Fiona McKnight - 2011 SNKCR National Rider

C’est bien fini

After 16 days, 2008 km in the saddle and countless laughs, hugs and tears, we arrived at Point Pleasant Park in Halifax on Thursday Sept 22nd. This adventure was over too soon and several of my team mates commented that they wanted to get lost (on purpose for a change!) to keep the adventure rolling.

From the majestic mountains in the west, flat of the prairies, rugged terrain of Northern Ontario and the rolling hills of the Maritimes, the physical aspect of the journey was much easier than I expected. Many days our team wished we could put on extra miles. While the route wasn’t flat, it didn’t contain any hills that I thought “OMG, I’ll never get up that”. I’m sure the planners took into account that the roads needed to be manageable for the tandem team of Mark & Josh and their helpers. Mind you, there were a couple of amazing descents that we flew down (my max speed one day was 88.8 kmph) so I am glad we were going west to east! Our team worked really well together and you can see the change in our form from the first ride we did in Vancouver to our final days where we rode as a cohesive group, shoulder to shoulder, wheel to wheel… give or take a few exceptions :-)

On day 11 of our trip we were at our rest stop in Newcastle, ON., when I did one of those stupid falls - standing still but clipped in - and put my hand out to break my fall. A big no-no as every cyclist knows. I rode for another 15 km or so before dropping off the front of the pelaton. I couldn’t change gears properly and when Nurse Linda looked at my wrist you could already see the swelling on my wrist. Having broken my scaphoid in a similar accident in 2009, I put myself in the RV for the next 60 km so I could ice the injury. Every day Linda would tape my wrist and give me Motrin before we started cycling. It all felt fine as long as I could pull my left hand off the bars BEFORE we hit the bumps. It was only when the ride was finally over and I returned to regular motions and activity with my hands that I started to feel the pain. I finally went to the hospital upon return to Toronto and discovered that I had broken the distal radial in my left wrist. Maybe I have a fairly high pain threshold but I’m sure the discomfort I felt while riding was nothing compared to what the kids go through during treatment.

The emotional journey was harder and I am still decompressing and processing. Every day we heard stories of sadness and those of hope. They both made us cry. On the last day we were joined once again by Finn’s dad, Patrick Sullivan, who had done the first leg with us. Instead of reading the daily dedication, he put the book down and dedicated the final day to us, the riders. Huge sobs resounded in the clear morning air as he went on to say that because of our commitment, if we changed even just one child’s life it was all worth it.

Len Pace, who lost his son Alex to cancer, had joined our team for the Quebec to Halifax leg. He was in our RV for shuttling and played a photo montage his family had put together of Alex’s life. All the riders in RV-1A were reduced to tears and that moment really brought home to me the purpose of this trip and why it is so important to help kids and families dealing with cancer. While your own kids may only think of getting the latest and greatest electronics or fashion… when you see up close the impact this disease has on families and those close to them…. when you see the biggest, burliest men on the crew crying openly and unashamedly wearing their emotions on their sleeves… you can’t help but feel so humbled, and proud, to be associated with this committed group of organizers, cyclists and volunteers.

Thank you so much for your generous support and being a part of this journey of a lifetime.

SNKCR Fun moments

My favourite line of the trip: “Uh oh, too many fudgios”  Josh said this when the tandem broke down on the hill just outside of Lake Louise.He had lots of classic straight man lines… you’ll have to read the blogs to find them :-)

My moto was “When in doubt dance”. Whether it was dancing at breakfast or at the start line, our team’s morning dance when exiting our RV when we had to shuttle to our start point, shuttling with bikes and riders to make up lost time, shuttling to our rest stop for the night or celebrating our arrival at the next Sears store…. Team RV-1A was ready to rock! There’s some great videos on-line on the SNKCR site and you-tube. Lady Gaga and Tina Turner were favs.

The best RV drivers: Doug & Tim were with us from Vancouver-Toronto. They took great care of us and always had great music for the dance party. We were so sad to see them go when we got to Toronto.

It’s a small world: Relay rider Kathy Brodeur and I used to go to Roslin Public school in Montreal together!

Christine, our fashion angel and sleeping beauty - this gal could sleep at the drop of a helmet!

Carlo’s Angels (in the group I was the “Devil in disguise”) …the final shuttle ride.

