Cycle For Spirit 2006

Dear Carolyn (aka Mama Bear),

2006-08-11T14:48:00.000-07:00

Dear Carolyn,

We want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for putting your time, energy, enthusiasm and effervescent personality 110% behind the concept of the "Cycle For Spirit". This journey was a dream for us...and only a dream until the proposal hit your desk.

We had never met before. You didn't know our background, our history...

You believed in us from the first time we spoke and for someone to have the kind of faith in us that you did...unbelieveable. Working with you and getting to know you since, geez, October, 2005 has opened our eyes to what sincerety, compassion, drive and a genuine desire to help people can do. Your sparlking attitude and demeanor is contagious and we are forever your humble friends.

We believe that we had the easier part of the task during this adventure. More to the point, it was difficult for us to have you left behind. We can only imagine what your desk looks like...you know...it's probably very organized!

Mama Bear - You took care of us and watched out for us like only our own mothers would.

We want you to know how much you mean to us and how, like the lives we hope to have changed for the better, you have helped dramatically change the lives of three Keggers who now know and understand much more about ourselves, each other and those around us because of this challenging and enriching experience.

Love, respect and admiration,

Steve, Adrian and Jeremy

The End...or the beginning?!

2006-08-11T07:40:00.000-07:00

There wasn't much in the way of sleep for the three of us the night before we set out to finish the cross-Canada ride into St.John's. 16km was all that there was left. Nothing to it. But the mood was like nothing I have ever experienced. Pride was the premier emotion in my heart and I know that Adrian and Jeremy felt the same way. So proud of each other! We never gave up, never said die. We spoke about the trip and the obstacles along the way. Making the realization that we were too new to this to realize how much we really pushed ourselves through the rockies. We did it on adrenaline, the expectation that those mountains were going to be the end of us. We didn't want to let everyone down. (I'm sure some out there lost money in bets after we cleared the mountains!)

There is something to be said for people who put their money where their mouths are. There is a huge sense of personal achievement with finishing a task of this magnitude, but hose whom I am referring to are the Kegs across Canada and the U.S. that agreed to help get us all to the $150k mark for funds raised.

Back to the ride.

The morning of August 4th finally came and we met at our rendezvous point on Topsail Road at Tim Horton's. There we waited for Erika's father Gary who was the RV driver for the last leg in and my brother Warren(been 103 days since I've seen him), our team videographer for the last 16km to the Keg. Our police escort arrived and along with the escort a photographer from the hospital foundation. Once the photos and handshakes were taken care of, it was time for business. The "snip" of the helmet straps, the "click" of our cycling shoes fastening into the pedals.

As we wound our way through the streets, people along the way waved and cheered, cars honked and smiled. They had heard about what we were doing. They knew why we were here. Because many strangers has told us as much...they are proud of what we have done and respect the guts and determination it took to do it. Tears welled up as we rode and the lump in the throat became too much to swallow down. We are just about fiished this.

POP! HISSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Half way to the Keg Jeremy got yet another flat tire. We were in action as fast as any Indy500 crew. The tire was replaced and inflated to 120psi before anyone could blink. Great job!

Back on the road. Familiar landmarks let us know that we were quickly approaching our final destination. Our police escort began sounding our arrival with quick blasts from the siren. We turned the final corner and saw the most beautiful sight.

The applause and the cheering started, we heard it before we saw it, but there it was right in front of us. It didn't seem real. It felt odd that it was for us. In true Steve, Adrian and Jeremy fashion, we didn't ditinguish the blue ribbon that they has put across the lane for us to ride through to mark the finish. We rode around for a second and someone blurted out, "Go through the finish line silly!". That made the news.

I clipped out of my pedals and saw people gathering around Jeremy and Adrian, this was a home-coming for them. Many friends from Adrian's time here were out in force and Jeremy, now a resident of Newfoundland and a magnetic personality wherever he goes was of course mobbed by friends and media alike.

I put my bike down on the ground and like walking through a quiet tunnel made my way over to where Mama and Papa Fidler were standing with my girlfriend Jamie. I knew Mom would cry. I knew I would too if my Mom did. Dad held it together. It seemed like a tidal wave of emotion exlopded from Jamie the moment I grabbed her and hugged her. It seemed like she had been holding her breath for the last 103 days. Indeed she very well may have. I may not be home yet, but my home has come to me. They are so proud of all of us.

There were representatives from the hospital foundation and Big Brothers/Sisters on hand and 'littles' with home-made signs of support that they asked us to sign for them . Great kids! Thank you all for being there!

That was a festive evening that took us out to George St. after some snacks on the wonderful patio at the Keg.

There is more to come and I hope that want to read on. If you do have questions...just ask? It's tough to sort all of the bits and pieces and just doing the best we can. I would love to see some photos from the 4th. If you have any, please e-mail to 3riders@cycleforspirit.com

Swollen Hearts
The Boys

The Final Leg of the Journey...

2006-08-04T04:29:00.000-07:00

First off, we need to apologize for such a lengthy absence from the web-world! It is not so easy to find a place to get on-line when most spots that we end up are the best if they have a shower and flush toilets!

The landscapes and views in Newfoundland are like nothing you've ever seen...unless you are from Newfoundland! Carolyn hit it on the nose with the Tolkien-esque scenery. The weather has held fair some days and been miserable on other days. The terrain is difficult and the elements unpredictable. Luckily the day in Trinity that the boys went to dive for fresh mussels was very fine indeed(what a dinner!)!

It has been so long that I don't know where to start!

As we made our way across Newfoundland we were greeted by Newfoundlanders everywhere we went. Many people that have seen the RV have stopped and asked questions. One lady at a gas station just heard Jeremy on the radio and let him know that we are doing a wonderful thing for the province of Newfoundland. Whatever her name was...thank you! We could not be more proud of the Keggers across the nation! You have all taken the 'Spirit' to a whole new level!

This is day 103. This is the final day of the Cycle For Spirit. The riding part of it anyways. We will be riding into St.Johns Keg for 2:30pm behind a police escort. The Fidler family is here on the rock with my girlfriend Jamie and I cannot wait to see the looks on their faces. Mom will be jealous of my cyclist tan (if she can see through the tears that I know will be there). If my Mom cries, I am not certain that I will keep from doing the same. It's OK for a man to cry (except if it's because of a papercut). Tears of pride for my boys Adrian and Jeremy. Pride for Carolyn and David who believed in this from the start. Pride for the keggers that we met along the way that gave us so much in the way of memories and fun and the fact that our total means about $20 per kegger was raised so far!

We wish that everyone that we met along the way could be here for the finish. Kyoko from Eastern Head office should be here...Tom and Bob and especially 'Spike' from Thunder Bay...Glenn and the gang from Edmonton...Doug and Wally from Halifax... Everyone that was awesome! That is all of you! Hundreds of great people!

Very nervous today...why be nervous? It's a short ride. I guess that when you don't know what to expect...
One more ride. It will be a different sort of preparation today and a different sort of outlook. We are very excited. All good things must come to an end, but I think that this is just the beginning. We set out on this journey not just to raise funds for the Spirit Foundation but to raise understanding and awareness throughout the Keg World about what the Spirit Foundation does, the purpose that it serves. We, as far as we can tell, have accomplished that and along the way have raised public awareness as well. Mission almost complete.

What would we do without family? The people who worry about us and believed we could do this. There are people who actually lost money in bets that we wouldn't make it this far. Thank you for the love and support that lifted our spirits and helped give us the drive and want to complete each challenging day.

We have all made a very big difference. One hundred and fifty thousand dollars raised! This speaks volumes about the quality people involved!

The photos on the site are a mess. All over the place and I will try to have them organised as quickly as possible. I will be trimming down the quantity of photos as well as there are many from other events that have multiple shots of the same person, etc. Just have to stream line to make things easier to navigate. These things take time and effort...like washboard abs (as if I'd know).

Well, two more hours until we make our final approach into St. Johns. Return your trays to the upright positions, fasten your seatbelts and don't forget your helmets!

More to come soon!

The boys

Guest Blog

2006-07-31T08:31:00.000-07:00

Hi all... this is "Mama Bear" guest writing a blog for the boys. As you know, they are in Newfoundland and getting closer all of the time to St. John's. As many had warned, the weather and the roads have been harsh on this leg of the trip. What was not expected though was how spotty reception would be with the cell phone. The guys truly have been dark for much of the past week. I've had a couple of calls, and often feel like we are on a cell phone commercial.... lots of "can you hear me now... how 'bout now"!?!?

Here's what I have picked up from our broken calls. They are calling the hills concrete waves ~ continuously up and then down all day long. The landscape has been "Tolkien like". And the weather insane. Sounds like Mother Nature is throwing everything she can at the guys, and changes her mind about every 10 minutes. It's the final test, and they are hangin' in.

Saturday was a particularly rough day with crazy winds, and unbelievable rain. By about 3:00 it was pitch dark, and the guys weren't quite off the road. Adrian had thought about pulling Steve and Jeremy off the road about 20 km early, but at their last checkpoint the skies seemed to clear. So off they went, and 10 minutes later it was back to the same crazy weather. They persevered, finished the day, and were on route to the campground when I last talked to them. I sure breathed a sigh of relief knowing that they were done with that day.

As I write this, the guys have a bit of a well-deserved break and are likely whale watching. They are getting ready for a ride into St. John's on Friday, and can't believe the support they are getting from everyone.

This amazing adventure is coming to a close, and I for one have been completely floored by both the preseverance and the spirit that the boys have shown. They are about to complete something that has become bigger that any of us could have hoped... and what Keg ambassadors they have been along the way! I feel so lucky to have been able to work on this. And I can honestly say that I have never been so proud of saying that I am a Kegger!

