Day 5: Florida already!

Our team had a very interesting shift today...it was from 6pm to midnight in Florida (yes, we are in Florida already!)...however required a ferry ride just east of Jacksonville to our starting point on the other side of the St. Johns River....and was to finish when we meet the next team at Palm Coast:



We encountered a number of elements through our ride...it started with the 40C heat and humidity....then we had wind...and rain....and darkness...and the bugs at dusk provided protein if we happened to have our mouths open to breath....!

We did meet up with a fellow rider on our ferry ride, who was in the Navy and biked to work every day (he's the guy with the really really big muscles in the picture)...and he happily joined us for the first 8-10kms of our ride (we actually drafted him he was so strong and fast).


On the short ferry ride...


And WOW the short time that we had to see the scenery before it got dark was spectacular. We passed through some neighbourhoods on the A1A highway that must have been owned by either movie stars or drug dealers....


Despite the elements....I do have to say that so far...this was one of our best and most enjoyable shifts so far. No traffic and a fantastic route. We completed 114kms in record time....and ordered some pizzas as a post ride midnight snack....


Lastly....the icing on the cake from the awesome day....was receiving confirmation that I will be able to run the Boston Marathon in April 2017! Finally after 5 years of trying....woohoo!





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Day 4: I'm officially exhausted

It's currently the end of a very long and strenuous day as I blog this update. Our shift was from Wadesboro North Carolina to just south of Camden South Carolina. Route was fantastic and our team completed 131kms. The really tough part was the heat and sun....which hit 40C and was relentless through our entire 6 hours of cycling. You'll see that we were not far from Charlotte....and we also got to cross the state line on our bikes:


We coincidentally saw this on the back of a vehicle while picking up some food for our volunteers prior to our ride....a message about a young Kyra who died of cancer at a young age. It really struck home for us and made our team reflect on what we were doing.


Some photos along the way despite the heat....we kept our spirits positive...


Had to stop for a group photo at the state line!





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Day 3: It's just part of the adventure

It continues to amaze me on how fast and far we progress each day moving south towards our destination. Our last ride was in the frigid cold with frost on the parked vehicles we passed. Today we rode from 6am to noon and the temperature went from 12 to 19 degrees Celsius during this time. Here was our route - 115kms....Aldie VA to Orange VA....a bit west of Washington DC:





The ride started in the dark with our transition point next to the Aldie volunteer fire department. They came out to see if we needed assistance :)











Our challenge for the day was the need to navigate a route with a lot of traffic in parts, along with transport trucks, and fast moving vehicles. It's so important that we have our follow vehicle with clear markings and emergency lighting to signal that there is a group of cyclists ahead....they really helped to keep us as safe as possible.





And yes there was also a lot of pulling over and waiting to allow traffic to pass on many occasions.





We also had to suddenly stop the team while riding due to an emergency vehicle needing to pass...a couple of bikes 'made contact'....and this was the result:





That thing hanging is the rear derailleur of Ryan's bike...it's supposed to be attached to the bike. He had to miss the last 20k of our shift and we needed to drop into a bike shop for a repair. All is good now....and we were lucky the contact didn't result in anything worse.





The ride was a bit stressful and had our heart rates up a bit more than usual. Decided that we now have a new team name...and took a new team photo:




Here is a link to a short video clip of our ride:
https://www.relive.cc/view/725721619

We are now in Laurinburg, North Carolina resting for the night. Our next shift is from noon to 6pm tomorrow (Tuesday) starting somewhere west of us. We will likely need to contend with heat, humidity, and possibly rain. Ready to take it on as our commitment to Wellspring and this event. Miami here we come!


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Day 1: The first 24 hours...

As usual, the morning of the launch starts very early and is filled with organized and disorganized chaos. We prepared all our gear, bags, and bikes for the long journey. We had inspiring speeches from our Wellspring Warriors. We said good bye to our family and friends who came out to support us, as we won't be with them for at least a week. It was a bit chilly to start, but warmed up later in the day.

Our team's ride this morning was dedicated to Zoë Bridgman and her family. She was supposed to ride with us to Miami and trained with us all summer. Wellspring has supported her and her husband through his battle with cancer, and she wanted to give back to the charity. Unfortunately, her husband Jory's cancer has taken a turn for the worse a few weeks ago....and she needs to stay with him and their young kids. We have them all in our thoughts as we set out on our ride. :(

Some photos from today...

My team, Eric, Tom, Terry, Ryan....along with our Warrior, Elsie, a cancer survivor, amazing women, and who will keep us inspired as we ride rain or shine....day and night....


My awesome family who I will miss very much....


Before Ryan departed with us....he decided to pop the question and officially get engaged this morning to his girlfriend Mayo!!!! (And as a true cyclist....Mayo got a ring....as well as a bike!)


The amazing group of riders and volunteers making the journey:


My team making our way towards Hamilton in our first shift:


As mentioned...we had a second shift within 12 hours from midnight to 6am...it was from the town of Victor NY (just south of Rochester)...through a scenic route past the finger lakes (which we didn't see since it was too dark!) and ending after 132kms of cycling in the town of Horseheads:


It was dark and COLD....almost down to zero Celsius for most of our ride....brrrrr.....


Here's a view from the inside of the motorhome along with the volunteers on our night shift....as we take a break....yes everyone is a bit tired from a long day...


Team 2 making their dedication prior to setting off on their ride at 6am:


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And so it begins....

Today marks the first day of the Wellspring ride to Miami. Our team is designated to do the first shift. Basically....we ride at 9am for 3 hours....and then have 12 hours to eat, rest a bit, and drive to our next transition which takes place at midnight. From there...we will ride another 6 hours until 6am. By that time, our team will have done almost 190kms in the first 24 hours.

Just a short post today...and I will do another update after our long first day is complete.

Here's what my clean bike gears look like at zero kms...I will post another photo at the end of the ride...


And that always thoughtful and awesome Gail of mine....baked over 600 cookies and packaged them for each of the teams and riders. :)


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In 7 days....we ride for Wellspring once again...

Round 6 begins for me in one week. It's always an exciting time, while still extremely busy as we ensure that everything is all set before the bicycle wheels hit the road. We have an amazing group of 28 riders and a dozen volunteers set to make the journey from Toronto to Miami this year.

Thank you to everyone who has supported....the Cheung family has raised almost $13,000 so far! And with all the generous donations along with corporate sponsorships, total funds raised for Wellspring is reaching the $500,000 mark! Wow!

This blog will be active again as of launch day on Saturday, September 24th as I do my best to keep you updated on this year's event. If you're not getting posts via email automatically....just sign up on on the right side of the webpage. I hope to share inspiring stories and lots of photos once again.

For now...a few pre-ride photos....the first is of Elsie Budhu, along with my team mate Tom. Elsie is our team's Wellspring Warrior, which is a unique component of our ride. She is a stage 1 breast cancer survivor and fortunate to be cancer free after a year of surgery and chemotherapy. Her amazing son Ron has been a volunteer driver for us since the first year of our event. Our team is so grateful to have Elsie as our warrior...who will provide continual inspiration and focus on why this ride is so important.




This is our full team on one of the many training rides we did in preparation for our long journey.


And here is a glimpse of our route....2,868kms....15,000 meters of elevation....7 days non-stop relay....



Will update you again in a week!


- billy

Blog: ride4wellspring.blogspot.ca
Donations: wellspring.ca/billyc