Dude's 2012 Ride-2-Survive

[TheRob]

Good luck Mike. I am slightly embarrassed to say it, but you are my hero. You know my story and how I was touched by this disease and it's guys like you that will help to one day get rid of this thing. Maybe one day I'll get off my lazy ass and do something about it too. I will try my best to be in Merritt, but it turns out we'll have some company from out of town here. Not sure I will be able to get away. If I don't, shred the living hell out of the Coldwater Road for me........and my Mom.

Cheers buddy.

 

[Dude]

Good luck Mike. I am slightly embarrassed to say it, but you are my hero. You know my story and how I was touched by this disease and it's guys like you that will help to one day get rid of this thing. Maybe one day I'll get off my lazy ass and do something about it too. I will try my best to be in Merritt, but it turns out we'll have some company from out of town here. Not sure I will be able to get away. If I don't, shred the living hell out of the Coldwater Road for me........and my Mom.

Cheers buddy.

That's a lot to remember: ride 400 KM, shred Coldwater, text Regs, be Rob's hero, don't die. I need some sort of a checklist.

Effing Coldwater...if there is any one section I would remove and gladly never see again, it's Coldwater. "Rob's Mom" has a spot on me the ride this year pal. Don't sweat it if you can't make it.

 

[Rangerforever]

Good luck and kick some ass.

See you at training camp.

 

[Dude]

Good luck and kick some ass.

See you at training camp.

Note to self, add to checklist: Remind Fraser that I will not be at training camp this year, but will accept invitations to drink wine on his deck in Sudden Valley.

 

[Dude]

My now annual follow-up.

I have a lot of people to thank this year for support.

First, the organizers who allowed my wife and son for being part of the
crew this year. After Michael met me up at the Summit last year, he told
me he wanted to volunteer. They haven’t typically allowed pre-teens to
volunteer, but they made an exception for me, so long as his mum was there
to help him. Turns out, Michael didn’t need any help, was super
enthusiastic, and did his part from 2:00 AM right up till we pulled in at
10:35 PM.

This ride may mean more to him than it does to me. He is very close with
his grandfather, who is suffering, and will die sooner than later, from
multiple myeloma. Every year on the Friday night, we have this 2-2.5 hour
meeting where everyone- crew and riders- can stand up and tell everyone
why they do this. In all honesty, it is a gut wrenching meeting I never
look forward to- but it puts it all into perspective, and you leave the
meeting with a newfound motivation you never had before. People pour their
guts out…stories told that will break the hardest individuals. You leave
the place knowing that what you are about to do does make a difference in
others lives, and that 19+ hours and 400KMs is doable.

I’m not saying I cried, but some fcuker was cutting a hell off a lot of
onions around me. Like they have the past three years. Onion cutting
Ninjas. When it came time for my son to speak, I was surprised to see him
stand up. I told him he could pass, but he stood up, and he managed to get
out the words, “My Grandpa has Cancer…”, before he crumpled back down like
the weight of the world was resting on his little shoulders. My wife, in
turn- after seeing my son in so much pain, couldn’t even get a word out,
and had to pass. Bloody hell, I told them this would be hard. I managed to
get my message out this year- amazingly, because all I wanted to do was
hug my boy and assure him it’d be OK. The thing is, it won’t be. His
Grandpa will die soon from this soon, and it will break Michael’s heart.

But…(but they say never to start a sentence with a “but”)…there is
progress being made, and it is due to funds being made available for
research. Funds like the money my sponsors donate…every effing cent,
actually. That is pretty good. In fact, it’s awesome that not one dime,
not a penny, goes towards the R2S overhead.

Maybe one of the proudest moments in my life was when one of my fellow
ride captains got on the radio while we were riding- after a rest stop
somewhere between Penask Summit and Merrit- and said, “Mike Meade, I just
wanted to let you know what a great kid you have there, you should be very
proud.” My son has done some cool things that have made me proud. I’ve
seen him race his bike sick as a dog, and have the mental fortitude- in
a Western National Championship- to block everything out to take the top
spot on the podium. I’ve watched him contribute in very meaningful way to
tournament wins in hockey. I watched him, as a smaller player, stand up
for himself on the ice. I’ve seen the way he treats younger kids at the
BMX track, taking them under his wing, mentoring them. But, this was “the
one” where my heart swelled to the point that the Onion Cutting Ninja
showed up while I was riding. I have never been as proud of my son as I
was at that moment.