Thanks to all of you that have supported them along the way. In particular a HUGE thanks to all the Keggers, families and friends out there who have been fundraising and working hard to help the guys reach their goal of $150,000... you have helped to make this happen!!!

Cheers,

Carolyn

A National (and Global) Historic Site...

2006-07-24T16:02:00.000-07:00

Gros Morne National Park. A true wonder to be certain! We haven't even explored yet!

The ride to get here was one-of-a-kind. Almost akin to the set of many scenes in "Lord Of The Rings". The wind-blasted trees close to the shore are permanently bent at an angle away from the beach. What a life for those trees! Right foggy too b'ye and she hasn't stopped raining...

Most of our route throughout the rest of the adventure is going to be close to the coast. We are in for the test of tests. The hills are a-plenty and the wind is ever-present. When you let it get to you just look to either side and absorb the tough beauty of the lush yet harsh terrain. There has only been one moose sighting. A moose without a rack. Female. Now, nothing agianst the ladies but I would love to see a nice rack before we finish. This is the terrain that we'll see it...we hope.

Enroute to our finishing spot from the day before we had our first odd emergency. Something was flooding the RV. How fast can a 22' RV go from 80km to 0? Pretty quick. There was a heck of a lot of water rushing to the front fo the RV as it came to a stop. Cleanup was brisk and we headed out for the days ride. Jer was our driver today and made the phonecalls to try to find help for the flooding. Thank goodness Garcin RV in Pasedena, NL. Thanks to Gwen at Islander RV for pointing us in their direction! For those of you who don't know, Islander RV are the wonderful people who donated the use of this beautiful RV, now totally overhauled and cleaned (but Adrian still has some driving days ahead of him...).

As night falls upon us, it's time to tuck into a late supper of leftovers and a movie. There's nothing like jambalaya and K2 to finish the day. The best part I save for last. Since we have a strong internet hook up, I can bid you a good night with this blog. Good night Jeremy. Good night Adrian. Good night Carolyn. Sweet dreams everyone. ps. I might be on this thing all night!!!!!!!! Yippee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"The Ferry"

2006-07-24T15:20:00.000-07:00

The day before the ferry ride to NL, we went to an historic site...Louisburg,N.S. visiting the fort there that has been since 1715! The staff around the park were all in 'period dress' and in character for people to approach and ask about their daily lives, etc. All in all, a pretty cool day! We stayed the night in a great little RV park there and lete me tell you, those showers were great! We didn't have time to shower before we went to Louisburg...nobody got close enough to know!

The next morning we woke up and went for a good old bacon 'n' eggs breakfast. The ferry was leaving at 4:00, had to be there by 2:00 for our reservation to be valid. We were there at 12:30. Ugh...and it was super hot out! It's kind of like waiting for a plane to take you to Disneyland... There really wasn't much to do in North Sidney. We hit Subway and Tim Horton's and waited it out.

It's funny how differently people react to others when there is music involved. A very nice lady and her friend were waiting a couple of cars over in the ferry line-up. I had a great Santana tune cranked and was standing outside the RV, kinda dancing, but not really. The lady came over...I wish I could remember her name! We got to talking and found out she is from Newfoundland but has been living in Saudi Arabia for years. Welcome home! She was so sweet! She and I danced for a sec, if you call what I am stuck with dancing... This fine lady bought 8 wristbands and was a pleasure!

Once we finally got onto the ferry, we ran into a couple of unlikely characters!
Lester, an X-Kegger from St.John's was working on the ferry as we pulled the RV on and surpirised Adrian and Jeremy with a surprise attack through the side window. Once Lester was off-shift he came and had a Pepsi with us as we watched the live 'Newfie' entertainment. The two guys performing were hilarious! Ask us to tell you the 'Portugal' story sometime!

We also ran into Willard. This was the gentleman that brought the RV out to BC for us and Islander RV. It was great to meet this very kind man. He was a wealth of knowledge for our remaining kilometers, an absolute pleasure to meet! He saw us pull onto the ferry and approached once we were on the ship. Great encounters!

The views from the deck of the ship were amazing! Nova Scotia faded into the dusk...turning to a brilliant orange and blue sunset.

The ride was about 6 hours across and we were in Port Aux Basque quite late. That's when we found a nice empty parking lot, off the beaten track and had to tuck in for the night. Off to Stephenville in the morning.

Antigonish or bust!

2006-07-20T11:27:00.000-07:00

Picture this, a dinner of Jambalaya, John Coltrane playing on a breezeless evening as you are camped on one of the most beautiful lakes you could ever see. We had our dinner lakeside and enjoyed the silence as we all fell into our own minds. We had a nice walk at Lawrencetown beach, the east coast surf spot. We watched the surfers...and for the first time since leaving Mile 0 in Victoria...we had our feet in the Atlantic Ocean. It's hard to believe that we have been on the road for 90 days. It has really flown by! What a feeling having the power of the Atlantic pushing and pulling your legs with the ebb and flow of a powerful ocean.

Last night we camped in a place called Sheet Harbour. No sheet?! I wonder why they call it Sheet Harbour?! It was a nice quiet spot and we had another great dinner! The goodness of the foodness never seems to stop!

It was a 93km ride the day before and a whopping 150km today. The three of us are very excited to see what kind of 'city food' we can find here. By the articles in our travel books, it seems that we are in for a culinary treat!

The weather is very nice, very hot though today was not so humid as it has been. The ocean breeze is like opening the freezer and sticking your head in there to find your popsicles! Refreshing for sure. So here we go to experience the sights, sounds and tastes of Antigonish!
Home of St.FX...great looking school founded in the early 1800's by Scottish Catholics.

Bright and early we will be off to Cape Breton Island which yesterday we were told by the CBC that the Island has just been voted # four in the World for people, scenery and their abundance of parks. So very stoked to explore for a day or two until we take the ferry to Newfoundland......Almost made it!!! We love you all and cannot wait for SinJahns.

The Byes'

it ain't over yet!

2006-07-18T09:21:00.000-07:00

the day that steve is the first one awake and making coffee is never a good sign. maybe i've created a monster. steve was the first one up to put the coffee on and pull the bikes out and basically do all the morning prep work. what a treat to just sit back and watch the butler monkeys make breakfast for the crew.

anyway, out of truro and onto halifax was the order of the day. the road was striaght forwarded and halifax came up a lot faster then we thought. hello halifax! you're so big and beautiful!

over a quick lunch after the 93km ride we mapped our plans for finishing our chores as quickly as possible. the motivation here was to finish up with our homework and chore assignments for carolyn (hahaha) and then the rest of the day was ours to people watch and to eat up some of the local treats and snacks.

i think we lost track of time since our host wally went sleuthing around the streets of halifax looking for us. sure enough he found us not far from a local tourist sight just standing under a tree taking in some long over due shade.

halifax keg welcomed us with open arms! and the reunions keep coming. it turns out that doug knew of jer when he was only a "knee-high kegger" back on the west coast. if you look for it there's a common thread among keggers from coast to coast. and if you look a little closer you'll find that "once a kegger - always a kegger."

ok - we're pushin' it with out late check out today. so i'm off (we're off) to hit the road. in just a few more days we'll be on the shores of newfoundland! so if you haven't packed your bags yet you'd better do so. this joyride comes to an end on the 4th of august! keep the funds coming in!

see ya soon(ish). ox

moncton and beyond!

2006-07-18T08:51:00.000-07:00

EARLY (that's right - early) saturday morning we were bound for moncton. like carolyn our mamma bird likes to say "...sometimes you gotta just nudge the little birds out of the nest." ok - so truth be told i "NUDGED" the boys for a 730am roadside start.

the early bird gets the worm...

we rolled into moncton about 130pm that sunny and hot afternoon. and we rolled right into the parking lot of the crowne plaza hotel, to met our dear sweet friend emi. what a reunion! the hugs the tears the hugs! emi is a friend and former roommate of both jer and me. in fact, emi even trained me in the st. john's prep kitchen. hope i'm doin' her proud with my knife skills.

anyway, after a quick clean up at the emi's place we were headed to the patios of moncton to sit back and catch up for the afternoon (... for the evening... and passed curfew too). what a satisfying meal and conversation. the patio was peppered with new friends we made - the conversation spilt out to the next patio - and night went on and on.

tucked away at our table were travellers from all around canada. we sat for hours and compared stories and road routes and survival tips too. there was a lot of good energy there. on that note we packed it in and made our way back to the r.v.

by 930am we woke up to a new day. we put the last 180km behind us and we slowly getting focused to hit the road for another 180km. man - back to back 180km - somethings gotta give soon.

by 430pm we made it to truro. the temperatures were 39 degrees with the humidex. if we weren't sweating before, we sure are sweatin' now! the best way to deal with this kinda heat is to find some air coniditioning and fast. fast like faster than a speeding bullet we hide inside at the theatres watching superman!

as soon as the movie was over these three boys turned in early. yup. early like 745pm early. i think the last time i went to sleep at 745pm i must have been 3yrs. old. early to bed early to raise... sweet dreams and good mornings!

catching up with old and new friends alike was definitely worth all the extra effort. we'll catch up again soon. but right meow i need a nap.

ZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Z!

Fredericton (Did I spell it right Carrie?)

2006-07-14T14:32:00.000-07:00

Another 100km, another day done and the closer we get to the end of the journey, the less I want to get there. Can we keep doing this as a full-time job? There is a little under three weeks left to go. Not that I don't miss everyone, but what am I gonna do without my boys? Jer is getting married, Adrian will wander the globe...

