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The Province,
Weather creates esprit de corps among Tip to
Tip cycling friends
MacKay, Mary
Been there, done that.
This was my thought when I looked outside the
Quality Inn, Garden of the Gulf resort in Summerside,
witnessed the wicked weather conditions facing the Tip to Tip for Africa fundraiser troop on
our third day of cross-Island riding and realized I was in no way able to cycle
to
I'd completed
the full back-to-back trail ride last year in the balmy bosom of August when
the only obstacle I faced was my own physical fitness. In this blustering wet
weather, the difficulty was 10-fold.
"If this
was snow, it would be a blizzard," I opined to the breakfast group of four
who'd gathered after our evening impromptu auction laugh-a-thon, thanks to the
antics of Erskine Smith and Alan Buchanan.
The two
performers sold off souvenir items brought directly from
"Wasn't
that just absolutely incredible and just out of the blue," says Tip
to Tip for Africa organizer Martha Deacon.
"It was
improbable. It was impromptu. It was impossibly successful . . . We made more
than $580 and that's going to help pay for the gas (costs) today because our
helpful bus people have just gone way over and beyond the call of anything
charitable. We need to at least help them with gas money for all this shuffling
around."
The Trius and MacQueen's Bike Shop
buses were filled with those headed for Trinity United for a church blessing of
the bikes ceremony and those who decided not to cycle on this horrid, strainful day.
Only a few
stalwart souls pushed on from the previous day's stop point in Emerald toward
"Nineteen
riders left this morning, there are a lot less of us now," said one
thawing Brookvale Ski Patrol shepherd at the Brackley Community Centre where we found lunch and refuge
from the nasty windstorm.
Just five
hard-core riders and the Ski Patrol shepherds continued from there. Two who
could fit that category were my Tip to Tip for Africa roommate Catherine Vardy and her friend Gerard Moss, who travelled
from
Supporting
such a project is part of the ride's appeal for the couple. The other is the
prospect of adding P.E.I.'s well-known tip-to-tip
cycle count of more than 300 kilometres to their
annual road tally with the Canadian Kilometre
Achievement Program (C-KAP).
Moss, who
joined in 1995, is about to earn his 25,000-km medal, which he says pales in
comparison to the super cyclists.
"Some
people do 55,000, sometimes 75,000 a year," he says.
"And
there are different challenges for different clubs. The more members you have
(the more) you can get trophies and bragging rights."
The idea of
the C-KAP fitness incentive program (www.ckap.ca) started in 1976 for the
Montreal Olympics as groups of cyclists from different points of
By 2004, C-KAP
members have logged more than 15 million kilometres.
"There
are at least 1,042 members because I'm number 1,042,"
Vardy said with a smile.
Though the
cycling season has barely begun, Moss has tipped the 1,500-kilometre mark and Vardy has passed 1,100. This year each has a goal of 5,000.
"One year
I did 5,400," Moss said.
"What he
didn't want to point out, of course, is last year I got more kilometres than he did which is why this year he's trying
to get ahead," a grinning Vardy added.
As our third
day of the Tip to Tip for Africa progressed, there was definitely no moss
growing under the vehicle tires of volunteer drivers such as Trinity United
Church Rev. Bob Lockhart, Ken Richard and Florence and Donald Wonnacott, who pitched in to pilot the unexpected number of
cyclists and their bikes stranded in and near Charlottetown.
Despite the
difficult conditions, everyone just rolled with the flow and gave the
determined five bikers and the Brookvale Ski Patrol
shepherds who were watching over them a stupendous reception at the last
night's stop of Greenwich Gate in
A lobster
feast provided by several members of the Women for Environmental Sustainability
was tasty reward for everyone.
"I think
(the weather) has created within our group this sense of camaraderie and esprit
de corps," says Deacon. "We're all going to see it through to the end
and we're all going to do what is necessary and we're going to help each other."
Look in
Thursday's Guardian for the final story in Mary MacKay's series on the Tip to Tip for Africa fundraiser.
Illustration(s):
MacKay, Mary
By participating in the Tip to Tip for Africa fundraiser, Catherine Vardy and Gerald Moss of Moncton
not only raised funds for the Townships Project, they are also adding to their kilometre count registry with the Canadian Kilometre Achievement Program (C-KAP).
Category: News
Uniform subject(s): Sports and leisure
Length: Long, 725 words
© 2005 The Guardian (