Our last day was an incredible thrill. We were united with teams 1 and 3 and road from Lower Sackville to Peggy’s Cove and back to Halifax. We even managed to back up traffic for 25km as well wishers happily joined our peleton parade to Halifax.
AFter 15 days, we had finally completed our ride. We believed in ourselves, we believed in our team and we were now standing at the finish line. After a year of training, I couldn’t believe the ride was finally over. But we all knew this wasn’t the end. It was merely the completion of one phase of our journey. The next phase will undoubtly manifest itself somewhere down the road. It may be Tour for kids or another event which supports a local cancer centre. But a fire has been lit within and it will be hard to extinguish the memories and the desire to continue to help kids living with and beyond cancer. Personally I will be investigating why our government has failed to support childhood cancers. These children need our support.
When we arrived today our families were there to welcome us but we also had another special surprise, Josh and his family were there too. After Ottawa, our team experienced a void when Drew and Josh left us. But seeing Josh at the finish line, simply reinforced why we were all riding. It wasn’t about the distance or the hills or the scenery. It was about the families and kids we touched. It was about making a meaningful difference in the lives of these kids who otherwise would give up hope. Kids not yet diagnosed, kids undergoing treatment and kids living beyond cancer. 192 stops across 9 provinces; $1.6m raised; we had made a difference.
Thanks to Josh and the many ambassador kids for showing me that life is much more than work. The unselfish act of giving back and making a difference is one of the most fulfilling things you can do. I encourage everyone to do it.
What an incredible, life changing experience we had.
Today we dedicated our last team ride to Ruth, Tom Gibson’s Mom who had to undergo surgery today for cancer and to Kallen Delaney from Saskatchewan, a young cancer survivor.
We had an amazing ride today to Antiguinish. Suzanne on our team is from the area and assured us the ride would be primarilly flat - only a few rollers. Suzanne was obviously delerious during her training because the ride was primarilly hills. Thank you Ms Delaney!
Once into Antiguinish, we cycled to Suzanne’s school where she is the VP. We received an incredible welcome from the teachers and students and had a chance to visit classes and answer questions about the ride. The entire school had been following our ride and we were all taken by surprise when the students starting asking for our autograph- then it snowballed. We signed shirts, books, shoes, arms and even foreheads. This truly was one of our best experiences to date next to our impromptu soccer game in St Cloude near Winnipeg and riding with Drew and Josh through Ontario..
Thank you to the Sears team in Antiguinish for providing us with dinner tonight. Now we are travelling to Lower Sackville where we will complete our final leg tomorrow to Halifax.
It’s hard to believe our journey is nearly at an end. I have met so many incredible people and shared many heartfelt experiences. It proves that many people coming together for a common cause, can achieve great things. We’ve raised over $1.3m for kids cancer and we have helped raise awareness for childhood cancer as we have travelled across Canada these past 15 days. We have challenged ourselves both mentally and physically. We have learned of the sorrow and joy families living with and beyond cancer experience. We have discovered heros amongst us who are wise beyond their years and care more for others than for themselves.. They have overcome obstacles, few of us could even imagine tackling. Our heros have taught us to embrace every day and to keep making a difference in the lives of kids living with and beyond cancer. Every child needs the chance to be a kid.
What a ride! Hills, hills and more hills through 190km of New Brunswick countryside. May need a new set of legs for the last 2 days! Any offers?
Tomorrow we ride from Truro to Anguinish where we’ll be visiting our team mate Suzanne’s school.
Today team 2 had an incredible ride to Quebec city. The scenery was beautiful and we kept our mechanic busy with flats, chains and spokes. We stopped at the office of Louis Garneau for lunch (LG being one of our sponsors) and had the privilege of riding with Louis himself to Quebec City.
In Quebec we met Jacob, a young cancer survivor who will be finishing his chemo treatment in Dec 2010. Jacob gave a touching speech about his experience with cancer and once again demonstrated the bravery and strength cancer survivors exude. It’s quite incredible.
Tonight we are shuttling to Edmunson in New Brunswick. We heard a hurricane is blowing our way so we may have a wee bit of a head wind tomorrow and hills!
Today we dedicated our ride to our captain’s daughter Megan Cross. Megan recently had a relapse with cancer and had to undergo a bone marrow transplant. Thankfully her big sister Leah was a match and became Megan’s donor.- What an incredible gift to give your sister- the gift of life.
On our ride today, we were joined by some local cyclists from Kingston for a ride along.The weather was sunny and warm for a change and the route was scenic and rolling.
Sadly today was young Josh and Drew’s last ride in Ontario with our team. School and work beckoned our tandem team home to Cambridge. What a journey it’s been over the past 4 days with Josh. We have laughed together and cried together. Josh has been an incredible inspiration to our entire team and I count myself very fortunate to have had the chance to get to know him.. He is my hero and I’m proud to call him my friend.
We will continue to ride for josh through to Halifax. Though he won’t be with us in person, he will certainly be with us in spirit.
Thank you to our hosts for lunch in Smith Falls and to Sears in Ottawa for hosting dinner. Tonight we travel to Trois Riviere and will cycle to Quebec City tomorrow.
We had a multiple stop ride today from Woodstock to Toronto. Linda Kay’s family in Woodstock, kicked off the morning by hosting a breakfast for the riders and the opening day’s remarks. Thanks Linda (team 1)
Many of our Ontario riders had family and friends either meet them at a stop or join them at some point along the ride. It really brought home that we only have 5 more days left. Thanks to my family and friends for coming out and showing your support and to Sandy, Vicki and Rupert for joining our ride along. What a great surprise.
At lunch, our team mate Josh brought tears to our eyes with his moving speech about being a childhood cancer survivor. He emphasized the importance that Kids living with and beyond cancer need the opportunity to be just kids and not have their childhood robbed. The coast to coast against cancer foundation is making a difference in the lives of these kids and they need our support.
Tonight we are on the road to Kingston where we will ride to Ottawa tomorrow.
Let’s hope warm weather is ahead of us.