Ahem. Oops, sorry. I hope you understand.

It was definitely a hot one today and a bit of a later start as they usually are when Jeremy and Steve are the riders. A coffee, another coffee... Oh, just get on with it! Adrian loses his mind! He is up at 6:00am every day like a rooster. It's a little boring for the guy at 6am for sure unless we are having entertaining dreams and talking in our sleep. Today Adrian, Bless his heart woke us up with some very fine jazz music that I had forgotten I had here with me. Treat!

Once we were finally on the road, we made great time in the hills again. The biggie today was the heat. That certain kind of super-sticky heat. 39 degrees including humidex. It was the first time I had ever seen my legs sweat, pouring sweat!

Jeremy had a flat tire today and we had it fixed Indy500 style thanks to Adrian's brilliant positioning of the RV. Back at it, 4 hours and 100km later we are in one of the most picturesque little cities in Canada(and one of the oldest)... Fredericton, N.B. People here speak English! We just got here and are doing more chores. I get to geek out on the computer(I love it). Tomorrow we are going to make our way to Moncton to see an old friend and ex-Kegger, Emily. She's awesome!

Keep sending the comments everyone. They are a treat! If anyone has any photos, remember, send them to 3riders@cycleforspirit.com OK?! Over and out for now.

Eagle 5 signing off until Moncton(or maybe Halifax..we'll see)

The boys

Where's Willie Nelson?

2006-07-14T14:26:00.000-07:00

Oh, that's a different Woodstock!

Hills, hills and more hills. Like a set of waves coming in from Hawaii's pipeline, we tackled these big-boy hills with enthusiasm and childlike excitement...WHY??!!

Because what goes up must come down(usually). The price of grunting your way up these monsters is more than acceptable to have the treat of flying down, your hands gripping the tape, your legs squeezing the frame of the bike...tears flying from your eyes because you can't adjust to the speed... Love it!

After the fun on the road was over, we found ourselves in one of the oddest campgrounds that you may ever even see photos of us camping in. Yogi Bear's Campground in Woodstock, N.B. They had mini-golf, waterslides...lots to keep kids entertained. Big kids too! We found our way to the mini-golf for a round and then to the arcade for a couple of classic games like Ms. Pacman, Arkanoid, Contra and Steve's all-time favorite pinball game "Twilight Zone".

A cheap large pizza sent us off to bed. Not the best food for athletes like us(Ha!Ha!) but we managed!

Off to bed earlier than the 6 year olds in Yogi's Campground!

"Bete Sauvage" Route 132 through Quebec

2006-07-14T14:02:00.000-07:00

Here we are again on the road. Going down the only road I've ever known. Like a drifter we were born to ride alone... Remember that old rock tune! Whitesnake, Yeah!

The ride from Montreal to Levis to St. Antonin proved to be more than we had bargained for. The wind was back and just as fierce as the days in the prairies. It was indeed a battle with the savage beast...wind. More so than that was the less than adequate comditions of the route 132 which we needed to travel pretty much the rest of the way through Quebec to New Brunswick. There were more potholes and rough spots without shoulder than even a gravel road would have. Our hands were bruised at the end of each day and the nethers...ugh, battered. We found a pace that was manageable and kept on keeping on(there you go Kyoko!).

The end of the day found us at an RV park in St. Antonin. This was the cleanest and best kept park that we have stayed at so far. It was early to bed after a couple of episodes of 24, betting on wind again we had better get our rest.

Jeremy's Birthday Ride with Adrian

We woke the next morning to more favorable conditions as far as weather went. Jeremy and Adrian decided that it would be a great idea to start racing each other after about 20-30km on the road. This proved to be a bit of a mistake. After a couple more hours on the bike, the legs were like lead. Hard to pedal. The burn was intense. Boys will be boys and these two pressed on like Rocky on a rainy day although their bright peacock feathers were a little limp at the end of the 115kms.

We found ourselves a nice campground astride a botanical garden, beautiful! St.Jacques, N.B. has a park to be proud of for sure! We set up camp and decided to go on a birthday hike through the grounds. We found a great spot to rest beside a river on a bench under a roof. Good thing we brought our rain jackets because the skies opened up with ferocity! A thunder and lighting storm like I have never seen opened up what seemed to be 10 feet above our heads. The lightning cracked and forked and snapped all around us so we decided to stay put to be safe and to enjoy the show unfolding before our unbelieving eyes. 45 minutes late, after being humbled by the elements, we made our way back to camp for dinner and a couple of movies. Aaah.

The next day was dedicated to licking our wounds, laundry, cleaning the RV and mapping out the next long leg of our journey.

Off to Woodstock, N.B. !!

please r.s.v.p.

2006-07-14T13:23:00.000-07:00

hey! me again. we're at the public library in fredericton nb. steve's a few rows over from me and blogging as well. so not knowing a thing about computers and websites and stuff like that, i'm not sure if i'll make the site crash by racing for blogg space. and you might be wondering why i'm way over here tryin' to blogg... well the boys kicked me off the laptop cause of the way i type. hahaha who gets the last word now!

anyway, enough drama. here's the scoop!

you! you right there! the one in front of the computer screen reading this blogg... yeah you! you're invited to the cycle for spirit wrap-up party hosted by the st. john's keg in st. john's newfoundland, on august 8th 2006. who else is gonna be there? well, anyone that we met along the way is invited too. and i know steve has some fans out there who have a scrap book of photos that they've taken from our website and flicker account - we'll you're invited. and steve will sign ANYTHING for you - just ask him. basically, i'm sayin' everyone is invited! this campaign has been a team effort. we all need to party and wrap this ride up! and all of our brother and sister keggers from south of the border better represent too! i know sherry and logan are reading this note - i'd like to hear back from you two and let me know how many keggers you're bringing. think of it as a home coming - you and the rest of the opening team better at least send flowers. just kidding about the flowers. now just show up!

if anyone has ever needed a reason to come to the rock then here it is. YOU'RE INVITED!

i spent 13 months on the rock and not one day goes by when i don't think back to the people i've met there. the rock has so much to offer and explore. drive the irish loop. catch the sunrise at cape spear. walk signal hill - my favorite place right on the edge of canada. stumble along george street. drink screech it does the body good. have the best fish and chips ever. tour the swimming holes. whale and puffin tours. the row after row of colourful jelly bean houses. the traditional music. the local bands. be nice and get invited to a home cooked jiggs dinner - i could eat that meal everyday! or just share a conversation with a newfoundlander. salt of the earth those people. i wear the colours of newfoundland everyday. come to the rock and find a little piece to take back with you. you'll be glad you did.

so recap... you're invited. book off now or just call in sick. do what ya gotta do just get here.

cheers! ox

Vive le Quebec!

2006-07-11T07:43:00.000-07:00

Here's a bit of catch up from the road...

We ended up spending an extra day on Friday in Montreal. Such a beautiful city. Just wanted to take in as many sights as we could! And, of course we had an amazing tour guide in Erika!

One of the "reality checks" that we had to do was to get fitted for our tuxes for the wedding. A big shout out to Dario from Moore's who took care of us!

While Jer and Erika enjoyed their last dinner for a while, Steve and I met up with friends Mardy and Thierri for a great meal and really good conversation. We went back to The Keg to have a quick nightcap with Mike and Hans and some of the Montreal Keg managers. Some more conversations, and some nice wine lead quickly to a late night... but well worth it!!

On Saturday, a final goodbye for Erika and Jer, and then we pushed off. Back to business. We have pushed hard the last three days to catch back after our extra day off. Although each day has been about 170 km, we are planning to cut that back today. The weather has been good, and we have caught some tailwinds along the way which has been great. That being said, Steve and I are fighting some allergies or are battling colds of some sort. Still have good energy though!

The plan is to get to Edmunston NB today. It's Jer's birthday, so we are thinking about just hanging out later to celebrate. We'll see what happens!

Thanks to all those that have crossed our paths in Quebec... what a province! Knowing more French could have helped, but people have sure been great!

We're back to being 3 boys, 3 bikes, and the open road. Get ready Halifax, here we come!

Cheers,

The boys

Erika's BLOG

2006-07-06T13:50:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! This is Erika, Jer's fiancee, writing to you all from my home town of Montreal!!! Firstly, I must thank Adrian for the one-in-a-million wedding gift: a chance to be with my man for a portion of his journey! A huge thanks to Carolyn too for being my partner in this "covert surprise"! I cried and laughed and hugged and cried my way into his arms! We took a walk around the parlament buildings, huddled under a tree during a rainshower and then had a quiet supper together....how romantic!
The next morning (bright and early) we congregated at Tim Horton's for a meeting about the day's route. It was here that I only began to realize what these boys go through every day on this trip across the country!!! From getting all their drinks and supplements ready to gearing up physically (love that spandex!!!) and mentally for their ride, they're in this 100%.... Adrian was bossing me around the whole day! Go get the boys this....go fetch that....hurry, hurry....don't keep the boys waiting! All jokes aside, these boys are NOT professional cyclists?....coulda fooled me. They owned the road! I was like a proud mum watching them push off each 20 km interval. And the driver is just as important as the riders themselves. The driver gets up earlier, looks at the route, prepares ALL the meals and supplements, checks the bikes (tire preasure etc..), futses with the GPS (recallibrating!!!), makes sure that the road conditions are safe....basically has the boys' back the whole way. I was honored to ride with Adrian in the RV.
Another thing that surprised me was that the boys are getting along sooooo well! What a band of brothers! They're all bloody halarious! I don't think I've laughed as hard and as much as I have in the past two days. Steve is a walking comedian...I love it! And I MUST say that he handled the Montreal driving with balls of steel!!! And the beautiful women in Montreal aren't too hard to handle either!
I have been trying my hardest to show the boys a good time while we've been here....as long as they're eating, they're happy!!! We've had chinese food at Mr. Ma's restaurant, a greasy breakfast at Cosmo's and some Greek grub at Arahova's....Italiano is on the menu tonight! I'm gonna fatten them up if it's the last thing I do! Muuuuahahhhahaha!
The keggers at the Montreal Keg were spectacular! Area partner Mike Chisholm made it ( the boys met him in Oshawa) and RCMP officer Andy Wilson and his wife Carolyn were kind enough to make an appearance (they dine at the Keg all the time and are avid supporters of the Cycle for Spirit) and gave Adrian a big kiss all the way from Jessica at the St. John's Keg!
So it's off to the Montreal Jazz Festival and of course, Italian food! Thanks again to all those that kept my arrival a surprise and to everybody reading this- These boys are travelling 8900 kms with every inch of their strength, their mind, and their spirit. GO BOYS GO!!!!!!!!

