Fall 2013 www.knbc.ca

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President’s Message Fall Newsletter 2013 Tim Sparling

Sad to say that the end of the cycling season is rapidly

approaching (for most of us). We have had some

wonderful fall weather this month and hopefully it

will last at least until the end of our programmed rides

on 26 October. I regret I have not been able to ride

much this year and have thus missed the opportunity

to meet many of our new members. I hope you have

enjoyed your experience with the Club. We will, of

course, continue to ride until the weather forces us off

the roads. All rides after 26 October will be

announced in Bike Shorts.

We have had a full year of cycling with 121

programmed rides at all speed levels, as well as a

number of opportunity rides which were announced in

Bike Shorts. The one challenging area was a lower

number of weekend away trips this year. Three that

did occur were very successful – thanks to Tom

Seniuk for the Lake Placid trip in May, to Joanne

Boisjoli for the trip to Merrickville on the long

weekend in May and also to Barrie Kirk for the great

weekend in Prince Edward County in August.

Hopefully there will be others who will volunteer to

lead similar outings next year. If you think you might

like to do so, but are not sure how to go about it,

please do not hesitate to contact our Tour Director,

Tom Seniuk, or Tom Wiley, who will be glad to give

you some advice and help with route planning. We

actually have some suggestions in our catalogue.

Remember that the Club is prepared to help defray the

costs of scouting such trips.

By my rough count we have had 27 different tour

leaders this year. Thanks to each and every one of

them. We cannot have a cycling season without these

volunteers. While 27 is a healthy number, we are still

relying on a group of about ten to lead most of the

rides. I strongly urge all members of the club to

consider leading a day tour. We will have tour leader

training in the spring and we also have a mentoring

system to assist new tour leaders as well as a superb

library of proven rides on our web site. Other things

accomplished this year:

* A full slate of social events (Thanks Dave

Audette)

* A St. John Ambulance First Aid course was

held exclusively for members of the Club (Thanks

Barrie Kirk).

* A full slate of CANBIKE II courses held

throughout the summer exclusively for KNBC

members. The course is open to all members and is

highly recommended by those who have taken it.

(Many thanks to Monna.)

* Had fun!

The Executive have noted that the problem of speed

creep has not yet been solved. We are going to discuss

this issue again at our next Executive meeting on 21

October, and plan to address it at the AGM. If you

have any thoughts on how we can curb this problem,

please get in touch with one of the members of the

Executive. Our e-mail addresses are all listed in the

Members Only section on the web site. We recognize

that this is a problem which must be fixed.

The AGM will be occurring on Monday 4 November

at Biagio’s on Richmond Rd. We plan to have the

food start at 6:15 pm with the meeting getting

underway sharp at 7:00. The agenda will be posted on

the web site as will most of the documents which will

be discussed at the meeting.

I hope you all have enjoyed your rides with the Club

this year. I look forward to seeing you at the AGM

and in the saddle next spring.

Tim

For additional information please contact

info@knbc.ca. All current members will receive

event information in the club’s weekly Bike Shorts

emails.

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St. John Ambulance First Aid Course Barrie Kirk barrie.kirk@gmx.com

Given the size of KNBC and the amount of biking we

do, accidents are unfortunately inevitable. Most

accidents that club members have are thankfully

minor, but there have been some major accidents both

on KNBC rides and on rides outside the club. And, of

course, accidents and illnesses can happen anywhere,

anytime, not just when we are biking.

In May of this year, KNBC organized a private

version of the St. John Ambulance (SJA) Emergency

First Aid, CPR and Automatic External Defibrillator

(AED) course. 15 KNBC'ers (including 11 tour

leaders) attended the course held at the SJA building

near Hunt Club and Prince of Wales.

