damonallen

[damonallen]

Day 15 Levi to Riviere du Loup

Today's ride started with breakfast at Sears and then a dedication read by Mike Leiter about his son Micheal who passed away due to cancer.

He was in his senior year of high school, had just been accepted to College, an Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts of America. He was told he would not live a long life since his form of cancer was so rare in teenagers and treatments are rare. He under went chemo and then tried to have the tumour removed.  Although this was not a cure, it gave Michael more time to live. He graduated high school, but just one week before he started college, he found out his cancer returned and he had even fewer options for treatment. He attended college and took part in clinical trials with very little success. During this time he never stopped living his life. He attended concerts, the beach, hunting and fishing and making the best of everyday. In September 2006 he started turning yellow due to his liver starting to fail, but this still did not stop him from living. He was told he had a month to a month and half to live. He lived every day the best he could with his parents and friends. On November 13, 2006 Michael passed away. Cancer never changed the way Michael lived life, just the time he had to do it in. Today we ride for Michael

We had good day today on the bikes with a nice tail wind we flew! Our average today was 34 km due to city lights and stop signs. Most of the time we were rolling at 40 plus km. Last year the roads were rough, but this time they weren't so bad. We were a hour early so we stopped for ice cream.

We ended at one of my favourite spots on the ride Auberge e la Pointe,  A luxurious hotel and a view of the St Laurence River to die for! This was our menu:

We have a 4 hour shuttle and we lose a hour with the time zone change. We are almost done this wonderful journey only a few days left. To think only 15 days ago I was in Vancouver.

Later

[damonallen]

Day 14 Ottawa to Montreal

Today started with a nice breakfast put on for us by Sears St Laurent. It was followed by a dedication for Tobin, who at the age of two in 2002 started becoming lethargic, had problems walking straight and was vomiting. A CT scan showed a mass on his brain and he was sent to Sick Kids for specialized care to treat a brain tumour. The next day he had an MRI followed by immediate surgery to remove the tumour that had grown to the size of a baseball on his brain. They successfully removed 80% of the tumour and followed with chemo and radiation. His treatment involved stereo-tactic Interstitial Irradiation, a new type of therapy available only at Sick Kids. Tobin was doing well after surgery, but in 2005 the tumour had grown again and surgery was scheduled to remove 98%. He had 18 cycles of chemo over the next year and a half. He resumed all his regular activities of school, baseball and even hockey. However, in June 2009 a routine MRI showed the tumour had grown again, and surgery was scheduled again to remove it completely. Unfortunately they learned it had spread down his spine as well and he would require radiation again. Tobin has had 20 cycles of chemo, 63 radiation treatments, 3 brain surgeries and he has tackled every thing with a positive attitude! In 2012 Tobin had surgery to replace an area of kissing skull. A custom implant was made that covers the full thickness defect resulting from removing his bone flap, which gives his parents more comfort as he enjoys many sports. 

I had a nice surprise today, my sister Tracy showed up to see me off as I continue on my journey. Thank you for taking the time out of your morning to come see me!

We rode a short 6 km to CHEO where we got to see where some of the money we raise goes and to see where the kids with cancer stay during treatments. We also got to meet a little boy named Ollie and his family. Ollie was born with liver cancer and lived though all the odds! He is alive today to inspire us all to carry on what we are doing in the fight against childhood cancer! Ollie’s story is available to view at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1a3SadYQl_A&feature=youtu.be&app=desktop

[damonallen]

Day 13 Pickering To Belleville

It was fun like always, oh the logistics of trying to get from one team to another! Last night at Sick Kids in Toronto we made the switch from Team 2 to Team 1. Thanks to my wife Lisa for driving Eric and myself to Pickering to join Team 1.

Today’s dedication for the ride for Team 1 was to Thomas Martin as we were riding into his hometown of Belleville.

We had to split Team 1 into two teams due to the size. With all the riders that have joined we now had a total of 20 National and rely riders. We split it down the middle 10 each. That ride is always beautiful I have done it many times. As we got closer to Belleville the pace kept getting faster, well as fast as they will let me push it!  We rode 163 km and had fun doing so.

