Jan 22, 2013
Hit the gym today and road for 45 minutes, including a 5 min
cool down. I’ve been off a bike competitively for about 20 years. I did a few biathlons
(running and riding, no swimming) back in the day before the Olympic committee
made them change the name and ultimately killed the sport. I can’t explain how
great it felt. I have always been semi in shape my whole life, my type of work
requires it. I have to say, being back
in the saddle just felt natural…. Sorry,
I’m getting ahead of myself.
My name is Rich
Dow. I grew up in Acton Massachusetts and living in Sanbornton NH. I am riding in the Pan Mass Challenge to help
fight cancer. I had a very normal, safe, upbringing. My parents were teachers in the ABRHS school
system, we lived in Maynard, Ma for a few years until my parents bought a house
in Acton just before my first year in school. I went to Merriam School 1-6, and
in my 47th year of life I recall it was a great time. Junior high was a blur, it was the late 70’s
and I had no idea what was going on! Not to mention my mother was a teacher in
the junior high which added to my stress, everybody knew who she was and the
students made the connection between us.
High
school SUCKED for me. My father was a teacher in the high school system at
ABRHS. He was an industrial arts teacher, (construction, tech drawing, auto-cad,
and finally robotics). His students loved him. To this day I meet his former
students from as far back as 1970 that tell me how my father had an impact on
them. He was an “athletic coach/teacher”; if you had good grades and played a
sport he would always cut you a break, in the halls, in his class, or just
helping out. The pointed words being “played a sport”…. For some reason we
butted heads in high school. I did the sports that were not in the top 4
(track, football, Basketball, Baseball), though I did try out for several of
those sports and made the teams, my father’s incentives were clearly in the
thoughts of the current coach’s. I was into skiing, totally off my father’s
radar. Enjoyed by hippies and slackers, (he grew up in Boston an Irish
catholic). After that, I distanced myself from my father in what I did for exercise.
From there it was easy, he didn’t ask and I didn’t say. My brother on the other
hand had a great relationship with my dad and I think that is AWESOME. !!! I
love my brother and my father we just had different, let’s say, characters. In
hind sight I think that is what brought
my brother Mike and I together later in
life, enough background and venting.
This year I am
back in the saddle and getting back into shape, real athletic shape anyway. I
am riding in the Pan Mass Challenge, a 200 mile two day bike ride to benefit
the Jimmy Fund and the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. You see, my father past
away in 2010 from prostate cancer, after a long 15 year battle. After his
initial surgery the doctors gave him 10 years. With money, technology, and
advanced treatments he made it an extra 5 years.
The last 5 years were, I would say, the most comfortable,
normal days of our relationship. I am married to a great woman, the love of my
life whom my parents adore, my brother is married to the love of his life whom
my parents also adore and they have 2 great kids that Michelle and I will
dedicate our lives to. I believe my father finally got to a point that he did
not have to worry about us anymore and relaxed.
The
last 15 months of his life consisted of several trips from my wife and I down
to New Bern NC where they retired to, a beautiful coastal town where Black
beard made his final port. There, as a 44 year old adult I saw the full
spectrum of my father’s influence. As a woodworking teacher with countless
hours teaching students to build things, he saw a need in the neglected kids at
the NC coastal women’s shelter that was just down the street. A simple Idea, a
teddy bear chair. It was
brilliant, so simple yet awesome to the kids who needed a little relief. With
help from a few guys from his church they organized free materials, a place to
build them, and a network of people to distribute these toys to kids in need. Man
did it take off; today my father’s rocking chairs are featured at the New Bern
airport in all of the terminals for the incoming and outgoing kids to use while
waiting for flights. They are also given freely to families in need at the
Cherry point Marine Corp air station to children needing something extra while
there parent(S) are overseas. I am still awestruck, my father thought his life’s
work was at ABRHS but in reality he got more from life in his last 5 years than
he did in 36 years of teaching. He loved his athletes but I think he love the smiles
on those kids faces more. Sadly my father passed away October 28th 2010
at 4:30 am, Twelve hours before the school he dedicated his coaching and
teaching life to was to dedicate the track in his honor. My brother and I were
not by his side in the end, he insisted we were at the track to accept this
award in his place. ……
This is where I come
back in. Since that day in 2010 I have been slightly lost again you could say,
but only slightly. They say, as a man, you never really become a man until you
lose your father. You have no security anymore; you are really on your
own. Last year my brother Mike joined
the Pan Mass Challenge with many of my old high school friends and several
people from the old home town. This year I am privileged to be able to join
them riding for Team Lick Cancer, and I have never been more rejuvenated. I
guess I needed something to focus on, a cause, a … purpose, that I can use to
give back and I think I have found it.
So please, follow me thru this year’s journey and beyond
with the Pan Mass Challenge.
More to come
Sincerely
Rich Dow
To donate to my ride please clickn on the link or copy and paste this link. Your
help will be greatly appreciated !!...
www2.pmc.org/profile/RD0176