The course squeezed a lot of information into a 1-day

course. The basic objectives for the first-aider are to

preserve life, prevent further injury or illness, and to

promote recovery. The course included:

Roles and responsibilities

Casualty management - unresponsive

Casualty management - responsive

Adult resuscitation (cardiovascular

emergencies, strokes, CPR/AED and choking)

Medical emergencies (diabetes, seizure,

asthma, anaphylaxis)

Severe bleeding and wounds (concentration

on what cyclist are most likely to encounter)

Bone & joint injuries (clavicle/shoulder,

lower arm/wrist, open lower leg and ankle)

Heat and cold illnesses and injuries

The course included a lot of hands-on exercises to

help ensure that we understood. It is interesting: you

listen to the instructor and you think you understand

what to do, but when you actually try to do it, you

realize that you don’t understand it as well as you

thought. We all took turns being the patient and the

first-aider – as the photos with this article show.

Not only does the first aid course teach you how to

treat people who are injured or ill, but there is also a

module on how to manage an accident scene, which is

especially important for tour leaders.

Here are a few things that I found particularly

interesting.

Make sure you are up to date with your

Tetanus and Hepatitis B shots. Road rash can

lead to Tetanus.

The first aider should (wherever possible)

enlist the help of others – and ask them to

report back afterwards.

If the patient is conscious, getting consent to

help him/her is vital. We must also respect a

“no”. If the patient is unconscious and/or

there is no response, there is implied consent.

One of the potentially most useful modules

was on CPR. The club is lucky that nobody

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has had a heart attack during a club ride, but it

is always possible. By learning what to do,

we can help until the paramedics arrive – and

maybe even save a friend’s life.

At the end of the course, there was a short exam.

Everybody passed and received their certificate which

shows that we are all qualified in first aid for three

years.

There were two interesting postscripts to the first aid

course. A few days after the course, I was having

lunch with my wife Carol and she choked on her

food. She went red, could not breathe, and started to

panic. I did exactly what our instructor taught us and

used the “abdominal thrust” technique. It

worked. Carol took a deep breath and started to

breathe normally. Emergency over!

Another incident shortly after the course was when

Surinder’s wife cut herself badly while preparing

food. Surinder used his new-found skills to look after

his wife and the nasty wound before taking her to

hospital for treatment.

Accidents and illnesses can happen at any time and

you never know when you might need to help

someone. The next time KNBC offers a first-aid

course, I strongly recommend that you sign up –

especially if you are a tour leader.

Can-Bike II

Monna-Leigh McElveny

CAN BIKE 2 - Why!?

When someone first suggested that taking the CAN

BIKE 2 training course would be a great idea – I

remember my first reaction was WHY? Feeling rather

competent on the bike – and - having been a safety

professional for National Defence for over 15 years –

what did I need to learn!?

I was sadly mistaken – I came away with numerous

“tools for the toolbox” – and - due to the infrequency

of the city offered course, I subsequently volunteered

to become accredited to be able to train club members

so they too could benefit - but - at our convenience.

The course runs three evenings, the first focusing

entirely on theory with the next two putting it in

practice. The bottom line - is learning where to be on

the road with regards to the traffic around you and

more importantly why you should be there. Eighty

percent of bike/car accidents occur at intersections –

so it is vital to fully comprehend proper bike

positioning. The wrong choice when turning with

traffic, i.e a cement truck, can be deadly.

Understanding the rules goes a long way in providing

both competence and confidence. Although the

theory is pretty dry stuff – everyone agreed how

important it was – and took lots away from it.

All in all – six serials have been given with a total of

26 participants being trained.

I anticipate offering the same schedule of training

next year – so – if you would like to feel a bit more

confident and competent – come on out – you won’t

regret it – and I guarantee – you will learn something

to keep you safer on the road.

Fall 2013 www.knbc.ca

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KNBC’ers IN SUNNY NOVA SCOTIA

