Reflections on R2S 2013

The 2013 Ride2Survive (R2S hereafter) has been completed!  A group of roughly 80 riders and 50 volunteers put on an event that has raised roughly 2.4 million dollars over 9 years.  The best part is that this is an independent event from the Canadian Cancer Society (CCS hereafter).  Why is that important?  Well R2S is entirely run by volunteers and funded by the riders who do the event (with donations of supplies and services from several businesses) .  This means that every dollar raised by our volunteers goes straight to the CCS, and none of it goes to running or promoting our event.  As a group our donations are large enough that we can direct the CCS how to use the funds, so each person who is fundraising gets to direct how their money that they collected will be spent.  Some send it to be used in awareness programs, but most money is sent to research to fight specific types of cancer.  

Here is how your donations have been spent do date:

 Yearly donations are now hovering around the $400K mark.  This is a significant amount of money to the CCS, but we we don't give it to them to use without restrictions.

So what is the R2S?  Well it is a day where those on the bikes attempt to emulate for one day the struggle that those fighting cancer go thru every day.  Doing the ride gives the riders a whole new level of respect for those in the fight of their lives.

On the simplest terms it is roughly 400km with 4000m of climbing in a single day.  This year's average moving speed was 24.6km/r (you can do the math). Riders Start riding at 3:30 in the morning in Kelowna BC and finish sometime after 10pm the same night in Delta BC.  The day is divided into 12 stages.  There are stops between each stage where riders have 10-15 minutes to use washrooms, eat, change clothes, make any gear adjustments and rest.  2 of the stops are 45minutes which allows for larger meals, and full clothing changes.  Below is a elevation map of our ride.

A huge thank you to the volunteers who spend hundreds of hours before the event organizing everything from road use permits to the food that the riders will eat during the ride!  I could go on and on about their seemingly endless contributions.

I'll try to cover the highlights of all this organizing from a rider's point of view…

The Thursday evening before the ride, riders drop bikes off for loading in the transport truck that will haul them up to Kelowna.

Friday before the ride riders assemble at Southshore Cycles in Delta. kits bags are handed out at this point -they contain rider numbers, water bottles, teeshirts etc…  Riders then are loaded onto two busses usually carrying lunches that they have bought from the Cactus club which opens early to provide this service!  They then leave with a caravan of R2S support vehicles and head up to Kelowna.  Riders arrive in Kelowna about 5 hours later to find their bikes in the process of being reassembled and getting certified ready to go by our crack mechanical crew.  Those who can then start helping to finish the process.  What follows include a wonderful meal put on by the Mainstreet Comunity Church which also serves as a home base for pre ride meetings, a place to sleep and the starting line for the ride.

I should stop here and talk briefly about the meeting where riders and volunteers introduce themselves to the group and each give a quick story on why they are doing the ride and or for whom they are doing the ride.  I've found this process to be very difficult.  -Not the sitting still (remember I have ADHD) it is the heart wrenching and heart warming stories that you listen too.  I usually am an emotional mess the entire time.  This year I dedicated my ride to those who have sacrificed so much to make a difference.  We lost a rider this past year who died in a mountain biking accident while training to do the event.  We had another rider who sustained serious neck & arm injuries on a early season group training ride, and to the young man who died doing the R2CC the previous weekend (see my last blog post for my thoughts on this).  I also rode for all our families who give up so much to allow us to do this event.


Saturday is ride day, and starts with a 2:30 am wakeup call, or if you slept in the church basement that's when the banging and clattering starts upstairs as the process of everyone getting changed into riding gear, and eating a quick breakfast begins.  an hour later we are on the road.  During the day we have 11 rest stops that add up to roughly 2 and a half hours of off the bike time.  -This is usually when we lose time on ride day.  At these stops we have motivating (rocking) music, an incredible array of food, washrooms and our gear bags laid out in numerical order so they are easy to find.  during each stage volunteers are tearing down, transporting and setting back up all of the above!

The day on the bike is spent as part of what is called "The Package" where riders spend the day riding 2 up.  In the very front is a police escort that where needed increases in size to allow for road closures and or blocking intersections.  after that is the front pilot car. next is the riders who are kept in as tight of a pack as is possible. After that is the rear pilot, an ambulance, mechanical sag, as well as vehicles for picking up anyone who needs a break.  lastly we a have flag vehicle with an arrow pointing traffic to go around us and more police.

Riders are encouraged to bring 3 full changes of riding clothes plus any other spare clothing think they may need -rain gear, arm/leg warmers, etc…  usually you do a full change at the stops in Merritt and Hope.  I tried to throw in a couple extra sock and jersey changes to keep comfortable all day.

Below are a few photos from the day and any comments I may have on them.

It's still dark when we start the day lights are mandatory.  we also had a nearly full moon setting as we got going.

An early in the day shot of "the package" the left lane was open to passing traffic, that's one of our mobile washroom stations passing us en route to the next rest stop.