So...how do YOU spell Ottawa/Ottowa?

2006-07-06T13:10:00.000-07:00

It's Ottawa. Thanks to everyone for the e-mails regarding the spelling mistakes... Keeps us honest!

It was a long ride ride in from Kingston the day after our Canada Day celebration...

We were, after a long 150km ride joined by Adrian's brother Mark for the final 15 km. We made it into Mark's neighborhood where there were about 9 kids on their little bikes in a cluster just waiting for us to come around the corner. When we did, they clapped and cheered for us! Coolest kids ever! The Pusiak family was there for us again! We enjoyed a feast of feasts and tucked in for an early night.

Now in Ottawa we made our way to the Market Keg to be joined with David, Jamie, Carolyn, Jay C. and the Honorable Larry Campbell. Senator Campbell and our group met with varios media at the Keg on their beautiful patio. The Senator offered up some very kind and inspirational words for us as did David. What a great feeling! A cocktail party ensued shortly after and we were joined again by the Pusiaks. Sofia was our team photographer and did a magnificent job snapping shots all over the place. Wonderful work Sofia, thank you!

As luck would have it, a new Keg Steakhouse opened up! The Hunt Club Keg was a magnificent sight! People everywhere and all smiles and chuckles. Dinner with David and the rest of the gang was amazing! Senator Campbell was better than any TV show I've ever seen and kept us in stitches the whole time. Vancouver misses you Senator! Troyan from Edmonton was the man in charge of the opening and from what we could see, everyone did an astounding job!

After dinner we moseyed back to the Market Keg for 'dessert' before heading to a local pub for a great night of dancing and laughs.

Morning came soon and Adrian had a surprise that he needed to unravel with some help from Steve and Carolyn. Adrian being the sweetest man most women have ever met(this is Steve writing, not Adrian), flew Erika(Jer's fiancee) in to see Jeremy as a wedding present. Nice job. We had to fabricate some things to get Jeremy out of bed, but once we saw the two back together again...MAGIC! We left Jeremy and Erika to be alone together. Adrian, Carolyn and I went to dinner and enjoyed a feast of east indian cuisine. It was an early tuck-in after a quick coffee(decaf) with a new friend Stephanie, a very funny and sweet woman with a heart of gold.

The next morning we were back on the bikes. Jeremy and I(Steve) were riding and Adrian was driving with a new co-pilot Erika.

This brings us to our next blog from Ottowa to Montreal which will be written by a guest writer, Erika!

To everyone that we had the chance to hang out with, party with, dine with...thank you an million times for a wonderful stay in our nations' capital.

Canada Day in Kingston

2006-07-03T07:26:00.000-07:00

A great ride into Kingston and a warm welcome from the Keggers! Terence welcomed us at the Keg and showed us to the hotel to get cleaned up. The waterfront in Kingston was in full swing with Canada Day celebrations...lots to see! Marc and Natasha took the three of us on a very cool trolley tour of the history of Kingston(Did you know that Kingston was Canada'a first capital city?). The architecture in this city is amazing with buildings from the 1800's restored to perfection.

After the tour, the five of us were starvin'! We enjoyed dinner at the Keg and met a ton of great Keggers. Scotty, Rick, Terence, Brie-dog to name a few. I think that one highlight of the evening was when Marc took a bunch of us to the rooftop of the great Keg building to watch the fireworks. The best view in the city! The other was when we were gathered on the patio of the Keg and the 'Town Crier" showed up with a bunch of the staff and announced our arrival in Kingston the city! I wish I could put video up on the blog... I got it on tape.

The evening social continued on...to a local pub just across the street. We had a fantastic time! Kingston really showed us a great time. 150km to ride the next day. Still tasting Jagermeister... A special thanks to Laval for being there supporting us! He gets to drive the RV tomorrow into Ottowa!

Love
the Boys

Leaving Oshawa

2006-07-01T11:31:00.000-07:00

It took us quite a while to get out of Oshawa. The fridge in the RV went on the fritz, so we had to take it to a RV dealership to have it serviced. Long story short...we ended up with the bikes on the road at about 1:30pm. 100km later we were in Brighton at a KOA site with a nice shower. In bed early, we awoke this morning ready to go. With tailwinds behind Jeremy and Adrian, 4 hours was all that it took to get us to Kingston! Happy Canada Day! We have checked into the hotel and are just making our way out to see Kingston with Marc G. and his wife. Will check in later!

Mama Fidler...who loves you Ma!

2006-06-30T08:30:00.000-07:00

I love my Mom! Not only has my Mom suppoted me my whole life in whatever endeavor I chose, but she has developed into quite a fundraiser!

At her workplace, people stepped up big-time to help the cause. Joe, Nures and Curtis had their legs waxed to raise cash and a modeling career was born. Straight off the runways in Milan and Paris, Lori is now an official Cycle for Spirit wrist/legband model! Nice legs Lori! Boys...how do those smooth, sexy legs feel? Worth the $450.00 raised I hope! Thank you, thank you!

Mom, thanks for always having my back and always believing in me!

Love you!
Steve

Oshawa Patio Party

2006-06-30T08:21:00.000-07:00

Phil and the gang at Oshawa put on a great party! The patio opening party was a great opportunity to meet regulars and friends and family of the neighborhood keggers. They had their wristbands on which was awesome!

On the ride Steve has become addicted to flavored 'Spitz' sunflower seeds eating about a pound every two days...gross. It's like living with a chipmunk but very funny to watch. Phil and the staff at Oshawa...so sorry about the spilling accident with the bag of spitz!

The Pusiak family and friends were in attendance again. It was Baba's 81st birthday yesterday so Steve and Jeremy sang an old Keg birthday song that hasn't seen the light of day for many a year. Baba will never forget it!

One of the coolest surprises of the trip...Charlene and Jason Forbes strolled into Oshawa Keg later in the evening. So nonchalant. We freaked! Two of the neatest people on Earth! Thanks for coming to say hi!

Debbie, thank you for the auctioned spa package! Phil sold a ton of wristbands...you are the best!

Thanks to everyone that was there for making it such a memorable night!
The Boys

Hello Toronto!

2006-06-28T16:04:00.000-07:00

Talk about being back in the big city! 2.5million peeps!

Today we saw the debut of Jeremy Cummings on "Off The Record" with Michael Lansberg! TSN was nice enough to let us loiter around in the studio during the taping of the show. One of our entourage may or may not have moved his swivel chair during taping and may or may not have killed the power to half of the studio. They had to start over... What an experience!

After taping the show, we we're met by our police escorts to York St. With the officers' keen ability to stop both traffic and pedestrians along our downtown route, we we're able to bomb around with a seeming cloak of invincibility.

Upon arrival at York St.( What a store, what a staff!!!) we were greeted by the majority of the Pusiak clan(best people on Earth) and a great gang of Keggers. We spent the next while chatting with keggers, family, old friends, and well wishers....So much fun!! We we're able to congregate in our own private section on the best patio on Earth!! We HAVE to put a shout out to Marty M. (Big Mac) once again! He, Kristen E. and Jillian came out and took us for a night on the town. We had a blast! Look out Toronto, we'll be back some day to finish this...!

Vaughan, the Keg that could and did!

2006-06-27T09:19:00.000-07:00

Another stellar welcome in Vaughan! After a surprise visit to the Newmarket Keg, we put the pedal to the metal and gave 'er to see the Keggers at Vaughan.

It was a little tough to keep up with the police escort this time because of a fairly stiff head-wind for the last 12km but we managed. A great crowd was in attendance to welcome us with open arms. Marty honored us by driving the RV, Shawn B. had Kyoko on the back of his super-shiny Harley and was part of the procession as well. So good to finally meet Kyoko. She has been an avid supporter of the Cycle for Spirit since even before we started and was the organizer of the 2006 Le Tour De Vaughan. There is some very creative fund-raising going on here!

Jeremy and Adrian saw some familiar faces from past opening teams and had some catching up to do, I (Steve) saw the platters of crab legs on the table and tried not to be too obvious in showing how much I LOVE crab! During the event, Marty presented us with a nice cheque, proceeds to Cycle for Spirit and also presented Big Brothers/Sisters representatives with a very nice donation! Vaughan has got it going on!

Following the afternoon festivities, we made our way through the snarl of Toronto traffic (oh, yeah, way worse than Vancouver) to Adrian's parents place for a Ukranian feast like I have never seen before. So delicious! Such wonderful hospitality. It seemed like we ate and ate and ate... Then dessert!