Jim Cale

Carole, Odette, Jim & Mary

In many ways this was a trip home for me and a

chance to do something that illness made me give up

last year – Bike the Cabot Trail one more time! I,

Odette, Carole, JoJo, Mary and Elly left Ottawa on

July 31st for a cycling trip in various parts of Nova

Scotia. After a 2 day drive we joined 26 cyclists from

around Nova Scotia, Ontario, Iowa and California for

a 4 day trip around the Cabot Trail, extremely well

organized by Velo Cape Breton. The Cabot Trail is a

loop of about 300 km with four major hills and lots of

others. We rode between 70 and 80 km per day

starting and ending at the Gaelic College just outside

of Baddeck and overnighting at Margaree Harbour,

Pleasant Bay and Ingonish. We will be giving more

information on this trip at the Winter Social, so for

now I will just say that we were with a terrific and

very friendly bunch of cyclists (is there any other

kind??), saw spectacular scenery, stayed in some

interesting places, had fantastic meals, left with many

fond memories and most importantly we conquered

the hills! Odette even conquered the down hills. And

to top it off, the weather was perfect. Although this

was to be my last Cabot Trail ride, I think that I may

have one more Cabot Trail in me - perhaps on my

75th!

Jojo, Mary & Odette

After the Cabot Trail, the 6 of us drove to Louisbourg.

We decided to take the next day off and visit the

Fortress which is a National Historic Site. As well as

learning a lot about the history of the fortress, its role

in the wars between England and France and daily life

in that period we learned of the importance to

gentlemen of well-turned calves. (Ask Mary!). We

were joined by two friends of mine from Halifax for a

ride around Marion Bridge and Mira Bay, where

coincidentally another friend of mine has a summer

home. We stopped for coffee but were met with

shrimp, cheese, BBQ chicken, dips of all sorts, ice

cold water and gator aid – talk about Maritime

hospitality! The following day we left Louisbourg and

en-route to Antigonish cycled about 65k around

Boularderie Island, again with my friends from

Halifax.

The next part of our trip consisted of a day cycling the

Cape George loop, otherwise known as the mini

Cabot Trail. This was our only rain day and after a

long, wet morning we found a seafood place on a

harbour in the middle of nowhere where we ate

wonderful fish and chips, chowder and the nicest

calamari that I have tasted for a long time.

Unfortunately as we were returning to Antigonish a

front came through with strong winds and heavy gusts

blowing right into us. So we were pretty well pooped

by the time we got back. Not JoJo though as she took

the day off to contribute to the economy of

Antigonish. She didn’t even get the rain!

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Jojo

We then spent two days in New Glasgow, followed by

two days in Amherst where we did hub and spoke

rides around each area including visits to the beach,

lots more great lunches and seaside scenery. Our last

day of cycling on the trip turned out to be 120k and

took us around the northwest coast of Nova Scotia

through Tidnish and up to Pugwash – a beautiful ride

with a nice tailwind and lovely weather. But as Carole

kept reminding us, this tailwind would be a headwind

going back. Unfortunately, it wasn’t just a gentle

headwind. By then it was blowing hard with strong

gusts and we had 45k to go! But we made it, getting

back to the hotel about 6PM. The following morning

we drove to Joggins for a tour of the fossil cliffs and

then began our two day drive home. In all we had 10

cycling days and for those who opted for biking

versus shopping, did 800k. All in all, a great trip –

good food, good scenery, good cycling and good

friends.

One Day in France, 2013 – June 24th

,

Barcelonnette to Roure

Tom Seniuk

This year, ten of us—me & Caroline, Dave C &

Linda, Michael, Barry, Rick, Mark, Mesfin and

Carole planned our most ambitious trip to France yet:

Cycling nearly the entire length of the Route des

Grandes Alpes, beginning with two days in the Jura

Mountains.

As has become a bit of tradition in these newsletters,

below is a detailed account of one particularly

memorable day on our now third annual cycling trip

to France this year in June. For the complete story,

consult the trip blog at:

http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-

blog/timsparling/3/tpod.html.

My plan after breakfast at hotel Cheval Blanc in

Barcelonnette was to ride in the van with Caroline as

she took Dave & Linda back to Briançon to pick up

their rental car which they will use to return to Lyon

tomorrow and fly home early. On the way, I could get

dropped off in Guillestre where Caroline had set up a

picnic lunch stop the day before, and I struggled and

failed to find a solution to a recurring problem with

punctures on my rear wheel (turned out the rim tape

had failed; I fixed it at the hotel in Barcelonnette). I

then finished that day's route, then continued on this

day's planned route.