My son busted his nuts on Saturday, helping riders wherever he could,
cheering like a kid on crack and Red Bull, and just generally being a very
positive, enthusiastic volunteer that “got it”. He also found time to play
a prank on his dad. He made it his mission to make sure every rider had a
banana in their pocket while leaving every rest stop. He was the banana
king. When I pulled into Hope, he came right up to me: “Banana?”. I
declined on the basis that if I had one more, I would probably puke, 15 on
the day was enough, thanks. As I was pulling out of Hope, I reach into my
back pocket for an electrolyte tab, and had to dig past four bananas to
get to my tabs. Little punk.

Another person to thank- again- is my big sister. Last year she drove
Michael up to see me at the Summit, and this year she drove my daughter
up. She is still too young to volunteer, but she got to see and understand
why dad spends most days on his bike between March and late June. Seeing
her there, and getting a hug was worth all the training.

Second thanks goes to my sponsors, and TTPers in particular. You guys have
supported me four years now- and not lightly, either. The TTP community is
responsible for roughly 80% of all my donations, and you have my eternal
gratitude and respect for that. Thanks so much.

The day…epic. I was woken up at 12:30 Saturday morning to thunder. Long,
rolling thunder. I had to laugh, and went back to a peaceful sleep. 2:00 AM wake-up call, and rain. We rode out in rain, but thankfully, no wind. Rode up the Penask in a fog, but on the other side of the summit, we rode through the coolest cloud separation I’ve ever seen…the type where you see the top where there is blue sky and the road passes through it. Penask summit through to Larson Hill was uneventful, and we actually made great time. From the old toll booth into Hope, pouring rain, and the most harrowing descent I’ve ever made on a road bike. All three lanes were closed for us, and we opened it up. Think about 85 km/h with pouring rain that forms those little sideways rivers on the highway. Crazy shite, and fun as hell.

By the time we rolled into Hope, we were 25 minutes ahead of schedule. It
was sunny now, and we were all getting sun screen and shedding layers for
the final 160 KM stretch on the North side of the Fraser. 10 minutes out
of Hope, we hit a storm. I’ve stolen some words from a fellow rider that
he wrote in one of his blogs:

“Spitting begat showers, showers begat rain, rain begat a torrential flood
of Biblical proportions, and the wind remained strong and gusty; just shy
of sandblasting strength.”

There were literally large branches falling onto the highway that the cops
cleared for us. Luckily, none actually fell on us. It was well and truly
fcuked-up. Once we got past Deroche Hill, the man upstairs finally decided
we’d had enough, and we rode the final 100 KM or so in light wind, nice,
cool temps, and clear skies.

Yellow Mile on Scott Road was something else. Somehow, Delta Police
managed to get an RCMP Helicopter to escort us in. That’s right, a fcuking
helicopter. So cool. We pulled in at about 10:35. We left Hope w/ a 25
minute cushion, and lost 65 in the storm. Brutal.

I managed a beer at the end, a lot of thanks to and from a lot of folks,
home by midnight, asleep by 12:01.

What a day…one I’ll never forget. Health willing, and sanity still in
question, I’ll be back in 2013 for another.

Photos here- hopefully this link works. You should be able to see the dedications you made, if you made some.

Thanks guys.

2012 R2S | Facebook

 

[Bronco]

Just awesome!

 

[Regs]

Well done MM, extremely motivational!!!

 

[johnnybluenose]

Dude, although I have been unable to put any of our charitable funds to your ride (as we have our own thing going with one of my kids) I am constantly astounded/impressed/awestruck/touched every year when you train, raise funds, do the epic ride every year, and then debrief- and it's so cool to see Mini-Dude helping out now. I'm sure it won't be too long till he's on a bike alongside you.

Thoughts and Prayers for Grandpa.
Cancer has touched us all and simply put: You're The Man.:thumbs-up:

Excellent Work!

 

[Walks]

Dude .......... Absolutely outstanding mate.

 

[elbowroom]

Great post Dude, the hills from Harrison to Deroche would have been tough facing the wind. I'm sure it was more fun than doing stationary in Willowbrook.