After dinner we made our way to 'The Drake Hotel" which houses a wonderful bar where the Toronto area Kegs hosted the third annual "Keg Karaoke Kontest". These Keggers have some serious pipes and the stage moves to go with them. Congrats to everyone for building the courage to sing! It's easy when everyone there wants to see you succeed. Anyone who knows me is probably thinking, "Steve must have made his way on stage somehow!" Truth be told, I told Shawn B. that I would sing karaoke in character as 'Bubbles' from Trailer Park Boys. I decided on an appropriate song, "On the Road Again" by Willie Nelson. I cheated a bit, but upped the difficulty by alternating characters with each verse. First, Willie (just plugged my nose and sang...no sweat) then Bubbles ( a little tough to get into character without the appropriate glasses). The Keggers were kind with a round of applause! No top three finish though...the Kompetition was fierce! A great night and a lot of fun for sure!

Please! If anyone has photos from any events, could you e-mail them to us?? Everyone wants to see your shots! 3riders@cycleforspirit.com

The Barrie Best

2006-06-26T18:14:00.000-07:00

Weaving our way through the streets of downtown Barrie with a police escort.

Sweat pouring down our faces from the insane humidity and heat.

Families, friends and Keggers (150-ish total?) standing roadside with Canada flags cheering from their hearts as we rode in to Barrie Keg...

Priceless!!

The event hosted at the Barrie Keg took our breath away. Really. It was truly emotional for us and others in attendance. Adrian's parents, sister, brother-in-law and super-cute nephew were there to welcome us. Steve got a warm hug from a long-lost friend Jenny R. and her whole family as he crossed into the Keg lot after T-boneing Adrian as they rode (no injuries). Nobody saw that...did they?

There may be someone out there with video footage of the nice wipeout when he ran his bike into Adrian's...we'd like to get our hands on that footage!

This was a welcome that we will never forget. The spirit shown by everyone that attended the event was colossal! A special thanks to Heather, the photographer for the event and a long time Kegger! Thank goodness we got a rare photo of her heart-warming smile as she lowered her own camera for a split-second! The management was top-notch, thank you Jenny A.! Shawn was a super-star driver of the Spirit Mobile for the jaunt into Barrie. Thanks for going so far out of your way to help us out.

A stellar and unforgettable effort Barrie Keg! We are as proud of you as you are of us!

On the road again... I can't wait to get on the road again!

2006-06-25T14:44:00.000-07:00

R&R... Thank you to Diane and Mike for letting us recharge in their amazing 'cottage' on an amazing lake. Muskoka was the coolest! What a summer life that would be! We got a short taste and loved every minute of it. We have to thank Sean B. for showing us around and everything that he did. He was great!

The rest was over all too soon for sure. We ended up back on schedule and ready to roll to Barrie. We spent the night in Orillia at an RV park. We arrived late at night and found the owner of the RV park wandering with a python snake wrapped around him. He squeezed us into his already-full park and did so for free! "Good cause", he said. Thanks Dan.

There is no limit to the number of great people that we have and will meet across Canada. When will we meet you? We'd love to hear from you!

Heading towards cottage country

2006-06-22T13:43:00.000-07:00

quick update from the road. monday was a big day. the boys did 152 km and we got from sudbury to parry sound. we made it in time of course to see game 7, and not suprisingly broke curfew. steve in particular was fighting a cold. likely from the rain the day before.

on tuesday we got to midland and were able to hang out with family and friends. also gave steve a chance to sleep and fight off the cold that has been lurking for the past couple of days. he crashed for a least half the day i think.

right now we are out to spend a few days at a cottage if you can believe it. one of the keg franchisees, mike wise, offered up his place. so we did some big rides and will now be able to kick back for a couple of days. can't wait! what an amazing offer. it'll definately be a highlight.

so we may be a little dark over the next couple of days. keep shooting through the notes, they really mean a lot. and hope to see some of you in barrie on sunday!

cheers,

the boys

Sudbury...Father's Day!

2006-06-18T14:19:00.000-07:00

First things first! Go Oilers, Go! Game 7!

Ahem, sorry about that! Here we are in sunny Sudbury! We got in on Friday and came to the Sudbury Keg to meet up with Darryl, great guy! The ride was a hot one, Jeremy and Adrian had the sweltering heat to deal with, very muggy, very...muggy. We did get to ride into the city of Sudbury this morning with a police escort, 2 motorcycle cops (Jason and Enzo) helped us weave through the Sudbury. We arrived at the Keg to find CTV, Big Daddy FM and 2 newspapers there to meet us! Romeo was manning the BBQ, doleing out the dogs. Good crew there today!

Today is Sunday, chore day. Once our chores were done, we went to the craziest "Wacky Golf" mini golf that we have ever seen. To make things even wackier, after the 4th hole, it started to rain, then it started to POUR!! Within minutes we were soaked to the bone, but being the die-hards that we are, we just kept playing. We couldn't have been wetter if we jumped into a pool with all of our clothes on! There are more thunder storms in the forecast. I hope we don't have to ride in that kind of weather tomorrow. If we do, we do!

Did you get your Dad a card at least?!

Rolling On

2006-06-16T12:44:00.000-07:00

The ride the last couple of days has been pretty uneventful. The hills aren't as crazy, and life is good.

We got to Iron Bridge yesterday, and have reached Massey tonight. Both days were about 4 hours on the bikes (108 yesterday and 125 today). So we are back to business!!

Thumbs up to everyone for sending their love. We are getting lots of e:mails... love that!!

Cheers,

The boys

the hills....

2006-06-13T21:57:00.000-07:00

We made it from Wawa to Montreal Creek today. Just as Bob and Tom mentioned in Thunder Bay, the ride has gotten VERY serious as we have headed east.

The scenery couldn't be better... rich green hills, incredible blue water, and sunshine galore. The cycling however is incredibly difficult. Steve and Adrian were on the bikes today and fought through as many ascents and climbs as there were in BC. Who knew (well... other than Tom and Bob)?

We are super excited to get to Sault Ste. Marie tomorrow, and can't wait to get to Sudury on Sunday. Sounds like there is going to be a great BBQ on Father's Day at the Sudbury Keg. Here we come... get ready!!

Teddy Bear's Picnic

2006-06-12T12:53:00.000-07:00

at first I was thinking that the last couple of days were uneventful, and then I started to remember. lots of wildlife! at the campsite in terrance bay, a mama black bear and her two cubs were roaming freely around the site. must have been hoping for a little keg steak! then yesterday, a brown bear came right out in front of us as it crossed the highway. jer tried to stop, did a wipe-out, and got pinned under the bike just in time to see the bear stop and look back. that was close! fidler spotted a moose in the treeline yesterday on his driving day, and today we saw a couple of hawks and a vulture circling in the distance. was it a carcass off in the trees or the boys moving too slow?!?! (i can say that as they won't see this till later).

the hills and the head winds just keep coming. we seem to think that we've had the toughest days, but then the bar gets raised. so yes. these have been the toughest rides so far. still, we managed to cover about 130 km both today and yesterday.

tonight we're stopped in wawa and are waiting for the start of game 4 (already have the shot of the wawa goose). go, oiler's go!

P.S. just heard that the barrie keg raised $4,700 last night for us. how great is that?!?!

the boys

Back to Business

2006-06-10T15:13:00.000-07:00

we left Thunder Bay yesterday morning, and for some reason it was a bit of a rough start. we were out of sorts, not talking much, and back to battling the "road" demons.

then came the Terry Fox memorial. it started a half full/ half empty discussion, and each of us started playing back a slide show in our minds of the people that we've met, the Kegs we've visited, and the miles we've already travelled (Steve wasn't shy about shedding a tear, Fox is a hero for us all). it allowed us to regroup, rethink and really focus on the luck that we've had. we left the memorial recharged, and "full-on". not that we've had doubts, it's just that the roads can be long.

today we were officially back to business. woke up to a cold wind off Lake Superior, but amazing blue skies. everything we're encountering is just like what we've been told. the good, the bad, and the ugly. the hills feel like BC, and there is so much green. it is so beautiful... wow!

tonight we've pulled into a rv site in Terrance Bay (about 220 km from Thunder Bay). we'll be doing a little hopscothching in the next little while as we work our way to Sudbury. planning to get there next Sunday.

all signs are pointing in a positive direction. it is ALL good, and we are ready for the road. bring it on!!

the boys

Thunderstruck

2006-06-09T05:19:00.000-07:00

knock knock... who's there? (this isn't the start of joke like the one about 3 keggers walking into a keg sitting down to beers and nachos while they plan to bike across canada). this knock knock story really happened.

it was this past tuesday evening. the 3 of us are settling in for the night to a dvd around 645pm. (now jeremy and i were still water logged from the days ride and steve was fading in an out). anyway, here we are in the middle of a provinicial camp ground just outside of t-bay, and there's this knock at our door. i open the door to some guy sitting on his road bike in full bike gear with a piece of paper in his hands and a message that reads call david at this number. WOW! HOW MESSED UP IS THAT! the messenger turners out to be tom, an avid cyclist and part owner of the thunder bay keg. he says he was just out for a ride... HA!

the next morning tom and his friend and business partner bob, met the boys roadside about 30km out of t-bay. tom and bob led steve and jer through some traffic and guided them on a personal tour of the university campus and quieter streets around the neighborhoods. the boys enjoyed the ride and have chalked it up to being one of their personal favorites of the trip.

now what's left to tell you about t-bay? mmmmmmmm... how about this. the keggers here corner the market on making you feel at home. i'm not talking about the service at the table, i'm talking about the way they literally take their shirts off for you and roll out a really good time. the media coverage was great! the staff party was a blast! the bbq was a big success! it really is a heart warming experience to see the city turn out in such large numbers to support such a good cause. in fact, some people came back for seconds on their lunch breaks - and others went home again and brought the rest of their families out too! aside from the positive turn it was also a nice chance for the 3 of us to catch up with fellow cyclists we've met along the way who also came out for the burgers and beer. Phil (T-Bay G.M.) is an absolute dynamo, not resting for a second between the party night and the bbq the next day. what a wonderful host!

so here we are now plotting out our next 100 to 125km and we still have to see the terry fox memorial, pick up the bikes and, stop for famous pancakes thunderbay style. so much fun and fund raising still to do. and in case you haven't been paying attention the cycle for spirit champaign has raised just over $100,000.00!!!!!!!!!!!!!! that's all our hard work paying off. everyone deserves a pat on the back. BUT IT AIN'T OVER YET! so keep selling wristbands and keep fundraising in your areas. who knows - maybe the next 100km will bring us to your keg.

see you soon(ish). ox

The battle continues

2006-06-06T07:27:00.000-07:00

With heavy hearts (from the Suns loss to the Mavericks) and heavy legs, we pushed off on Sunday morning from Dryden. We forged on through the sweltering heat and thick drape of bugs... mosquitos, black flies, wasps, hornets... you name it we have met it a few hunder times over each day! We have learned that under sunny or cloudy skies, wet or dry conditions, in the middle of trees or out in the open, the one constant is bugs. They just love us.

