July 9, 2010 - A few weeks have passed now since the 2nd Ride to Conquer Cancer in support of the BC Cancer Foundation, and riders have now had a chance to digest the experiences of the weekend. Here’s a couple re-caps, one from Jonathan Aitken, co-captain; and one from friend of the Wedgewood Cycling Team, and new rider, Marousa Dumaresq.
Jonathan Aitken’s Ride to Conquer Cancer Weekend
What did I do the weekend of June 20th, 2010?
Well I rode my bike to Seattle in support of the Ride to Conquer Cancer and the BC Cancer foundation?
Why did you do that?
To raise money for cancer research. My Mom died from cancer. Besides it is an excuse to raise money and stay in shape!
How much did you raise?
Overall we raised $9.2 Million. There were 2250 riders doing the ride.
Wow!
Yes, our team of 58 raised over $305,000. I personally raised over $7,700
Was it hard?
Well, yes, but not impossible. A guy did it on a unicycle. We had someone on our team, Graham Cumpston, ride who was 71 years old.
Anyone can do it. It takes practice, training and some chamois cream.
How long did it take you?
It took me 5 hours (134km including crossing the border) on Saturday, and 4 hours (120 km) on Sunday.
Where did you sleep?
It was supported by a great team of volunteers. There were tents, we just had to bring sleeping bags. We even had hot food, hot showers, cold beer and massages. At least the first day. The last day was not as nice.
How did you get home?
Most people took the bus home, a few had their families drive down, but 10 people from my club rode back to Vancouver all in one day. For more details on those guys see http://journeyhomebc.blogspot.com/
Tell me more details.
OK, well if you insist….
The Wedgewood Cycling club formed its second annual Ride to Conquer Cancer team in December. We recruited at the Christmas dinner and brought in a professional to help us go fast! We eventually grew to 58 people including Mike Gillis, president and GM from the Vancouver Canucks and our secret weapon Canada’s own European tour pro cyclist from Team Garmin-Transitions’ Christian Meier.
We did training rides each Sunday with different subsets of the team. We rode out to Richmond from Vancouver, increasing our distance each weekend. Our last weekend we ended with an epic climb from Vancouver to the top of Mount Seymour.
On the day of the Ride we all showed up nice and early. There were a few speeches, the national anthem and a particularly moving escort of a riderless bike, that symbolized both those that could not be there because of cancer, and for those of us who still have the bikes at home but not the person. I know my Mom’s bike is still in my Dad’s garage.
Day 1:
We left the Surrey Guildford town centre on Saturday under a clear blue sky at 7:15 am. We wound our way through city streets and headed towards the border. There was an overzealous volunteer and a motorcycle cop who were dueling to see who could escort the slowest. It was a little frustrating and a little dangerous. We were forced to ride 25km an hour in 35+ km/hr zones. Bad communication on behalf of the ride organizer. What was supposed to be a safety escort almost caused quite a few accidents as riders were forced to ride downhill with brakes on.
We eventually got to the border and people made a sprint for the line up (and for the first pit stop!). Luckily my nexus pass came in handy and I zipped across the line. I was not able to see the front group of Wedgewood guys, but I figured that they were ahead of me. Philip has a knack for getting to the front of the line. I just started pedaling as fast as could and hoped to be able to team up with a few others to allow me to catch up.
Well that strategy worked, kind of. I tired out the few other volunteers that I pressed into service and so found myself put on my own, trapped in no man’s land. Far in front of the majority, but behind the main group of fast riders from Wedgewood. I was mentally re-evaluating my plan, when along came a group of firefighters from North Vancouver. I had ridden the ride with them last year and showed them how to ride in a group faster. My lesson seemed to have worked and so they asked me to hop onto their faster moving group. We picked up the pace and the miles melted away until lunchtime.
We pulled into the lunch stop and the Wedgewood fast group, along with Christian were just finishing their lunch. The firefighters wanted a rest and had to fix a loose cleat on their shoes so I opted to eat quickly and go. Note to self, do not take off helmet and gloves when stopping for a quick lunch.
I left the lunch site with the team, but had a problem with my bike. Somehow the speed sensor had gotten twisted into my spokes, making a sound like my bike did way back when I was twelve years old and I had a hockey card and a clothes-peg on the wheel. I stopped to fix this but when I looked up the guys were 200 yards ahead. I yelled “wait for me”‘, but they were out of earshot.