Coming up College St it felt like I was going to work, but this time I was excited about it! Seeing the signs that my kids had made for the team and me along the road and also having them lead us into the parking lot was great! It was also nice see Ed Helmus a past National rider and cancer survivor there to high 5 us all as we rode in!. It was a great reception with lots of people and media coverage. It is always such a rush at the end! So much to do! Shower, eat, be an ambassador and talk to everyone you can. Not much time to spend with the family. We had a few speakers and a then the cheque presentation. I thought it was only going to be enough to push me to the $25000 mark, but to my surprise and thanks to Sears Belleville and the associates that work so hard at fundraising for this event and many others, Kristy presented a cheque for $20,649. !!!!!!!!!!!! Bring my fundraising total to $37907 (to date). Which is so surprising!!!!!!. We have a couple more events planned this year so $40,000 here we come!!!!!! Big thanks goes out to Sears Belleville and Vaughan and all my friends and family for all your donations and support! This event really needs people like you to make it all happen!

I can’t say enough about my co-workers in Sears Belleville, they have the biggest most generous hearts of anyone I know. They are always there to support me, challenge me, encourage me to keep up the fight against childhood cancer! They don’t stop there though! They are champions for any cause they see a need to support!!!! I truly work with the BEST Sears associates in the country!

After all that, it was time to go. The kids were so busy doing things and helping out with the event that it didn't really sink in I was leaving again to finish the ride. I gave them all hugs and kisses. NO tears this time!!! All my son Austin wanted to do was go for a bike ride with me! (Future national rider in training! Father & Son team coming in the future!) So we rode around the parking lot, to where  the vehicle was that we were using to get back to team 2 in Ottawa. We loaded up the truck with the bikes on the back and headed out. It didn't take too long but i was tired from the drive when we got there. We were greeted by the Team 2, had a few drinks and went to bed zzzzzzzzzzzz

Tomorrow we ride to Montreal

Cheers

[damonallen]

Day 12 St Catherine's to Sick Kids in Toronto

Today we ride for the many kids who have or have had cancer.

Today was one of the very special days on SNKCR where I got to ride with friends and family that have helped in the fight along the way! My wife Lisa drove 4 hours to ride her first 126 km at a 30 km speed. I was so proud of her because she was so stressed coming into this thinking that she would slow everyone down! 

This was supposed to be a relaxing ride but with so many stops in the slotted time frame we had to rush a little. This was the first time we have rode this route so again we were blazing new trails. 

The Sears store and the people there were the best on this route! It brought our spirits up and helped us ride hard. At each stop we picked up more riders, but the pace never went down too much.  We had a police escort to Square One which made us feel like heroes, which we are are not. It’s the kids that empower us to keep going, they are the real heroes! 

Riding into Sick Kids in Toronto was awesome too! We heard from a young boy who got hurt in a soccer game and was rushed to the hospital thinking it was just a broken leg only to find out he had cancer. He had his femur replaced with a steel rod. He was told he would never play soccer again but he has just made his school team and was feeling like a kid again!!!! Oh how I can relate to being told you will never be able to do something! 

We drove to Pickering and switched to Team 1 for day 13. We had showers at Good Life and ate supper at Jack Astors. 

We slept in the Pickering Sears store which was nice! Belleville here I come!!!!!!!  

[damonallen]

Day 11 Nairn To Parry Sound

Today started a little later at 6. Got to sleep in 30 minutes more; which you may think is not much more but it’s a lot on this trip! I woke up in the middle of the night and it was teaming out! I just hoped it wasn't when I had to get up and it wasn't. :) We stayed in a parking lot at the Nairn Community Centre, which is hard to find in the dark. Did the SNKCR circle when got there. LOL

Today's dedication was read by Eric about Thomas Martin, a Belleville boy and friend of the family. He was diagnosed with gliomatosis cerebri stage 3 at the age of 9.

It’s a very rare and inoperable brain tumor. Any parent’s worst nightmare. This tumor is in the shape of a spider web and is spread across the entire brain. There is no surgery that can remove it and no treatment that can cure it. With Gliomitosis Cerebri, due to it’s aggressive form usually by the time the patient is diagnosed, the patient has either already passed away or is just months away from doing so.

Up until his diagnosis, Thomas was very much an average boy. He liked music and computer games, ball hockey, and downhill skiing. Thomas loved Lamborghini, his favourite colour was blue, and he was a huge AC/DC fan. You know, a typical 9 year old boy. But Thomas was anything but typical. He seemed to care more for others than for himself. He was the kid who stood up to the bully on someone else's behalf. He was the one who really cared how your day was going, and like so many childhood cancer sufferers, he seemed to have a wisdom, an age beyond his years. Thomas loved school, and even when he was sick, he made it a point to go when ever he could.

