Decked out in neon green sports socks and a cycling outfit, accessibility activist Robert Solomon recently visited with new friend Anya Rhodes ahead of riding in her honor during the Pan-Mass Challenge (PMC). The nonprofit’s mission is to raise funds for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, where both Newton residents were treated.
Solomon, 73, who has been living with an incurable, progressive nerve root disease (Adhesive Arachnoiditis) since 2004, is ready to set out on his third PMC to help the institution that helped him so much.
Diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 2003, Solomon’s blood labs have improved so much that he has not required treatment for 13 years. Rhodes, a rising third-grader, was diagnosed with osteosarcoma in January 2022. Her scans have been clear since February 2023.
Solomon first learned about Rhodes’ story through Bike Newton, a nonprofit bicycling advocacy group.
Her mother Jeni Rhodes had written to the organization asking for advice to help her eight-year-old daughter ride her bicycle again after surgery. To treat her osteosarcoma, Anya had rotationplasty, “a partial amputation that preserves a cancer-free lower leg, attaches it to the thighbone, and uses the ankle as a knee joint,” according to Dana-Farber.
When Solomon read about Anya and her oncologist’s work, he thought to himself, “Wow, this is something I really should ride for.”
“It was so nice,” said Jeni Rhodes, Anya’s mother. “I was just blown away.”
Solomon has asked the PMC to direct his fundraising proceeds to help Anya’s doctor, Dr. Katherine Janeway, in her ongoing research on osteosarcomas at Dana Farber’s Childhood Solid Tumor Center.
Prepared and ready to go
Solomon will be easy to spot on August 5, when he rides in his third PMC from Babson College in Wellesley to the Massachusetts Maritime Academy in Bourne.
Instead of the usual two-wheeled bike, he will be pedaling a Catrike Dumont, a recumbent trike with full suspension. This creates a much smoother ride to help with pain from his nerve root disease, he said.
Solomon, an author and art historian, has been amping up his training in preparation for the grueling journey.
“I worked with a personal trainer this year at the JCC,” improving his strength. In fact, he now can leg press 100 pounds.
His progress has steadily increased since his first ride in 2021. For his inaugural attempt, he rode 44 miles before he had to stop. That year he raised more than $9,100 for Dana-Farber.
By 2022, he increased his distance and journeyed 54 miles, raising $9,500.
This year Solomon said he is aiming to raise $10,000 and is determined to complete the 85-mile route.
Although he’s stronger now than in previous years and has been rigorously preparing for the event, there is one factor he and the other participants have no control over: The heat.
Solomon recalled that at last year’s PMC it was 95 degrees with 100 percent humidity.
“I was staying hydrated, but still, it was really difficult … hopefully it won’t be that hot this year. You just have to prepare,” he said. “The heat is what’s going to be determining everything.”
How to help
The Pan-Mass Challenge is taking place August 5-6, and Robert Solomon is riding on August 5, in honor of Anya Rhodes and in memory of his brother’s friend, David Levy. All funds he raises will go toward Dr. Katherine Janeway’s research on osteosarcomas at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Contributions to Solomon’s PMC ride may be made online or by check made out to PMC/Jimmy Fund, with Solomon’s PMC Gift ID RS0488 in the memo line, and mailed to Robert Solomon, Apt. 101S, 79 Florence St., Chestnut Hill, MA 02467.
