Pan-Mass Challenge ride this weekend

STURBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) - Thousands of cyclists are taking 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 kicks off Friday with opening ceremonies in Sturbridge.

Nearly 2,700 riders, including U.S. Senators John Kerry and Scott Brown, are scheduled to leave Sturbridge in the pre-dawn hours Saturday for a two-day, 190-mile ride to Provincetown, Another 2,100 riders are scheduled to pedal off from Wellesley.

The main route rides through 46 towns with a lunch break in Dighton and an overnight stop at Massachusetts Maritime Academy in Bourne.

The Pan-Mass Challenge has raised about $338 million for cancer research, including $35 million last year, making it the most successful athletic fund-raising event in the country. This year's goal is $36 million.