Day 2 - Night Rider

I'm going to start off my day 2 update with our ride dedications. One of the things that each team does before each ride....is to have a personal dedication to someone who is either going through the cancer journey or has gone through the journey.  These dedications reinforces the significance of Wellspring, as well as keeps the team moving when times are tough.

Our day 1 dedication was to our friend Doug, who is our team's warrior, as well as someone who has dedicated many many hours to volunteering for great causes, including for the Wellspring ride. Additionally, we also dedicated this ride to Doug's son-in-law Chris and his family, who most recently was diagnosed with cancer.  Chris has a tough path over the next number of months along with many challenges. Our entire team is hopeful that Chris will conquer these challenges and win the battle.

Our day 2 dedication was to Mark, who is my team mate Eric's brother-in-law, and who is fighting this horrible disease. Again, our team is hopeful that Mark will pull through the tough times he faces.

In terms of today's ride....it was our night ride...cycling in the darkness from midnight to 6am...in Virginia, from Winchester to Harrisonburg. It is most likely our toughest shift during this event. The theme was hills, and more hills. There was 1400m in total elevation to climb and we rode 113kms....and to add to this challenge, we were also hit with rain, making it a very wet ride.  On a positive note, Virginia roads are in fantastic condition and the road surfaces were very smooth. Not sure we saw much in terms of pot holes and debris.  That said, lots of road kill including a skunk, several possums, squirrels, and a raccoon.  And oh yes, we also saw a number of deer staring at the us...wondering what was disturbing them in the middle of the night.

Not too many photos today....due to both the darkness and the rain...the camera did not come out too much:

Our team before the ride...and before we got really wet from the rain...

Here's our follow vehicle and my bike....along with a sense of what was coming down:

What a night transition between 2 teams looks like (in the middle of no where...usually on the side of the road at a parking lot):

Team 1 doing their dedication prior to their ride:

With some of our awesome volunteers....they keep us safe and help to support the ride:

Day 1 - A most inspiring first day of the Wellspring Ride 2015

Hi All!

Sorry for the delay in blogging about the ride this year.  My riding and shift schedule meant there was even less downtime than normal for me!  I'm going to send this update from day one out....then try to get a few hours of sleep before getting up at 4am for our next ride shift.

The launch morning was bigger and more inspiring than ever. We had both our Peloton riders, as well as the 1 day event riders on hand....and many, many supporters out to cheer us on.  Overall, it's great to see how this event has continued to grow...and to see more and more people involved and become a part of such an important cause.  Without this support, Wellspring would not be able to help so many people battling cancer.

Here's my team this year - with Will, Eric, and Sandy.  Eric was on my team last year. Will was our cancer warrior last year (you may have seen him on Canada Am with me!). and Sandy is riding in honour of his Mom, who was the founder of Wellspring!  Go Team 5! Woohoo!

Although this is my 5th year cycling for Wellspring and cancer support...my launch day was completely different and unique. I was looking to fulfill my commitment to do a double shift as a result of everyone helping to get me to more that $15,000 in fundraising by this time. Thank you again!

The double shift turned out to be a unique opportunity to ride with 4 of the 5 teams involved with this event. It was a fantastic experience, and the weather (aside from the constant wind for a few of the shifts) was almost perfect.  My total distance covered was just over 240kms between 9am and midnight.

Here's the route that I covered on my bike in 2 segments on the first day - Canada and USA:

Some photos from the day...

At the first rest stop when I was riding with Team 1 - along with some fantastic volunteers out to provide water to the riders:

Shift 1 completed....with Team 1:

Selfie photo with Team 3 as we rode our bikes across the Peace bridge!

This is me as I decided to take a break after 160kms....needed to save some energy to ride with my Team at 9pm that evening....

Needed a wider lens....however, this is almost the whole group of riders and volunteers heading to New Orleans:

Okay ---- the wifi is really bad at the hotel I'm at currently....so will need to wait to post Day 2...!

-billy

Making A Difference

Global TV put together a great segment on the Wellspring ride. It's only a few minutes long and really captures what the event is all about and why we are doing all this cycling. Our team's cancer warrior from last year, Will Tompkinson speaks about what the ride means to him....and it's significance.  He's on my team this year and riding with me all the way to NOLA. Amazing.

Click HERE for the Global TV video.

By the way....they spent over 4 hours filming us in interviews and cycling to produce these 3 minutes!  The folks at Global TV definitely have a passion for telling the best story possible!

Only a couple of more days before we start riding!  I need to pack....

Here'a photo at the finish line last year with Will as well as another cancer warrior Vanessa. I'm really looking forward to instead be cycling with Will to the finish line this time.

