Trying to eat up the road the best I can. © EJS Photography
© EJS Photography

After the finish line at the Great Osprey Bike Challenge on Nov. 5, 2004. © EJS Photography
© Chuck MacDonald Image

Assaulting the top of the big dirt hill with the pack following during the Great Osprey Bike Challenge on Nov. 5, 2004. © Chuck MacDonald Image
© Chuck MacDonald Image

Passing and breaking away from a fellow triathlete in the bike leg during the West Kennebunk Fireman (Olympic length) Triathlon on June 17, 2007. © Capstone Photography
© Capstone Photography (www.capstonephoto.com)

Another picture taken shortly after the previous shot during the West Kennebunk Fireman (Olympic length) Triathlon on June 17, 2007. © Capstone Photography
© Capstone Photography (www.capstonephoto.com)

The BC/PMC-'07 new addition to the Bunny Clark t-shirt arsenal. At $15.00 per, one-hundred percent of the proceeds go to the Pan-Mass. Challenge/Jimmy Fund. Handsome devil as a model, hey? © Halley A. H. Tower Photograph
© Halley A. H. Tower Photograph

One of my best friends and fellow PMC rider, Paul Haseltine (left) and myself at Sturbridge, Massachusetts during dinner on the eve of the 2007 PMC ride, Friday, August 3, 2007. Notice the Fish Tunes T-shirt - well before it was publically known that The Wildlife Refugees would produce such an astounding collection of original music about fishing. © PMC Photo
© PMC Photo

I definitely hurt the most after the swim in a triathlon event. At this moment, I am thinking to myself; why the hell I am subjecting myself to this torture! © Capstone Photography
© Capstone Photography (www.capstonephoto.com)

A shot taken at 4:30 AM, August 1, 2009 at the Sturbridge, Massachusetts starting line putting the bikes in position before the beginning of the ride. The digital image shows me (Tim Tower) on the right and my best friend and cycling mate, Paul Hesaltine, on the left. At this time I never would have thought that six hours later I would be lying on the ground unconscious from a bike crash. ©
© PMC Photo

Sitting on a hospital gurney in the emergency room at Tobey Hospital in Wareham, Massachusetts after I tapped the wheel of the rider ahead of me and went down on the pavement. The crash happened ten miles from the finish of the first day at the 2009 PMC while sitting in, riding with a group of fifteen cyclists. The quick response of the emergency crew had an EMT standing over me within a minute, the ambulance another five minutes. I was rendered unconscious during the crash but the CAT scan results at Tobey came out negative. Such are the dangers when riding with others on a bicycle. The crash was totally my fault but, except for a slightly separated shoulder and a cut over my eye (that required a few stitches), all my injuries were in the "road rash" category. ©
© Paul Haseltine Photo

A shot taken on the "slow ferry" from Provincetown, Massachusetts to Boston, Massachusetts on August 2, 2009. I can be seen toasting the end of an event, the last day (ride) of which I was denied on the bike because of the head trauma I sustained after the crash the first day. In the picture I am enjoying my favorite anesthetic, a rum & Coke, happy to be standing vertically on my own and proudly displaying the war wounds I received the day before. I realize that this is nothing compared to what kids with cancer go through on a daily basis. And, yes, cycling is a little more dangerous than running. ©
© PMC Photo

Another look at the idiot who was too complacent while riding the last leg of the first day. I posted this picture to remind myself (and others) to pay attention when riding and observe standard riding protocol. ©
© PMC Photo

A picture of Hez (left) and I just before the start of the 2010 Pan-Mass Challenge. This picture was taken at 4:30 AM in front of the Host Hotel in Sturbridge, Massachusetts. Hez was the one who got me involved with the PMC after he did the ride for the first time in 2006. We have been doing the ride together ever since. A month before this picture was taken, Hez was diagnosed with prostate cancer giving us more incentive to continue with the fund raising efforts - as if we needed more incentive. Still, when it strikes so close to home, one can't help but realize how important it is to have good friends and keep them. ©
© Steve LaPlante Photo

make a donation
In order to make a donation, make a check out to Pan-Massachusetts Challenge/Jimmy Fund and send it to me, Tim Tower (PMC), at P.O. Box 837, Ogunquit, Maine 03907. Or you can make a donation electronically with your credit card by going to www.pmc.org, go to the top left part of the page where it says: "Please Donate to a Rider Today" and type in my name (Tim Tower), click the red "find" button (this will bring up the "find rider" box), click on "Tim Tower" (this will bring you to the "Tim Tower's Ride" page, click the red/orange "Donate to my Ride" button and follow the directions. For more information, contact Tim:
207-646-2214
ttower@bunnyclark.com
DATE of CHECK DONOR ORGANIZATION STATE DONATION
1.) 01-12-12 Paul Kostopoulos Paul Kostopoulos, CPA CT $250
2.) 01-17-12 Margaret (Meg) A. Tower In Fond Memory of my Godfather & Uncle Wayne Clark ME $1500
01-18-12 >>>>>>> Total so far >>>>>>> $1750
CORPORATE SPONSORS: Bunny Clark, Corp., Barnacle Billy’s, Inc. and Chamberworks - Excellent web page design!
For more information, please contact Tim at 207-646-2214 or email ttower@bunnyclark.com


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The picture above was taken on Sunday, August 7, 2011 aboard the Ferry that leaves from Provincetown, Massachusetts and arrives in Boston, Massachusetts. The ferry is chartered to take PMC riders exclusively to the parking garage where the cyclists left their vehicles the Friday before. This is the "slow ferry" or "party boat ferry" and they always have a band. This day was raining and blowing. Where the band usually plays (where this picture was taken) was vacant except for a few of us die-hards who were more interested in viewing the ocean (and to keep from getting sea sick). The picture was taken by a PMC staff photographer. The individuals in the picture are cyclists, most of whom have become my friends over the last five years of PMC events. Most have ridden in more PMC events than I have. Also in this group are the "core four" or me (Tim Tower) in the yellow, my best friend, Paul "Hez" Haseltine in the light blue jacket standing to my left, my niece, Abby Mitchell in the purple to Hez's right and Bryant Mitchell to Ab's right in clear garbage bag attire, Abby's husband and one hell of an athlete. This picture typifies the mood of the whole event, a celebration of what we do to help people with cancer. Incidently, Lyndon Byers of Boston Bruins fame, also a PMC rider, can be seen back-to in the tan shorts and black t-shirt on the right in the digital image above.

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Go Fish!