Why do we do this

Both my friends Tasha and Ryan have been diagnosed with cancer. Thankfully, Tasha's breast cancer is in remission but for Ryan it is another story. For more than 10 years he has been fighting a brain tumour that seems to be relentless. They are fighting to beat this and at the same time they are counting their blessings. They have a three year old son Taylan that they love dearly and their will to survive and stay together as a family is relentless too. That is why I ride!

I have been blessed with very little direct exposure to cancer amongst my family and friends. Only my Great Aunt in 1986 and very recently my Uncle Jim who appears to be recovering well.

That has changed in the last three weeks as my wife Gita has been diagnosed with a melanoma cancer on her foot. Suddenly my comittment to this event has become more personal. For us the journey is just starting. Although she has had her first surgery including the removal of a lymph node, we have yet to establish how serious this will be in the long run. However, at this point she is still planning on driving her giant, blue, monster truck with the SAG wagon on the day.

That is why I ride.

Cancer has touched many close friends and family over the years. Luckily our family was spared the worst nine years ago when my son was diagnosed with Ewing cell sarcoma, a similar bone cancer to what Terry Fox had. My son showed how brave a fighter and survivor he was by going through very evasive surgery and treatment and now having nine years of remission behind him, is an inspiration to me every day. We are very grateful for being able to walk out of Children's Hospital with our child, many families do not get this privilege.

That is why I ride.    

Thirteen years ago my now father in law- Mohammed- gave me his blessing to marry his daughter. This represented a huge leap of faith for him: he is a deeply religious man, and here I was, a Caucasian kid with a Catholic upbringing asking for his daughter's hand. On that day in granting me my request, he told me, "You have everything to gain, and I have everything to lose."  My father in law abandoned a good government job in Fiji and dragged his large family to Canada in search of a better future for his kids. Nothing has come easy for him, but he's never complained, and always worked hard to be a great father and provider. He's now in his 5^th year battling Multiple Myeloma, and we fear there may not be a 6th. I'm doing this to thank him, and to show my young children that they can do anything they set their minds to.

This will be my 4th R2S.  I was truly inspired by my friend John Gillies who is battling cancer right now, and has been through so much he truly is an inspiration each and every day, to me and I'm sure many others.   The riding takes away his pain of the battle with cancer.  Here is a man who cares so deeply about this ride will do anything to support it, but can't ride this year because of many complications going on in his body.  He cares deeply.   John is 62.  

The other weight I carry is the Death of my son Michael who passed away from Leukemia at the age of 14.  As a parent you often isolate yourself into the belief that something like Cancer could never inhabit your family, but it did in 1996.   Michael was in remission for a year, and in April of 1997, his Cancer reappeared.  10 weeks later, he was gone.  I had my closure with Michael, he said "Dad don't worry I know where I'm going we'll be together again one day, don't worry."  It ripped my heart out to see him go, he so wanted to beat this disease, as did we.   The little things that seem to bug us, these days no longer seem to bother me anymore when you consider the death of a child.     Life is fragile, consider it a gift, in the present moment.   This is why I ride, for my son Michael and many others who inspire me,  so one day this disease will be history.  Every pedal of the way is a memory for him.  I will inspire you..See you on the ride...

Six years ago a friend asked if I was interesed in Joining the Cops for Cancer Tour De Valley Team. I fiqured it would be fun to do it for JUST one year. Then I met these amazing kids who are or were in the fight for their lives. That first year one of the Junior team members passed away. Since then four more have lost their battle with cancer. I could not just walk away. four years ago I also met the Ride2survive team and got hooked. I ride not only for the Cops for Cancer Kids but for so many people who are fighting cancer. Last year I rode for a co worker who is still fighting her cancer. I am also riding for a friend in Calgary and for two other co workers who family members are fighting cancer. Just this past Thursday I got an email from one of them that his sister had lost her battle.

I will continue working to raise funds and do what I can to put money in the hands of researchers to find a cure for this dreadful decease.

When I was in my 20's I played baseball in a mixed softball league. Our coach was a cool guy who helped us have fun while playing and winning while losing gracefully. He took up playing the bagpipes. After a couple of years he developed a lesion on his lip, that progressed through his body eventually taking out his liver which rapidly ended his fight to beat the cancer invading him.

Today we live beside a family with two teenage adopted daughters. The mother was diagnosed in October 2008 with stage 3 ovarian cancer. The first surgery revealed that the cancer had spread to her stomach and lungs so they decided to postpone surgery and begin aggressive chemo therapy. After 4 sessions her cancer count was low enough to go ahead with surgery which appears to have taken all the cancer away AND the spots in her lungs and stomach were gone completely. Now after the sixth chemo treatment, at 48 she now has a chance to be cancer free.

These are two reasons why I volunteer with this event - it is amazing to see the riders continue to the finish. They are incredible people who care about the people they ride for. It is a privilege to support them in their battle with the road to raise money to beat and treat cancer!

Last year, Ed Van Dooyeweert invited a group of riding friends to join the ride at Fort Langley. I sounded pretty neat to me, so I did. In the distance between Fort Langley and Delta, I met some pretty amazing people and witnessed the completion of a pretty amazing event. I pledged to Ed that night that I would like to do the ride the next year. So, here we are, almost one year later and...

I am riding because I can...I am a survivor.

