The Long Ride East

In July of 2010, I finished a nearly 400 mile charity ride from Toronto to Montreal. Over 300 of us along with nearly 100 volunteer crew were raising money for the Toronto People with AIDS foundation which helps men, women, and children with AIDS in the city with things like income assistance, a food bank, help paying for medications (we have free healthcare but not free prescriptions and some of the cocktails needed to keep HIV at bay are >$3500/mo). Last year I raised over $2,600 and together with my fellow riders we raised over $1.2 million dollars. (Over half their annual operating budget)

When I got to the end of last year’s ride, I was surprised at the amount of energy I had. Instead of feeling wiped out, I felt like I could keep on going. And so, this year, I’ve already re-registered and my plan *is* to keep on going. So the plan as it stands is this: My current fundraising goal is $3,000 – If I reach that, the ride will be the official ride only. Toronto to Montreal and I head back on the train with everyone else. However, if I get over the $3,500 mark, the next day as everyone else is preparing to board a Toronto-bound train, I will take all the gear that up until then had been hauled from campsite to campsite in large rubbermaid bins in the back of a truck, pack it carefully into panniers, and head east to Quebec City – two days’ ride away. However, if I raise over $5,000, I will go a bit further – another 12 days ride beyond Montreal, likely two weeks with rest stops, all the way to Charlottetown Prince Edward Island.

And if I reach the $6,000 level. I’ll ride all the way to Halifax, nearly 2,000 kilometres and 16 days ride (probably 18-19 days with rest stops) away. And everything after Montreal will be done on my own without any support crew other than friendly strangers who may loan me a couch for the night.

This site will chronicle my preparation for the ride both physically and logistically. Once the ride gets underway look here for photos and podcasting of the ride as it happens.

Note: Thanks to flickr user Bernat Casero for sharing his photo, The Lonely Bicycle with a creative commons license so it could be used for the header graphic for this site.