Back to chasing I went. One thing about bike riding is that it is pretty tough to catch a group when you are on your own, you have to work at least 30% harder when you are not in the draft zone of a pack of riders. I looked around for help, but once again was on my own. I rode the last 40 km to camp watching their gap grow from 200 yards and less than 1 minute to almost 15 minutes over the last hour. They were really moving. I got into camp at 12:15. 5 hours of riding over 134 km with the last hour on my own.
The front group had just arrived 15 minutes before me and were just clearing off of the massage tables. I was able to walk right up and get a massage, a stark contrast to last years two hour wait. Then we went to find the hot showers and cold beers. Not necessarily in that order.
We then retrieved our gear from the trucks and got set up in our tents that the amazing volunteers had pitched for us. Then we settled down at some tables in the sun to wait and cheer for the rest of our group to come in. We had all ordered “camp t-shirts” to show off our sponsors and allow us to find each other. It was good that we did because people look different without their helmets on. I got a few minutes to chat with Christian Meier about riding and living in Girona Spain and about his thoughts on the Tour de France and Lance’s chances.
We had some hot camp food. It hit the spot but we were lucky to get some wine and cheese “supplements” hand selected by our team mate John Blakely, the owner of Bistro Pastis a well-known Vancouver French restaurant. That was enough to get us ready to hit the sack.
Day 2:
We awoke the next morning to a drizzly grey day. It was similar to last year’s starting weather. However it gradually made a turn for the worse. I did not sleep that well, too much water, beer, wine and sun the day before. There were quite a few people who snored quite loudly in the tents near me. Next time, earplugs!!
There was a rush to leave at 7:15 and we were funneled through a narrow start gate. I lost the front group for a few minutes in the chaos of the funnel but was able to regain them with the help of some new friends. We rode on until lunchtime weaving out of Mount Vernon, through farm country. We arrived at lunch at 9:30 am. The volunteers were surprised to see us, but we were moving really quickly. We had a brief stop for a bite to eat. This time I kept all of my gear on, and had one eye on Philip the entire time. It began to rain again and so we all left and headed for the final stretch to Seattle.
There was some confusion about coffee and a break for lattes. The fast guys all stopped, I opted to keep going and together with a splinter group pushed onto the trails heading towards Redmond.
We rode along the trails which had no cars on them, but everyone had a job to do keeping an eye out for posts and gates designed to keep cars away.
We came into the last set of 6 or so rolling hills before Woodinville. Since we were ahead I stopped for a un besoin naturel as the French call it. I looked over my shoulder and the Wedgewood crew went flying by me. I rolled into the camp about 10 minutes after them, frozen to the bone. I had been an optimist and not brought enough rain gear on the ride.
I had forgotten which truck I put my bag on and so I spent a good 15 minutes trying to find my bag in the rain. Lots of volunteers were there to help. Luckily for me I recognized one of them as the person who took my bag earlier that morning and we were able to find it again quickly. I grabbed my towel and some dry clothes and felt much better.
All in all it was a great weekend. $9.2M raised for cancer, no serious issues with anyone on our team. Together with your help I raised over $7,800. Thank you to all of those who sponsored me.
All in all a fun weekend though, I met some great people, got to know others a little better and I am looking forward to the next challenge. The Whistler Gran Fondo in September. We are riding in one day from Vancouver to Whistler. 120 km but it is all uphill!
Marousa Dumaresq: A New Rider’s View…
I know many of you have been wondering how it went, so here is what happened…
One of the most important moments of the ride for me occurred the night before, when my eldest son Josh came to my room as I was laying out my gear for the next day. He told me that he thought it was so cool that I was doing this ride and that he was proud of me. Everything was worth it just for that moment alone. The rush of wonderful notes I received from so many of you as well wishing me good luck before the ride were just amazing too and I treasured them all!
The morning of the ride dawned clear and bright, which was a huge relief! At 6:30 am, I found myself at the Guilford Mall parking lot amid a huge crowd of very serious looking cyclists. One of the benefits and drawbacks of being on the Wedgewood Team is that you start at the VERY front. There were a few short heartfelt speeches, the last one being the most emotional. A rideless bike was escorted through the crowd to represent all those who could not be here – the many we had loved and lost to cancer.
