Riding Coast to Coast
Final Destination:
Beyond Cancer
Hometown: Georgetown, Ontario
Occupation: Commercial Insurance Broker, Marsh Canada Limited
Sponsored by Marsh Canada Limited
I’m on the train on the way home from a busy day of work. Megan McNeil’s The Will to Survive just came on my iPod. Kind of put my day in perspective.
Hi All,
If anyone is interested a few of us will be riding from Primrose to Creemore this Sunday. The weather is looking pretty good and at this time of year the fall colours will make this a very scenic ride.
Here are links to the starting location and the route we are planning on taking. We will depart at 9:30AM Sunday, October 10.
Hope to see you Sunday morning.
Cheers,
Swinny
First, I’m sorry that I haven’t kept up with my blogs over the last few days. I had a bit of writers block, or as we say “Bike Brain”. Anyway, now that our wheels have been dipped in the Atlantic I’ve had some time to sit back and reflect on the last couple of days.
Day 13 started in Edmunston, New Brunswick and ended in Woodstock. As far as days on the bike go this was one of the top 3 during the SNKCR. The morning started with a flat 60km stretch with an incredible tailwind. After lunch we started into the infamous hills of central New Brunswick. There were 4 significant climbs within a 20km stretch that were as long as those we climbed in Northern Ontario. Our last stop of the day was in Hartland which is the home to the longest covered bridge in the world. It also doubles as one of the longest, flatest, smoothest, covered cycling drag strips in Canada. Needless to say when we rode through the bridge we decided to test our legs. What a few of us didn’t know was that the road on the other side of the bridge was a 250m climb of about 12-15%. Ouch! A little local knowledge would have been useful. The last 30km or so was on roads with some of the best rollers I’ve riden. It was a great day and team 2 worked really well together to make sure we all got to Woodstock.
We then shuttled to Truro, Nova Scotia for our ride to Antigonish, hometown of my teammate Suzanne Delaney. Our goal that day was to free the Gonish or at very least turn the town Progonish. Just a silly joke that we had a lot of fun with throughout the day. The ride itself was a tough one. There was a lot of climbing, which surprised me as I thought Nova Scotia would be mostly flat. The climbs were not very steep but they were long. The nice thing is that the other side of those climbs were the same so we enjoyed some wonderful long descents. However the ups and downs were not the highlights of the day. When we arrived in Antigonish people started to recognise Suzanne and we knew the town would give us 100% support. Suzanne is a VP at a primary school and we had arranged to modify our route so that we could end the day at her school. We rode the last few kilometres in anticipation. Along the road there were flags with the CTC symbol and painted hands attached to the hydro poles. When we came over the brow of the hill and into the driveway of the school all the kids were outside and greeted us like we were superheroes. The cheers were deafening. After Suzanne gave a short speech we were invited into the school to visit some classrooms. Tom and I stopped in to a Grade 4-5 class and introduced ourselves and answered some questions. Then the real fun began. We started autographing books, pieces of paper, shirts, school bags, and even some shoes. It was really a special day that allowed us to reach out and touch the people who we are riding for, the kids.
We then shuttled to Lower Sackville where all 3 teams were reunited for our last day. This was to be our last night together as riders and we enjoyed a great BBQ and shared our stories from the past couple of weeks of riding.
Our last ride was an emotional one. Even as I write this I am experiencing some of the same feelings. For our first 50km we rode from Lower Sackville to Peggy’s Cove where we first stopped at the Swissair Flight 111 memorial and then at the Peggy’s Cove lighthouse. Both were spectacular. Our last 50km were at a very casual pace as we all enjoyed the last real riding we would do together. Team 2 had the honour of leading the SNKCR train in to the Halifax Shopping Centre and the Sears store. Ryan “W.S.” Lyons and I were at the head of the group as we enjoyed the police escort into town and the parking lot. Erin and my good friends Tim and Kim were among the first people I saw as we rolled in. Getting off the bike almost brough tears (not of pain but sadness) to my eyes as the real ride was over. All that was left was a ceremonial ride to the IWK Health Centre for an appearance at their InsideRide event. Stopping at the IWK allowed us to meet the doctors, nurses, and administrators who provide daily hands on care to the children who are living with and beyond cancer. Team 2 then was again given the honour of leading the SNKCR riders on our final ride. We rolled 2km downhill to Point Pleasant Park and the Atlantic Ocean. As we turned the corner and came into the parking lot a pipe band began to play and as we neared the beach I saw some people who did bring tears to my eyes. Sitting in his wheelchair, flanked by his parents was Team 2 member, and our inspiration, Josh “Legs” Nelson. This is the reason we were at the head of the group. He had flown into Halifax to surprise all of us and to participate in the closing ceremonies. Even now as I think about seeing him, and what he means to all of us, tears are welling up in my eyes. At the closing ceremony all the riders and volunteers were presented with a medal and then we lined up along the water. First we all took a rock that we had put in our pocket in White Rock and threw it into the Atlantic. We had symbolically joined Canada from West to East. We then dipped our front wheel into the Atlantic to physically complete our cross Canada journey.