Anything is possible

Thanks to everyone's generosity, we (Gail, Mya, Ben, and myself) have achieved our fundraising goal of $15,000 for Wellspring's cancer support programs. This means that I will honour my commitment of a DOUBLE RELAY shift during the Wellspring Ride. 

Logistically, it makes the most sense for me to attempt this on the first day of the event.  So....this means that on Saturday, September 26th - I will start cycling at 9am and continue until midnight - for a total of over 300+ kms.

Never having done this type of distance before, I'm hoping to prove that 'anything is possible' (with an extra bit of determination and effort) !  

After this long first day, I will then join my team and continue with the 'normal' relay shifts of cycling 120kms each day for the next 6 days until we reach New Orleans. I'm sure that my body will probably scream at me in new ways that I have not felt before.  My plan is to keep pushing ahead knowing that it's still nothing compared to what those fighting cancer go through.

Check back to see how all this goes....I will be updating this blog regularly all the way to New Orleans.

All are invited to the start line! It's at the Wellspring House in Oakville, and festivities start at 8am on Saturday, September 26th.  It will be great to see you! More details here:

www.wellspring.ca/2015pelotoninvite

By the way....I was thinking of testing a new bike for this event....what do you think?  Found it at LegoLand!

Hmmm....Do you think I have a chance?

I have been nominated for an award...apparently related to what I have been doing with the Wellspring Ride the past number of years. I was definitely surprised, and it was unexpected. Also because there are so many people involved in making the event a success -- all the riders, volunteers, and as well, the staff at Wellspring.  Gail, Mya, and Benjamin are also very significant in helping with so many aspects of this event. It's really not just me...

The nomination was the work of Katie Mosher and Nicole Beier....Katie was a rider last year in the event...and she and Nicole work for Wellspring.  The award is for 'Outstanding Philanthropist'. Yes, you heard me. Philanthropist. Definitely NOT a word that I would ever use to describe myself. To me....a philanthropist is someone who is able to donate wheelbarrows of $$$$ for fantastic causes and for those who have buildings named after them as a result. Last time I checked, I don't even own a wheelbarrow....and really the only thing with my name on it are my business cards.

All that said....many of you know that I enjoy a good challenge. From what I can tell, to win, my name is now on a website with the challenge to get as many votes as possible. People can vote once per day, every day, up until the deadline on May 1st.

So....here's the link - just click box next to my name on the list and scroll to the bottom to submit your vote:
http://nominations.afpresources.org/2015npdvote

As part of the submission - Katie and Nicole also made a video, which you can find here:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/28242737/2015%20NPD%20Award%20Videos/Philanthropist_BillyCheung.m4v

Hmmm....do you think I have a chance?  Let the voting fun begin!

Oh yes, and while you're clicking away - yes, I have started my fundraising for this year's event too!

Working together for an important cause...

It's not just about the cycling. It's about the experience. It's about working together for the same important cause. It's about being inspired as well as inspiring others. This is the Wellspring Peloton Challenge. While I intended to provide a blog update for each day of the experience again...this year's rotation schedule, and being deeply immersed in the non-stop nature of the event, has prevented me to pull it off. Instead you are all getting one big blog update. For the short version, feel free to just scroll to the end.

Day 4: Travel Day

The unique nature of this experience is the changing times at which teams rotate and ride. Each ride shifts ahead by 6 hours. Since our last ride concluded at 12am...our 24 hour 'break' takes up the whole of day 4 prior to our midnight to 6am ride. We are not actually riding 'today'. The time goes by fast though. Finishing a midnight ride means we don't actually go to sleep until 3am as we need to pack up after transition in the dark, travel, and look for food in the middle of the night in the middle of nowhere. Not the simplest task.

After a bit of rest, we then need to drive ahead to a location that is estimated to be near our nex transition, eat again, and try to sleep for a few hours before we ride at midnight.

Our Wellspring Warrior, Will, continues to provide is with inspiration each day on the importance of what we are doing through notes and messages to our Team:






Day 5: Our full night ride

Night rides are awesome. There is very little traffic, which is great for cycling. It is also a surreal experience. We are talking about riding in the dark. There are no city lights...the only lights are those from our bike lights and follow vehicle. We are not able to see much ahead....which makes doing hills up or down, a completely different task. When you can't tell what is coming up or how long the hill is....the mental component of preparing for what is ahead does not exist.





We cycled 122kms from Dunlap, Tennessee, through the north west tip of Georgia, concluding in near the state line in Alabama. That's right...in one night, we rode our bikes in 3 separate states. I am so still amazed at how far a distance a simple bicycle with pedals and 2 wheels can take us. Take a look at the blue dot when we were at the point of intersection between the 3 states:


We also got to chat with a state trooper who hunted us down after someone reported seeing our motorhome stopped on the side of the road as one of our rest stops. Always interesting to explain what we are doing riding our bikes in the middle of the night.

