It’s Monday, June 13th – the day AFTER The Ride
and what a great weekend it was. Like many others, it was a family event for me
as Sheila, Sarah and I rode together as James bid us adieu at the opening
ceremonies on Saturday.
There is so much to say so I’ve tried to break it down into
three highlights:
$17.5 million by 4,610 Riders and 800+ crew: Talk
about overachievers. This averages out to $3,796 per Rider… with a minimum of
$2,500 in place to Ride, this is truly exceptional. Even better is that this
funding is critical to research done at The Campbell Institute at The Princess
Margaret. I’m so motivated but our Riders, donors, volunteers and Crew – thank
you!
The people: Hearing the stories from people like
opening ceremonies speaker, Roslyn Fitzpatrick, to Steve Campbell (check out
the article in the Globe and Mail here);
seeing Chinyere Eni arrive at camp on Saturday evening and hearing from Joel
Binder… all emotional, real and very touching experiences that are in my memory
bank forever. It is because of these incredible people and often unfortunate
experiences, that we Ride.
The Weather: We planned for rotten weather and had
perfect riding weather! Our plan for the worst and hope for the best is a good
planning philosophy! Our anti rain dance appeared to have worked.
Overall, it was the best Ride yet. Thanks to everyone who
made it so amazing and a special thank you to Steve Merker, our Chief Cycling
Officer at PMHF. What an incredible weekend!