Thomas was special, not just in the way that all children are special to their parents, but in a way that states the world needs more Thomas'. His was a voice we could not afford to lose.

On February 29 of this year, a leap day, Thomas earned his wings. A rare boy, with a rare disease, who chose the rarest day on our calendar to make his exit.

NO ONE FIGHTS ALONE!

Today's ride started with tears for me, warm, wet and real rough roads. Blazing new trails again and we only had 60 mins to get 60 km. That wasn't going to happen under those conditions, so we shuttled a little towards Sudbury. We stopped about 10 km from the store and rode into Sears. We were greeted by a few staff members, that gave us snacks and towels to dry off with. Not like in the past years when we were dry coming to their store. 

I think we were about 100 plus km into the ride when we stopped for lunch at The French River Trading Post. The they served us soup and sandwiches. It started to rain just before we got there so we were wet again but not as bad as last year. When we came out the rain had stopped and it was still warm out. We re-grouped, saw we had 66 kms to go and a 32 km shuttle. We talked about it and agreed to ride the rest of the way and not shuttle until we had to. We made it to the last stop at the Bobby Orr Community Centre in Parry Sound. It felt easier than the other days because there were less hills and we didn't really mind the rain until we were about 30 km out and the sky's opened up on us! It still didn't matter, we could see the end and we were wet already. We had a few flats today, two on the bike and one on the van! Which our mechanical Jim Forbes fixed. Man of all trades! Going to miss him as he gets off in Toronto tomorrow.

We are off to St Catharines tonight!

Cheers

[damonallen]

Day 10 Wawa to Sault Ste Marie

Today started with a early wake up because we had to shuttle to breakfast. It was so big I couldn't eat it all! Then we shuttled back to Sears in Wawa where Jim Forbes our bike mechanic read the dedication about a little girl name Katy who had ALL, a form of brain cancer.

Today's ride was the toughest so far. Seemed like we been climbing for days!. It was hard on every ones knees, but that's what we do for the cause. We suffer so kids with cancer someday don't have too! 

We only climbed 1883 meters over the 221 km, but they were longer steeper climbs than yesterday. We had a head wind all day. It was harder to go down hill than to go up at points! We thought we would have to shuttle the last 10 or 20 km, but we all put our heads down and got through it and we were only 3 minutes late!. Even with 2 flats; one of which was mine! We even beat the rain! 

What a awesome team! We got into the Sault and the Sears store fed us and then we showered at Good Life. Our sponsors are the best! We couldn’t do what we do without them!

Tonight we shuttle again to Nairn Centre. A long ride in the RV to our beds and also where we start tomorrow.

Cheers

[damonallen]

Day 9 Thunder Bay to Terrance Bay

Today was a rough start with only 4 hours sleep due to the long shuttle last night. I find it hard to sleep in the moving RV. You feel every bump and turn in the road. Sometimes the rumble strips.

With all that said I struggled to stay awake on the first part of the ride. We rode to my favourite stop on the ride. The Terry Fox Memorial. The man I’ve looked up to from first the time I saw him on TV in 1980 running across Canada for a cause that I knew nothing about. Just to see the man running a marathon everyday after his coach told him it can not be done. Like me I would do it to prove him wrong like he did.

We got to the memorial as the sun was raising up over the sleeping giant in the lake. Graham read a dedication Natasha Gould. So today we rode for Natasha. Today was so heart wrenching because Trevor Crystals last day riding with us and Alexandra our RMT, left the team to go home. It didn't hit me so much about Trevor or anyone leaving until I got on the bike to ride. My eyes started to tear up thinking that our ride boss and fellow rider Trevor was not going to Halifax with me like he has the past 3 times! But he has to return to his real life and fight the fight from there.

We had a tough ride today with wind shifting from every where and the hills. The good old Ontario hills! We broke up the breaks into 76 km stretches to make sure we got the day in. A little harder, but it works.

We had some nice weather after the cold morning start. Also some awesome views. I rode 220 km climbed 2000 meters at 27.7 km and dropped my chain with a 1 km to go.

Another awesome day with a wonderful team!

We are off to Wawa to sleep in the cold like every year.