Day 6: Congregating as a full team

We stayed in Jackson, Alabama prior to our next ride. Met some new friends, Mickie and Rose, at the front desk of the hotel. They were so excited to hear about our event and cause, they contacted the local media who came out at 430am to get some more interview and take some photos of the transition and our team starting our ride. Will need to hunt down the article at some point.



A family living across the road from one of our rest stops dropped by to learn more about what we were doing:





The plan for day 6 was to was all the teams congregate into Long Beach, Mississippi. Mileage was adjusted so that the last team rides in by 6pm. Our team biked 86kms from Jackson, Alabama to just south of the Mississippi state line.

Here's Team 5 arriving at Long Beach at exactly 5:59pm one minute ahead of schedule after a very tough ride in 40 degree Celsius temps:


Our Wellspring Lego guy also made it safely:


Day 7:

Our entire group woke up this morning to torrential downpours, thunder, lightning, and strong wind gusts. Looking outside...the 135kms we planned to ride looked to be pretty challenging (I'm pretty sure this is candy coating the situation actually...). Wow did we have our work cut out for us. Good thing everyone has been 'training' for the past 6 days! Here was our route:



And here was the final inspiration from Will:




We were going to get this DONE. And we made the decision to do it together. A full team of 20 riders supported by the full ensemble of follow vehicle and motorhome drivers. It's difficult to describe how significant and meaningful it was to ride as a full group...to work together to overcome all the elements. If we rode this same route as 5 separate teams, it would have been extremely difficult and we would have all arrived late. Instead...we did it in less than 6 hours. While there was a continuos head wind, the skies also cleared up closer to the finish line. It was picture perfect. Family, friends, and our Wellspring warriors cheered. An awesome New Orleans style street band played as we crossed the finish. Beads were flying. Champagne was flowing. And over $350,000 has been raised to support the free cancer programs provided by Wellspring.

So....another successful year of the ride has concluded. I'm so honoured to have all the support...and honoured to be connected to all the fantastic people involved with this event. It will be difficult NOT to come back again to help this organization for a fifth year in 2015.

































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Day 3 Wellspring Ride

Our third day had us transitioning near the Ohio Kentucky border in Maysville. One of the other Team captains, Mike, was celebrating his birthday today with his Wellspring family. We had a small birthday surprise for him at the end of their ride (see photo below).

Our shift today was from 6pm until midnight. Essentially a night ride. We get to see the sunset...and then it gets dark fast. Like our day 2...Kentucky is also hilly...and we climbed a total of another 1400 meters over 120km distance. Over the course of our ride, we had 1 flat tire, again chased by multiple dogs, and also startled a coyote on the side of the road feasting on what looked to be a dead skunk.

We dedicate each of our rides to someone we know who is fighting cancer. Today, the dedication was to our friend Doug, who was a volunteer on our first ride. I was so pleased when he surprised us by coming out to our launch morning:




Here was our route...Maysville to Winchester:



A little celebration for Mike (it was just rehydration fluid in the shooter cups...water!):






We did give him some authentic Moonshine seen here next to our Wellspring Lego Warrior:


My team at the start of our shift:


And my team in action!


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Day 2 Wellspring Ride

No matter what route we take heading south from Ontario - we need to get through Ohio. Having done this ride for Wellspring a few times now...I KNOW that Ohio is NOT flat. Contrary to popular belief, it is NOT downhill all the way as we cycle south.

Hills, hills, and more hills is the theme for our ride today. And that means LOTS of climbing. These are also not the 'bumps' we typically see and train on in Markham. The elevation we must take on in Ohio is relentless - and is both challenging and demotivating at times in that we can work so hard to get to the top of a hill to turn the corner and find out it keeps going up!

Our leg of the ride today started new the Pennsylvania Ohio state line and concluded in Cadiz. Our team completed 109kms and climbed 1412 meters in elevation.

While there are lots of highlights through the course of our days...one worth mentioning is the unsolicited support from strangers. At the end of our ride in the town of Cadiz (apparently the birthplace of Clark Gable by the way) - a lady saw us and our bikes and decided to stop...come out of her car...and inquire. She then gave us a cash donation for Wellspring. Amazing.

Here's the tracking of our route:



Here are my team mates, Eric, Tom, and Ryan, with the follow vehicle behind us in the distance:


Our volunteers, Roger and Bryan drove the follow vehicle on our segment today...protecting us and alerting drivers that there are cyclists ahead of them on the road:


Steve and Nancy drove the motor home which provides us with the much needed rest breaks along the way:


Can't forget about our Wellspring Lego guy...


This beautiful historic courthouse in Cadiz was the backdrop at the completion of our hilly 6 hour ride:


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