First order of business: The 19-km climb of Col de

Vars. Everyone else did this one the day before:

Mesfin at Col de Vars, with his Bushtukah water

bottles, on June 23rd

Having been up and down this climb a few times in

the van, I knew what to expect in terms of the

changing grade, including the one kilometre with a

rare negative slop. I should have taken a photo of the

marker on that stretch but didn’t (there are roadside

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markers every kilometre on important climb telling

you the elevation, average slope of the next kilometre,

and how much further to the top.) It was another

beautiful day and by now this was just another routine

1000 m climb that I banged out without any trouble.

By this point in the trip, I had ridden myself into

much better shape that I started with. We all had.

Down the other side, I passed through Jausiers. This

is the town where the climb to Col de la Bonette

starts. Everyone else decided to abandon the planned

route to Roure today, which had three fairly

substantial climbs, in favour of the road up and over

this col instead. It was a bit shorter with only one

climb, albeit a BIG one:

Mesfin at the sign in Jausiers that points to La

Bonette.

The claim to being the highest road in Europe is a bit

dubious, depending on how you define it. But at 23

km long and with about 1600 m of elevation gain

topping out at 2802 m, it is the highest paved through

route in the Alps.

I continued on to Barcelonnette, but ran into a

problem just south of town. The road up to Col de la

Cayolle was under construction. Judging from the

sign, it might have been possible for cyclists to get

through but it would have taken me another 10 km to

find out. Since I really didn't want to risk riding an

extra 20 km for no reason on a day that was already

going to be pretty long, I rolled back to Barcelonnette,

grabbed my jacket out of the luggage which was still

at the hotel, then returned to Jausiers and started the

climb to La Bonette like the others.

Considering that this col isn't anywhere near as well

known as the other very high ones like Galibier and

Iseran, I was expecting a glorified cow path to the top.

Instead, the road surface was excellent all the way up

and the lower stretches even had a dedicated bike lane

like some other well-known climbs we’d done before,

such as Mont Ventoux. But there were no kilometre-

by-kilometre signs (until I went over the top; they're

on the other side).

Even though I already had ridden 60+ km including

the climb of Col de Vars before starting this monster,

I was chewing it up pretty good. Caroline came by in

the van with the luggage on the way to Roure when I

was about 3 km from the top.

There was the usual collection of people, motorcycles,

bicycles and a few cars as we’ve come to expect at the

top of big cols like La Bonette, at just over 2700 m

elevation. There is an additional ring road around the

Cime de la Bonnette that tops out at about 2800 m,

but due to the snow it was only accessible by

pedestrians and cyclists.

There is still plenty of snow (and cold!) at these

elevations, even at this time of year:

Mesfin & Mark at the side of the road close to the top

of La Bonette

Just as I was about to start up this last, steep kilometre

to the top, I saw Dave and Linda coming down. They

had followed through with their plans to drive back to

Barcelonnette from Briançon, pick up their bikes, and

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ride this col before travelling to Lyon for their flight

home tomorrow. They were surprised to see me, then

I explained the change in plans before snapping their

photo:

Dave & Linda at La Bonette (2700 m)

A nice Lithuanian family snapped my picture at the

marker at the top of La Bonette, but one of the better

photos from the group at this point is of Michael:

Michael at the top of La Bonette (2800 m)

The descent from La Bonette is an amazing run-out.

Not far from the top are the abandoned ruins of Camp

des Fourches, followed eventually by the spectacular

and beautiful steep, green walls of the Gorges de

Valabres. By the turn onto D30 near St-Sauveur-sur-

Tineé for the final 9 km (climb!) to Roure, the

distance from the top of La Bonette was 54.5 km and

the elevation drop was 2225 m.

It was around 7pm when I reached St-Sauveur-sur-

Tinée so I hit the gas the best I could to get to Roure

for dinner. I still had some left in the tank and

finished strong. My numbers for today: 150 km, over

3400 m of climbing (very slight net elevation gain on

the day, about 50 m), average speed 18.8 km/h. Yeah,

baby! I really killed it. Caroline thought I was a half-

bubble off plump when I rolled up to the van and did

a short shadow-boxing routine.