I’ve not had enough time to digest fully what we as a group or as individuals have accomplished. I do know that we bonded as a team united in a common purpose. We brought our message to 192 communities across Canada. We raised significant funds ($1.5 million and counting) which will be donated to find finding a cure. We gave hope to the 10,000 families in Canada who are living with and beyond cancer. And finally I hope we have inspired others to take up the cause and help us reach our ultimate goal, destination beyond cancer.
Cheers,
Swinny
Team 2 had another fantastic day. We started bright(ish) and early at Trois Riviere. Today we rode for Jesse Morningstar, the son of team 3 captain Jason, and cancer survivor. Our destination was the city of Quebec with a couple of pit stops along the way. Our first stop was at a small Sears dealer store where a fabulous snack was provided. The highlight was the cheese tray of local Quebec cheeses. Sooooo good! We then headed to our lunch stop at the Louis Garneau factory just outside of Quebec. After lunch we had the privilege of being escorted from the factory to the Sears store in Quebec by Louis Garneau himself. He was riding a sweet LG prototype race bike fully decked out with the shimano di2 groupo. He said we could all have one for a mere $12,000 each. Even with the 40% discount I think it is a little out of my budget. Once in Quebec we took part in the closing ceremonies of a just concluded InsideRide. A young cancer survivor named Jacob was at the event and spoke about his experience with the disease. He will be done his treatment in December of this year and will then be able to resume the normal life of a child. It is great to see and hear the stories, good and bad, as they makes it so clear why we are riding coast to coast. A few of us then got a special bonus ride as Louis had to ride back to his office and some of Team 2 joined him. We took a different route than the one that got us into the city. Louis asked if we minded taking a route with a “little” hill on it. It turns out the locals call the hill Le Petite Pyranee and it was a lung and leg busting climb of about 700 metres with some incredibly steep sections. The Olympian can ride a bike as he rode us off his wheel by the time we reached the top. Once back at the LG factory we were able to do a little shopping at the outlet store. We are now in the RV’s heading to Edmunston NB for a well deserved shower and sleep. Cheers, Swinny
Today was another tough one emotionally. Team 2 said good-bye to Josh, Drew & Rina Nelson and Drew Molnar. We rode out of Sears Kingston and headed north east towards Ottawa. Our lunch stop was Smith Falls where the local OPP cleared the roads ahead of us on the way to the Sears store. Once again an incredible meal was laid before us by the incredible people at Sears. We then continued on our way to Ottawa for an InsideRide at the Ottawa Sears. It was another rocking event. After our dinner we had a tear filled good bye with the Nelson’s. Team 2 is going to miss Josh’s presence and laughter but he has touched each one of us and that part of him will carry us onwards to Halifax. Cheers, Swinny
I haven’t had a chance to blog about yesterday’s ride yet because last night I was too tired, physically but more so emotionally. It was an emotional day that left me drained. The ride started in Woodstock where I saw my Aunt and Uncle and 24hr MTB friends Matt and Laurence. Joining us for the ride to the GTA were my training partners and friends Chris & Zoe and Ryan and Peter, and various other T4K friendly faces. At the lunch stop in Burlington Josh “Legs” Nelson brought the house down with a moving and inspiring speech. Josh never fails to amaze me. I am so proud to be a part of his team. When we got to Oakville I was joined by some Marsh colleagues who were also a sight for sore eyes. Finally when we arrived at Sherway Gardens Erin, my parents, and my cousin Laura were waiting for us to say hello. Thank you to all who came to visit, say hello, and bring me some treats from home. I can’t tell you how much it meant to me to see all of you. Sorry I couldn’t spend more time. I hope that you got a good feel for what we’ve been doing for the past couple of weeks. Cheers, Swinny.
A spectacular day on the bike. We rode from Tobermory to Collingwood via Owen Sound, a total of 185km. The ride was particularly rewarding as Drew and Josh were able to ride with us the entire day. Their longest tandem ride to date was 115km and we were all thrilled to be a part of their ride today. Team 2 is a solid unit. We started the day in Tobermory with dedicated to Melodina Herman from Shelburne, Ontario. Sadly Melodina passed away in January, 2009 so we rode in honour of her 3 year battle with cancer. Somehow word got out that were riding for Melodina’s and her father drove from Shelburne and met us at our final rest stop. He was very gracious and thankful for what we are doing. It was just another validation for all of us that this event means so much to so many different people. We are now on route to Woodstock for arguably our biggest day of the trip. We will be riding to Sherway Gardens via Brantford, Burlington, and Oakville. I’m hoping to see a lot of smiling familiar faces tomorrow. Cheers Swinny
Thankfully I’ve been sound asleep in the RV since my last blog. However I am now awake, it is 3am and we are still driving. The rain is coming down in buckets and our scheduled departure on the bikes is 7am. No one said the road to curing childhood cancer was going to be a glorious one!
