When Onset resident Rebecca Hemsley-Gakidis signed up for her first Pan-Mass Challenge two years ago, she wasn’t much of a cyclist.

“I had a bike with a big ol’ basket and tassels—no bike shorts, no bike gear whatsoever,” said Hemsley-Gakidis, who’s currently preparing for her third Challenge, which sees riders make the trek across Massachusetts from either Sturbridge or Wellesley to Provincetown (with a leg of the race passing through Wareham and Onset) in an effort to raise money for the Dana Farber Cancer Institute through the Jimmy Fund. “Since then, I’ve got all the proper riding gear, and all kinds of gizmos.”

Gakidis said that for this year’s event, which takes place over the course of two days on August 2 and 3, she’ll ride with her father Maarten, who’s ridden in the challenge for the better of about 20 years, and with close friend Marlissa Bridgette, who spends summers in Onset and who will also take part in her third Pan-Mass challenge as well.

Together, they’ll ride not only to raise money for the cause, but also to honor mutual friend John Thomas, also of Onset, who lost his life to cancer. Gakidis said that for years, she cheered on riders passing through Onset from the side of the road. Now, she’s become a regular, and is currently about halfway to the $4,300 required to participate in the Challenge.

“It’s neat in how infectious the PMC is,” she said. “People become addicted.”

Gakidis said that she and her father ride as part of the Patriots Platelet Peddlers, a group affiliated with the New England Patriots with over 100 riders who participate yearly in the 192-mile ride and who raised over $720,000 in money for last year’s event. That money is earmarked for Dr. Ken Anderson of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, which goes towards research and medical care for those affected by cancer.

Last year, as Gakadis was riding in the challenge and was called to the side of the road by a spectator who also had a Patriot Platelet Peddlers team jersey on.

“He was on the side of the road, and he said ‘thank you.” [Then] he said to me, ‘I’m that guy,’ and I said, ‘What guy?’ And he replied, ‘the Dr. Anderson guy.’ I just lost my little marbles and tears were welling-up in my eyes.”

Hemsley-Gakidis said she knew of Anderson not just from the Peddlers group, but through friend Dave Wiley of Wareham, who had previously gone through a stem cell transplant surgery, performed by Dr. Anderson.

“That was really when everything just clicked into place,” she said.

Wiley commended both Anderson and Hemsley-Gakidis for their help, though coming in very different ways, throughout his battle.

“[Anderson] is just an absolutely amazing person that just kind of inspires the kind of confidence in a patient that you really need to live with a disease that is a difficult one," said Wiley. "Ken Anderson is kind of a superstar of medical genius.”

“To have people like Rebecca backing me and riding for me, it’s one of those things that makes you understand what friendship is about.  Rebecca is just absolutely awesome."

Day One of the ride itself passes through Onset, with a water stop at the John W. Decas School, finishing for the night at Mass Maritime Academy in Buzzards Bay, where there is a big celebration and where riders stay before going onto Day Two, with the finish line being in Provincetown.

Hemsley-Gakidis said the event is a family affair. Not only will she and her father ride, but her mother, Mavis Hemsley has been a PMC volunteer for over 15 years, and her sister Deb Schultz has ridden in the past, though she won’t be able to this year.

Though Gakidis said she still has some money to raise, she’s confident that she’ll reach her goal.

“I still have a ways to go—I’ve never had to dig into my own pocket,” she said. “People always come through. The support is unbelievable.”

Anyone interested in supporting Rebecca, Marlissa, or Maarten can visit www.pmc.org, enter rider profile RH0161 (for Rebecca) or the rider’s name, and click to donate.