State: Bicycles take to Bay State roads for cancer fundraiser

Starting line of this year's Pan Mass Challenge

Thousands of cyclists took to the roads this weekend for the 33rd annual Pan-Massachusetts Challenge charity bicycle ride. The fundraiser for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute’s Jimmy Fund kicked off Friday with opening ceremonies in Sturbridge and ends Sunday in Provincetown. Nearly 2,700 riders left Sturbridge in the pre-dawn hours Saturday for the main event, a two-day, 190-mile ride. Earlier today, another 2,100 riders left from Wellesley for other routes of varying lengths.  This year’s Pan Mass Challenge cyclists will ride with the goal of raising $36 million for Dana-Farber.