Ed Person

Thanks!

A month has passed since getting back home and life is quickly, perhaps too quickly, getting back to normal. The hustle and bustle of “catching up” has been interspersed with reflections on the ride. Many images of the wonderful people, places and experiences we shared linger in my mind. It was truly an experience that will stay with me for a lifetime.

One of the threads that has been running through my mind has been the importance of others in making something meaningful happen. Again and again, people stepped up to help with whatever they could offer to the cause. Whether it was cleaning up after a party, selling popcorn, mapping out a strategy, or writing a cheque you have all made a wonderful contribution to the cause. My sincerest thanks to everyone that helped to make this journey a success.

At times I found myself wondering what impact we would really be able to make for the kids. Meeting the children and their families coping with cancer, emotions swung from elation at being able to help to frustration at the scope of the problem. The answer became clear to me in Kingston, Ontario. There I met a man whose granddaughter had just been diagnosed with cancer. He introduced me to her and thanked me for what we were doing. There was something in his expression that told me what we were doing was far more than a bike ride. We were providing hope that there were many people out there working to help win the battle.

Thanks again for all of the incredible support along the way.

I hope our paths cross again soon.  Ed

A few special moments

Since getting back, people have been asking about the trip. Questions often revolve around highlights, or best, or toughest, so I thought I would put a few thoughts to paper.

Best moment: I had a great moment right at the start of the ride. After all the months of preparation we were finally heading out from UBC. Jeff Rushton, the ride founder, asked me to join him at the front of the peleton as we headed towards Kits Beach for the formal start. As the group of riders rounded Marine Drive and descended into Spanish Banks it was a phenomenal feeling. We were all riding in our tour outfits, the forest, the beach, the mountains, and of course Vancouver all looked spectacular. The ride was on!

Most challenging day: Without question, the toughest day was from Quebec City to St Alexandre. We headed out of Quebec directly into a 30kph headwind with gusts of up to 50kph. Alan put four of us out front to pull the rest of the group and this was soon diminished to three. We pulled the group for hours and at times you could feel the gusts of wind literally pounding on your quads. It was just plain, simple grunt work but we made decent progress. Eventually a couple of other riders were added allowing us time to recover between pulls. I had no problem sleeping that night!

Best view: The Okanagan. We had a fabulous day heading from Princeton to Penticton, Kelowna and on to Vernon. The whole route is post card material, best seen from the seat of a bike. Our police escort took us on a couple of great side roads that I hope to revisit this summer in the RV.

Most impactful moment: In Kingston a young father came to me with his two daughters - beautiful girls 4 and 6. He told me that the youngest had leukemia and proceeded to thank me for what we were doing. There was something about the directness, sincerity and hope in his voice and expression that was so pure that it hit me with the subtelty of a train. We spoke for a while and it was the first time that I felt able to make an immediate impact helping with this family’s struggles. My perspective had been fundamentally changed. Somehow the event had changed from a bike ride into an opportunity to make a difference for a families living with childhood cancer.

Best lunch: Penticton Sears put together a wonderful spread and we basked in the Okanagan sunshine - and then there were the Princesses!

Scariest moment: After the multi-rider crash just east of Falcon Lake, Jenna lay on the pavement and you could see blood from the back of her head on the Trans Canada. She was fading in and out of consciousness and we were concerned. Fortunately, we had two RNs with us and they had the situation completely in hand. Everyone had been well trained, knew exactly what to do and she ended up joining up with us again a few days along the ride.

Best sound: Arriving at several of our destinations to the sound of bagpipes. This would be closely followed by the sirens of police escorts that stopped traffic at intersections!

Back home, sort of…

The ride had come to an end and I thought it would be a good chance to catch up on a bit of R&R. To that end, I spent an extra day in Halifax and explored the downtown waterfront area, including the ferry trip across to Dartmouth. The downtown has lots of funky stores, restaurants and interesting activity happening around the NSCAD.

From there, it was off to Toronto for a couple of quiet days in the country side with old friends Jeff and Mary. They are refurbing a farmhouse in an area of pleasant, rolling country side. A beautiful little place, and so quiet you feel miles away from anything. Thanks for having me over!

The plan was then to head back to Vancouver all relaxed and ready for action - hopefully the Canada Day 142km Populaire. The flight back went well, but by the time evening rolled around, I felt like I had been driven over by a truck (a large truck). Everything hurt… I gave it a couple of days to go away, but whatever it was it was getting worse, so Friday it was off to the ER. Diagnosis - pneumonia. The doctor’s perscription was for some heavy duty antibiotics, lots of rest, keep hydrated, and watch the Tour de France…

Fortunately, the medication was effective (quickly reducing the pain) and my condition steadily improved over the weekend. Today is the first day I am up and about and able to do a few things around the house. After last week it feels good to unload the dishwasher… Who knows, maybe by the weekend I can get back on the bike again.

Enjoy the day.

BTW, Lance Armstrong jumped to 3rd today. The TdF is going to get interesting.

Day 12 - Lower Sackville to Halifax (35km)

The final day! This is sort of like the Tour de France - the last day is largely ceremonial as all the real work has already been done.

The day starts later than usual (we are grateful for the extra sleep) as we head out on the road about 10am with a full contingent of Halifax’s finest police officers. We have the full contigent of National Riders again as all the groups have converged. It is overcast, drizzling a bit, and the mood is more sombre than in the past - the realization is hitting that it will soon be over.

We make our first official stop at the IWK Health Centre. This centre has been in place for over 100 years and looks after the needs of pediatric oncology patients for the maritime region. The head of Pediatric Oncology the spoke about recent development efforts and indicated that survivorship rates were now over 80%! It was another great stop as the kids came out and played a bit and many of the riders were “marked” for the day. My sense is that once we got to Ontario, the ride has been much better understood and people are much more aware of the contributions that the group has made to help the cause of childhood cancers.

Then it was off for the short ride, only a few kms, to the shore. We rolled into the park to tremendous applause for the couple of hundred or so kids there, and the bagpipes cranking out the tunes. It was a heck of a show. After all the training, riding, ups and downs, we had finally arrived. This was capped with a champagne toast and the dipping of the front wheel into the Atlantic. Emotions were running high and there were many tears, hugs, laughs and songs in the air.

WE DID IT! Though many of us were still in disbelief as it has seemed that we just got started. I am sure that time will change the perspective on this as the days and weeks roll by.

Later in the day, the SNKCR group hosted a dinner event at a local hotel. (We did get to stay in a hotel last night! With a private shower and unlimited hot water…) The dinner was great and was followed by the groups presenting some unique moments, aspects, or stories of the ride. It was quite emotional as the stories ranged from tremendous personal highs to the harsh realities of life as we were told that one of the child ambassadors has passed away a couple of days earlier. There has been so much going on during this ride that it will take some time to reflect on what has happenened and really come to terms with it.

For sure, we have been able to help people out there. Jeff Rushton, founder of the ride indicated that the group was now over $1.5M raised. And the contact at community events along the way have shown people that there are others out there working for them and helping to make a difference.