We made it to Ignace the night before last and then to Upsala last night. Along the way we have christened a few lakes. Our schedule will now be built around the Stanley Cup playoffs ~ go Oilers, go!!!

We are hanging in, looking really forward to getting to Thunder Bay, and in great spirits. We are winning this battle!!

Cheers,

The boys

A Place To Live, A Place to Grow, Ontari-ari-ari-o!

2006-06-02T11:17:00.000-07:00

A little jingle that I heard once, from the Ontario Tourism Assn. The ride in to Kenora today was nothing short of beautiful! The landscapes and views were astounding. Every once in a while a beautiful lake just popped out of nowhere from amongst the trees. Conditions today were more favorable(few bugs and a cloudless blue sky). Adrian discovered that road-bikes and sand are not a good mix. It was a fairly short ride, only about 68km, but we have a lot of homework and chores to take care of today.

We are back into the hills now and the winds have subsided, deflecting off of the hills and buffered by the dense tree cover. We are looking forward to the 500km to Thunder Bay to see the T-Bay Keggers and we get to see our 'Den Mother' Carolyn as well! The news about the Honorable Larry Campbell commending us in Parliament is a big huge...WOW!

We really can't wait to see what the rest of Canada is like. This has been a wonderful, difficult, eye-opening, thrilling, scary, emotional journey that we hope is bringing Keggers and a country together in a cause. Thank you to everyone involved! Jenny Rae, we'll see you in Barrie!

Everything that has happened...wow! Looking forward to the next leg!

The Boys

Boys over flies

2006-06-01T13:20:00.000-07:00

Worst day ever... Steve and I (Jeremy) did 126 km into Falcon Beach with about 100-150 horseflies on us the entire day... the size of wasps. No joking! They were in our noses, ears, eyes, and all over our clothes. The road was tough too.... no shoulders, cracked pavement. Would not wish this on anyone. But we got through it. It's a battle, but smiles are still on our faces, and we are going to do this thing. No question.

Best part of the day? Beating out the thundershowers. Just squeaked into the RV park before the clouds opened up. A combined effort for a delicious dinner hit the spot to get us ready for tomorrow. (grilled Keg steaks, baked tomatoes, eggs baked in garlic butter with cheese, spinach salad, garlic toast...yes...we are hungry ALL THE TIME!)

Thanks for reading the blog and posting comments, they really do help get us through. Thumbs up.

And a big shout out to the St. John's Keg. Can't believe that they have already raised $12,000... WOW! That's brilliant.

Goal for tomorrow? We should cross the Ontario border just into the ride, and plan to get to Kenora by the end of the day. Thanks for the Manitoba Keggers, your hospitality is still with us. And Ontario Keggers, look out, we're coming!

And heh... we just heard that Senator Campbell from Vancouver made a statement "on the hill" about us in yesterday's debates. How amazing is that?!?!?! Check out this link (it's at the beginning of the meeting, listed under Senator's statements) http://www.parl.gc.ca/39/1/parlbus/chambus/senate/deb-E/017db_2006-05-30-e.htm?Language=E&Parl=39&Ses=1#13

Cheers,

The boys

Tail winds = sweetl

2006-05-31T15:34:00.000-07:00

The tail winds pushed us all the way from Brandon to Winnipeg in one day (200 km). We were welcomed with open arms and everyone in Winnipeg was very excited to be a part of this. Dave Devo (KOM at St. James) is an old friend of Jeremy's from Saanich. Great to see a Keg brother from way back ~ especially when it's unexpected. It was a little bit of home. And Devo was the man! Took the days off, got us everything we needed, took us everywhere we needed to go, and showed us Winnipeg.

The patio party at St. James was a huge success. We don't know yet how much was raised (let us know!), but it was a great time and everyone was chipping in. The three of us were a little conspicuous... we wore grass shirts, cowboy hats and Iron Maiden t-shirts. There's a look! And Steve got a hair cut on the patio while there ~ great looking mullet (photo to come)!

Southside Keg was amazing. Beautiful building and great staff! We got to hang out on Garry Street Keg patio ~ thanks to Laurent & Sarah for hosting us. And a BIG thanks to Gord for all the hospitality and for setting us up with a sports doctor (to check out our knees and give us advice on staying healthy through this).

A little adventure along the stop? Got lost in a little Chinese restaurant full of mirrors, but thankfully made our way out.

Thanks to Brian at Gord's Ski and Bike Shop who hooked us up HUGE. All new Kevlar tires, some tubes... the bikes look like brand new, absolutely amazing. Our rides have certainly been pimped.

All in all, The Peg was great (although one of the windiest places ever). Hope we get back here again some day soon!
(Devo! Help me find my cowboy hat!)

Thanks Brandon!

2006-05-29T07:37:00.000-07:00

Yesterday's ride went really well. The nasty little headwind continued, but wasn't as strong as before. We pulled into the Brandon Keg, and had a great time hanging out with Chris and the Brandon staff and managers. It was a really nice dinner, and was great to meet everyone. They had about 100 questions about the ride, and were willing and eager to hear all about our adventures. It was fun to be able to tell all the stories!

Adrian and Jeremy are on the road already. Knock on wood.... looks like there is a bit of a tail wind today. Hope that lasts. The goal for today is 120 km which will leave an 80 km ride for tomorrow to get into Winnipeg.

More to come...

The boys

Heading to Brandon

2006-05-27T07:06:00.000-07:00

This one is a really quick update from from the road. We had an awesome time in Regina... Darren and his staff were amazing hosts! They had a Hawaiian party for us, and raised more than $800. Truly great time. Fantastic. Everything was perfect. Look forward to running into the Regina Keggers again.

We left Regina yesterday and got to Wolseley. We are back to battling the prairie winds though. So slow day, and low km. About 90. Our hope is to get to Brandon on Sunday. We'll keep you posted...

The boys

Saskatoon...we're here!

2006-05-23T11:04:00.000-07:00

Our final day riding into Saskatoon was much more an enjoyable ride than the past few. Less wind means more bugs and more bugs...let's just say that they like to stick to skin with 45spf sunscreen on. Jeremy and Steve had a couple hundred bugs stuck to each of them...ugh. We've actually lost count of the bugs we've eaten.

A huge thumbs up to Darren and his wonderful staff at the Saskatoon Keg! Very welcoming and friendly...true Keggers!! Petros and Sean were the sacrificial lambs for the cause. They each waxed their legs for donations to The Keg Spirit Foundation (Petros went a little farther after a dose of liquid courage). Kim, we would really love for you to e-mail us a photo of that to post here! Only the leg shots please...haha

Since the beginning of our adventure, we have been thankful that our arrival into "Keg Towns" has included a hotel room for a night. We really lucked out at the hotel in Saskatoon...there was a hot tub and 2 deadly waterslides! The three of us turned into 5 year olds as we spent the better part of a day running up the stairs to the waterslides. After riding 100+km, it's amazing that we mustered the energy and the strength. We probably rode the slides about 25 times! Have you ever played 'Crack the Egg' on a trampoline? We tried a version of that on the waterslides and it was a blast!! Through Darrin's generosity we we're able to relax and lick our wounds to get ready for the battle ahead....Regina.

We just had a dynamite dinner with the Saskatoon Keggers and are off to bed for our 7a.m. departure. Back in the hotel we decided to check on the weather network for our route in the morning.........Severe thunderstorms, 100 km/hr winds, rain and the chances of golf-ball sized hail....GREAT!!

7 a.m. came early as we didn't sleep very well with the gruesome thought of the weather awaiting us. Steve and Adrian mounted the bikes at 8:15 and were off. Not only did the rain and hail never appear, the brutal wind was at their backs....YAHOO!!! The boys made it to Craik, Sask. (135km) by 12:15 p.m... sooo fast!! So they decided, as Steve's uncle Jim who has completed the journey before, to keep riding with the 'wind at their backs'. Could we really make Regina (254 km) in one day?! Adrian would not stop riding and thankfully after 200km Steve let Jeremy ride in these optimal conditions the rest of the way to Regina. As it was our one month anniversary, it could not have been a better milestone for us......We are all over the moon!! Get ready Regina.....we are here!!!!!!

The Boys

Here's a shot of the world's largest coffee pot too! Found that in Davidson, Sask.

