I’ve Gone 1,200 Kms, and I haven’t even started yet.

Okay folks, here we go.  This is my big push.

If you know me, you likely know my son Brandon, who we like to call Beemer.  And, if you know Beemer, you likely know that he has Type 1 Diabetes.

He wants your help:  he’s looking to raise $5,000 this year to help fund a cure for juvenile diabetes.  Please donate here.

So, you may be wondering how he got diabetes. Did he eat too much sugar?  Is he a lazy kid? 

Absolutely not…but I’m going to get back to that in a second.

Type 1 Diabetes is an auto-immune disease that strikes thousands of children each year, killing part of their pancreas and leaving them dependant on insulin injections and constant blood glucose monitoring.

For life.

So is he lazy?  Nope!  Brandon has already cycled over 200kms this year training to ride from Ontario to Alberta with a national relay team.  d00ds, seriously, he’s 8 freekin’ years old and he’s going to ride with the National Relay team known as Cyclebetes.

This is one tough kid, and it shows.  He refuses – daily – to let this disease beat him.  When was the last time you cycled 20kms?  He’s done it twice.  In the last week.

It doesn’t just affect Beemer, but the whole family, too.  Here’s how his little brother Andy is dealing with it:

 

Again, if you can help out, please donate here.

Every bit helps and you can be my son’s hero (as well as the hero of over 250,000 kids worldwide).

Beemer and I leave on August 26th to join the Cyclebetes National team.  I’ve been training hard and I’m ready to take my son across a couple of great provinces and hundreds of kilometres closer to a cure.

Murray's Back As a Sponsor - In a Big Way

The folks at Murray Chevrolet in Brandon have come on board to support Cyclebetes in a HUGE way along with other dealers in the Murray Auto Group.

This year, they are sponsoring the National team by providing a support vehicle from coast-to-coast. A very big thank you to Murray's who has stepped up to the plate again in support of finding a cure for Juvenile Diabetes.

Wow, Thanks New Era!

It only takes a few kids with big hearts to make a difference.

My son currently attends an inner-city French Immersion school. The student council heard that he would be riding across Manitoba and Saskatchewan with Cyclebetes and wanted to help make a difference.

Enter the "Can-Do" spirit.

The kids planned and executed a great event, raising well over $400 and helping to get kids (and their parents) aware of this disease. I was invited to talk at the school before the walk...it was great. The kids were attentive and so interested in the story of Cyclebetes and what we accomplished in our first year. I shared the awesome photos from Carey Tarr and the experiences of life on the road for 12 days as I participated in the journey from Montreal to the foothills of Western Alberta.

I also got to share this video my sons and I created for all the Superheros out there:

We are now well on our way to our goal of raising $5000 for Juvenile Diabetes for this ride...thanks New Era!

Training Officially Underway

I'm now back on the bike and trying to keep up over 200kms a week. I have some winter weight to shed...I'm starting from behind the gun at 205lbs this year.

Congratulations Cyclebetes 2009!

I have to say this one last time:

• Thank you to the core team for putting this thing together.
• Thank you to our many Manitoba sponsors - I-NetLink Wireless, Westman Eval & Rehab, the Murray Auto Group, Tim Horton's, A&L Get Active and countless families, friends and strangers that sponsored the Manitoba cyclists.
• Thank you to the media in Westman that provided great coverage of our team and the events here at home.
• Thank you to everyone who followed us and supported us on the road.

And finally, THANK YOU to the beautiful, full-term pregnant love of my life that stayed at home with two kids and ran a household for our family while I was on the road. You are the most amazing woman in the world and I would be so lost without you, sweet girl.

I hadn't yet posted this video on my blog, but it was on Facebook. If you'd like to see the video I put together with some of the wonderful Cyclebetes folks I lived and adventured with for nearly two weeks, check this out:

Crew members from all across the country talk about Accu-Chek Cyclebetes - the biggest bike relay in the world - and encourage viewers to get involved.

This will likely be my last post on here for a while as I tidy up some 2009 loose ends and prep for next year...it's getting close!