I got to wear a radio for this year's ride.  It gave me a lot of insight into how much work goes on behind the scenes on ride day, as well as listening to all the funny banter (probably why I'm smiling in this photo)

I spent much of the day at the very back of the group.  I'm a reasonably strong rider but don't have the balance to help push others when going up hill.  Instead I volunteered to pace (give a draft) people up to the front of the pack when needed, and to pace people back to the pack who had to stop for quick fix mechanical issues.  Another job of last rider is to radio the front and let them know how the pack is holding together and if they should adjust speed.  The mud flaps attached to my fenders were a fundraiser I did this year. roughly a quarter of our riders used them this year.  Reflective with R2S logos on them.

The start of the HWY5 snowshed descent.  17km of 6-8% downhill grade.  Its not the steepness that scares me each year, its the crosswinds that whip me around so much.  I rode it out this year because the road was dry and the wind wasn't too bad, but I had decided that I wouldn't mind skipping this section if conditions are poor.  Last year it was wet and windy and I did not feel like I was in control of the bike.  This year I felt better, but still nervous.  I've received tips from friends on improving my descending skills and they seem to be helping.

by the end of the day I'm looking pretty tired, but feeling pretty good about what we've accomplished!

Cancer survivors who ride the R2S wear their yellow jerseys as we cross the finish line.  They show those still in the fight that there is hope!  Some of these people in yellow would not be here today without the research that is funded by your donations.

Chapeau to the Kunzli Family who's very lives seem to circle around this event.  Without them none of this would have happened.  Each year they are the last riders to cross the finish line, making sure we all got home safe.

Not included in this photo set is the amazing finish we ride into with many supporters along the road cheering us.  Also the music from the Delta Police Pipe Band, and of course more food for us!
By the end of the day I'm pretty sure I ingested roughly 12,000 calories and burned close to 9000 of them.

There are many more photos from ride day that you can find here.

I've been a part of this event for 3 years now.  I hope to be involved for as far into the future as I am needed to be.  I may not ride every year, in fact I hope to experience the ride from the point of view of the support crew.  While not as glorious to those on the outside, without them this ride would never happen.  The riders know just how important these people are.

I have 2 more thank you's to make...

Firstly to My wife and children.  For half the year you put up with me being away allot for training and fundraising.  I don't think I can express in words how much your support in this has meant to me. Each year I've tried to organize my self better than the year before to limit the impact of this on our lives.  I will continue in those efforts.

Lastly thank you to everyone who has made a contribution to my fundraising this year, if you haven't yet, There is still time to donate!

Truly Saddened

This post is not about my feelings for R2CC from the standpoint of how they use the funds their riders raise.  I'll go into that in detail another time.   This is also not an attempt to assign blame to any of the involved parties, but more an attempt to show my frustration towards a tragedy that in my eyes was avoidable.

This past weekend on the Vancouver -Seattle R2CC a 16 year old participant lost his life needlessly.  This young man is a hero in my eyes.  At 16 he dedicated his time to rase funds for a noble cause (fighting cancer) and training to do a demanding physical event.  Many is the day I show up for work to repair the damage that kids in his age range do to a public park overnight in the warm season.  To see a young man focus his energy in a such a way is truly inspirational. I know the trouble makers are few but they make a bad name for a large group.  Its sad that the efforts of kids like young Mr Pelletier don't get more attention.

I feel horrible for his family and friends who witnessed the accident (and for those who didn't), for the driver who was not at fault, and for the many other event participants and emergency staff who witnessed the accident or it's aftermath.

The day before the accident I was on an R2S.ca training ride.  The ride was planned so that we could go northbound on 184th street and cheer on the riders who were riding south after starting the first day of their event. -And yes to raise awareness among them of our own event.   Our route was carefully planned and took into account posted road and lane closures for the R2CC.  We should have known better than to trust the postings.   The R2CC lost the right to use provincial highways because they couldn't control their riders in past years.  The northbound lane was technically "open to traffic" but  herd mentality overwhelmed the traffic controls that were in place.  What ensued was gridlock for vehicular traffic for about 40 minutes.

We stood on the side of 184th street -there was no way we could ride north safely, watching the riders come up the hill at us taking up both lanes (riding as many as 6 to 8 across) of the road.   Things got especially troubling when the police decided to "escort" -from behind, a hand full of cars and trucks northbound down the street.   It was pretty much impossible not to see that at some point there would be an accident. It could have happened in a past year, or it could have happened in a future year.  It was only a matter of time.

In my opinion,  an event this size is too big for it's own good.  It is impossible to keep 2500+ people following whatever traffic rules you lay out for them without massively increasing course marshalling.  In my opinion this event requires total road closures to make it safe.  Events like Grand Fondos charge riders very high entry fees to pay for the costs associated with road closures.  Honestly it is money well spent.

I don't have any practical answers here on how to make R2CC safe.  Total road closures would cost a lot of money and people are already hesitant to make donations knowing how much of what they've donated in past years has gone to running and promoting that particular event, spending more to run it may further limit donations.