There wasn’t a dry eye and suddenly, without even a moment to dry the tears, we were off! It was one of the scariest moments of the whole event - passing through the starting archway with over 2200 riders behind us. It was a big relief to hit the open road. I set off at a steady pace but nevertheless was continually passed by what I thought must have been everyone! Morna, a fellow Wedgewood team rider, and I mostly rode together, passing each other here and there. I was very surprised when we arrived at the border and realized that there were actually still far more riders behind us than ahead of us!
The country roads were beautiful. All went well until I reached the BFH (big f—ing hill). We had been briefed that there would be a big hill going into lunch – we were shown a diagram that had scared us all with the topographical elevation for the ride at the last Wedgewood meeting. Going up the steep main street of this last town we stopped at light after light. At the last light I hesitated in removing my clip – partly due to being tired and partly because I was sure the light would change. Well it didn’t, and to my extreme embarrassment I fell over in the intersection – having hastily unclipped my left foot, I tipped over to my right.
The riders around me were so polite – assuring me they had all done the same thing many times themselves (completely lying to make me feel better) – what a rookie! I was so tangled in my bike that I had to ask someone to help me up. I was actually unscathed (other than a big bruise on my butt), however my bike didn’t fare so well. Somehow I dislodged the brake on my handlebars. Fortunately it was still rideable, so I made it with my twisted bars to lunch and promptly took my bike over to the mechanics tent for repair.
Luckily there were three guys standing there with nothing else to do. They promptly went to work on my bike and seemed almost disappointed when they fixed it so quickly! They didn’t let me go until they also removed some glass they found in one of my tires.
After eating lunch, with my bike set to go and some extra strength Advil, I set off. Somehow I had more energy (in spite of a good headwind) and rode faster than I had in the morning and the kilometres sailed by. It was as though I found a gear I’d never had before and I was flying on my bike instead of toiling as usual. I think this was primarily due to the Advil and the large amount of power gummies (candy) I was consuming…
One of the best things about doing something like this is the camaraderie you develop with other riders. In the afternoon by chance I rode with a foreign diplomat and we covered politics in Haiti, biking in the south of France and the personal life of Frank Lloyd Wright before we crossed the finish for the day at just before 2:30 pm. We rode 138 km.
I promptly joined the long line ups for the shower trailers and then after eating a big boiled hot dog, happily snuggled into my tiny tent for the night. Actually that is not exactly what happened… Thankfully Joel pulled up in the SUV shortly after we finished and a bunch of us piled in to go to the comparatively deluxe Best Western in Mount Vernon! Unfortunately, I didn’t have the forethought to arrange for a masseuse to be waiting in my hotel room like my buddy Nicole!
The dinner menu at camp was,…well – not great. Fortunately we were in a group of hoteliers and restaurateurs. We had a very good spot in the middle of the action and John from Pastis improvised an excellent spread of wine and cheese (one can always rely on the French – except for maybe in the world cup this year)! After a fun evening of sharing stories of our biking adventures, we turned in for the night.
The next morning dawned cold, dreary and miserable. I have to say I was scared at the prospect of getting on my bike again for another 130 kilometres or so in the rain. I hadn’t slept very well and I was nervous and sore. I downed another two Advils at breakfast (I developed a short term addiction) and strengthened my resolve. So many times during the event I felt the powerful love and support of all my family and friends behind me and I have to tell you that it made a huge difference – there was never any question that I had to give it my best for you, for my parents and to win this fight!
All along I felt your warm wishes looking out for me. Nicole and I moved our bikes up to the road for the start to avoid the stretch of grass and loose gravel going through the starting archway with the massive throng of riders behind us. As we were waiting to go, another rider asked me if I wanted the air in my tires checked. He very kindly pumped up my tires and Nicole’s, all of which were very low – almost certainly saving us from the flat tires many suffered that day.
As we headed off again, I somehow luckily managed to fall in behind my friend Pascal and his buddy Lou (CFO of the BC Cancer Foundation) who were riding at a fast, but consistent pace. So many times I have heard Joel say that endurance sports are all about mind over matter – something I had never quite understood or experienced before. You have to be mentally strong because your body is much stronger than you think it is. This is something every cancer survivor knows on a life or death level– a trial which I pray someday nobody will ever have to face.
Drafting is a huge part of road cycling. If you can draft behind someone, you can reduce the energy you are expending by up to 30%. The rider in front cuts the wind resistance and creates a kind of vacuum behind them which can draw you along. All the first day I had been passed by ‘trains of riders’ flying by. Occasionally, I would try to latch on, but I could never raise my speed quickly enough to be able to stay on and would invariably get dropped.