Every mile traveled down that highway brought us two miles closer to the cure. Thank you to everyone!

Journey Coming to an End, but Really Just Starting

I got to ride in to Calgary for the last 3okms with some great folks – Jeff, Charlie, Heather and Steve – as I passed my personal goal of 1,000kms for this trip.

The personal goal was nothing, though, in light of what this trip is about.  The people I’ve met here and along the way have shown me again and again that Juvenile Diabetes is a disease that won’t last.  It can’t, not with a group like this fighting against it.

It’s a little surreal right now…taking a few minutes to upload a video while everyone is relaxing…tomorrow we’ll ride out to Bragg Creek and then I’m going home.

It has been such a great trip, and I’ve got so many more memories that I want to make sure I capture, but, for now, what I’d like to do is get down some of the advice that I’ve received over the last two weeks:

Megan: Tell everyone we’re leaving at 7.  Then we can leave on time for 7:30.

Kim: I can. I will.

Willie:  Apparently one cloud can screw you.

Joanne: Ride like you’re wiping off dog poop from the bottom of your shoes.

Megan: Don’t forget the tent.

Barb: Don’t ever ask anyone to do something you wouldn’t do.  Do it first, then you can teach them so they can do it next time.

Steve: Ride like a Kenyan.

Willie: Do it if you’re gonna do it.

I know there’s more and I’ll get them in here as soon as I can.  The video’s uploaded now and I’m going to get a last night in with this amazing group of anti-Type-1’ers.

This leg of the journey might be coming to an end, but I know that this group of people will accomplish great things – primarily curing Juvenile Diabetes – and I am so glad I sent that email to the H2V guys last year and got involved.

Thank You, Manitoba!

Wow.  That’s the only word I have.

I have been continuously blown away by people I have met on this trip.  I didn’t think that the biggest shock would come from someone I already knew.  More on that in a second…

I have some very big thanks to push out to some people and organizations that made the Manitoba leg of Accu-Chek Cyclebetes so successful.

Krystal from 94.7 Star FM took calls from us all day long as we made our way from Winnipeg to the Wheat City, pumping up the event and directing people to our Facebook group and our website.  People were honking at us from Portage la Prairie all the way into town.

We were met by an amazing group of supporters up on the highway as we rode into Brandon.  They had signs, cheers, and most importantly, my family ;o) It was so great to see my very pregnant wife and my two man cubs.

The Brandon Police Service met us on the Trans-Canada with two vehicles and led us, along with CKLQ/Star FM, all the way through town.  With about 5km left on the Community Ride, my son Beemer joined us and rode like a rock star into the apres-event at the Riverbank Discovery Centre.

When we got there, about 50 people joined us in thanking I-NetLink Wireless, Westman Evaluation and Rehabilitation, Murray Chevrolet Cadillac and A&L Get Active for their support and contributions.

The Brandon Sun had a reporter and photographer there to do some photos and to interview Megan Rose and myself.

Afterwards, we retreated to my brother’s house where he and my very dear Mother had made us a rockin’ supper for all the riders.  It was sooooo good to be able to sit down as a team and have supper at a respectable time!  …plus, the grub was amazing and everyone had a wonderful time.

So about this wow thing…

Jannessa rode as my stoker through the province.  This girl has a ton of stuff in her.  Seriously.  At age 14, she not only lives with Juvenile Diabetes, but has also overcome a myriad of health troubles and not only survives, but downright pushes through whatever life throws at her.  It was so great to get some time on the road to get to know her better, and even better for her to spend some time with a lot of Type 1’s who are living with the disease and fighting to get to the end of this thing.  She is brave, confident and is going to make a difference.  I was privileged to ride with her, and amazed that she rode for over 100kms in less than 24 hours.

What a great place to call home, but I didn’t get to stay.  Tonight we made it into Moosomin and  tomorrow we’re on to Swift Current.  The next day, Brooks, then finally Calgary the day after.  I’ll be saying my good-byes and driving home after that…

…I can’t believe this adventure is almost over…