Good night Cheers

[damonallen]

Day 8 Kenora to Fort Frances

Today started with both teams together in Winnipeg at the Sears store for breakfast. Thank you without them this ride can not happen. 

Team 1 rode from there and we shuttled 2 hours to Kenora; which ended up being longer than it was planned to be. 

Today's dedication read by Peter Cook was about a little boy named Hugh, who on May 1, 2011 at the age of 4 was diagnosed with a rare brain tumour that had a 30% chance of survival. What started off as migraines and double vision ended with him at Sick Kids for multiple tests only to have his parents hear the words "your son has a brain tumour". The following week he underwent a 5 hour surgery to remove 98% of the tumour. That was followed by radiation to "clean up" the remaining cancer. Two weeks after surgery he was back playing in the yard, even though he still had to go back to Sick Kids monthly for chemotherapy and follow ups. In February 2012 he received the news he was in remission and started grade 1

We rode 28 km to a construction zone; which turned into gravel. So we shuttled the rest of the 46 km to the next stop. Then we rode 76 km to lunch. Tough day all head wind and hills. Typical Ontario! After a short lunch we only had 2.5 hours to ride the 74 km; which we knew wasn't going to happen, but we were going to give it our best shot. As we were riding today we got stopped by the police for riding 2 a breast. They said we were riding unsafe and had to ride single file. They were nice about, but it didn't help with the wind. They understood why we were doing it, but said the highway was not safe enough for us to ride that way! We rode single file until we ran out of time to ride and had to be shuttled to our showers and then to the best meal on this ride!!!. Tess’ Kitchen in her home now! The food was SO GOOD and we were stuffed. Now we are shuttle 4 hours to our bed in Thunder Bay!

Cheers

[damonallen]

Day 7 Caryle to Glenboro

Today started rather briskly after a cold night sleeping in the trailer. Nicole Currie from Sears opened her home again to feed us and a dedication by Nicole's niece MacKenize for her best friend Seanna. She had a brain tumour and earned her wings at the age 7 in 2015. Today we ride for Seanna!

Today I had a rough ride.  25 km into the ride I almost got off the bike because my knee was hurting from riding in the cold that morning.

We rode into Redvers, one of my favourite stops on the ride! A few kms from Redvers there was a fire truck on the side of the road. It pulled out in front of us and created a perfect draft for us to roll easily into town. Lights flashing and sirens blaring we rolled into town.  We had lunch at the local Sears store and as in other years the whole school lined up along the street waiting for us with outstretched hands reaching for high fives as we rode by them!    

I got our RMT Alexandra to work on me after visiting with the school. I sat in the RV for 20 km and was not happy about it, but she got my knee feeling good enough to jump back on the bike before the next school stop in Fillmore. That stop was just as good as Redvers, but no fire truck to follow at 33 km without having to pedal. We had to shuttle 30 or so km today to make one of stops. After that we stayed on track and got the day done in good time. The last 30 km we wanted to get it done so we ramped it up to 35 to 45 km. It is always fun to go fast. 

We ended in Glenboro where we ate and showered at a camp site. First 2 guys had hot showers, mine was cold. Fastest shower ever! Felt good on the knee though.

2 hour shuttle to Winnipeg where we sleep at Sears Canada Inc. With team 1.

[damonallen]

Day 6 Regina to Caryle 200km

Today started with a nice breakfast put on by the Sears Home Store in Regina. Followed by a dedication read by Graham Tait one of my follow riders about a little guy named Liam, who at the age of 3 1/2 years old was diagnosed with a 4 cm brain tumour.

He had always been a picky eater, but he began getting so worked up and upset he vomited afterwards and it became more frequent. After several months, many tests, a CT scan revealed a brain tumour.

He was immediately admitted to the children's hospital that day and the neurosurgeon cleared her schedule for a marathon surgery the next day. It took weeks following the surgery before Liam was able to walk on his own without falling. He had damage to his vocal cords and couldn't swallow and had to be tube fed for 10 months. All this followed by central lines, lumbar punctures, MRIs, chemo, radiation, etc. He underwent 6 rounds of chemo and 3 stem cell transplants and in total he spent 86 nights in the Alberta children's hospital, and 3 months staying close by the hospital. An MRI after the first two months showed a spot which was a possible re occurrence. Liam underwent a second craniotomy to remove it.

What Liam went through for the year of treatment is hard to imagine. Liam just turned 6 years old and is a happy and healthy boy!

