BRUCE ROSS BLOG THOUGHTS - DAY 1

BLOG THOUGHTS... Sunday morning early in St. Catharines at the Golf and Country Club... the traditional start/finish point of the Rotary Tour du Lac bicycle ride: Wow, what a great turn out of riders and 'fans'! This year I am not riding the 950km course over seven days... just Day 1 and Day 7... it happens, sometimes one has to step back a little and let others have all the fun. 

There are also seven riders who will also just ride Day 1... some will ride 25km and others 50km. Their route is the same as the "round the lakers", but they turn around at 12.5km and 25km respectively. For this year, there were two different types of riders, both a real pleasure to ride with for me. Both types are critical to the success of the ride, so I commit myself to riding with them, and helping them learn about group riding. 

While I was learning about the situation at the start, Lynnda and Shamus were with me... it was funny seeing Shamus (our Black Golden Doodle... yes, that's an oxymoron) get progressively more excited about the start, as more and more riders and 'fans' arrived. It was really cool to see all the people who accompanied their spouses and friends for the start... clearly this ride is a milestone in the lives of many of the riders... that is awesome! I began to think about what a milestone it would be for people who had never ridden in a group ride, or for those who struggle with riding distances or the steeps. It started to work on me, that this was a great opportunity for me to understand motivation... it was Shamus who expressed it best with his excitement... it was likely exciting for many of the riders, too.

So, off we went... and right away, the experienced riders separated themselves from the less experienced... we got stopped at the first traffic light. You could see the determination on the less experienced riders faces... and sure enough they got back into the pack. It was helpful that Ian and Barry the two leaders of the ride had requested several support riders from one of Ian's riding groups to sweep for this One Day Rider's section. They were with us in the slower group, and they were great at protecting our backs from traffic while we were still in the grasp of the city streets... unsung, but critical to having a one day riding event... thank you!

The first stop on the ride was at the new hospital where the Cardiac Investigation Unit (CIU) will be situated when the facility opens in the future. All of the riders were buzzed about the facility... you could see the unlit, red "EMERGENCY" signs on the North end of the new building. Very impressive. Lots of discussion, pictures and yet you could tell the experienced riders were on their bits... raring to go... and off they went! The traffic was great in this instance... they stopped and let us all in, there was no gap! That allows the new riders to have more confidence. The support riders were again, instrumental is blocking the back of the pack.

This is when I started riding with Cathy... for the second year, Cathy decided to ride the 25km ride. Cathy doesn't ride a lot, and it is a challenge... but one thing she doesn't lack is determination. There was a fair rise in elevation coming and I could see her hunkering down on the bars and seat... grinding on the chain... we made a turn into the hill and she made it to the top... wow, I probably felt as good as she did about her making it. The support riders came up to ride with Cathy. I moved forward and got to ride with Carol. It was a blast to see how much stronger Carol is now than last year on the 25km ride. She had the same determination, but she was in bigger gears, moving faster and not struggling. These two riders are so important to the ride because they not only raised around a combined $5,000... they also contribute countless hours to the ride and to the fund-raising for the CIU. 

We got to the 12.5km marker and it was quicker than I remembered from last year. I didn't get a chance to ride with Nina and Liz... but I know that they made it to the turn and that they and Cathy and Carol headed back to the golf club starting point successfully. Before leaving the turn-around, Cathy got everyone's attention and gave a little talk that was clearly from the heart... on behalf of the Rotary committee that is committed to raising $750,000 for the CIU, she very convincingly thanked everyone for participating in the ride... this after Ian had announced that the ride would be sending more than $38,000 to the CIU through the Rotary Clubs. Wow, what a feeling... and you could tell that it put some zip into the peddles as we took off for the next cut-off at the 25km point.

The second group of one day riders that I think is so important to any ride is the group that is new to cycling and to raising money through their ability on a bicycle. There were three riders, Marisa, Cleo and Mirella who ranged from a little bit of experience to "two weeks" of cycling, and on a new bike to boot. And all three were game to keep up, especially on the flats along the lake. Riding with Marisa gave me a chance to point out some safety situations and how to use the various drive sprockets on her bike. She was like a sponge and picked up speed nicely. I was able to catch up with Mirella as we started into a few hills. Getting the gears right to facilitate climbing is one of the most important techniques in riding. Mirella got into the hills and with True Grit climbed them... she broke over the rim of one with a smile from ear to ear... again, the pride of accomplishing another stage in cycling ability is worth seeing. We were talking along the way about how some riders forget that at one time they were novices, too... and everyone should take the time to help newer riders become better riders. These are the folks who will be keeping Heart and Cancer rides successful until we finally raise the dollar that actually pays for the cures...

I rode for a while with Cleo... she is an accomplished newer rider. The last time she climbed one of the hills we were on this morning, she slipped while shifting rings... and had a fall. Not today... she rode very well. I can see all three of these riders who are all friends, becoming very good riders... and hopefully they will be able to raise those dollars toward the cures for the Niagara rides to come. Everyone made it back to the Golf Club safely... it was one of the fun rides that I will keep in my memory bank for some time. I was feeling great and decided to continue home to NOTL and added about 40km to the end of the ride... it was a good workout in the end... one that I needed as I continue returning to better health and conditioning. Thank you to the folks I got to ride with today... I appreciated the chance to practice with each of them. 

Bruce E.A. Ross

Remembering that... Success Nourishes Hope
And that "Life's a Bike"... and its all down hill from there
NOTE:  Bruce's company, Affordable Roofing is a proud sponsor of the Tour du Lac.  View the pictures taken by Lisa Ip of A.F. downloaded to a google album.
https://plus.google.com/photos/112203521645630249356/albums/5763232162571010689?authkey=COfwmsTczZnRLA