 

[Rangerforever]

Onion Cutting Ninjas...

Well done sonno.

Our own Aunt Diane has Multiple Myeloma.
So, we thank you for your efforts my friend.

 

[Dude]

Dude, although I have been unable to put any of our charitable funds to your ride (as we have our own thing going with one of my kids) I am constantly astounded/impressed/awestruck/touched every year when you train, raise funds, do the epic ride every year, and then debrief- and it's so cool to see Mini-Dude helping out now. I'm sure it won't be too long till he's on a bike alongside you.

Thoughts and Prayers for Grandpa.
Cancer has touched us all and simply put: You're The Man.:thumbs-up:

Excellent Work!

JBN...absolutely NO WORRIES on the donation front. As I stated in my blurb...everyone has a cause, and we are all pulled in dozens of directions. We have to pick and choose what, if any, we do. What is most important to us and why. If people don't want / can't donate to my cause, no problem. All I ask is for the ability to ask, and that maybe you will read about what we do, and how we go about doing it. It helps to raise awareness, and gets people thinking. I.e.: our single biggest message is the 100% donation thing. It is very important for us that the public understands WHO we are, and WHAT we do, and that NO MONIES raised will go towards overhead. It is a special arrangement R2S has made w/ the Canadian Cancer Society that is unique to our event. It is grassroots, and a labor of love- but not personal profit- for the organizers. This is why we have no advertising. I have tried to get us interviews on the Team 1040...nothing doing. Why? Well, because the Ride-to-Conquer doe pay some pretty big dollars to get their ads in. We don’t have that budget. Never will. What we do have are some very inspiring personal interest stories- like Rich’s- that the local papers tend to pick-up. R2S has no corporate sponsors. We do have companies- usually local mom and pop companies- that will donate food, and get a “thanks” from Kerry at the end of the ride. If you look at our jerseys, not even the brand (Louis Garneau) appears on it. It is the way the R2S organizers have decided to do things…keep it grass-root, keep it small, keep it 100% volunteer driven. Nobody is making money off R2S. The tree hugger in my agrees.

Think about it another way…there is another local charity ride (Ride to Conquer) that has funds going towards Cancer Research. That ride is heavily sponsored by Enbridge, a gas / oil / renewable resource company. Now, I have no real qualms w/ companies like Enbridge. Hell, my company supplies companies like theirs, and I’d be a hypocrite to criticize their public relations campaign. In fact, if I were their director of community relations, I too would attach myself to a “green” endeavor.

The hypocrisy, in my mind, comes in where the charitable organization not only bends over for the big sponsor dollars, but when they run up an overhead that sucks out 50-75% of the monies donated to run the event. Have they lost the plot? Maybe, but they still donate a shite load of money, so??? I also find it ironic that the Ride to Conquer attaches itself to a company that- by nature of their work- is not necessarily “cancer friendly”. I’m not criticizing Enbridge or business for doing what they have to do, but I am questioning weather or not charities like Ride to Conquer are more about the business than about the reason thousands participate in their event- which is to find a cure.

Also, if they will embrace Enbridge as their sponsor, where are the limits? Think about it…if big Tabaco could advertise anymore, don’t you think the'd throw money at something like this until the organizers say “yes”? They used to…with a huge amount of success.

That said, the riders themselves in Ride to Conquer- like R2S- all have their hearts in the right place…so maybe, just for that reason alone, the Enbridge sponsored Ride to Conquer Cancer is good in that it brings out the good in others…and there is nothing negative about that.

OK, off the soap-box.

 

[TheRob]

Amazing job Mike. One word for you:

Hero.

 

[Regs]

Amazing job Mike. One word for you:

Hero.

Yes, that's what I thought of when first seeing the pictures with the baby blue garb and green booties

 

[knvb]

Connie Sellecca tell me you wouldn't 'hit that' back in the day...

 

[Dude]

Connie Sellecca tell me you wouldn't 'hit that' back in the day...

I can't tell you that. I probably still would.

Best. Song. Ever.

 

[Dude]

2013 R2S thread here: http://www.takethepiss.com/forums/c...c-banter/17683-dudes-2013-ride-2-survive.html