Real world has set in

2006-05-21T05:54:00.000-07:00

Playtime in Alberta is officially over ~ this had been the toughest 3 days to be sure. We have battled unbelievable head winds over the past 3 days, and have been 7-9 hours a day on the bikes. It is a fierce battle. Tough to be pedaling as hard as you can, and only been able to go 10 km an hour. Crazy. A ton of rain yesterday. It's tough, but this is what we prepared for. So it's good. What doesn't kill 'ya makes you stronger.

So, we are staying positive, but REALLY looking forward to getting to Saskatoon on Monday. That's our goal. Want to be able to sit back and watch game 7 of the Suns game knowing that this leg is done.

The above photos are a giant sausage in the town of Mundare, AB and a giant Ukranian Easter egg (pysanka) in Vegerville, AB.

Thanks for the support ~ on days like these, remembering everyone that is behind us helps to keep the wheels turning!

The boys

Edmonton - City of Fun

2006-05-20T05:24:00.000-07:00

We are doing a little bit of catch up here....

What a welcome it was to come into Leduc and meet up with the 6 Keggers that were cycling the last 20 km into Edmonton with us. A HUGE thanks to all of you who went to the trouble to do this, and those that arranged to have the boys in blue escort us all in. What an amazing surprise it was to have Mama Bear join her cubs on this ride. And Adrian wants to say "big love" to Mike for letting him draft off of him on the way in. The reception in Edmonton was huge, and the welcome mat was rolled out at every stop.

And boy do those Edmonton fans know how to party. We were surprised by Glenn with tickets to Game 6, and got to see what "noise" is all about at Rexall Place. We will definitely take the electricity from that night along on the road with us. Go Oilers go!!! We had a great time checking out the Whyte Mile, hanging out with all of the Keggers, shutting down Strathcona Keg and completely blowing curfew (sorry Mom)!

The day after the game was certainly a slower start than anticipated. But a big shout out to the boys at Western Cycle (Gerry, Bill, Joe, Mike) who not only took care of tuning up our bikes, but also sent us away with a homemade pie for the road. How's that for service?!?!

So Edmonton.... lots of fun, so much energy. Alberta has been so amazing to us. Unbelievable love in all the 4 cities that we stopped. Definitely the province to be in... it's hard to leave.

A couple of big shout outs that we must do. To the Red Deer Keggers who made the trip to Edmonton to come and hang out with us.... WOW you guys are great! To Jason who hosted us on his "Just a Game" radio show for an entire hour, BIG thanks. That was a blast ~ thanks for making it so easy to be on-air telling our story.

Part way through the radio show, Steve may or may not have broken some "speed laws" to try and get to his dear friend Tim's lacrosse game, ended up only catching 7 minutes of the third period. Apparently the first time ever that the GPS has failed him. The drive was worth it. Steve was really happy to see Tim, his mother and a dear friend of mine Carrie, his brother Tanner and sister Caylea. Thanks for making it!

And hey.... if you have friends or family in the cities that we are stopping in, get them to track us down and say "hi". Familiar faces, stories from home, people that come to say "hi" unexpectedly just completely make our day!!

Big love!

The boys

painting the town red deer

2006-05-16T14:38:00.000-07:00

Wow! We're in Edmonton already but before we start in with the stories from this camp I first have to thank our keg family from Red Deer.

There is no place these keggers won't go for a party! Man can they show you a good time!

Pete greeted us with open arms and an open menu. For dessert we had an afternoon of "down time". He handed over the keys to his house and let us crash in front of the tube to catch all the playoff action.

This was only the beginning!

After jet setting from the Red Deer Keg we found ourselves at the urban room in town. what a casual and cool place to chill out and meet more of our Red Deer Keg family. Needless to say, we all broke curfew that night... the next day we almost broke alot more - sometimes what happens in Sylvan Lake stays in Sylvan Lake. Let's just say that the experience left Steve and Jeremy 'breathless'.

Michelle and Darrin helped to create more memories with us on a gorgeous sunny sunday afternoon. A great home cooked breakfast and sunshine on their boat(more sausage please). Wow! What beautiful friends we have in them.

Sunday night was a solid night! more keggers more kegger fun and kareoke! The lungs on Steve and Pete and our very own Carolyn! Life's a beach in Red Deer with or without a beach themed party!

One kegger asked what kind of music i listen to on the road... and i really don't listen to anything while i'm actually riding - i need all the concentration i can afford to keep me on the road and out of traffic. Anyway, the funny thing was that the first tune that popped into my head when leaving Red Deer was - Black Betty. What a good song and a great town to visit.

Hey Pete - If it wasn't Banff i'd be heading back to work for you again. I know I can say this for the boys so just know that you've become more of a brother to us then you could ever imagine.

Cheers to the king of styles and his kingdom of Red Deer Keggers!

Homecoming for Steve

2006-05-15T09:55:00.000-07:00

Steve's Side-bar

I was born in Calgary General Hospital in 1974. That's a long time ago! I haven't been back to Calgary since 1982 when my family moved to Vancouver. While in Calgary, I had a chance to go and see my old neighborhood and catch up with an old family friend Celia. Celia, as it turns out, now works at Chris Akkerman, the Elementary school that I went to as a young lad.

My visit with Celia brought back a ton of childhood memories. It was difficult to fight back the tears as I recalled the great times that were unlocked from my memory. Stimuli everywhere!

I had a wonderful opportunity while I was in the school to meet and talk to 2 separate classes of students at Chris Akkerman. All of the students were very supportive and asked great questions. One grade 5 class that I had the priviledge to speak to made me feel a little bashful...after our chat, they all wanted an autograph! Thank you all for making me feel very special. The faculty at the school made me feel very welcome and allowed me to take a look around. It really meant the world to me. It was probably obvious that my homoecoming was a little emotional for me.

Chris Akkerman Elementary in Calgary and Balmoral Secondary School in North Vancouver, thank you for continuing to inspire and motivate us through our journey. In the darkest times in the final hours each day that we ride we need to dig deep. The faces of the young men and women that we have met so far are where our minds go just when we think we can't pedal another stroke, can't make it up that last hill. When the fingers, toes and rear end are numb, you are the ones that we don't want to let down. Do you know how important you are?

personal best

2006-05-12T13:25:00.000-07:00

hi again - it's adrian here... i thought that since i'm still unsupervised, i'll send out a quick story from the road.

when the three of us decided to set out on this trip we discused what our goals would be. and i'm not talking about the amount of money we'd like to see raised because at the end of the day just raising awareness within the communities we travel through can be even more rewarding. the goals we spoke of were more along the lines of just doing our best. just doing the very best we can each day. everyday we set out to achieve our personal best.

sometimes that personal best may be riding your way up a summit of 1244m above sea level. or riding down a stretch of highway on an 8% down grade and still manage to keep on your bike at a speed of 80km. WOW! jer still hasn't come down from that high. and there have been some challenges we've faced on our own and collectively as riders. and there's some challenges that other's have set for you. Enter our friend roman from banff. (i won't reveal his last name but if you're ever in banff you'll know who i'm talking about.)

our friend roman arranged to take us out for some rock climbing in near by canmore, alberta (another great town for the outdoor lover). roman took us to a beginner level rock face and what a rock face. we followed him down through these loose rock way paths that looked very much like the movie set of lord of the rings. it was beautiful! so much green and brown all round us... nature at it's best for sure.

now to paint a better picture here's the experience level of us boys. both jer and i have never gone rock climbing ever! and steve has done some indoor climbing maxing out to a level of 30 feet. well here we stand at the base of this 70 to 80 foot wall. hahaha jokes over right??? nope up we went one by one. jer was first... 80ft he crushed it! i was up next... with a break half way through i made it up. finally steve and after fighting off a bee and bugs he made it up too!

usually roman would reward his students with either ice cream or a round of beers back at the keg, but the view from 80ft up was absoultely breath taking and truly a reward in itself. we as riders achieve new goals each time we get back on the bikes. with the encouragement of good friends like roman, we've reached new heights (no pun intended) within ourselves.

this cycle for spirit campaign is set to challenge all those who are touched by this project. if you can give some money then please give. if time is what you have to offer then please make yourself available. seek out a new challenge everyday and go for it. reach your personal best.

one last blast of love goes out to the living room drop in house in banff. jayde and lanny and a team of volunteers are making a difference in the hospitality community by offering up an alternative to the bar sence which can drain a paycheque or two. myself being off the sauce for 15 months (a personal best by chioce) i still have to say cheers to them!

look within yourself and the others around you. contiune to reach those new heights. and remember to hug someone every day.

ox

catching up

2006-05-12T12:35:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone... it's Adrian's turn to blog. Basically that means everyone else is running errands and i'm the last choice for this task. Now there's no offense intended here it's just that I can barely use a calulator without proper adult supervision. Anyway, let's catch up...

For those of you who are new readers to our site here's a quick break down of what goes on both on an off the road. Jeremy Steve and I rotate our biking and driving duties. This is how we get our required rest and manage to keep our strength up. And this is how we managed to blast through the Rockies and arrive in Banff just a little ahead of schedule.

So where do I start? The management team and staff from the Caribou Lodge Keg arranged to meet us boys roadside just out of Banff with the local police escort too! The smiles and support and "over the top" hospitality was overwhelming! We were welcomed by local shop owners, members of the Banff community and even other tourists from far and wide. So many people along the way are just blown away with the efforts of all Keggers across the system. We've collectively raised over $60,000.00! That's from all of us - each Keg continues to contribute to this great campaign! Keep raising those smiles and funds for the kids!

