Riders Report

The final day of my ride!!! The weather, which had been overcast and raining since arriving home cooperated with us this morning, it was cloudy but not raining!!! I was up early and my good friend Bruno Basso drove the bikes to Parksville to start the final leg home to Comox. I was honored to have Scott Sutherland, Ryan Williams and Kip Keylock ride with me on this final leg. My son Chase came along as he wanted to be there for the final day & my father in-law Dick drove a second vehicle down for us!!

We met at the REMAX office in Parksville where we had a wonderful reception from Ian Lindsay and his staff…thank you for coming out on your holiday weekend to see us off!! A huge thank you to Rudy and Trish Wittershoven, they have been a major supporter of our ride and kindly donated 2 round trip airfares for us to get our children across the country this summer. Rudy rode with us to Qualicum on his unique “Ducks Unlimited” classic bike where he decided to turn off and head to the Shady Rest Pub for a drink….thank you Rudy and Trish!!!!

We continued onto Comox and kept a very good pace but half way there I learned that Kipp had just got his bike and this was his first ride…he did a super job and kept up all the way. Chase jumped out and rode for a small segment of the ride and also joined in for the entrance to Comox Mall.

We were greeted at the mall by nearly 80 of our family, friends and supporters….it was truly wonderful to see everyone!!!. Again a big thank you to all of you that have supported and helped us reach our goal… it was inspirational having you all there. Heather Jones from the BC Cancer Foundation was there and my brother Wayne presented her with a cheque for just over $8000 and I gave her a cheque for $5,085 which is a portion of the commissions I made while doing the bike ride. This puts us very close to $40,000 raised for Breast Cancer Research!!!

The final event was a wonderful gathering in the Comox Mall that was organized by Liz Tribe of the Comox Mall and my assistant Sherrise Clarke. The event was hosted by the Black Fin Pub and I want to acknowledge Edd and Lisa Moyes for doing a first class job as they always do when they take on a task….. you guys rock!!!

Well, that is it!!!! I have a so many people to thank it would take me a week to write them all down and I don’t want to miss one, so the final page will be in a week or so once I have had time to make sure the list includes them all. This was the bike ride of a life time but it won’t be the last…”Coast To Coast” will live on as a yearly ride for breast cancer research starting in Sept 2008!!! Watch for it……a 2 day ride down to Nanaimo, over to the Sunshine Coast and back to Comox from Powell River. Till next time….