Roure is a beautiful perched village and our hotel

here, Auberge Le Robur, takes full advantage of it.

The view out of the dining room window, and our

guest room window, and likely all windows in this

property, is amazing:

The view of the valley below the perched village of

Roure.

The view from the dining room is matched by the

food in the dining room. The remaining eight of us

chose the 5-course dinner option and it was worth all

€38. Thanks Steve for lining this place up for us.

You would have been thrilled to experience it.

It started with an amuse bouche of gazpacho made

with green peas and sweet pickled radish:

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amuse-bouche at dinner at Auberge Le Robur

...followed by a cheese course, then a custard with

cheese and mushrooms, a fish and lima bean plate, a

roasted pigeon main course, and finally an interesting

version of black forest cake for dessert:

Caroline with dessert at Auberge Le Robur, and Rick

This was by far the most memorable meal we had the

entire trip.

Special thanks today to Caroline. She did a LOT of

driving, much of it up and down narrow winding

roads infested with motorcycles, to get everybody and

everything delivered to their destinations.

Prince Edward County, Civic Holiday

Weekend

Murray Gordon

Civic Holiday weekend, sixteen of us, based in Picton

and led by Barrie Kirk, explored the south side of “the

County.” Our longest day was barely 70 km, but

Quinte’s Isle begs you to take the time to soak up its

beauty and serenity.

The Ride

Day One: Southwest on what can be very busy roads

to the fabled sandbanks. We crossed the top of Athol

Bay, then turned back inland through Cherry Valley,

Milford and Black River. Good roads, not too busy,

and fairly flat, but we had to negotiate a hill after ice

cream at Black River!

Day Two: West on Hwy 33, through Bloomfield and

Wellington, then looping north to Casa Dea winery on

Greer Rd. A meander along Closson Rd. brought us

onto busy CR 1, but a stretch with good shoulders.

Back through Bloomfield again to Picton. Once more,

roads pretty good and route fairly flat.

Day Three: Followed Hwy 33 along the eastern

peninsula (although some felt the call of the shops to

be stronger than the call of the road).

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Near the Glenora ferry, we left the main highway and

followed CRs 7 and 8 around the end of the peninsula

- these roads are fairly quiet with some hilly sections,

a good place to “give your horse its head” - and back

into Picton.

The Sights

There is so much to see, but some highlights, in no

particular order:

The sandbanks: You cannot visit the County without

taking off your shoes and socks to stroll the miles of

sand and surf.

Prince Edward County Lavender: The lavender was

past its purple best for this year, but still fragrant.

Early Sunday morning, the quirky Bloomfield Bicycle

Co. was already alive with activity. Amid a clutter of

bikes, oppressively hot in summer, it is a wonderful

resource: there isn’t a County road they don’t know.

Lake on the Mountain: A just reward for riding up the

hill. The view high above the ferry crossing Adolphus

Reach is a bonus.

County Cider Co.: The cider alone – try the ice cider –

is worth the stop, but the view of Prince Edward Bay

makes you want to stay a while.

Wine

If you want to make friends on a County bike trip,

bring panniers! You will want to buy wine and cider.

So will other people whose bikes are too delicate and

packs too dainty for cargo.

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We visited Long Dog and Casa Dea, the latter

producing a delightful Charmat Method sparkling

wine, but the most interesting winery was not on the

itinerary.

Bonnie, Lesya and I went back to Huff Estates, which

piqued our interest as we passed by earlier. It’s not

just wine. We lucked into the opening of a new

exhibit at its Oneo Gallery, with artists and hors

d’oeuvres, but its fascinating collection of outdoor

sculptures was worth being late for dinner!

Dining

Fast food is available, but thankfully, charming

independent establishments predominate. Whether it

was lunch at the Milford Bistro or dinner at the classy

Waring House, the menus often feature local produce

and County wines. In the County, however, be

prepared to take your time over a meal.