So back to the Banff staff... Cathy from the Caribou Lodge Keg took us boys in like one of her own. We were spoiled. Cathy and her network of friends really showed us the town. We highly highly recommend the gondola ride across the Banff skies - what amazing views! And it doesn't stop there. Please find time to walk the grounds at the Banff Springs Hotel. It's the closest you can get to visiting a small european ski town without ever having to leave Canada. If you're looking for something out of this world then try the Grizzly Steak House... WOW! that's all I'm gonna say here other then just try it. But make sure you dine with the perfect dinner companion or companions. So much love goes out to Michelle and Pete and the rest of the Red Deer Keggers that made the three hour drive to take us out for dinner and just catch up over rounds of drinks too. Go Oilers Go! Dinners and drinks and NHL hockey with the Red Deer Crew will definitely remain a highlight of this tour. As for the rest of the Caribou Lodge Keggers - 10% of my first paycheque will go to drinks on me! (By drinks I mean coffee from Evelyn's.) Can't wait to see you this autunm.

Calgary. What another great surprise to ride into. David and the crew from head office joined in on the welcome party that the Stadium Keggers (and fellow Calgary Keggers) put on in our honour. Definitely another moment on our high light reel. From honourary Newfoundlander to honourary Calgaryian... I've got the paper work and now cowboy hat to prove it. Surprise after surprise they just don't stop. Jeremy and I were greeted by a friendly face from our St. John's Keg. Dave T is an old friend from the Rock that moved out here to Calgary last summer and has just moved up the Keg ladder to a new position of Assistant Kitchen Manager at one of Calgary's newest Keg stores. Congrats again Dave.

The support just doesn't stop! It just keeps getting stronger and stronger along the way. Keggers are making road trips of their own just to show their support and have a good time doing something that is so great for this campaign. Who knew raising money and the spirits of others could be so much fun.

I think I've rambled on long enough today. (Any one who's ever recieved an email from me knows that I can go on and on. - And to Geoff Fried I hope this font is big enough for you. hahaha.) So this is really it for now. We'll have more stories and updates as we go. And please forgive us if we lose track of time. We really have so much more we'd like to say but after some long rides of over 100km we get a little rundown and crash early. And sometimes we just can't get a solid internet hook up from the road. Bottom line, we never stop thinking about all of you and the support you've shown us along the way already.

So much love goes out from the three of us to all of you. (Remember hug someone everyday...)

ox

Big Horn sheep, a bear and 2 flat tires...

2006-05-06T22:08:00.000-07:00

We are really having a great time. Tonight we made it to Golden and have got the RV set up in a great spot. The most unreal sunset tonight... and the mountains are incredible!

We have seen a lot of stuff. A big black bear yesterday seemed to like our side of the highway (good thing he wan't too hungry), and today 7 bighorn sheep crossed in front of us. Jeremy learned that it's not so good to go through a tunnel with sunglasses on (note to self...), and Adrian has dealt with 2 flat tires over the past couple of days. No wipe-outs (or none we are willing to admit to).

Some pretty wicked climbs. Today we did the Roger's Pass Summit, and tomorrow we'll be doing the Kicking Horse one. Should get to Lake Louise tomorrow if all goes well. This puts us ahead a couple of days which will mean that we'll get a rest and spend some time in Lake Louise/Banff. Looking forward to hanging out with the Banff Keggers!

Thanks for all your notes... the support is just incredible!

The boys

Kelowna Rocked Us!

2006-05-04T08:53:00.000-07:00

Wow! What a great time we had in Kelowna! Steve, Holly and the crew were amazing! The Kelowna Keg blew us away!

Special thanks to the Wallis duo Daphne and Gordon, Carolyn, Dazy and the Hieberts for coming to town to show their support.

In the evening we were walking back to the hotel that Sysco had secured for us, there was Trevor, Kelsey & Tessa from Park Royal, Derek from New West and Beth from Castlegar! These Keggers went out of their way to come and see us and boy did we have a great time!

Another highlight was seeing Nikki M., someone I have missed over the Keg years. Great to see you Nikki!

The journey is just beginning but thank you to the people that came out to bring a little bit of home to Steve.

The Boys

Damo=7.5

So nice to be in Kelowna!

2006-05-03T17:44:00.000-07:00

We're HERE!!! What a beautiful couple of days the past two have been. Jeremy got a great view from the back of the RV sleeping in the back for 48 hours. Food poisoning? SARS?? He's all good and back to Superman form. We're off to a local restaurant to meet with some family and friends that have made the journey to see us and make sure that we are still in tact.

Tonight we will be dining at the Kelowna Keg with Steve and Holly along with the other 'prize winners' Haha!

Before we forget, a huge thank you to Garry Norkum at Cyclepath in Kelowna(the only place to buy a bike) for tuning up our bikes and making sure that we are ready for those big, ole Rockies. We hear the bears are hugry! No peeing beside the RV(Adrian!).

And back to the Kelowna Keg! Tonight after dinner there will be a great party in the bar for us to meet and thank all of the staff for their hard work fundraising.

Damo, scale to come

Love you all!

The byes (practising)

Hello Kamloops!

2006-04-30T17:06:00.000-07:00

So good to be here! After camping a night in beautiful Logan Lake, we made the descent into Kamloops. What a beautiful part of the world.

Thank you to the Benton family for helping with our smelly road-dirt crusted laundry and allowing us to plug in and charge up the R.V. and a most wonderful hot shower! A+ for hospitality!

Tonight we will be attending an event at a local hip joint called the Urban Couch. Special thanks to Kari Benton and the staff and managers at the Kamloops Keg!

Jeremys friends Rob and Juma came into town from nearby tree-planting to have a bite with us, thanks for making the drive!

Let's break $50K tonight Kamloops!

The Boys

Climbing and more climbing...

2006-04-28T22:46:00.000-07:00

Holy crow... this was some kinda climbing! Over the past 2 days we climbed 1444 metersincluding the Coquihalla summit and the Surrey summit. Fierce! The two days were a long, long, long grind but we did it! Definately tough days, so we are REALLY looking forward to getting to Kamloops tomorrow night. Be ready for us Kamloops Keggers!

Oh... great thing.... today was our first road-side sighting. Bill Randall from Strathcona caught us on the outskirts of Merritt. A few road side photos captured the moment ~ what a great thing to run into a fellow Kegger!

We'll write more from Kamloops. Thanks for the love!

At Hope...not yet beyond Hope...

2006-04-26T18:29:00.000-07:00

It was some kinda cold, wet and windy today. We parted ways with Carolyn and Jamie this morning after a really 'Smitty' breakfast. The potato pancakes were almost as good as Mom's. What a difference those ladies made in the development and preparation of this journey...we can't thank you enough!

With a total distance for the day of 82kms, it was a tough fought battle. It was Adrian's turn at the wheel of the 'Spirit Mobile' and Jeremy and I had our share of adversity to overcome on the road.

The best part of riding along Highway 1 is...believe it or not...the huge semi trucks. They blow past and their gust fuels you in the right direction. The huge clouds of spray and mist on the other hand left our eye-wear super dirty.

I got the first flat tire of the ride and thanks to the expert instruction that we recieved from Giant Bicycles, the flat was repared quickly and with precicion even with numb fingers and shaking hands.

A hot shower at the end of the day was all we needed to shake off the bone-deep cold and it was off to do our chores.

We found a great bunch of guys at the Cheyenne Sporting Goods store in Hope. Brad Pelletier was the man! Hooked us up with some tools and tips for cleaning and lubing our chains. The bikes liked their day at the spa. Wicked people at the First Mud Internet Cafe showed some love too with a free internet connection to write this blog.

Tomorrow Jeremy and Adrian are the lucky duo that get to tackle the arduous Coquihalla hill to the toll booth, now I get to drive this V-10! We miss you and love you all!

The Boys.

P.s. - Sorry, no photos for today, we'll get 'er to ya soon baye!

Fort Street to Corporate

2006-04-26T00:47:00.000-07:00

Well, we're off!! Today was great. Mile "0" was amazing, the send-off that the Fort Street and Saanich Keg staff gave us was awesome, and we had Don U. from corporate office along for the ride. And A Channel came out to interview us.... how great is that?!?!

We headed across on the ferry, got into Richmond, and had just a little glitch getting through the tunnel (thanks Mike R. for the help). After that though, we arrived at The Keg corporate office for an amazing BBQ ~ great band, awesome Keg steaks, and fun, fun, fun. Thanks David and the rest of corporate office who put on such an awesome send-off. And, to all the family, friends, sponsors and Keggers who came out, a huge thanks. You have no idea what these means to all of us!!

P.S. Here's a couple of shots... one at Mile O, and one of our summer home. Keep a look-out for
us!

Day 2, Richmond to Abby

2006-04-25T23:54:00.000-07:00

Wow! What a ride today! The weather was great and the reception at the Abbotsford Keg was amazing. Our total distance today was 101.74km. Adrian and I(Steve) were the riders. Jeremy was the driver today and did a great job. It's alot of machine!

Carolyn T. and my girlfriend Jamie were along for this day of the ride and were so much fun and help!

Kurt, Cindy and Chris along with the rest of the Abbotsford management team threw one heck of a party! Keggers from Morgan Creek, Maple Ridge, Langley and Richmond South showed their spirit in true Keg fashion. Thanks for everything!

Steve's wipeout count is 3
Jeremy's wipeout count is 1
Adrian hasn't wiped out yet! (I guess he CAN ride a bike!)

Huge love for everyone!

The Boys

The Journey Begins April 24, 2006...

2006-04-07T09:39:00.000-07:00

We are getting ready to pull away from the curb on the 24th. Hard to believe that D-day is just around the corner. Thanks everyone.... see you on the road!