Day 6, 7, and 8: We did it! Austin arrival!

I had full intents of providing blog updates every day of the ride....unfortunately the second half of the adventure just did not allow for it. I was once again totally immersed in the eat, sleep, drive and ride pattern with very little downtime. This happens as a result of our team's rotation schedule and where we need to be at any particular time. So I'm going to provide this update as a wrap up of the past few days.


Yes, we arrived in Texas! And yes...we arrived in Austin. More on that later.

The first and probably most important update...as some of you may already be aware from various Facebook posts...is that our team 4 riders are safe. You have all seen photos of the follow vehicle which drives behind the riders. One of the scariest thoughts as a cyclist riding on the road are the cars not seeing us...and thus the follow vehicle offers protection that we don't normally have when we are riding on our own.
Well...that follow vehicle did exactly what it was supposed to do on Day 7 when a guy driving an F150 pickup truck was not paying attention while driving at 90km/hr down the road (we think we has texting). It slammed into the rear of the follow vehicle at full speed. The quick thinking and response of our volunteer driver, Dave Raynor, alerted the riders of the impending danger and accident in time for them to bail from the road...and his fast response in repositioning the follow vehicle saved a lot of lives. The cars are destroyed...the riders were a bit shaken, but safe, and were able to, and wanted to, complete their ride (after some significant logistic maneuvers). Special thanks to Dave and Ron...and we are glad they are okay as well:


By the way...we will be looking for a new follow vehicle next year...possibly one with iron reinforcements at the rear...if anyone has a military tank...let me know.





With the logistics changes...I also found myself with the opportunity to take on the role of driving one of our other vans as the follow vehicle to protect the last team heading into Austin. It was amazing to see how much goes on 'behind the scenes' in this role, even though I have done this ride now several times and have been a part of the planning. There is always ongoing communication with the motorhome. There is constant monitoring for cars coming up from behind. And the driving behind the riders was actually not as slow and boring as I thought it would be (then again...I only had to do it for about 30kms!). Again....lots of RESPECT for all our volunteers who step up to this role each year.
We rolled into our meeting spot outside of Austin around 3am on Friday. I had the opportunity to hang out the passenger window and here are some photos of the final ride - it really gives you a sense of the night riding.











Friday morning was our final ride as a whole team, riders and volunteers, into the Austin finish line. It continues to be a tremendously emotional experience - to see our friends and family, our wellspring warriors, and even complete strangers, waiting to cheer us on, after so many days on the road. We had a few challenges along the way...we rolled with it...and we made it. Our current fundraising total by 24 riders this year....over $475,000...which will go to help Wellspring. To help support those fighting this thing called cancer...to help them win the fight. Could not keep doing this without your ongoing support - thank you!











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Day 5 - The VAN as a second home

After a few hours of rest from the previous late night....we needed to get ourselves from Franklin TN, just south of Nashville, all the way to Ridgeland, Mississippi (just north of Jackson). It was a LONG way...and we needed to get there at least in the early evening so that we could have a quick nap before riding the midnight to 6am shift. This is a very tough schedule for a body to suddenly adjust to. Essentially...due to how the rotations work out, there was no 'riding' for this 24 hour period. We only did the eat, sleep, drive thing today!

I'm going to take this opportunity to thank some of our volunteers along the way. Our follow vehicle drivers provide protection and emergency response if needed. All are first aid and CPR trained. They do 12 hour shifts driving behind the cyclists at all times.
This is Russell and Heather:


Roger and Bruce:


Dave and Ron:



Our Motorhome drivers provide the well needed support for rest stops and transition points along the way. They maintain the motorhome and select safe areas for the riders to take breaks - and they also work 12 hour shifts.
Here's Janeen and Matt:


Wun and Glenn:


Steve and Nancy:


And oh yes....both Matt and Wun are also our volunteer photographers to capture the adventure!

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Day 4 - The Bad and the Good

As much as we tried to ensure as many aspects of this event are planned and organized...there will always be some challenges. Our day started off with visits to 2 different bike stores in Lexington to tune up 3 bikes on our team. It's amazing what riding so much distance each day can do (and yes, the bike crash didn't help either). That said...the local folks were able to get everything fixed up and we were back on the road.





Our ride route started from just south of Lebanon TN at 6pm. BAD. This was actually revised from last year due to traffic....however the same challenge existed. While our team pulled over frequently to allow cars to pass - it was still not enough for some drivers. While most were supportive...we did experience some negativity from a few who apparently couldn't spare the 5 or 10 minute delay in their day.


Oh well...we pedalled onwards aware that what we were doing is making a difference for the people who use the services of Wellspring.

Due to some variations in the distances that have been covered by the teams, a great surprise for us in the second half of our ride was that our team got the opportunity to ride from the entrance of the Natchez Trace Parkway. This is the GOOD. It's essentially a 444 mile paved road with no stoplight s, stop signs, or much traffic from Nashville TN to Natchez MS. It is a dream route for cyclists and rated as one of the top rides in North America. Our team quietly coasted for several hours, up and down on the roller coaster path...in the dark...no traffic....just us and the peace of night. Oh yes...we also saw 20 to 30 curious deer not sure who was interrupting their night.