Now that you are crying, like we all did this morning.

The ride from Regina to Caryle was a little tougher after the 315 km ride yesterday, but we got though with the help of a few schools we met along the way today. The last 50 km was the toughest as we fought a cross wind all day. A few of the team member's knees are getting a little sore. Mine was killing me on the last straight, but there was no way I would stop! It wasn't so much the riding it was the yo yo that happens when we speed up and slow down and speed up again all of a sudden. We ended at the Sears store in Caryle and Nicole a lady that works at the store opened her house to us for showers and one lovely meal :)

I'm tired! I think the time change is catching up to me, so I think I might crash early tonight. zzzz

230 km tomorrow on our way to Winnipeg.

Cheers

[damonallen]

Day 5 Saskatoon to Regina

Today we rode for Lily and Mason. 

Lily is 12, in grade 6 and a survivor! She was 2 when she was diagnosed with bone marrow cancer. She spent over a year in the hospital and her family had to move from Saskatoon to Winnipeg as there was no pediatric hospital in Saskatoon. But that is changing, they are 25% complete on the build. 

Mason was just diagnosed in August with AML and has completed his first round of chemo and starting his second round. They are staying at Ronald McDonald house while he receives treatment. Mason was shy but his fighting spirit was there and we carried him with us all day.

We rode our longest day of the ride today, 316 km. It started with a 5:45 with a wake up breakfast by the lovely Sears store in Saskatoon. We are blazing new trails for SNKCR these pass 2 days. We had a few issues starting and ended up doing a few circles before getting on track. We had a cross wind, but once we got everything figured we got rolling nicely. 

The last 100 km we had a nice tail wind; which helped us get to our destination before dark. 10 hours & 316 km at avg of 32 km.

We were greeted at the end by the lovely Sears Home Store in Regina. They fed us and let us sleep in the store. Tomorrow we ride 200 km from Regina to Carlyle.

Cheers

[damonallen]

Day 4 Edmonton to Lloydminster

Today we rode for Justus a young lady that is now a cancer survivor after 2 brain surgeries! We’ve got give Sears Edmonton a big THANK YOU for letting us sleep inside and for the breakfast too at 5 am!

Today we rode 271 km at 35.5 km in nice weather. We rode awesome as a team today and had a really nice tail wind.

We had some flat tires and mechanical problems and are keeping our mechanic Jim Forbes busy keeping us on the road. It was nice to travel through the prairies with little to no climbs. We have a 4 hour shuttle to our bed tonight. We are on our way to Saskatoon.

311 km to ride tomorrow 5 am comes too soon!

Cheers

[damonallen]

Day4

[damonallen]

Day 3

Today started with a shuttle to Lake Louise for photos. It’s always a great time meeting up with the other team and sharing stories! 

Today we dedicated the ride to Simon Steel who passed away at the age of 17 yrs old. Just a year after his diagnoses. :( Simon’s parents are volunteers this year. 

It was cold start 3 degrees! I had every piece of riding gear I owned on and 2 pairs of socks. Still cold but not wet! 

We climbed to the first break today, than a nice decent, but not as cold as yesterday. We got a nice tail wind most of the day. At times we were rolling at 40 to 45 km on flats! 

Climbed well as a team and helped each other out as we went up. We had a chance to open it up and race to some spots. We finished, shuttled to showers and supper at Rocky Mountain House. Was one hell of a day! Best Day so far!

Tonight we go to Edmonton, where we start from tomorrow. A nice 266 km ride. (Can you see my smile?)

[damonallen]

Day3

[damonallen]

Day 2

Golden to Lake Louise is today's ride. It was dedicated to Ben,  a little boy that lost his battle to cancer. We started with a little shuttle to Quinn Creek and had a 60 km warm up at 33 km avg. to Radium where we had lunch and listened to music. They are so kind to us! Then we had a 12 km climbs up Mountain Olive where we climbed at our own pace. Mine was 16.1 km. First to the top! Doesn’t really mean anything but it felt good. We climbed all day. 2100 meters. The team worked well together. We are starting to get our beat. Tomorrow we ride from Lake Louise to Rockie Mountain House 201 km. Time to get some sleep

[damonallen]

Cold and wet 6 degrees and raining. the descents are so cold. Let's just climb hills all day. Had to shuttle to get warm and back on schedule.