I am riding to honour the too many people that I know...family, friends, co-workers, and children in my daughters elementary school, who have won or are winning the fight, or sadly have lost their fight with Cancer...I am riding to honour these people.

I am riding to honour the people that I don't know, but were special enough to someone that I know or knows of my ride, that they in turn were kind enough to donate money to the ride...I am riding to honour these people.

I am riding to raise money for Cancer research, with the hope that one day there will be a cure that will save lives as a result of that research funded by our ride.

That's why I'm riding...

This post is actually from my husband, Rod, who is riding relay in his second Ride2Survive.  He says:

Why I ride to survive: I was diagnosed with stage IV Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma in the spring of 2007.  Had they not caught it, I would have been dead in a matter of weeks. Even so, the fight against the disease was long, tough, intense and grueling.  I was always a pretty fit individual, enjoyed my running, biking, boxing, skiing, hiking...and that fitness served me well, probably saved my life. I survived, and as a result, I've had the unbelievable joy of being a dad to my little girl, Halie.   So, why do I ride?  I ride because it's a way to physically fight back against cancer.  We get fit and we pound out the miles - and every crank, every mile represents another bullet aimed at the heart of this epidemic killer.  And make no mistake - cancer is getting more and more prevalent, and we all are involved, either directly or indirectly, in this vicious, no-holds-barred war, a war that I don't want Halie to have to fight one day. So: the riders send a message out to this disease - we will fight you, wherever and whenever we can.  We're tougher, smarter, and believe me, when we're within sight of that Penask Summit, we are one hell of a lot more determined than this disease can ever be. So watch out, cancer.  Sooner or later, we're gonna run you down. 

Why do I ride? I've been fundraising for cancer-related charities for 10 years, since my father died of Cancer after years of remission, where he probably DID wake each day wondering if it would come back. Since my Dad passed away, I've had to add more than a dozen names of friends and family - including my own name - to the list of those I know that have had Cancer. Some of them have won - or are winning - the battle, for now. Some of them have lost. My own brush with Cancer was slight in retrospect, but to hear those words, "You have Cancer" - directed at ME! - elicited a feeling in me like no other I've ever felt before or since. I really felt my own mortality for the first time. My thoughts were, what will my daughter do? What happens now? What happens now is we survive.

I chose this event this year because I was challenged to, and it seemed like I'd get to acheive a personal milestone, and raise money, too, right? I'll choose this event NEXT year, because of how - personal - this ended up becoming. I'll ride again for me, and for my family and friends, but also for the other riders, and for their families, and friends..and for the yellow jerseys. I heard so many stories of struggle and loss - but also stories of strength, and unshakable resolve.

Why would I do this thing? How could I NOT? Cancer WILL one day be beaten...

I took the liberty of putting Mike Meade's story off his donation site in here...

From Mike Meade:

Against my body's better judgment, I'm doing the ride again.

I have a lot of great excuses as to why I shouldn't this year...work has been crazy...my body is protesting 36 years of abuse...stomach is protesting abuse of Advil...I'd rather be boating...

We had an early March training ride this year, about 100 KM, and I woke up to what must have been the heaviest monsoon yet this season, and temperatures hovering just above freezing. Wet, cold, miserable, looking at 5 hours in the saddle, and feeling sorry for myself. Heading out for ride, the clouds emptied everything they had, and I was a mere 10 KM and 30 minutes from my house and welcoming couch. But as I moved around the group and started chatting w/ everyone, I realized things weren't so bad. I've done my time on bikes, and missing a 100 KM ride wasn't going to kill me, but there were some riders in the group who needed the training. One 40ish lady who literally just started road riding this year for the sole purpose of doing the R2S. She needed some pushing on the hills that day (she doesn't anymore). What's motivating her? She doesn't even like cycling. I look around, and there's Rich Gestle, a 33 year old with a newborn, despite being diagnosed of thyroid cancer six years ago. Rich is most often the strongest rider in our groups, and always- and I mean ALWAYS- has a smile on his face. The man doesn't crack. Then there is the R2S Grand Pobah, Kerry Kunzli, who is nothing short of maniacal about this ride, raising money, raising awareness, and getting us fit. The R2S is 100% volunteer based; Kerry and his wife Vicky don't earn a penny in administration fees for all the work they do. EVERYTHING goes back to the cause. Both Kerry and Vicky are out riding, pouring rain, in the cold, with smiles on their faces- and I KNOW Kerry would rather be in Whistler, finding untracked powder.

In my wife's words, on this morning, I decide I can "suck it up, princess". Instead of turning left and heading to the warm confines of 196A street in Langley, I decide that maybe it'd be better to stay due East, help push some struggling riders up a hill or two or three. It's funny- sometimes helping others makes your own day better. The day started and ended in cold, pouring rain...but it was probably the most memorable- and fulfilling- training ride for me in years, maybe ever...and I've had some good ones.

Like last year, I'm dedicating this to the toughest old bugger I know- my Father-in-Law Mohammed- who is battling Multiple Myeloma. This will one day take him to the mat...but he doesn't complain. I also do this out of pure fear that Cancer will one day knock on our door at home, and get to one of the kids, or Shaeesta, or me. There is nowhere to hide for any of us, so please bust out your visa and kick in a little, or a lot.

Learn more about the Ride-2-Survive at www.r2s.ca .

Mike Meade