Summation

As we lingered over Monday’s lunch at County Cider,

I could sense a reluctance for the weekend to end.

This truly enjoyable weekend was owed, in no small

part, to Barrie’s planning and attention to detail! His

choices of routes, sights to see, and restaurants were

superb. On a personal note, as a relative newcomer to

the club, it was a great way to meet people. I came

away from the weekend feeling that I belonged in

KNBC.

Barrie, wherever you decide to go next year, sign me

up!

Photos by Bonnie Tobin, Janet Clark, Peter Blancher,

Nancy Chalut and Murray Gordon

The Italian Adventures of the Three (Lady)

Musketeers

Carole Laflamme

I t was fun !

T otally awesome !!

A lways discovering new sights !!!

L oads of handsome Italians !!!!

Y ou should have been there !!!!!

On August 15th, Sue Potvin, Monna-Leigh

McElveny and I flew to Rome with the three

mandatory B’s: our bikes, our bikinis and our big

smiles. A three-hour bus ride took us to Teramo, 10

kilometers from our destination: the remote village of

Valle San Giovanni. It had a few houses, a church,

many barking dogs (mostly at night ), a little store

that carried tomatoes, toilet paper and wine (what else

do you need) ? Thank God for that wine!

Oh and let’s not forget Bar 90 where Monna

and Sue got their daily morning cappuccinos. The

owner Francesca, a kind motherly mama, supposedly

makes the best in Italy! Way before our 15-day stay

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was over; most of the locals had become family.

That’s what you call good old-fashioned Italian

hospitality.

Each day took us to a different destination:

sometimes to picturesque perched villages such as

Castelli, Isola and Civitella, other days to towns along

the beautiful Adriatic Sea like Giulianova and

Pescara, where Sue worked on evening out her tan

lines.

When returning to our 3-bedroom house in

Valle San Giovanni, we always stopped at Bar 90

where Francesca or her gorgeous son Felipe served us

“Italian birra” and the most delicious gelato this side

of the Atlantic.

Monna, Carole & Sue

Now, in case you did not know, there are no

female cyclists in Italy, so when the three of us graced

the roads of this great country, we got a lot of

enthusiastic “Buongiorno!” and “Ciao Bellas!” from

young Italian cyclists. One day, when all three of us

inadvertently wore pink outfits, we almost caused an

accident when a club of Italian cyclists cranked their

heads, dropped their jaws and simply said “WOW!”

Of course, we smiled and waved, because it felt so

good to pretend we were 29 again!!!

On three occasions, we had locals offer their

services to guide us on elaborate circuits which

included without fail hills, hills and more hills. But

what spectacular vistas! Well worth the hard work and

abundant sweat!!! Plus, what a pleasure to follow fit,

energetic Italians like Elario, Pierro and Lorenzo.

A little anecdote: on our 14th day in this tiny

village of Valle San Giovanni, after a big going-away

supper in our honor, our cycling friend Pierro

mysteriously tells us to follow him. He takes us to this

cave (no joke, it was literally “a cave”) where we

discover a partying team of at least 20 soccer players.

Talk about a hidden treasure!!! We are greeted by a

resounding cheer! Pierro introduced us and we are

served cake and a wonderfully sweet drink called

Lemoncello. Later on, walking back to our home,

Monna exclaimed: “We’ve been here for two weeks.

Where the hell were all these guys hiding?”

………In retrospect, perhaps it was for the best…….

Our Italian adventure culminated with a 4-day

holiday (off our bikes) in Rome where we visited the

amazing Pantheon and Coliseum, got utterly &

completely lost in the Roman Forum, were blessed by

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12

the Pope at the Vatican, explored immense parks,

gardens and museums (including the incredibly

breath-taking Gallery Borghese), threw our coins in

the beautiful Trevi Fountain (to ensure our return to

Rome) and immersed ourselves in the fabulous night

life of this magical city.

So to make a long story short, we cycled, we

hiked, and we cycled some more, we swam in the

“Mare”, we walked on the beach, we cycled still

more, we sun-bathed (well Monna and Sue did… I

read in the shade), we body-surfed in the Adriatic, we

cycled again, we ate lots of pasta and gelato & drank

lots of good wine and oh did I mention that we cycled

a lot? (That’s what we came to Italy for after all!

