Day 16: Bassano to Suffield

It was wet and freezing cold, but we had a fun day and had a great time!
There is definitely strength in numbers.

Day 16 is done, and our next stop is Medicine Hat!

Why the Ride?

Why the Ride?  To build this school in Ethiopia!

land donated to Canadian Humanitarian in July 2011



digging the footings and foundation for the school

Laying the foundation

starting the walls

finnishing the walls

Why the Ride?  So these children have a place to learn and play.

So this child can become an artist

So this boy can learn to be a pilot one day.

So this girl can learn to read.

Because we said we would.

We are cycling across Canada to raise funds to build this school.  With your help the school will be ready in September 2012 to start the new school year.  Please donate today.

Donate Now

Day 15: Calgary to Bassano

What an awesome day!!  It all started with a little song and dance!

We started out from Calgary in heavy rain, with traces of snow.

Lots of puddles and muddy shoulders.

Then at the city limits, all the bad weather ended and things settled down into a nice day! Vern even has to break out the sunscreen!

We want to give a big shout out to our support team that kept us fulled with fruit, energy bars, chocolate milk and sandwiches the whole way.  Thanks Kim Fiesel, Della Jesse and Cindy Ackles.

Don't forget to come see us roll into Medicine Hat on Saturday at 12:00 at Echodale!

 

Day 13 & 14: Calgary

Tuesday and Wednesday we spent in Calgary.  We were not riding but we were busy.  Between elementary schools, Rotary Clubs,

an interview with CBC (thanks Kyle Bakx)

and an amazing reception put on by Kerry Cooper and the crew from Hub Financial -we were all over town.

We brought our rig wherever we went and people came out to donate and sign their names. 

Thanks Marshal and Hunter!

Tomorrow we will start the ride to Medicine Hat with our extra riders Trish Leonard, Carmen Schlenker and Dale Salmon that are helping us raise funds. We will also be joined by Blake Hyde as well as Rick Quast who travelled to Ethiopia on an Expedition with Canadian Humanitarian and saw the start of the school we are building.

Day 12: Banff to Calgary!

Monday May 14th:

Today we left the Rocky Mountains and descended through the foothills until we reached Calgary, 97 kms.

We also ascended Scott Lake Hill, which is the 2nd highest elevation on the #1 Transcanada Highway!

We were met by a group of riders (some of Mark's riding 'brothers') who rode with us into town, and then did 52 kms of Calgary's bike trails until we arrived at Mark's home in the south part of the city.

Needless to say , they went easy on us on the paths, and it was an absolute hoot!

We stopped to see John at BowCycle to thank him for his support and sponsorship!

Day 12 is in the books, and we are looking forward to riding those prairies after coming through the mountains.

Share our journey with your friends! You can send them to our website or our facebook page.

Day 11: Lake Louise to Canmore

Saturday was by far the most relaxing leg of our trip so far! 76 km of mostly down hill.

Beautiful sunny weather, nice breeze behind us all the way.

Met some awesome bikers!

Dale Salmon and his son in law Bryce Palmer (from Calgary) joined us for the ride, and Bryce powered us through the whole ride!

Day 11 is in the books, and we are cruising!

And an exciting day for the blog, we finally have our first official follower!  Follow our blog, or join us on facebook!

We are riding our way into raising more funds for the Education Center in Ethiopia, help us out!

Dena getting a free massage!

Day 10: Golden to Lake Louise

Friday, we rode the final stretch out of the Rockies. 85 km's of sheer beauty. 

We had 3 major mountain hills to climb... All total 22 km's of steep up. 

Dale Salmon of Medicine Hat joined us and will ride with us to Medicine Hat. Great fresh air... Great views.... Great people.... 

And we ride on!!

Day 9: Rest day in Revelstoke!

Today we had a rest day because we rode extra km's here and there. We were guests at a rotary luncheon in revelstoke (see emailed picture). We spoke for 10 minutes and raised some money from these VERY generous people. Thank you Revelstoke Rotary.

We also met a young man named Anthony Hickey who is also cycling across Canada. He is finished school and will be doing his masters in the fall so is riding home to the maritimes. A great young man.

Anthony and Vern

Anthony has named his bicycle gnome after Vern!

We tuned up our bikes for tomorrow and will be eagerly awaiting the arrival of our guest Dale Salmon who will be riding with us from golden to medicine hat. 
Tomorrow's ride is our last day spent in "Beautiful British Columbia".... It's been fantastic. People have been so generous and kind. Thank you BC....

Here we come Alberta!!

Day 8 - to the top of Roger's Pass, and beyond!

Day 8: Revelstoke to Golden!

Today was by far the toughest ride of the entire trip, but no one cried of puked!

Best part of the ride was the scenery, and getting to the top of Roger's Pass!

Mark with the BC Highway crew.

Some people we met who are also organizing a ride! Their's will be for inner city poverty in Canada.

We rode 70 km up in the morning, and then 80 km up and down, up and down, and finally down into Golden

The afternoon was freezing! We rode ahead of a storm the whole way.

There's still a lot of snow at the top of the pass!

Mark and Vern at the top of the Pass!

Actual riding time for Vern was 8 hours. His butt is pretty numb!

Day 8 is in the books, and the toughest riding should be over.

Keep us going! Tell your friends and share our goal!

Let's get across Canada!  And raise those funds!