Langley celebrating the end of the journey

There were other laughs and great moments… too many to list. Thanks to all the riders and volunteers for making so many memories.

Day16 (Sept 22) Lower Sackville - Peggy’s Cove - Halifax

Thank goodness I didn’t know what time I went to bed last night coz for the first time in 10 days, I was still in bed when Rich woke up the truck with his morning wake up song of the day.

We woke to clear, cool morning and got ready to ride the last leg of our incredible journey. The New York fries team was busy making us a breakfast of sausage, eggs and homefries.  Craig, Lee and his team  of helpers have done a great job feeding us since they joined us in Toronto.

Patrick Sullivan joined us again for the final leg and he read the daily dedication. Actually, he didn’t read it. Instead he dedicated the day to us riders and all we’ve done to help change even one person’s life.  Huge sobs and tears this morning and a great group hug.

We had a police motorcycle escort all the way today which was a great treat. We rode out with Coast to Coast founder Jeff Rushton and Mike Smith in the lead. I soon found myself in the front pulling with Jeff. No mean feat since Jeff likes to keep us on time and set a fast pace. I was more than happy when the police made us pull over to allow the traffic backlog to clear behind us.

The ride to Peggy’s cove was along a scenic road of rolling hills and turns. The hardest part of riding has been trying to take in the scenery without crashing. We stopped at the Swiss Air memorial site for a group photo. Our sunny morning turned to fog very quickly as the fog moved in at an astounding pace.  We couldn’t get all the way to Peggy’s Cove as the road was blocked due to a 911 call.  I don’t think we would have seen much with the fog anyway.

We arrived at the Sears in Halifax to lots of cheers and many riders had family members waiting for them. An emotional meeting for all. Len and Patrick led us off to IWK Hospital, one of the locations funds have been donated to by the funds raised in this event.These 2 guys are fantastic examples of how they have turned tragedy into something positive.

Our final leg was a short ride to Point Pleasant Park where we finally ended our journey… 2008 km on my odometer. We were piped in which of course started the waterworks flowing. Champagne and orange juice awaited us and after a toast and medal ceremony, we all dipped our wheels in the water.

Many of us carried rocks with us from White Rock. These were tossed into the bay to complete their journey. I picked up a beautiful shell from the beach that I will add to my SNKCR memorabilia collection.

There was no time to rest up as we had to get to our hotel, unload all the RVs and bunk trunk and bikes. I came with 2 bags but it took 5 to get everything off. I’ll get it sorted out eventually,

The celebration dinner was held at the World Trade Centre. We had a great buffet dinner followed by speeches and presentations. We were treated to a performance by the band that has been adopted by Coast to Coast – Larry and Tracey - who played great highland music. The team from RV 1A got the party started by getting up on the dance floor first.  I had lots of energy to dance but I think my knees weren’t quite as happy with the jumping and bouncing.

After dinner we continued the celebrations at The Shoebox while we waited our turn to get into the dance club downstairs. Lots of dancing and laughter filled the night and we eventually made it back to the hotel where a few of us had a final night cap on the NY Fries RV.

Day 15 (Sept 21) Fredericton - Moncton

Did I mention how fabulous the staff are at the Fredericton Sears? After our great jammy party last night, they were up early setting the table and getting breakfast ready for us. One of the employees son is a chef so he whipped up our breaky for us. This was the most awesome Sears stop we had all across Canada.

We were on the road by 7 am and what a beautiful day it turned out to be. Warm and sunny without being a scorcher. The route along the river was gorgeous.

My legs were heavy today after yesterday’s ride but I worked at helping to pull the pelaton for the first 80 km or so with Len and Robin and others that we rotated in. Our new nickname is Lenny and the Jets.

We had a long day of riding and we ended up clocking 192.4 km. The team did a great job riding the rolling hills and working well together. Well, most of the time. A few issues with riders not following the rules of the road caused some tension but everything got worked out.

When we arrived in Moncton, the Sears store had a bagpiper to pipe us in and the local dragon boat team of breast cancer survivors were there as well. They put on a wonderful spread of steak, potatoes and salad. We even got free massages. It’s going to be hard going home and having to do everything myself. I got interviewed on C103 fm too…another 30 sec of fame.