The other big thing about drafting is trust. When you draft behind someone, you have to be right on their back wheel. That means that whatever happens to them, happens to you. When you are travelling at high speed there is almost no visibility of what is coming and very little time to react. You need to be watching that rider carefully - adjusting constantly to match their pace and anticipate their actions – inconsistency and unpredictability of movement spell disaster. You need to trust because basically you are putting your safety in the hands of the person in front of you.
We had learned how to draft riding with the Wedgewood team, but I wasn’t very good at it. Apparently, however, the only thing I was lacking was the proper MOTIVATION. On this day I had all the motivation I needed - chiefly in the form of FEAR. I was extremely afraid of being left alone on this long ride through the rain and cold for hours on end. And so, I distilled my focus down to one thing only – keeping the front wheel of my bike exactly 3 inches behind the wheel of the bike in front of me, come what may!
Pascal and Lou are great riders and gentlemen and they were fun to be with. They took turns at the front and allowed me to stay behind them while we rode at a steady average pace of 30 km/hr. Even though I was out of my league, I pedaled faster and worked harder than I ever had before and never lost my focus for a moment. Despite being convinced for the first hour that I would inevitably be dropped, somehow I managed to hang on – by sheer force of determination. I vowed nothing would get between me and those wheels and nothing did for the next 130 km.
At the first rest stop we picked up my friend Vivian and shortly after that we picked up Nicole. Suddenly, we were our own mini team. It was amazing – we flew by solo riders and few teams passed us. However, the visibility in the rain was terrible. My glasses made things worse rather than better and my eyes burned with the combination of rain, mud, sweat and mascara (what was I thinking???) that was constantly in them. I rode with a steady stream of water and dirt splashing into my face – literally eating dirt. If I’d had a little more confidence, I might have allowed a little more space riding through those puddles but I wasn’t about to risk being left behind. The roads were slick and the downhills were the worst. It was on the downhills that I struggled the most to keep up - not having the weight advantage of the guys, I had to go flat out to keep up and the fear factor was very high.
My hands cramped on the handlebars and I had difficulty shifting my big gear with my left hand, which added to the downhill challenge. I thought it was the cold but I had weakness in my hand for couple of days after the ride. Remarkably though, thanks in large part to the Advil, I was otherwise fine.
We made all the stops, however briefly which I was grateful for given I am not coordinated enough to drink or eat while I ride. At one stop I leaned against a flimsy tent post to stretch my cramped legs and as I did, all the rainwater that had collected on the roof of the tent came down as though someone had emptied a big bucket of water onto my head! Ordinarily that would have been very bad but I was already completely soaked and simply couldn’t get any wetter!
Remarkably, my luck held out. We all rolled across the finish line together at 1 pm on Sunday and the shock, disbelief and relief were intense! Everyone who saw me laughed because I looked like a soldier from world war I – covered in dirt. My sister, who rode like a superstar all weekend, was there to see me come in. Joel unfortunately continually underestimated me (thanks honey!) and never saw me ride or finish on either day. Nevertheless, I was so grateful that he dedicated his Father’s Day to being there for me. Waiting for him to arrive, we all huddled together under foil blankets to fight off the chill in our soaking wet gear. It was an incredible high and I still haven’t come down yet!!
I have to say the whole experience was something I will never forget. Thank you all so much for making this journey with me and for all the incredible love you sent my way! Together with your help, I raised a total of $6400 and with the Wedgewood Team we raised about $300,000! The whole event brought in a staggering $9.2 million for Cancer Research in BC! Once again I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to all those who sponsored me, many of whom were sponsoring other riders as well – I am so grateful and humbled by your generosity!! Your support and encouragement are what got me through. I would also like to extend a big thank you as well to the Wedgewood team, my sister Elpie and my husband Joel who helped me prepare for this event. Lastly, I want to thank my two sons, Josh and Elie for encouraging me to do this!
Make no mistake – together we have saved lives and honoured the memory of all those we have loved and lost.
Marousa
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On Friday, November 20 athletes, sponsors and supporters gathered at the Heritage Hall in Vancouver for the 2009 Cycling BC Annual Awards Evening to recognize riders, organizers, coaches and commissaires for their work, achievements and dedication throughout the season.