The other GOOD that we had before the day was complete took place after our ride. By the time we got to Franklin where we took over the hotel rooms from the team that was riding after us...it was 230am. We were hungry and even McDonalds was closed in town. We found one place that still had lights on...Old Chicago Pizza & Taproom. Upon walking in, we were told they just had last call and their kitchen was closed. In fact, their chef was gone already. I guess from the looks on our faces and our explanation of why we were walking in so late...they invited us to have a seat. Several of the restaurant staff then took to staying late after closing, providing refreshments along with firing up the kitchen to make us some of their special pizza. Awesome. Even more awesome....was that they refused to charge us for the pizza, indicating it was their way to support what we were doing. We gave them a big tip in return for their hospitality.

Michelle, our server, at Old Chicago at 330am:



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Day 3 - How to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving...

It's currently 4am in the morning...and this is the first time I have an opportunity to provide a blog update...so here goes (forgive the typos if any!).

Firstly, we needed to figure out where to find turkey in the town of Lexington, Kentucky where we stayed the night after our ride. After some searching and with the help of TripAdvisor...we settled on a place called Ramsey's Diner. It was located downtown...had great ratings...and fit the criteria of being local.


What and awesome find....they specially prepared, to the best of their abilities....sliced turkey, mashed potatoes with gravy, parmesan corn on the cob, and as well, some fantastic mac and cheese. Not exactly like home...but it all tasted great...and was all that we could ask for.


Next door was also a pie shop...who brought the Apple Caramel with cinnamon to the restaurant as dessert (yes, with additional whipped cream and vanilla ice cream). Again...awesome.

In terms of our ride...we completed our noon to 6pm ride from Waverly Ohio to Flemingsburg in great time. it was capped off with a beautiful sunset. We had the opportunity to cross the Ohio - Kentucky border over the Ohio river:


At the finish of the ride...falls colours and warm sunlight:


You may wonder why Keith is lying lifeless on the grass....it was brought to our team's attention that the bike crash the day prior...had everyone co ing tomthe rescue of Melinda...while Keith had to fend for himself. Here is a re-enactment of what the scene looked like:


Yes...we are having lots of fun. Just a few more photos below...I'm going to sleep now....more updates later!










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Day 2 - Hills, guns, and dogs...

Wow...after leaving at 6am from Meadville, PA in the dark....once the sun came out....we were treated to some amazing scenery for the duration of the ride. Yes, there were hills and lots of them. I don't recall anything flat at any point in the ride....we were either going up or going down. Our total climb for the 117kms was over 1400 meters! The downhills in between really helped to keep the smiles on our faces.


In terms of guns...in the first few hours, we kept hearing the sound of gunshots around us like firecrackers for a good 10 to 20 km's of the morning. They sounded very close....but according to others on my team....they were supposedly very far away. Not sure we believed that....so we made an effort to ride just a bit faster just in case! Definitely not something we get on our normal training rides in Markham!





Dogs have always had an affinity for chasing cyclists riding by....and today was no exception. I wish I had the opportunity to take a few photos of them running towards the road....but like the gunshots...we really didn't stick around to find out if they were chained down or not. The barking from dogs occurred throughout the morning at various turns....there was no getting away from them.








Railway crossings can be challenging for cyclists...and unfortunately, a couple of riders on our team had a disagreement with some tracks today. There were a few bumps and bruises as you can see....however everyone is was quickly mended up by our first aid trained support staff....and approved to continue riding.





After our ride....we met up with Team 5 for lunch in East Palastine, Ohio (Pulled pork sandwiches and milkshakes!) and then headed off to Columbus Ohio were we planned to stay for the night near our transition point the next day.


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Day 1 - Launch Celebrations

What an amazing morning - we had tremendous support from friends, family, and the community, who came out to hear about the cause and cheer on the teams as we headed out on our journey! The weather was chilly, but not too cold, especially for cycling.

We were pleased to announce that by the time we started riding this year....the 24 riders, and even a few volunteers have already raised $330,000! With the sponsorships - the total was over $450,000 so far!


It was an early day with everyone arriving between 7am and 730am to get their stuff in support vehicles and final preparations to be completed. Each ride team sponsors a warrior, someone who has or is fighting the battle with cancer. Our warrior is Eva in the photo below - amazing women - and she shared her cancer story with everyone which brought on many tears, as well as cut the ribbon to officially start the ride.





As one of our sponsors for the event....we somehow managed a group photo in front of the Mac's store across the street from the start line.



The Wellspring drummers were out in full force providing some fantastic background music as we set off...


My teammates...Keith, Neil, Melinda, and Tom...along with our van with our bikes packed and ready to go to our first transition point near Ancaster.


Yes....Muscle Milk provided some riding nutrition....which we plan to drink lots....and my new favourite - Powerbar Energy Blasts!


For the first day...each team rides 60km as a warmup and learning day to understand the logistics. Our ride took us from Ancaster to Dunnville. Sun was shining....and it was so warm....just jerseys and shorts worked perfect! Could not have asked for a better start!








Just a few more photos of the many friends and family who came out in the morning to support! Thanks all!















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