We are in the shuttle to Lower Sackville where we have to totally clean up the RV prior to it’s return. Apparently it’s also a party night for us too … a little chance to let down our hair before our final ride tomorrow to Halifax.

In some ways the time has flown by and other days you wonder when you will get off the bike to given your rear a break. It will be an emotional day tomorrow for sure as we finish our ride.

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Day 14 - Arrival in Fredericton

How cool was this! The Sears store in Fredericton gave us a very warm welcome. We pulled into the parking lot at 11 pm to find the sirens going on a firetruck and police car… all for us. The staff and firemen were all out in the parking lot with candles waiting to host a jammy party for us.

The manager of the store had also arranged pizza and to leave the store open all night so we wouldn’t have to pee in the parking lot - yeah!! The extra special treat was they let us sleep in the mattress department of store if we wanted to. Of course I chose the most expensive bed to sleep on. Unfortunately we had an early morning wake up call as we had a big day of riding ahead of us.

Day 14 – Levi –Montmagny – St Anne de La Pocatiere – St.Pascal – Fredericton

The pitter patter of rain drops woke me up during the night and unfortunately were still coming down when we woke at up at 6 am. It was going to be a very wet day on the road. For once there weren’t many people wanting to pull today. Not sure why coz it was actually a better place (IE cleaner) than being in the middle of the pelaton with all the road spray.

By our first stop in Montmagny we were soaked through . I was so focussed on the coffee I forgot to eat. By the time we got to La Pocatiere, we were very excited to find our stop had been moved indoors and we were served burgers and hot soup by the New York Fries team. Yum yum.

We only had another 35 km or so to go after lunch. Len, Todd, Robin and I were once again pulling at the front. .. volunteers were still lacking. Robin and I were rocking along … Chick Power! I know my legs are going to feel it tomorrow but hopefully I’ll have something left as we are doing a 200 km day.

We where happy to reach our final stop of the day in St. Pascal where the local community centre had opened their showers to us and also served up a warm dinner. We are so thankful to all the communities for their generosity.

Len Pace is also in our RV. His son Alex passed away from cancer and he showed us the slide show he had put together of Alex’s life. Len’s family is large (10 siblings) so when you add in all their kids, every photo had lots of parents and kids. You could truly feel what a great family unit this was and how Alex fit into it. It was quite emotional watching it and we were all in tears by the end. It really brought home why this journey has been so important and how raising this money can help kids and their families deal with this disease.

Day 13 Montreal – Montreal – Trois Rivieres – St. Anne du Parade – Port Neuf – Quebec City – Levi

The sun shone down on us again…. yeah. We shuttled from Montreal to our start point in Trois Rivieres. It was the last day of riding for some our team mates Angus Warner, Ron Gibson  and Ian Matthews. They are both great riders so we’ll miss them when they leave for home tomorrow morning.

Our lunch stop in St. Anne was at a tiny catalogue outlet for sears but they served us a yummy lunch of sandwiches, great coleslaw and homemade apple crumble for dessert. On real plates for a change instead of paper plates.  What a treat.

The route was beautiful today as we followed the river.  Dare I say it,  yes we got lost again. Actually I think this time we can honestly say we were given bum directions! It was after our lunch stop and we ended up on an ever narrowing gravel road before we stopped so the support car could scout ahead to see just how bad it would get. Well, it was bad enough to make the call to shuttle to a new drop off point so we could get back on track. We weren’t happy about shuttling but we had places to go and people to see.

We had an appointment at Louis Garneau , who are major sponsors of the ride. We had 50 km to go so we had to promise to go at least 30 kmph to get there in time for the appointment. What a great ride. It was nice and warm by then so we were down to our basic kits as we booked it down the highway. I helped pull along with Ron Gibson, Ian Matthews and a few other team members who rotated in to help keep our legs fresh. We made great time and got to the Louis Garneau offices in great time. We also had some shopping time at the outlet and then we got the opportunity to ride with him. He took us 15 km to our ending point for the day along a lovely windy road which ended in a brutal climb. It took 4 cyclists to pull the tandem up the hill.

We showered at the Comfort Inn and then headed to the Sears in Levi where we had another RV Dance Party to welcome new relay riders Len Pace and Brad King to our RV. Josh was rocking it out on the dance floor with us too.