Really I think smaller events (like the one I ride with) are the answer.  A small group of riders bookended by safety vehicles, rolling lane closures, and tight control over how participants are spaced out on the roadway, is much safer for all involved, and the costs associated with this are in relation to a large event are minimal and in R2S' case none of the donations go towards it.   Also there is less risk of angering drivers and encouraging them to take risks…

Despite my concerns with how  R2CC spends it funds that are raised, I have contributed to their riders in the past, knowing that they are doing the ride for the same reasons I do R2S.  After witnessing the chaos of Saturday and reading the horrible news from Sunday morning I won't be able to make R2CC donations in the future.  If asked I would instead offer to make a donation via R2S and in  honour of
their efforts.  

I am truly saddened by the loss of a vibrant young life this weekend and as such I hope I got my point across without too much self promotion.  What I want (beyond my other concerns with R2CC) is for their riders and ours to be safe while doing our part to fight Cancer.  In the end we all have the same goal.  Every year I dedicate my ride2survive, This year I ride for the heros like Xavier Pelletier who make a difference.

Peddling 40

(Disclaimer written in March forgot to publish)

If you apply the rules being used in Canada for how to give back change in the post penny era to age, I'm 40. The actual date is unimportant. The question is how do I feel? I spent much of my 20's and early 30's living a lifestyle that got me away from healthy living and even from riding. Sure I went out for the odd spin, but it wasn't until I was let's say 35 (rounding) that I truly returned to my riding roots.

At that point I was just starting to get back into some semblance of healthy shape. Today I look in the mirror, even with the mid winter under the skin thermal layer and I reflect on not the past but on who and what I am today. I'm in decent shape for a guy my age, and for half the year I get into very good shape for that age.

I kinda like who I am today. I'm comfortable in my own skin. I work in the field of my choice and in the ideal job for me in that field. I don't earn a high wage, but a very good wage for my line of work. It's enough to be comfortable and do the things I want if I follow some semblance of a budget. -just not always in the timeline I want.

As this blog is about bike nurdery I should aim this one sided conversation in that direction. 25 years ago (again rounding) I dreamed of owning a Kestrel. They were the bicycle equivalent of the the Ferrari at the time. Very light and made out of exotic materials.  Carbon fibre was so futuristic and it looked incredible how the tubes just flowed together.  My cro-molly Fiori Roma with Shimano Exage seemed so Hyundai in comparison.  Later I upgraded to a Cannondale R-400 with the 3.0 frame.  At last I had the young man's American Built Muscle car  -ok it wasn't exactly a Mustang but it was a definite upgrade.  Later a cracked frame meant a warranty upgrade to a 2.8 series frame (criterium geometry) with a RX-100/105/600 mix of parts and my big splurge of the day a Phil Wood hub set.  and there things sat.

Flash forward about 20 years (I'm done with the rounding thing) and that bike is sitting in the garage in more than 1 piece.  I don't know what twigged, but I started reading magazines again, surfing the net etc and voila I'm at a shop with the bike mostly reassembled getting the last few parts to make it road worthy again.  Wow the bike was fast, and light (23 pounds LOL).  The geometry of the frame made it turn on a dime and accelerate like well i don't have the word for it but it was fast.  A few more months and I'v manage to find a 7 spd set of Sora STI levers on line, and I'm off with a couple buddies on a 3 day trip in the Canadian Rockies.  That trip showed me a couple things.  I'm older than the 20 year old I was, and that a bike frame that is meant to pump around a tight course for 45 minutes is not the best for all day riding.

At which point I claim that I hit my midlife crisis. I honestly hope that wasn't actually the middle of my life by at least a few years but the search began and the dream bike was found.  I had my Ferarri Yes its Carbon, no it's not a Kestrel.  I bought a 2010 Wilier Izoard, which was warrantied shortly after for a Gran Turismo.  Its not a super bike by any standards other than my own.  In 1992 you could spend $6000 and buy 2 of what the pros were riding.  Today that's only about 1/3 the cost of top level machine.  That said my bike today is twice the bike that Lemond was winning his tours on.  Tho the rider even when in peak shape would hardly be 1/3 the rider Lemond was.  All that aside the bike is comfortable.  That was my biggest goal in buying it.  A few tweaks to the parts list and it comes in close to the 16 pound mark, and with a fantastic set of circumstances leading me to a great gig as a wheel tester for a new Canadian Company she'll be almost spot on the UCI minimum weight limit.  Not bad for a frame that is actually heavy by todays super bike standards.

Flash forward another year and I'm scavenging the old Cannondale for parts as I build up a very inexpensive nashbar cross frame so I can ride thru the winter without abusing my baby. -She's gotta last me 20 years


Today the latest a greatest is electrical shifting and power analysis.  I have no desire for the electric shifting at this point.  It won't be in the budget for several years anyways.  I have a friend who is a man of steel and frequently makes skeptical remarks about the longevity of my plastic bike and its plastic parts. -interestingly carbon wheels havre longer lasting braking surfaces than aluminum hoops. -as long as you take care of them and avoid nasty spills.

Anyways that's straying into other conversations we may have....

 I think the point of this is (not that I had a point in mind as I started writing) is that when you reach some point of Maturity in your life it all just kinda comes together.