Duke's Epic 8hr

An 8hr race... sounds like fun... i've done them before solo and thought that i would share the ride with Steve Heck... he might be fast enough to hold his own.... started off okay but didn't feel "snappy" right from the gun.... but the weather sucked all day... cold... windy... changing between raining and blowing mist.... yuck.... i also had some knee troubles (that i've been fighting all summer) that felt like scraping on the inside of my knee cap on every pedal stroke.... stole my power and much of my enjoyment of the day.... in the end steve and i finished up 2nd.... i did 8 laps (80km) with an average lap time of 30min... not a bad effort for a couple old guys....

congrats to Barry Near and the other "Old Cranky Men" for winning their division...

and of course the day finishes off with the nicer weather coming out....

Ride for Karen 2010

September 11th was the annual Ride for Karen charity ride that the team .... and a bunch of great people... do to help raise money to send kids with cancer to camps in the Muskoka's.... and it was a great day. We had over 300 riders from all abilities levels riding on the roads around Maple Ontario... and we were all greeted back to the Start / Finish area with great cheers and applause. This year we raised just over $200,000 ... sending dozens of kids to camp and continuing to fund a really neat program called "Ooch on the 8th"... where Camp Oochigaus has created a camp-like atmosphere on the 8th floor of Sick Kids Hospital... very cool for those kids who can't actually leave the hospital. It was also a special year because Kirk and Kris (the 2 sons of Karen and the organizers of the ride) also lost their father Kal to cancer a month before the ride.... i can't imagine how hard it was for them. It was great to see the title sponsor ScotiaBank commit to another 3 years of sponsoring the event.... to the tune of almost $75,000 for the 3 year... i rode up to "Big Wig" from Scotia who is also a great rider... put my hand on his shoulder and said "You're awesome..." and then i faded back into the sea of jerseys.... It was a great day for a great cause, and i'm glad to support the Ride for Karen and everything that it represents... Great job Kirk and Kris.... (Donations can still be made at www.rideforkaren.com)