Cyclebetes Capilano Mall & Speed Theory Fundraisers

To those that followed me last year, and those who are new to the scene this year, Cyclebetes 2010 is up and rolling bigger, stronger and with more people in 2010!

I have planned 2 fundraising bike rides over the next 2 weeks to reach my goal of raising $2500 towards Juvenile Diabetes. So far I've had a positive response on these events but have lacked funds coming in. Here are the details for both bike rides:

Saturday, March 6th - 9:30am - 5:00pm - Capilano Mall
Located in the North East corner of Cap Mall, I will have lots of Cyclebetes signage set up, promotions from local stores and support from family and friends riding along side me all day long. This ride will engage as many of my North Shore friends and raise community awareness for our September 4th community Cyclebetes bike ride!

Saturday, March 13th - 10:00am - 5:00pm - Speed Theory Bike Shop - Vancouver
Speed Theory has jumped on board as a huge supporter of my Cyclebetes ride. On the 13th I will be riding all day long inside their store with support from other avid cyclists. The goal for this ride is to bring in new customers to their shop and show off the great gear and people inside! For the past year, Speed Theory has helped me SO much with all sorts of biking needs so if I can get YOU into their store so they can do the same for you then it's a match well made!

It'd be great to hear back from you if you're able to make it to either ride. You're more than welcome to jump onto a bike and ride with me at either location and I encourrage that you do so.

For more details on the entire Cyclebetes event and to support me in any way, check out:

http://jdrfca.donordrive.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.participant&eventID=803&participantID=44656 

See you on the bikes!!

Cyclebetes 2010 - Team British Columbia

Here we go... another amazing line up of group rides, charity events and great causes! This year's JDRF Cyclebetes ride launches another campaign to raise money for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation in hopes to one day find a cure.

As most of you know, last year I was part of the Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta teams, riding over 800km's in 7 days, both on my personal bike and on the tandem bike donated by Norco. Last year's event opened my eyes to the world those with type 1 diabetes live in and the struggles they incur each day of their life. Riding for Cyclebetes was more than just getting on the bike and pedaling from point A to point B, it was symbolic of moving forward to raise money to find a cure. Over the three weeks groups rode across Canada, they raised over $400,000, brought awareness to many issues through the media and sparked a keen interest with communities to help bring people together for such a great cause. By using a bike as the catalyst to bring awareness to an issue, many people jumped on board to ride with us and donate.

This year, I will be riding my bike as part of Team BC for Cyclebetes. From September 1-5, 2010, myself along with 4 other pairs will ride the tandem bike across the province and finish in Victoria to wrap up the event. So now I turn to you - I am asking for your support and donations to make this ride possible. My goal is to raise $2500 (and hopefully more) by June, 2010. I am currently working out a schedule of rides that will have me spinning inside shopping malls all afternoon raising money towards my goal. I have other initiatives on the go and will keep you all posted when they get confirmed.

In the meantime, your support of my ride and Cyclebetes' event is greatly appreciated. Please check out my link and help in any way you can.

http://jdrfca.donordrive.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.participant&eventID=803&participantID=44656

Thank You.

Days 12 to 16 - Annapurna Circuit

Day 12: Kagbenni to Jomson

After such long days up to the Pass then what we encountered coming over it, having a second day of easy hiking wasn't such a bad idea. We were now totally walking on the road which was dusty, windy and didn't have the greatest of views. As we made it through the 4 or 5 hour walk, we came into this huge, open river delta that had endless amounts of rocks carrying fossils. For the next hour we all were picking up random rocks and smashing them open to find a treasure. Nic found an imprint of a plant but that was about it. It was fun but didn't show for anything. Into Jomsom it was - and Nic and mine's room even had a TV. I have to say that after eliminating that from my life for the past 3 1/2 months it was nice to wither away 2 hours of my life watching trash!! Good Times!

Day 13: Jomson to Kalopani

We were all very happy to get out of Jomsom as it was one of the least favourite places for each of us. There weren't really any places to see, the village seemed 'cold' and un-inviting and the people there never really peaked an interest for me. Take that experience then turn it around and show me the complete opposite - welcome to Marpha! This tiny little village in our journey to the next stop and we come across this small area with very old buildings, cobblestone walkways, a plethora of wood drying on house rooftops and so on... Marpha was a particularly quiet place and the locals were incredibly friendly and humble to have us walk through. We tasted some local apple brandy (of which I bought and now have in Vancouver if any of you would like to try some) and had a snack atop one of the residences.  I highly recommend this place to future travellers as a place to stay a night or two instead of Jomsom as it's very close and you'll get a way better experience from the place.

Day 14: Kalopani to Tatopani

"Tato" means "hot" and "Pani" means "water" = Hot Water = Natural Hot Springs!! Oh ya, that's right... we were going to stay the night at a spot that has a natural hot spring for anyone passing by and with the few people on the trail at the time, we knew that it wouldn't be busy at all.

Passing though villages on the way we checked out a wedding ceremony. This must have been an arranged marriage as the bride was much younger than the groom. It was neat to see their traditions and how show respect and happiness for the couple.  I would never go through with an arranged marriage so I can't say I was happy for these people, but hey, it's their system and their traditions so best of luck to them!

Day 15: Tatopani to Ghorepani

Up and up and up...and up some more! Today we began at the river's edge and we to climb for the entire leg of the day. It was switch back after switch back to get up the hillside and it was tough. With the past few days being very easy, I was excited to have another really tough day so on I went. The incline wasn't guelling but it was consistent. We agreed that today's hike was actually equivillant to FOUR Grouse Grinds. There were hundres of stairs, all uneven in length, height and distance apart from one another making for a tough few hours. We stopped in Sikha Valley for lunch. It's in the afternoon sunshine and was a great place to take off our boots and socks to dry them out while we ate. Of course I ordered Dal Bhat again and powered through it. I'm telling you that if any of you ever want to come over for dinner I will personally make and serve you this amazing dinner!

Into Ghorepani - done! We are just below 10,000 feet tonight and can see for miles from where we are. We have a spectacular view of Dhaulagiri and Annapurna South mountain ranges and the tea hut that we're staying at is like a tree house. The wall are paper thin plywood, the ceiling slopes to one side of the house so when you go to have a shower you need to duck down and hunch over to get through and the main room has an awesome fireplace that warms up everyone in it! Great day and we're all happy!


Day 16: Poon Hill / Rest Day

Up at 4:45am and with headlamps on we set out the door for a quick 2 hour hike up to Poon Hill (3210 meters - or just over 10,000 feet). The viewpoint offers panoramic shots of the entire valley, Pokhara area and beyond everything for miles and miles! There was a bit of morning fog in the valley but it set a mood for the photos. It really looked as if we were floating on clouds because they were below us and it was crystal clear higher up.  There might have been 100 people there and that is pretty low considering at peak season they have 500 or so each morning!

More to come ...