Go Girls Take on the Ride to Conquer Cancer

The Ride to Conquer Cancer is a weekend-long cycling event that occurs in various locations across Canada. The Ontario event takes place in June and features a 200K and a 200 mile bike ride over two days. The ride begins in Toronto and ends in Niagara Falls, with a stop in Ancaster overnight. Cyclists log 100K (or 100 miles) the first day, and then another 100K (or 100 miles) the second day. This year, the second year of the Ontario ride, 3,530 cyclists participated in the ride and, together with volunteers and crew members, raised $14.5 million for the Campbell Family Institute at the Princess Margaret Hospital, one of the top five cancer research centres in the world.

This year, two of the Go Girls participated in the Ride. Olga cycled the 200K and T crewed the event on the Gear Team. Both Olga and T found the event physically challenging but immensely rewarding.

Olga's task was fairly straightforward: cycle, cycle, cycle. That is not to say it was not tough. Olga had to ascend the Niagara Escarpment on her bike! Completing the epic 2-day, 200K cycle required a strong mind and a physically fit body. Olga, of course, brought both to the table.

T's task was slightly different. Her job was to load the gear of cyclists and crew members onto trucks, then drive one of the trucks to the camp site where the cyclists spent the night. She then helped the Gear Crew to unload all the luggage. When cyclists arrived into the camp, T helped the riders locate their luggage. T and other members of the gear crew were also asked to help pitch tents, so T learned how to pitch a tent. (It was actually quite easy.) After pitching tents for a while, T returned to help more cyclists locate luggage. When the heavens opened and the rain poured down, T and the other members of the Gear Crew did their best to cover all the luggage with tarps.

One of the 24' trucks driven by T for the Ride to Conquer Cancer.

Now, you may be wondering, how big were these trucks? They were big: 24', big-ass trucks. Let's take a moment to compare T with the truck.

This is T...

This is T and her truck:

Yes, her truck. By the end of the weekend, T was a bona fide truck driver, even if she did occasionally have difficulty climbing into the cab. Here is T making the ascent into her truck:

Step one: open the door and begin to hoist yourself up.

Step Two: Roll down the window and pause for a photo opp. Use the door the continue climbing up Everest, the nickname given to T's truck.

Step Three: Ah, victory! The sweet seat of success.

Of course, some adjustments still have to be made. It's hard to reach the pedals with the seat moved back.

But before you know it, T's in the driver's seat and ready to go. Look closely, she's there...

Is that really T behind the wheel? Yes, it seems that T (or T-Rex, as she is known on the roads) did manage to climb into this truck and drive around. And yes, we are all aware that this is a very frightening reality: T-Rex let loose in a big truck on the Queen E! Stand back! I don't know how big this thing gets!

Both Olga and T stayed in camp in Ancaster. Olga slept in one of the literally thousands of tents pitched for cyclist and crew members. T joined fellow Gear Crew members in the back of the trucks. The next morning, after a hearty breakfast prepared by the Kitchen Crew, both Olga and T went back to work. Olga set off on her bike for Niagara Falls, another 100K journey. T joined the other Gear Crew members in collecting and loading the gear of cyclists and crew members.

The three best Gear Crew members: T, Teressa & Kathryn.

Loading and unloading gear, by the way, is a lot of work. By the end of the weekend, T's hands were blistered from throwing, I mean, carrying luggage around. The gloves helped, but T's manicure was simply ruined.

After the cyclists had all left and the gear was all loaded, the Gear Crew paused for a photo.

The Gear Crew: don't they look like people who can handle manual labour?

While the cyclists made their way by bike to the Finish Line, the Gear Crew set out in their truck convoys to drive the luggage to the Finish Line. Of course, the Crew did make one stop: Tim Horton's. We needed coffee. Badly.

Once arriving in Niagara Falls, the Gear Crew unloaded all the luggage. Even wonder what approximately 5,000 pieces of luggage looks like?

This is more or less what 5,000 pieces of luggage looks like. It's a good thing we had a system to help cyclists locate their luggage!

By mid-afternoon, both Olga and T had completed their tasks. Olga had successfully logged 200K, up and down the Niagara Escarpment. (Unfortunately, we don't have any photos of Olga and her bike! But T can attest to the fact that Olga was there and looked stunning even after having cycled 100K.) T had loaded and unloaded luggage and driven a great big truck. There was a BBQ for cyclists and crew members, along with free beer.

By the end of the weekend, Olga had safely returned to Toronto (no, she did not have to bike all the way back to TO!) and T had safely returned her beloved truck, Everest, to the good people organizing this mammoth event.

The slogan of the Ride to Conquer Cancer is "Strength in Numbers". The Ride itself demonstrates strength in numbers: from the cyclists themselves to the volunteers to the various crews to the family and friends supporting the cyclists, there were many of us out, working together to support cancer research. This event works because we worked together. When you count both the crew members and the cyclists, there were over 4,000 people combining their efforts to raise money for cancer research -- $14.5 million of cooperation and hard work in the fight against cancer.

Hope and heartache. Almost everyone participating in the event, whether cycling or serving as crew, had a personal story related to cancer. There were cancer survivors and family members and friends of cancer survivors, but also family and friends of people who had lost their battle with cancer. This event showed that those who have been lost have certainly not been forgotten, but are carried in the hearts of family and friends.

Two in every five Canadians will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in their lifetime. This is a good time to remind our readers that early detection is key. Do regular cancer screening. Be informed. Know what your risks are.

And if you want to do more, consider participating in the Ride to Conquer Cancer in 2011. Both Olga and T will tell you that it is worth it. You might even get to drive a great big truck nicknamed Everest...