……… Or is it?)

In between, we met a ton of people with

hearts of gold, we became the highlight of a tranquil

tight-knit community, we learned a bit of Italian (such

a warm, sexy, colourful language) and we now have

an Italian family that will always welcome “The 3

Canadian Girls” back to “Sunny Italia” with open

arms… What more could we ask for?

Ride to Turn the Tide

Nancy Hough

The 2013 Ride to Turn the Tide is now in the history

books, and it was another successful and inspiring

experience. We had good weather Thursday and

Friday, although we did battle significant head winds

all three days. Our support team of four was

phenomenal and along with them, 22 cyclists

including the following KNBC members: Christine

Walton, Mary Aaftink, Lina Woods, Stella Val, Susan

Monaghan, Ute Webb, Wendy Richardson, John

Kim and Nancy and Paul Hough. The ride raised over

$45,000 and counting!

So was it all hard work? Not at all! We were

superbly and generously hosted by other granny

groups in Almonte, Perth, Merrickville and Metcalfe -

this was not a low cal tour! Each group fed us a

variety of healthy foods, and then out came the

deserts........ There was also some awareness

raising: Dr. John Kim, a research scientist for

HIV/AIDS, gave an informative talk to our group and

our hosts in Metcalfe about his work as head of the

National HIV and Retrovirus Laboratory of the Public

Health Agency of Canada. And our cycling jersey

caught the eye of several people along the route and

we were able to fill them in on the grandmothers to

grandmothers’ campaign and the Stephen Lewis

Foundation. Clive Doucet, author and past City

Council member, was also a cyclist and we're looking

forward to whatever he writes about his experience.

Our efforts would all be for naught if there weren't

people like you who so generously supported our

cyclists. You helped me reach my goal, and I wanted

to reiterate my sincere thanks. Speaking as a cyclist it

was a blast; as a grandparent, it was an important

event to be part of; as an individual it was gratifying

to have such generous support; and as an organizer, it

is great to have the Ride behind me for another year!

Fall 2013 www.knbc.ca

13

Roly & Beverly Compete Cross Canada Trip

Roly Mailloux

The following is a quote from the book called "From

Sea to Shining Sea" by Patti Kagawa:

"Canada is a vast country, full of wondrous sights and

inspiring people. It may take a while but if you have

the time, cycling is an ideal way to travel and view the

country at ground level (literally). Cycling into a town

loaded down with panniers is a great conversation

starter, in any language. Luckily, English across the

country is the same (except for accents) and if you

find a French ambassador or if you remember even a

bit of that old high school French, you can survive in

Québec and other French-speaking areas. Canadians

across the land are friendly, curious, helpful,

empathetic and hospitable."

And in the words of my partner, Beverly, who stuck

by me through thick and thin and gave me the courage

to complete this amazing journey:

"Well we finally made it to St. John's NL. Yay.

Thank you to Aaron Brownlee for planting the seed of

cycling across Canada. Thanks to everyone who put

us up or put up with us. We appreciate the hospitality

of family, friends and the kindness of strangers. I can

hardly believe our journey has come to an end. In the

end I have come to realize that we live in a beautiful

country. Last of all I would like to thank my best

friend and sidekick Roly Mailloux for sharing this

journey with me XOX"

2012 Part I Vancouver, BC to Trois-Rivieres, QC

Total number of days = 84

Total number of nights camping = 17

Total number of days cycling = 66

Total number of rest/sick days = 18

Total cycling kms = 5467

Average kms cycled per day = 83

2013 Part II Trois Rivieres, QC to St Johns, NL

Total number of days = 48

Total number of nights camping = 5

Total number of days cycling = 34

Total number of rest days = 13

Total cycling kms = 2514

Average kms cycled per day = 74

Total kms cycled coast to coast = 7,981.

From the Editor

A big thank you to all newsletter contributors.

Ken Vachon

E-mail KNBC Newsletter Editor