Day 12 (Sept 18) Ottawa-hawkesbury-Point Claire- Lasalle-Terra Bonne

My wrist was quite swollen this morning but after an ice pack and ibuprofen I was ready to hit the road.  As long as I didn’t hit any bumps I’d be ok (hah!)

It was a beautiful day again and warm enough not to need all the layers. We left Hawkesbury and made our first wrong turn of the day within 5 minutes. It was a foreshadow of the s^^t show this day would turn into.

After our first rest stop we had to ride on the worst road of the trip. So much for avoiding bumps – ouch. It was beautiful country side though driving through the small Quebec towns like Hudson. We got totally lost at some point and having lost our support vehicles, eventually pulled into a mall parking lot to regroup. We were saved by a man named Dale who  put his hazard lights on and became our personal support  van and put us out to the right road. He would make a great volunteer for SNKCR. Thanks Dale.

One of our relay riders had a mishap by running into one of the bike path posts. Thank goodness it was a bendable post other wise the cuts and bruises would be way worse. We still didn’t have our support vehicle but her helmet wasn’t cracked so there were no head injury issues to worry about. We got back on the road at a slower pace until she got her riding legs back.

Getting lost on a sunny day is ok but the nerves in the group were getting a bit frayed and we were 1.5 hours late by the time we got to our ride-along pick up point in Point Claire. It was a beautiful ride in along the lakeshore.

We picked up 14 riders who rode with us to the sears store in Lasalle. Single file all the way over yet more bumpy roads. We were all happy to finally pull into the parking lot and get the bikes on the truck. I had a surprise visit by my brother Chris who had ridden his bike out to meet up with us. Because we were so late and ended up taking a different route than had been posted we missed each other on the road but eventually he caught up with us.

We got to take our showers at the Tennis 13 racquet club and we all enjoyed treating ourselves to a sauna or a soak in the hot tub.  Thanks to our team mate Robin for arranging that.

We’re staying in Montreal tonight and heading off to Quebec City tomorrow. I can’t believe it will be Monday tomorrow and we only have 4 days of riding left in this incredible journey.

Day 11 (Sept 17) Pickering –Newcastle – Coburg – Brighton – Belleville – Ottawa

My oldest  friend Fiona Stone and her husband Kevin came out to Pickering Town Centre to see me off for the next leg of the journey. What a great way to start my day. I’ve been feeling stronger every day and , as usual, was near the front pulling the group along. My friend Angus has joined Team 1 for the trip to Quebec City.

I had a little incident at our stop in Newcastle. We were clipped in and getting ready to head out when a very buff cyclist went by without his shirt. A slight wobble on my part and down I went… with my hand out. Ouch. I managed to ride for another  15 km and then pulled over to have my hand looked at. Nurse Linda put me on the rv with an ice pack and anti-inflamatories. Merde.  It’s really hard to sit on the rv and watch the team ride way in front of me.

I got back on the bike in brighton and rode the final leg too Belleville with my wrist taped.  As liong  as i avoided the bumps, I could manage ok. My dad Rod and step-mom Patsy were there to meet us so it’s been agreat couple of days to connect with friends and family.

Another shuttle ride brought us to Ottawa in good time. It was nice to have a relaxing bevie and hot snacks at East Side Marios  with the team

Day 10 Barrie – Nobleton-Sherway – Toronto-Pickering

The weather is getting slightly warmer but still layering up for the ride.  Team rv1a started the morning danicing to the Black eyed peas Tonights Going To be A Good Night. Way to go team!

The group was larger today as we were doing a ride-along into Toronto. Several  alumni from 2010 joined us as well as some other individuals. We were smokin’ along at a great pace today. At our rest stop in Nobleton my friend Eric Graber-Meyer joined in. As usual we were running a bit late so we we’re hitting 40 km in some sections as we were pulled along by some really strong riders.

There were lots of family members there and we met up with team 2 and more ride along riders. We had a police escort all the way down  Lakeshore Blvd and then up Yonge St. To Dundas Square. Very cool.

Bill, Max and Maddie were there to greet me as well as my friends Chris Nolan, Kevin Stone, Angus Warner and Rich. There was a huge crowd for an Inside Ride – lots of energy all around.

After our showers we headed to HTO park for a bbq and lighting of the CN Tower gold in honour of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.

For once I was able sleep in the RV so the trip to Pickering was a quick one.