19th
Team 2, Day 13: Changing stories
At Vancouver, the riders and crew were asked to work on a team charter. One of the goals that we set for ourselves was to change stories for children diagnosed with cancer. This morning Glen dedicated our ride to Sarah Smith and to changing stories. Fifteen days before Christmas in 2006, Sarah was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumour. The tumour was already 11cm, or about the size of a large grapefruit. Three days after diagnosis, Sarah underwent her first surgery. Chemotherapy, a stem cell transplant, radiation, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and numerous trips to the operating room followed. Sarah was admitted to SickKids numerous times and had several recurrences. In December 2010, after several years of treatment, doctors decided she had run out of options. Sarah began receiving palliative care. She passsed away in late February, 2011. Team 2 was scheduled to ride from Montreal to Quebec City. Thanks to Monday morning city traffic we opted to start the day with a shuttle forward to a location closer to the river where traffic would be lighter. Once again we were treated to a nearly perfect cycling day. There was a light headwind early in the day, but with fresh legs were were still able to hold up a respectable pace. The cycling was relatively uneventful. We rolled along north of the St. Lawrence and admired the glimpses of the wide river and even a huge cargo freighter or two. To our left was flat farmland. Corn, soybean, and hay seem to be the most common crops grown here. We could tell by the smells that dairy, and other intensive livestock operations are also common.
The highlight of the day for us was catching up to and riding along with Team 1 and then getting to visit the Louis Garneau factory and outlet store with them. Louis Garneau is the supplier of our riding gear this year. At the factory we were all treated to goodie bags with t-shirts and water bottles courtesy of the Louis Garneau corporation. Canadian cycling icon, and now cycling gear mogul M. Louis Garneau himself greeted us and then, after giving us extra time to shop at the outlet store, was generous enough to ride with us to our final destination in Quebec City. He guided us on a very scenic and quiet road that passed beside a tall railway trestle bridge (think Lethbridge) and then up a challenging hill that ended in a 13% grade (steeper than anything I have trained on!) The hill was a tremendous challenge for our tandem riders Mark and Josh, but with the help of at least two other National Riders and Mr. Garneau they made it to the top.
Sincere thank you to Louis Garneau, (the gentleman and the company), Mike, and all the other folks at Louis Garneau who support the Sears National Kids Cancer Ride and helped to make the day another special one. I think I can speak for all the riders when I say we definitely love the Garneau gear we are wearing this year. Very comfortable, stylish, and functional.
